The Leader: Happy new world

In the wake of bank bail-outs and car industry rescue plans, retail giants could find themselves standing next in line with begging bowls in hand. But it's a re-think that's really needed to keep the high street healthy.

Affairs Report: Little Big Bucks

Native American tribes in the US and Canada have become powerful business and political forces and have learnt how to get Obama and Ottawa on their side.

Europe Briefing: Enemy opportunists

Following last August's war in South Ossetia, Russia is battling a rise in violence across the Caucasus.

Europe Briefing: Last stand

One of Europe's poorest countries, Moldova, will vote in parliamentary elections on 5 April that could see Europe's last communist government swept out of power.

Europe Briefing: Little chefs

Is your six-year-old a whizz with a wok? Your child a maestro with the mixer?

Q&A: Q & A - Per Berthelsen

After voting for greater independence from Denmark last year, Greenland will take control of its natural resources in June.

Americas Briefing: View from Washington

Later this spring, Barack Obama will start to replace the 170 or so US ambassadors around the world and observers anticipate new diversity in the people representing the US abroad.

Americas Briefing: Bum deal

Mexicans are slimming down.

Americas Briefing: Wool rich

Peru appears to be failing to protect one of its most valuable assets: the vicuña (a relative of the llama).

Americas Briefing: In a spin

Currently, the Google Maps website identifies a small collection of islands in the South Atlantic as the "Falklands (Islas Malvinas)" (see our cover story, Issue 21).

Americas Briefing: Nature's way

As of May 2010, Costa Rica will inject colour into its dreary banknotes to symbolise its six ecosystems.

Americas Briefing: Bang for buck

A recent influx of new hotels, high-end shops and even an express train from Manhattan, suggests Atlantic City hopes to revive its glamorous gambling resort-town past.

Style Leaders: Gho getter

Last year, at the age of 28, Jigme Khesar ­Namgyel Wangchuck was crowned king of Bhutan in a lavish celebration in the capital Thimphu.

Asia Briefing: Half portions

Japan's diminishing birth rate is being reflected in its TV cook show "Kyo no Ryori" (Today's Cooking).

Asia Briefing: Population drive

In a bid to rev up Korea's stalling birth rate, Hyundai Motor Co and Seoul City Hall joined forces in February to offer discounts on cars for people who have more children.

Africa/Middle East Briefing: Dubai Syndrome

The Mediterranean might be getting a new island.

Africa/Middle East Briefing: Close enemies

Somalia's new president, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed - a 44-year-old former teacher - took a leaf from Obama's book and brought a man from a rival clan into his team.

Africa/Middle East Briefing: Bad breath

Drinking and driving in Kenya is not a crime.

Africa/Middle East Briefing: Delayed train

Almost 40 years after the idea was conceived, Algiers Metro, linking 10 stations along a 9km route in the Algerian capital, is finally set to open in August.

Affairs Report: Profit of Peace - Gaza

The Palestinians have unique assets and the potential to build a strong economy.

Oceania Briefing: Middle of the road

Prime minister of Australia Kevin Rudd travels widely but in deliberately low-key style.

Oceania Briefing: Back in the game

Traditional Maori sports have faded from school timetables in New Zealand, according to Harko Brown, a Maori sports teacher and author.

Oceania Briefing: Outback city

Australia's Northern Territory is to create a new city - the fourth largest after Darwin, Palmerston and Alice Springs (above).

Affairs Report: Great guns

Step through the doors of the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) and you're transported into a parallel universe where there's no such thing as a global recession.

Affairs Report: Mission possible

The US military is struggling to adapt to a world in which the most pressing challenges to American power come not from states that are too strong but from ones that are not strong enough.

Affairs Report: Mine Field - Goma

Wars and volcanoes have made Goma a dangerous place to call home.

Affairs Report: BHL Express - Q&A - Levy

Bernard-Henri Lévy, France's leading philosopher, is no ivory-tower thinker.

Affairs Report: Snow Houses - Bogota

Since 2007, the Colombian government has made over €50m from the sale of property confiscated from busted drug barons.

Affairs Report: No.1 Detective - Bangkok

Forensic scientist Porntip Rojanasunan is loved by the Thai public for her fearless exposing of corruption in high places - and also for her unconventional dress sense.

Business Report: The Full Monte - Uruguay

In Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, multinational companies are setting up shop, ports are being built to serve the forestry industry and property is going cheap.

Business Report: The Shopping Forecast

A special report on the state of global retail and how to go about fixing it

Business Report: Our ten point plan

Our paramedic chopper is fuelled up, our doctors' bags are rammed with remedies and we're ready to descend on the roof of any department store or the parking lot of a listless mall.

Business Report: Who'd design our shop

Wonderwall's Masamichi Katayama is our top shop choice

Business Report: Four design stars

We ask some of the world's leading retail designers to give their forecast

Business Report: Five we admire

From a Sydney food store to a Swiss design emporium, here are a handful who have mastered the basics

Business Report: Clever Concept 01: Osaka

Creative approach to canine spend

Business Report: Four buyers

Buyers from London to Tokyo explain what makes their shop work

Business Report: Top 20 retailers

Our carefully curated hot list of mini and massive shops from our global travels

Business Report: Clever Concept 02: Tokyo

Finally, there's a new airport gift shop that breaks the tired mould. Tokyo's Tokyo has just opened at Haneda, Japan's domestic airport and the fourth busiest in the world.

Business Report: Happy Mendings - Global

In today's world of throwaway consumerism, it's good to know there are still tradesmen out there who pride themselves on giving your cherished possessions a new lease of life...

Business Report: Speed Merchant - Japan

As president of Japanese company Fast Retailing, the parent company of Uniqlo, Tadashi Yanai is the richest man in Japan.

Business Report: Deep Freeze

Russia's boom years raised the profiles of its 'second cities', nowhere more so than in Ekaterinburg.

Business Report: Shrinking budgets

France has long cherished its "tickets resto" - coupons that companies distribute to their staff to cover the cost of everyday meals.

Business Report: Energy Spending

Whatever their woes, governments all over the world are pumping money into renewable energy as a long term investment and green stocks and new investment funds are mushrooming.

Q&A: Q&A- Gudjon Mar Gudjonsson

With Iceland's financial collapse, businessman Gudjónsson is seeking solutions and in January he set up the Ministry of Ideas.

Business Briefing: Brand Wagons

åDubai is about to pioneer a whole new commuter experience.

Business Briefing: Extended stay

Business hotels run by the Tokyu Corporation are a staple of cities in Japan and now the chain has opened an upmarket version of its basic format in the middle of Tokyo.

Business Briefing: Address Book

Helsinki - Address book

Business Briefing: Steamed Up

The Park Hyatt in Milan has slimmed down its portfolio of guest rooms to accommodate three new spa suites.

Business Report: Special K

The star attraction of Hamburg airport's new retail plaza, which now connects its two terminals is bookshop K Presse + Buch.

Business Briefing: Latin Lovers

Over two million tourists went to Colombia in 2008 and that number is set to rise.

Culture Report: Hit Factory

Despite years of turbulence between Taiwan and China, this island's pop culture leaves the mainland standing.

Culture Briefing: Chic Flicks

A nation with such a distinct cinematic past as Belgium needed a fittingly modern venue to celebrate its love affair with the screen, and the reopening of its film museum - also now home to the Royal Film Archive's collections...

Culture Briefing: News twenty- poor

While rolling news and sports channels exist the world over, Saudi Arabia claims to have set up the first satellite station dedicated to poor people.

Culture Briefing: Cutting it

Krukmakargatan in Stockholm runs parallel to Hornsgatan, one of Europe's most polluted streets.

Culture Briefing: Books

This beautifully-bound compendium takes a football story for each day of the year.

Culture Briefing: Art

Joining forces with T-B A21 - the Viennese contemporary art foundation set up by Francesca von Habsburg in 2001...

Culture Briefing: Music

What a hot talent Elvis Perkins has slowly simmered to become.

Culture Briefing: Film

Culture Briefing: Q&A - Jason Jenkins

Now in its second year, art fair 101 Tokyo runs over four days and is sowing the seeds of a Japanese art week, coinciding with Art Fair Tokyo.

Culture Briefing: Sale 01: New York

Following on from the $225,000 (€174,000) that 14 of his works raised in October 2008's photography sale, Phillips will be offering a new set of Robert Mapplethorpe photos from the collection of female bodybuilder Lisa Lyon in this April's sale.

Culture Report: Paper Weight - Tokyo

For our series that decodes the DNA of success, we peruse the Japanese daily paper "Yomiuri Shimbun".

Design Report: Over Drive - Global

Car sales have collapsed but the economy is not the only problem: too many vehicles are design lemons - just see our list of 2009 sinners in issue 19.

Design Briefing: Well built

This month, Engineered Garments opens its first international flagship store.

Design Briefing: In her shoes

They may look and feel delicate but Attilio Giusti Leombruni's women's shoes are meant to be worked, walked and thoroughly worn says Sara Giusti.

Design Briefing: Wet Look

This collaboration sees two greats of the Gallic fashion industry team up for our benefit under the April showers.

Design Briefing: Check list

With design backgrounds at Gap and Uniqlo, Canadian brothers Ben and Doug Burkman have launched fashion label Burkman Bros this spring to dress the "cool, masculine, sexy and stylish" man, as Doug describes their target customer.

Design Briefing: Plane dressing

Established in 2005, Italian label Avio has already made a name for itself with its line of high-quality casual trousers, produced in Massa-Carrara, Tuscany.

Design Briefing: Lighten Up

It may be April, but it's not quite warm enough to peel off all the layers yet.

Design Briefing: First Class

Born in Tokyo, 47-year-old Takeshi Ohfuchi originally moved to the States in 1987, making a living by travelling around the country in a rented car looking for vintage finds to sell back in Japan.

Q&A: Q&A - Paul Pinchbeck

Following a career in classical music recording and audio system design, 54-year-old Paul Pinchbeck is relaunching his grandfather's UK-based watch business, Harold Pinchbeck, which ceased production during the Second World War.

Design Briefing: Steeley resolve

The Lindqvist family, which owns Grythyttan Stålmöbler, has gone from making the best steel horseshoes in the mining region of Bergslagen in central Sweden at the end of the 19th century, to crafting the most recognisable outdoor furniture in the country.

Design Briefing: Tier Time

Japanese architect Jun Igarashi makes homes that provide simple, comfortable living.

Design Briefing: Cold Comfort

Norwegian practice 70°N Arkitektur proves that living inside the Arctic Circle can be done in comfort.

Q&A: El Salvador

El Salvador design couple Harry and Claudia Washington have teamed up with US firm Bernhardt Design.

: Only Salone - Milan

Il Salone del Mobile, the world's biggest furniture fair, is a bellwether of the industry and a showcase for new ideas.

: Shower dressing

April in the northern hemisphere always provides wardrobe challenges to test the best in rainwear, tailoring and knitwear.