The Leader: Australia goes live

Australia is in a prime position to become a new, fresh-faced regional power

Affairs Report: Evolution Theory: Darwin

There’s more to Darwin than cyclones and crocodiles

Affairs Report: Mittel class: Hungary

Hungary has become the bête noir of Europe as fears grow that its government has a rather loose grasp of democracy

Europe Briefing: Briefing: Europe

As London scrambles to put on its best face in time to host the Olympic Games, so do the city’s two most recognisable politicians

Americas Briefing: View from Washington

Don’t write Ron Paul off just yet

Americas Briefing: Briefing: Americas

America’s policy wonks struggle to find consensus on modernising education

Africa/Middle East Briefing: Briefing: Asia

is a big basketball fan and is thought to have a lavish collection of Nike trainers

Africa/Middle East Briefing: Africa/Middle East

Why Africa is frantically going green, Saudi Arabia is desperately building houses, and South Africa is learning to love fracking.

Oceania Briefing: Oceania

Just how far would you run to escape a collapsing economy?

Diplomacy Briefing: Diplomacy

Ambassador Ido Aharoni, the Consul General of Israel to New York, has a rule for each visitor to his office

Affairs Essays: Outside the box: Global

Monocle introduces five thinkers who are questioning conventional wisdom

Q&A: Talk about Kevin

Kevin Rudd, Australia’s former prime minister and now foreign minister, talks to Monocle

Business Report: Sheer genius: Australia

Having faltered during the 1990s, the Australian Merino wool industry is seeing a resurgence

Business Report: Beer in mind

High taxes and rigid regulation have made it a tough sell for Japan’s artisan beer makers

Business Report: Flag flyers

Poland’s cluster of aviation companies balances local expertise with heavy foreign investment

Business Briefing: Briefing: Business

John Edel is converting an 8,600 sq m former meatpacking factory into a zero-emission urban farming and food business centre

How I manage: Handle with care

Rosa Lladró is the president of Lladró, the Spanish porcelain company

Culture Report: Map it out

Mapmaking is an art unto itself, but it's also open to manipulation

Culture Briefing: Everyone's a critic

What’s the point of critics now that we all think we are one?

Culture Briefing: Books

Jonathan Lethem wrestles with the role of a novelist in contemporary culture

Culture Briefing: Films

There are many films about troubled children but few succeed at capturing the subtleties of abandonment

Culture Briefing: Music

Hot on the heels of their lovely debut First Aid Kit are back with their dustbowl Nashville-via-Stockholm sound

Media Briefing: Briefing: Media

For Matt Bors, comics are the ideal platform for exploring long-form political journalism

Art Market: Art market

Rio de Janeiro’s Anita Schwartz Galeria de Arte creates an important stage for young Brazilian artists

Culture Report: News of the world

SBS is a truly international news outlet – an unusual epithet in the world of Australian media

Design Report: Good wood

Since 1880 Horgenglarus has made furniture using time-honoured techniques

Design Report: Joint effort

Midland Atelier is a design powerhouse that attracts people to train from all over the world

Design Report: You Pitti things

Pitti Uomo biannual menswear show is seen as a crystal ball for the fashion industry

Design Report: It's about time

Geneva's high-end watchmakers seem blissfully indifferent to the debt crisis sweeping the continent

Fashion Briefing: Made to measure

Conceived as a one-stop shop for the urban man, the Pelikamo store opened its doors in December

Fashion Briefing: His and hers

Manley’s collection combines traditional femininity with urban streetwear

Fashion Briefing: East meets best

Handspun in Kashmir and designed in London, Ahilya scarves fuse ancient artisan techniques with modern design

Fashion Briefing: Soft set

When footwear brand Pointer collaborated with Lavenham they wanted to highlight the traditional means of quilt-making

Fashion Briefing: Pair up

Two heritage English brands have combined decades of experience and creativity

Fashion Briefing: Kind of blue

ounded by Tony Tonnaer, Kings of Indigo (KOI) is a premium denim label with a twist

Fashion Briefing: Cloud nine

Centre Neuf s located on Utrechtsestraat, one of the finest shopping and dining streets in the Dutch city

Fashion Briefing: Spring loaded

Sacai’s menswear line is inspired by the everyday life of founder Chitose Abe

Fashion Briefing: First loves

Danish designer Martin Ahn introduced his Shakespeare inspired footwear label House of Montague in 2011

Fashion Briefing: Cold comfort

With over 100 years of expertise in knitwear, English heritage brand Alan Paine has used all-natural fibres to create a line of knits

Fashion Briefing: New number

Focusing on unisex styles, the London-based 1205 label is the brainchild of Central Saint Martins graduate Paula Gerbase

Design Briefing: Losing touch

Monocle’s design editor feels let down by changing attitudes in Rome

Design Briefing: Bow selecta

If you think ribbons are just the decorative trimming on gifts, think again

Design Briefing: Good looks

Bolster your bookcase with three beautiful new design tomes

Design Briefing: Nice points

his combined distillery and house in an Upper Austrian valley is by native practice Hammerschmid, Pachl, Seebacher

Design Briefing: Dairy good

Beautiful branding need not be limited to luxury products

Design Briefing: Keeping it local

One of our favourite discoveries this year is a new company run by Irish brothers, Jonathan and Mark Legge

Design Briefing: Q&A: Nille Juul- Sørensen

The Danish Design Centre’s new head is architect Nille Juul-Sørensen

Residence: The secret garden

Among the high-rises and inner city bustle of São Paulo, a new home offers quiet solitude while retaining openness

Men's Fashion: Make the cut

We get spruced up at an 85-year-old traditional barber shop

Women's Fashion: Source material

Monocle plays the sexy librarian