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FT correspondents across the world look at the links between local culture, business and politics. - -

Dhaka in frontline in heritage battle

Population pressure and steady economic growth mean the odds are stacked against saving the eclectic, 400-year-old architectural history of Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital and the world’s most densely populated city

Irish grass roots clog Shell gas pipeline

For the past four years Ballinaboy, in a remote but beautiful corner of Mayo, has been the setting for a bitter industrial dispute that has perplexed the experts

Narco-bling overdose leaves museum in a fix

Mexico’s overflowing drugs museum’s litany of colourful exhibits lifts lid on President Calderón’s three-year war on narcotics and the industry’s less-than-modest characters

Egypt moves to curb wearing of face veil

Global village: Alarmed at the spread of extremist Islam, the authorities have banned the niqab from universities. Islamists and human-rights groups have attacked the clampdown

Koreans defy rift to find unity in matrimony

One matchmaker in the suburbs of Seoul has found himself in a booming industry as women flee the North and go in search of a husband

Catalonia pays homage to independence

When Arenys de Munt held a referendum and voted overwhelmingly in favour of Catalonia’s secession from Spain it spawned dozens of copycat referendum plans across the region

Bologna plans €25bn new look

After growing incrementally since its foundation 2,500 years ago, Bologna is about to adopt a big-bang approach to its next phase of development: a €25bn, 15-year urban renewal project

‘Vicious dogs’ set to lose their bite

China’s railway courts - a parallel justice system to try crimes committed on moving trains - are an anachronistic survival from the 1950s

Zimbabwe sees benefit of Tsvangirai changes

Since Morgan Tsvangirai took over as prime minister in February, Dee Joseph has noticed an improvement in living standards. ‘We didn’t have food in the cupboard,’ she says. ‘Now they can even take bread to school.’ 

US cracks down on ‘liquid candy’ drinks

Under guidelines agreed by the US beverage industry with health groups, soft drinks manufacturers have agreed to reduce the measures they sell in schools and provide nutritious options by the start of this academic year

Saudi women face uphill battle in abuse cases

Poles mark Assumption with secular Madonna

Chávez shifts revolution to the big screen

Chinese counterfeit carpets stain market

China’s push for talent tests party values

Kenyan corruption is brought to book

Jakarta’s ecological crisis fails to sink in

Calvin and the work ethic key to modern Geneva’s destiny

Gay Indians seek sexual equality

Why size is everything in China