The Starbucks diaspora reached six more countries this year, including Russia and Egypt, bringing the total to 43. Among those countries where the chain is not: Djibouti, Mongolia, Italy. (I originally wrote “Jordan”, but it turns out Starbucks is there.)

Italians, as everyone knows, are fixated on their caffeine: the breakfast of champions is an espresso inhaled while standing up. It seems incomprehensible that Starbucks has not felt able to launch lattes in Livorno, or flog frappuccinos in Florence. Could 2008 be the year?