There are few scheduled flights that make more than one stop these days (let alone three) but African Express is making a business and a brand operating one of the last milk runs in civil aviation. Our man in Africa straps into the jump seat for a jaunt around the horn.

We visit the members’ clubs where foreign journalists find a home away from home (and a good supper) in Tokyo, Bangkok and Hong Kong.

Puerto Rico is struggling with a faltering economy and an ongoing argument over its status as a US territory. Monocle meets the residents attempting to rethink the island’s future.

If you’re in the diplomatic game you could do worse than a posting in Rome, where you’ll probably be put up in a palazzo fit for a pope. Monocle pays a visit to the ambassadors of Brazil and France.

They make the news mainly for the number of would-be emigrants attempting to leave their troubled shores. We visit the volatile islands off East Africa to find out how they became a hotbed of political intrigue.

The Swiss are infatuated with their tunnels and underground shelters - and have more of them than any other country in the world. Monocle's David Michon and photographer Beat Schweizer explored their hidden appeal.

Kashgar may look like just another Chinese boomtown but the city is riven with ethnic tensions. Monocle visits a frontier where tradition is clashing with change.

The results are in for Monocle's annual Soft Power Survey. We have once again collaborated with the Institute for Government to come up with 30 countries who best attract favour from other nations through culture, sport, cuisine, design, diplomacy and beyond.  Here are the top 10 for 2013.

Monocle climbs aboard Alaska’s 50-year-old state-run ferry system. It's more than just a mode of transport for its users: it acts as a vital link to the rest of the world and an icon of the state’s beautiful solitude.

Somalia is a failed state but its airport, once a no-go zone, could offer a glimmer of hope. Writer Tristan McConnell and photographer Pete Muller illustrate the change.