The list of the most innovative world economies in 2016 is definitely dominated by European representatives, whilst Croatia has also found its place on the upper part of the list. According to this year's Global Innovation Index (GII) among 128 countries which account for 97.9 percent of the world economy, Croatia is on the 47th position.

In comparison to last year Croatia has dropped by seven places on the list in 2016. However, on the last year's list there were 141 countries. This year neighbouring countries of Croatia, Slovenia and Hungary have placed better than Croatia (Slovenia placed as the 32nd and Hungary as the 33rd). Croatia is followed by other countries of the former Balkan country Yugoslavia such as Montenegro (51st), Macedonia (58th), Serbia (65th), whilst Bosnia and Herzegovina has had the worst ranking on the list in 2016 (87th).

The Global Innovation Index is a project of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Cornell University and Insead Business School. In forming the list of economy innovation several areas have been taken into consideration such as a development of infrastructure, stability of institutions, market and business sophistication, creative production and research. Croatia has placed as 42nd in the stability of the institutions.

According to the Global Innovation Index this year Croatia has the worst ranking in the category of market sophistication (73rd) which includes the access to finance, protection of investors or the number of projects financed by risk capital. ''The result of this research is not surprising if we compare Croatia to other neighbouring countries and comparable economies'', commented Zdeslav Santic, the chief economist at Splitska Banka.

Among the TOP 10 most innovative world economies 8 countries come from Europe. The list is topped by Switzerland which ''defended'' last year's title, followed by Sweden and Great Britain. From non-European representatives on the TOP 10 list are the US which placed as the 4th and Singapore which ranked as the 6th most innovative economy in the world.

Summer season is over? Not in Culture club Revelin! Just the opposite: now it's the time for the biggest names and the most attractive programs. Tomorrow night is reserved for the most controversial DJ these days – Claptone.

The man with a golden bird mask has published his first album last year. His global hit is the remix of the Grammy awarded jazz legend Gregory Porter, who was also performing at Dubrovnik last year. ''Liquid spirit'' was frequently played at BBC Radio one and it was one of the most popular songs at Ibiza, where Claptone got the award for the best producer last year.

On Friday, 26th of August, big German DJ star is coming to Dubrovnik for the third time. Audience will welcome him with much love, especially because he just recovered from the hard injury which he got when he fell of the page in February. DJ that was nominated for Grammy, who travels around the world about 15 times a year, is used to perform in front of million of fans! He said it more than once: he loves to come to Dubrovnik and we are sure that Revelin will be full again.

The first weekend of September brings the project ''The Weekend'', which will host the team of one of the most famous discography houses in the world, Toolroom records. Here are the names that represent them: Technasia, Prok&Fitch, Weiss and Pete Griffiths.

Joe.co.uk, one of Britain's leading websites has recently placed the Croatian national flag on the TOP 10 world's best flags list.
The British website which has millions of monthly readers and over 3.6 million fans on Facebook, has made a list of ''10 flags objectively the best in the world.''

Jonny Sharples, who describes himself as somebody who scored 197 out of 197 on Sporcle’s Flags of the World quiz on several occasions and a member of the Flag Institute, ranked the Croatian flag as the 9th best in the world.

“Think back to Euro ‘96 or France ‘98 and what comes to mind? Oh, you said Gazza’s goal against Scotland and Michael Owen scoring against Argentina. Awkward. I actually wanted you to remember Croatia’s amazing checkerboard kits, which were all thanks to the coat of arms on their flag. Actual flag fact: The shields on the coat of arms are taken from the ancient arms of Croatia, Dubrovnik, Dalmatia, Istria, and Slavonia”, Joe.co.uk described the national flag of Croatia.

The ''best in the world'' title went to Papua New Guinea. With the “flag fact” that the flag of Papua New Guinea was designed by a 15-year-old. The winner was followed by the Democratic Republic of Kongo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Marshall Islands, Vanuatu, Panama, Swaziland, Mozambique, Croatia and Cyprus which placed as the 10th on the world's best flags list published by Joe.co.uk.

Last month, the Croatia Airlines' CEO, Kresimir Kucko, said that foreign carriers didn't show any real intention in acquiring a stake in the company, despite initial interest from Turkish Airlines. Unfortunately, the situation hasn't changed since.

According to the aviation advisory company Ishka, which analysed the carrier's business, it seems that national carrier will remain on its own, "Any expansion plans will undoubtedly require cash and a willing strategic investor. It appears increasingly likely that Croatia Airlines is going to have to try and manage its expansion plans without the assistance of a strategic partner''.

Even though a privatisation process of the national airline was started three years ago in 2013, it is becoming more than obvious that any progress in its sale will not be made by the end of this year. But despite the situation Croatia Airlines has initiated plans to expand its operations without a strategic partner.

The carrier has also decided to expand its fleet and destination network in 2017 by opening several new bases across the Balkan region. However, the carrier's advisory company Ishka believes that without impetus of external capital Croatia Airlines will face many difficulties and additional pressure with the arrival of new aircraft and with the launching of new routes. The Croatian national airline plans to buy four to six regional jets in 2017 and has ordered four A320neos, two of which are to arrive in 2021 and the other two in 2022. The new aircraft are expected to replace the existing A319 and A320 fleet as they retire.

Going ''under the knife'' and fillers are no longer in fashion. The power of Mother Nature with all its benefits is the new Botox as people are now looking to revive themselves and connect with the earth.

Croatian women have recently gone crazy after a natural Botox from Zagorje in the Krapina-Zagorje County which costs only 70 Kunas. Maybe this sounds like a big joke but in the picturesque village of Konjscina not far from Marija Bistrica lives the Curis family who produce creams made of honey bee venom, according to a recent report on Croatian television.

Made by a secret recipe from New Zealand this cream ''will iron your skin beyond recognition,'' claim the members of this family business.

''Many young girls and women would like to look more beautiful than they already are but the bee venom (toxin melittin) does not work the same day as a filler because the literature teaches us that the venom boosts the production of collagen in the skin thus smoothes and tightens the skin'', explained the beekeeper Ivan Curis.

Members of the British Royal Family are also known as fans of this magical cream. The UK newspaper The Daily Mail reported that “The Duchess of Cambridge and Duchess of Cornwall are already fans of bee venom.” However the wonder bee venom costs considerably more in the UK, £150 for a 50-millilitre pot.

Everybody wants to go to Croatia! Telegraph has shared results of the comprehensive analysis of Google data made by the website teflSearch. They looked at queries made between July 2015 and July 2016 from more than 80 countries in 52 languages to produce a series of maps that reveal the holiday wish lists of various nationalities.

Surprised or not, Croatia is on the top! The website put a title ''Everyone agrees, you can't beat a cheap beach'' on the results.
- Turns out we're not so different after all. The top 5 most popular locations are all hot countries known for great beaches and ability to take a holiday without breaking the bank – writes the site teflSearch.

This is the list of the most countries according to their results:

    Croatia - 2.71%

    Greece - 2.54%

    Thailand - 2.47%

    Turkey - 2.47%

    Spain - 1.99%

    Italy - 1.90%

    Cuba - 1.85%

    Portugal - 1.66%

    Malta - 1.65%

    United States - 1.65%

Everybody dance now! Yes, it might sound like the title of a dance hit from the eighties but it is in fact the name of the 2016 Dubrovnik Tap Festival. Tonight at 9.00pm in the Jadran Cinema in the heart of the historic Old City centre.

The Dubrovnik Tap Festival and this will be the fourth year the event has been held, is organised by the Dubrovnik dance group, Step n Jazz. And the organisers stated that they “aim to provide this part of Europe with top international tap lectors as well as to open our doors to any tappers wishing to visit our beautiful city.”

This year’s event features some of the leading lights of the tap world, including Chloe Arnold, Michelle Dorrance, Sarah Reich, Maud Arnold, Avalon Rathgeb and local tap dancers.

Tickets are available on the door and cost 100 Kuna.

According to data from the European statistics office the industrial production in the European Union and in the eurozone recovered in June after a sharp decline in the previous month, whilst a slight increase was also recorded in Croatia.

Seasonally adjusted industrial production in the EU in June increase by 0.5 percent in comparison to May when it plunged by 1.1 per cent, according to calculations by Eurostat. The eurozone also recorded a recovery of the industrial production in June which grew by 0.6 percent, after a 1.2 percent drop in the previous month.

Among the EU countries which had the biggest increase in industrial production in June were Ireland (7.1%), followed by Bulgaria (3.9%) and Greece (3.8%). Croatia had the lowest positive rate of production growth among the EU member countries. A decline in industrial production in June was recorded in Estonia (3.1%), Hungary (2.3%) and Malta (1.6%).

In the EU and in the eurozone the most powerful production was recorded of capital goods (1.4 %), whilst the production of consumer durables increased by 1.3 percent. The energy production fell by 3.1 percent in the European Union and 3.5 percent in the eurozone.

According to more data available from Eurostat among the EU countries with the biggest increase in industrial production on annual basis in June were Latvia (7.9%), Greece (7.6%) and Slovenia (6.1%). Croatia recorded an increase of 4.1 percent in June thus it was in a group with Bulgaria and the Czech Republic which had an increase of 3.9 percent whilst Finland recorded an increase of 4.3%. The biggest decline in the industrial production on an annual basis in June included Malta (8.5%), Estonia (4.6%) and Sweden (3.1%).