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The overall ranking of Best Countries measures global performance on a variety of metrics

Among 80 countries studied, the first five are: Switzerland, Canada, Germany, United Kingdom and Japan. United States is 8th, Spain is 19th and the first ranked in Latin America is Brazil as 28th. "

Behind a country's wealth and success are the policies that create possibilities, the people that drive the effort and the history that shapes the environment and perspective.

Globalization has expanded a country's presence beyond its physical borders, and the 2018 Best Countries rankings seek to understand a nation's worth beyond hard metrics.

The 2018 Best Countries report and rankings are based on how global perceptions define countries in terms of a number of qualitative characteristics, impressions that have the potential to drive trade, travel and investment and directly affect national economies. The report covers perceptions of 80 nations.

The city of Chefchaouen has hosted this summit, which aims to give visibility to the importance that cities of between 50.000 and one million inhabitants have in global agendas

 Chefchaouen, Morocco.– The 1st World Forum of Intermediary Cities has been held in Chefchaouen (Morocco) on the 5th, 6th and 7th July 2018. The International Observatory on Participatory Democracy (IOPD) has been there represented by different member cities such as Cuenca (Ecuador), Molina de Segura (Spain) and Valongo (Portugal), which have defended the importance of citizens' participation in the definition, implementation and evaluation of city policies. A roundtable and a workshop have specifically treated the citizens' participation in intermediary cities, but the participatory thematic has been transversally treated throughout the event.

A unique chance

Having in mind that Intermediary Cities are each one of them inscribed in their own territories, they offer a unique chance to complete the sustainability agendas through their development.

 Trump Announces Agreement after meeting with Juncker to End Trade War with the European Union

Washington DC, July 26.– President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that he has reached an agreement with the European Union to move forward together toward a “zero tariff” situation, thus avoiding a trade war, after meeting in Washington with the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker.

Trump said that he had reached an agreement with the EU to work together toward a policy of “zero” tariffs and trade barriers, adding that “We are starting the negotiation right now, but we know where it is going” and proclaiming “a new phase” in US-EU trade relations.

Meeting in Singapore last month, US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un captured the world's attention and promised to work towards "new relations". Why have mixed messages followed?   

North Korea is a misfit power. Despite its new-found confidence as a nuclear-armed country, it remains a weak state preoccupied by its very survival.

July 25.– At the end of a US-NK summit billed as an "epochal event", ambitions were set high.

North Korea reaffirmed its commitment to the "denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula", while the US said it would stop "provocative" war games with South Korea.

Things have since taken a rockier path. Although Pyongyang appears to have begun dismantling a rocket site, there have been reports that it is secretly continuing its weapons programme. Meanwhile, Pyongyang has accused the US of "gangster-like" tactics.

So, why has there been a lack of clear progress?