Opener: Let's look at plan B - Global

Struggling nations and cities need to hitch up their skirts, quicken their step and just get on with it.

Affairs Report: Dark horse in the east - Vladivostok

It's a vital military outpost, dogged by organised crime.

Europe Briefing: The royal wheels - UK

Ever since she pulled up to Westminster Abbey for her 1952 coronation in a four-tonne, eight-horse-drawn gilded carriage, Queen Elizabeth II has had a keen sense of occasion.

Europe Briefing: Brand masters - Turkey

The Turkish Prime Minister has filed an application to copyright his initials for commercial purposes.

Europe Briefing: Special delivery - Germany

Europe’s new space cargo ship will blast off in February.

Europe Briefing: Nuclear treasurers - Central Asia

Regional developments

Europe Briefing: No butts - Spain

After a much-maligned 2006 smoking ban, the Spanish government has finally got tough.

Europe Briefing: Nuclear losers - Lithuania

Plans by the Baltic states to build a new nuclear reactor are in disarray.

Europe Briefing: Jumbo BRICs - Russia

The first ever direct flights between Brazil and Russia started in January 2011.

Europe Briefing: Q&A: Gunnar Wetterberg

Americas Briefing: Tough talk - South America

When representatives of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) met at a recent summit in Guyana, they seemed to share one goal: to render obsolete an Organisation of American States (OAS) they consider weak and toothless.

Americas Briefing: Going for gold - Peru

There’s a gold rush in the Madre de Dios region of Peru, the headwaters of the Amazon.

Americas Briefing: Ups and downs - Chile

The Chilean port of Valparaiso once had the world’s biggest concentration

Americas Briefing: In the running - USA

Chicago voters go to the polls on 22 February to pick a replacement for mayor Richard M Daley, who is retiring after 21 years in office.

Americas Briefing: View from Washington - USA

Ronald Reagan’s fans celebrate what would have been his 100th birthday by trying to move mountains and redraw money in his image.

Americas Briefing: Q&A: Aaron Smith

Q&A: Q&A: Mohamed ElBaradei

The former director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency has refused to sink quietly into retirement.

Africa/Middle East Briefing: Scope hopes - South Africa

South Africa is preparing to take a giant leap for mankind by building a telescope that the world’s leading astronomers will use to seek the origins of the universe.

Africa/Middle East Briefing: Rap battle - Uganda

February’s presidential election run-up began with President Yoweri Museveni launching his campaign by rapping for a crowd of young voters.

Africa/Middle East Briefing: Restore the faith - Lebanon

Lebanon has launched a religious tourism campaign in the hope this will strengthen the ties between the country’s 18 religious groups.

Africa/Middle East Briefing: Risky business - Kenya

Several insurance firms are advertising protection against political violence.

Asia Briefing: A different world - China

Border issues between China and India have surfaced again with the launch of "Map World".

Asia Briefing: Electric dream - Japan

Hiroshi Shimizu of Tokyo’s Keio University is working on an electric public bus.

Asia Briefing: Game for it -Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan has never won an Olympic medal in the two decades since gaining independence from the Soviet Union.

Asia Briefing: Visa easing - Taiwan

The European Union might not recognise Taiwan as an independent country but it has no qualms about fortifying its strong economic ties with the island.

Asia Briefing: All pumped up - China

Oceania Briefing: Tongan groove - Tonga

For sheer anachronism, few spectacles can rival that of Tonga’s immaculately suited King George Tupou V being whisked through the dusty, sunbleached streets of Nuku’alofa in a London black cab.

Oceania Briefing: The most goats - Australia

Goat is one of the most widely consumed red meats in the world – and a staple in Islamic cultures – and Australia has become its largest exporter.

Oceania Briefing: Crunch point

Julia Gillard's administration could be in trouble.

Oceania Briefing: Kiwi crackdown - New zealand

While Britain grapples with a European ruling that will rescind its ban on prisoners voting, New Zealand is moving in the opposite direction.

Business Report: Celtic Tiger Feat

Ireland has had a disastrous recession. But the erstwhile Celtic Tiger is licking its wounds and there are signs that the lessons of the past 10 years have been learnt by businesses willing to seize the opportunity for a rebirth.

Business Report: People Power

With bleak job prospects facing its population, the Philippines has turned the search for work into an export success story by encouraging its most valuable resource – its people – to train for jobs abroad.

Global selection: Mental Wealth

Forget earnings reports: a new generation of stockpickers assemble their portfolios based on lessons from psychological research. Can behavioural finance make sense in a crazy market?

Business Briefing: Space Lorries

Nasa has a problem – the space shuttle is due for retirement in 2011 and there is no replacement.

Q&A: Dianne Ehler

It may be 95km north of New York, but Stewart International Airport is emerging as the region’s secret weapon to beat airport congestion.

Business Briefing: Over Growth

Manufacturers that use rare-earth materials aren’t the only ones fretting about depending too much on China’s natural resources.

Business Briefing: Back on the Road

Established in 1921 when the motorcycling industry was in its infancy, Moto Guzzi is now the oldest European manufacturer in continuous production.

Business Briefing: Start-up Nation

Seventy-five per cent of Guatemala’s economically active population – a total of 4.9 million people – are working “informally”. The other 25 per cent can consider themselves lucky to have landed a formal job.

Business Briefing: The Green Coast

The British coastal county of Cornwall is looking beyond its tourism and agriculture economies to become a hot-house of ecological innovation.

Business Briefing: Northern Risk

Canadian venture capital remains notoriously risk-averse when it comes to financing innovation, but the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) – a federal agency that dispenses C$1.1bn (€811m) in academic grants annually – hop

Business Briefing: Dynastic Rule

Big business in Italy is still all in the family. According to the annual report from AIdAF (the Italian Association of Family Businesses), the majority of firms with at least €50m in revenue are in the hands of a dynasty.

Business Briefing: A fin idea

In Finland, an old business model with a new twist has become a big success.

Business Briefing: Superhero Class

For $25,000, it’s possible to learn how to save the world.

Business Report: Brand national - China

China is home to the world's second largest economy and its most dynamic market but, as yet, its companies have struggled to create any distinctive global brands.

Culture Report: Dub be good to me

Across the world the voices of dubbing artists are more famous than those of their Hollywood counterparts

My Working Life: She's a believer

Vendela Vida, co-editor of US culture magazine 'The Believer'

Culture comment: Going through the emotions

Going through the emotions

Culture Briefing: Music

Music

Culture Briefing: Bookshop

Bookshop

Culture Briefing: Books

Books

Media Briefing: Talk to the hand

The Global Gestures Guide

Q&A: Q&A Nev Schulman

Q&A Nev Schulman

Media Briefing: Ear at last

Bang & Olufsen headphones

Media Briefing: Hang up your goggles

Nintendo launch of 3DS

Q&A: Q&A Dr Peter Hogenkamp

Swiss daily Neue Züricher Zeitung (NZZ) launch "The Lab"

Art Market: Well hung: Untitled gallery

Well hung: Untitled gallery

Q&A: Q&A - Chris Pensa

Q&A - Chris Pensa

Art Market: Hot lots

Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern Art sales

Culture Report: Admen of God

Imagine trying to sell products to people who don’t watch TV and cannot use the internet.

Art Market: Israeli Creatives

This month, Sotheby’s hosts a selling exhibition of graduate and student works from the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem.

Art Market: Ramping it up

Opened only a year ago by Leyla Tara in Istanbul’s Besiktas district, Rampa Gallery has already helped cement the Turkish city’s well-deserved spot on the global art map.

Design Report: Design republic - China

China makes cheap products to order. Could it ever make well-designed ones too?

Design Report: Green rooms - Berlin

Sauerbruch Hutton was one of the first architecture firms to promote the value of sustainable building.

Design Briefing: Star performer - Canada

Made in Vancouver, the Arc'teryx Veilance line offers classic shapes in hi-tech fabrics.

Design Briefing: Mountain coat - USA

This Yosemite jacket is from Woolrich Woolen Mills' spring 2011 collection – the last to be designed by former creative director Daiki Suzuki.

Design Briefing: London calls - Canada

Oliver Spencer, founded in London in 2002, opened its first shop in Canada in November.

Design Briefing: Arabian nights - Lebnaon

Beirut-born Milia M worked as a lingerie designer at VF Corporation in France before launching her own label in Lebanon.

Design Briefing: Cotton on - Sweden

A.O's basics come packaged in a plastic pouch designed by the co-founders Rodrigo Gutierrez Benavente and Moses Voigt.

Design Briefing: Perfect satchel - Denmark

Leather company Royal RepubliQ's bags, belts, wallets and bracelets are made by hand in Portugal and India and designed in Denmark and the Netherlands.

Design Briefing: Fair maiden - USA

Belgian designer Olivier Theyskens teamed up with US label Theory for this capsule collection.

Design Briefing: Brave the rain - Norway

Inspired by "the rainiest city in Europe" – Bergen – Alexander Helle launched Norwegian Rain in 2009 with the simple idea of making stylish garments that keep you dry.

Design Briefing: Soft touch - Japan

Launched as a men's brand Fil Melange has now released its collection of basics for women.

Design Briefing: Eye spy - Switzerland

These unisex Ralph frames are from Swiss eyewear company Götti, designed in Wädenswil, near Zürich.

Design Report: Thriving threads - Global

The various strands of the fashion industry spent the past year pulling themselves together after a tough 2009.

Q&A: Greg Armas

Armas first built a cult-following with his well-curated Los Angeles boutique Scout, then branched out to open Assembly on New York's Lower East Side in 2008. His footprint now includes an in-house collection launched in 2009, as well as an expansion to h

Design Briefing: Temperature control - Japan and Italy

These are two timely designs for homes in the northern and southern hemisphere.

Design Briefing: Double-barrelled - Spain

Foster + Partners' new winery, Bodegas Portia, for the Faustino Group in the Ribera del Duero winemaking region of Spain is an impressive industrial edifice.

Design Briefing: It's a shoe-in

Seven generations of Scheer have perfected the art of handmaking shoes in Vienna.

Design Briefing: Keep your cool - Lebanon

Veering from steamy summers to cold winters, Lebanon's climate calls for sophisticated home comfort systems.

Design Briefing: Black beauty - Norway

Fantastic Norway has built a striking 77 sq m retreat – Cabin Vardehaugen, perched on Norway's rocky Fosen coast – clad in black pine.

Q&A: Fons Hof

Object Rotterdam runs from 10-13 February, 2011.

Design Briefing: Feel the pressure - Italy

Italian family-run kitchenware company Serafino Zani has again teamed up with Konstantin Grcic, this time launching an elegant pressure cooker – Subito.

Design Briefing: Boxed clever - Japan

Tamanohada has been making soap since 1892 and though we're charmed by its latest Red Snapper soap-on-a-rope, it's the packaging that really has us in a lather.

Design Report: Breaking the chains - Stockholm

A concept store featuring fashion, interiors and art has been set up by five entrepreneurs to challenge the might of the multiples with their unique take on the retail experience.

Design Briefing: Open house - USA