Affairs Report: Bastions of taste - Global

Embassies should be places of fun, a chance for people to meet, and cultural hubs.

Affairs Report: Pipe dreams - Canada

In the far north of Canada the frontier lifestyle is still alive and kicking - and nowhere more so than in Yellowknife.

Europe Briefing: Stunning move - France

Since September, France's 20,000 municipal police officers have been able to carry Taser stun guns - an add-on to a decree passed in 2000 that allowed municipal police to carry firearms.

Europe Briefing: Minsk condition - Belarus

Belarus, the "last dictatorship in Europe", will continue its slow realignment away from Russia and towards the West in the next few months.

Europe Briefing: Criminal fashion - Sweden

Committing a serious crime is likely to result in a prison sentence.

Europe Briefing: On the rocks - Finland

This autumn, Finland's government is to debate whether to raise taxes on alcohol, the number one cause of death for 15- to 64-year-olds (let's hope guns will jump up the agenda first).

Affairs Report: To russia with love - Abkhazia

Following this summer's Georgian war, breakaway territory Abkhazia has been recognised as independent by Russia and Nicaragua.

Americas Briefing: Seeing red - Venezuela

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez addresses his people at every opportunity, including on his live chat show, with lively rhetoric on social reform.

Americas Briefing: Streetcar desire - USA

In Los Angeles, where the car is king, an unlikely mode of public transport is making a comeback.

Asia Briefing: Singh's wings - India

In our regular series on how world leaders travel, we look at Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Asia Briefing: Blog busters - Malaysia

Bloggers in Malaysia have broken the state's control of politics, much to the chagrin of the government and its lapdog press.

Asia Briefing: Proper gander - North Korea

Bloggers in Malaysia have broken the state's control of politics, much to the chagrin of the government and its lapdog press.

Africa/Middle East Briefing: Holy orders - Morocco

Morocco is worried about the growing threat of extremism among the more than three million Moroccans who live abroad.

Africa/Middle East Briefing: Running dry - Ghana

Policing polling stations during Ghana's elections (7 December) will be thirsty work.

Africa/Middle East Briefing: Jambo, jambo - Africa

The era of painfully high international and roaming calls may be coming to an end.

Africa/Middle East Briefing: Police, camera, action - Lebanon

Lebanon's dashing new interior minister, Ziad Baroud, has announced that driving regulations, which have long been ignored, will be enforced from now on.

Oceania Briefing: You're hired - Australia

Car-share schemes have become so successful in Sydney that companies - not just families - are using them to replace their fleets.

Oceania Briefing: Green wing - New Zealand

New Zealand's national carrier is doing its bit to make the country one of the world's greenest nations with a Boeing 747 flight due to take off from Auckland by the end of this year, flying partly on bio-fuel.

Oceania Briefing: A fish called wonder - Australia

Until recently, buying and ordering fish in Australia was a complicated task.

Oceania Briefing: Good migrations - Pacific Islands

From November, the Australian government is allowing short-term visas for Pacific islanders to help cope with a massive shortage of farm workers.

Affairs Report: On the edge - Khabarovsk

Five years ago, one of Khabarovsk's main exports was its women, who went to work as prostitutes in Japan.

Affairs Report: Building divisions - Istanbul

It's 70 years since the death of Atatuerk, founder of the Turkish Republic.

Q&A: Press for change - El Salvador

Mauricio Funes has given up his career as a TV journalist in a bid to become president of El Salvador.

Business Report: Harboured dreams - Trieste

Italy's Trieste, population 208,552, has ambitions to return to its former glory as a wealthy trading port, luring start-ups with its enviable location and high quality of life (you're more likely to live to 100 in Trieste than in any other part of Italy)

Brands Explained: Battle lines - Afghanistan

Manufacturers of equipment used by Nato forces have experienced a surge in demand and profits since the September 11 attacks.

Business Report: Track race - Madrid & Berlin

Manufacturers of equipment used by Nato forces have experienced a surge in demand and profits since the September 11 attacks.

Business Briefing: Olive virgins - India

Government-backed olive groves are springing up in Rajasthan, with an initial test of 100,000 saplings.

Business Briefing: West banking - Palestinian territories

It might be the last place on earth you'd consider investing in, but the Palestinian Securities Exchange (PSE), located in the West Bank city of Nablus, appears to be one of the best performers of 2008.

Business Briefing: To boldly go... - Global

Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.

Business Briefing: Ning is king - China

Li Ning, China's top sportswear maker, scored a marketing coup when its chairman Li Ning - a former gymnast - lit the Olympic torch in Beijing, despite the fact that Adidas was an official sponsor.

Business Briefing: Musical beds - New York

New York hardly needs more "up-and- coming" neighbourhoods or "hip" hotels.

Business Briefing: Give me shelter - Paris

Rue de Bagnolet is not the Paris of most people's imagination.

Business Briefing: Address book - Buenos Aires

Rue de Bagnolet is not the Paris of most people's imagination.

Business Briefing: Down time - San Pedro

Hotel de Larache, part of the Explora hotel group's three luxury hotels in Chile, has had a makeover.

Culture Report: Power stations - USA

Monocle looks at the networks' top 10 secret weapons in the battle to report the winners and losers of the big day.

Culture Report: Light bulb moment - London

We enter the world of Katie Paterson, a 27-year-old artist who brings ideas of the universe to life.

My Working Life: Town crier - Vermont

The 'Rutland Herald' is the second-largest daily paper in Vermont and the oldest family-owned newspaper in continuous operation in the US.

Culture Briefing: Art

Art

Culture Briefing: Music

Music

Culture Briefing: Film

Film

Well Stacked: Photo story - Buenos Aires

You might not care to walk down Rivarola, a narrow alley that runs between rows of colonial houses in downtown Buenos Aires, if it wasn't for the lure of the Asunto Impreso (Librería de la Imagen) bookshop.

Culture Briefing: Sporting giants - A treat for sumo fans

For the last 16 years, Japan's public service broadcaster NHK has provided an invaluable service for English-speaking sumo fans.

Culture Briefing: In full colour - The Bible revisited

Kicked off by a dinner table discussion between some of Sweden's pre-eminent ad-men, Dag Söderberg, Michel Gyring and Mats Rabe, "The Book Illuminated" looks like the New Testament but is scattered with photos of war zones and good times.

Culture Briefing: Art market

Art market

Design Report: National pride - Global

Post September 11 every embassy was built as a bunker ready to repel all comers, but now, from Washington to Harare, architects are reinventing the mission as national calling card.

Design Report: Mission possible - Perfect world

How would Monocle craft an embassy? Diplomats take note - this is our blueprint for modern diplomacy.

Q&A: Nathan Brown - Managing Director, Lodger

Recently opened in Mayfair, Lodger is a global made-to-measure shoemaker established by 34-year-old Nathan Brown.

Design Briefing: Knit for victory - Arne & Carlos's woollen wonders

Arne & Carlos's knitwear - crafted from 30 per cent alpaca and 70 per cent merino - is a fusion of Norwegian knitting and Peruvian artisanal skills.

Design Briefing: Trends in the north - Menswear by Wings + Horns

Launched in 2004 in Vancouver, mens-wear label Wings + Horns is striving to create an identity for Canadian fashion.

Design Briefing: Double take - Bree bags a new designer

Munich-based Turkish fashion and accessories designer Ayzit Bostan, says her functional designs are "romantic but minimalist".

Design Briefing: Height of fashion - Willenlund step into the limelight

Danish designers Tine Willenbrack and Sine Lundby launched their label Willenlund a year ago to feed their shoe fetish.

Design Briefing: Penny for the guy - Loafing John Lobb-style

Owned by Hermès since 1976 - except for its original St James's bespoke shop - the 150-year-old British shoe firm John Lobb makes exquisite ready-to-wear footwear, including these penny loafers, at its Northampton factory.

Design Briefing: Deborah Berke - Architect, New York

Deborah Berke, the architect's self-titled first book, will be released on 4 November and is published by Yale University Press.

Design Briefing: Sense of shelf - Perfection in furniture design

When it comes to shelving, you can trust the Swiss.

Design Briefing: Long sighted - An Austrian house with a view

This home overlooking the Liechtenstein valley is all about the view.

Design Briefing: Fjord focus - Living in a box in Norway

Norwegian firm, Brendeland & Kristoffersen, has made the most of a tight spot with this compact home in Trondheim.

Design Briefing: Wood picker - Fresh design talent from the UK

Amy Hunting, a young London-based designer, gathered off-cuts of untreated wood from factories around Denmark to create this pendant light.

Design Report: Arty party - Venice

Everybody who is anybody in the world of architecture goes to the Venice Biennale. So why were there so few good ideas this time?

Design Report: Space station - Okayama

Retired architect Shigemi Asano teamed up with Tezuka Architects to create a home that marries modernity with local tradition.