United Arab Emirates

A top Turkish hoteliers association has said around 4 to 6 percent of increase is expected in arrivals from the Middle East to Turkey over this year, particularly ahead of and after the holy month of Ramadan. 

In a written statement on May 5, the Hotels Association of Turkey (TÜROB) said there is demand especially for health tourism from the region. 

Oil-exporting Arab states of the Gulf are heading "in the right direction" to plug budgetary gaps thanks to fiscal reforms, but more change is still necessary, the International Monetary Fund said on May 2.

Turkey's year-on-year trade deficit rose by 15.8 percent in April to over $4.9 billion, according to a preliminary estimate revealed by the Customs and Trade Ministry on May 2.        

German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with Saudi Arabia's King Salman and his successors in her first visit to the kingdom in seven years, saying she pressed them on women's rights, the war in Yemen and other sensitive issues, as reported by the Associated Press on May 1. 

Turkey's foreign trade deficit narrowed by 10.3 percent year-on-year in March, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) said on April 28.        

"In March 2017 foreign trade deficit was $4.492 billion with a 10.3 percent decrease compared with March 2016," TÜİK said.        

Number of tourists from the United Arab Emirates showing interest in Bulgaria's nature and mountain holidays, especially in the Rhodope region, has increased, BNR reported.

It became clear at Bulgaria's pavilion at the biggest international tourist exhibition in the Middle East-Arabian Travel Market held between April 24 and 27 in the city of Dubai, UAE.

Global and regional business and policy leaders will come together at the eighth annual Atlantic Council Istanbul Summit on April 27-28 with the aim of developing ideas and action on the issues of energy, the economy and security.

New Zealand is considering restrictions on laptops and other large electronic devices on flights from some Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East, the country's prime minister said on April 24.

The new rules would follow similar measures introduced last month by the United States, Britain and Australia.

Last week, a huge scandal rocked the Tunisian and Arab scientific and educational world: a PhD student submitted a thesis declaring Earth to be flat, unmoving, young (only 13,500 years of age), and the centre of the universe.

Luxembourg beat Bulgaria 10:4 (3:3, 4:1, 3:0) in a final match of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championship Division III on Sunday qualifying for the Division II events, according to the International Ice Hockey Federation.