Qatar’s brand is now the ninth-most powerful in the world, according to an annual ranking released by UK-based consulting firm ‘Brand Finance’ in 2015. As a progressive country, Qatar, through its visionary leadership, has used many strategies, in particular its soft power, to enhance its position in the international community. 

Kenya said Tuesday it will torch its vast stockpile of ivory at a star-studded summit to include Hollywood celebrities, presidents and business leaders against "poaching and illegal trade in ivory." […] "Kenya plans to use the occasion to torch as many as 120 tons of ivory [...] as proof of our commitment to zero tolerance for poaching and illegal ivory trade,
" presidential spokesman Manoah Esipisu told reporters.

Cuba's tourism industry is under unprecedented strain and struggling to meet demand with record numbers of visitors arriving a year after detente with the United States renewed interest in the Caribbean island.

Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday opened a major exhibition featuring works by Jewish concentration camp prisoners, as she pledged to combat a feared rise in anti-Semitism in Germany linked to a record influx of refugees. The show, "Art from the Holocaust", brings together 100 works [...] by 50 artists created in secret between 1939 and 1945 while they were confined to the camps or ghettos.

The Kremlin is attempting to use soft power, i.e. public diplomacy and pro-Kremlin NGOs to strengthen pro-Russian moods in the Belarusian society. In addition, amid redistribution of languishing Russian state budget, Russian ideologists have stepped up their media efforts to promote their propaganda activity in Belarus.

The British Tourist Authority (BTA) has set out its priorities and how it will structure to deliver on these, following the good funding settlement for tourism in the Comprehensive Spending Review including the new £40 million Discover England Fund and increased funding for the UK Government’s GREAT campaign. 

Australian Minister’s fete is aimed at cementing relations between India and Australia, encouraging tourism with a view to create awareness of India that has awesome tourism destinations and showcase it as a positive country in Australia.

Companies carefully nurture their brand names because they know it affects business: A good name can bring in higher returns. Is it time for countries to cultivate their own brands? In this opinion piece, Wharton marketing professor David Reibstein explains that nations should pay attention to how they are perceived by others.