The inaugural Guardian Cities brand barometer ranks world cities on everything from transport and weather to crime and social ‘buzz’ – and they won't all be pleased with the results.

Anthony Bourdain pays a neighborly visit to the United States' "brother from another mother," the politically complex nation of Mexico, and finds an equally complex type of food. "I think most American’s view of Mexican food is like beans, fried tortilla, melted cheese and some chicken," Bourdain says.

When my guide picked me up at the airport, she told me Bogota is a business city, not a tourist city. While she was an enthusiastic host and seemed to know everything else about her hometown, I had to disagree with her on this one.

Tourism is a money-spinner in Kenya - it is the country's second largest source of income, writes Jamal Osman. Its safaris are world famous, but a recent drop-off in wildlife tourism has given rise to this new type of sightseeing.

When, fifteen years ago, Vladimir Putin was appointed Prime Minister under the ailing Boris Yeltsin, few would have thought that he was to become one of Russia’s longest-serving political leaders in living memory.