United Arab Emirates

Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdurrahman al-Thani arrived in Ankara for talks with the Turkish leadership, after a recent attempt to resolve the ongoing dispute between his country and major Arab powers failed. 

Al-Thani first met with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on Sept 12 before being received by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.  

A Saudi-led bloc of countries hostile to Qatar on Sept. 8 challenged statements by the Kuwaiti emir, denying his mediation has seen progress in finding a solution to the Gulf dispute.

Saudi Arabia as well as the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain cut ties with Qatar in June, accusing it of bankrolling Islamist extremist groups.

The Louvre Abu Dhabi will finally open its doors to the public in November, bringing to the Gulf Mesopotamian artifacts and post-impressionist masterpieces in the first Louvre-branded museum outside of Paris.

Housing 600 works of art, including 300 loaned by 13 French museums for the inaugural year, the Louvre Abu Dhabi is described as the "first universal museum" in the Arab world.

Turkey has been exporting ice cream to a total of 68 countries and four free zones, gaining nearly $204 million in the past 5.5 years.

Two of the world's largest energy producers, Qatar and Russia, on Aug. 30 vowed to increase trade ties at a time when the emirate is facing an economic boycott from neighboring states.

Turkey's foreign trade deficit increased by 82.5 percent in July compared with July 2016, according to official data.

A study of over 3,000 people in 13 countries has found that most of the world think atheists are immoral.

Most interesting of all, is the finding that this perception even exists among atheists themselves.

Five suspected computer hackers have been arrested in Turkey in connection with an attack on the state Qatar News Agency (QNA) in April, Al Jazeera quoted Ali al-Marri, Qatar's general prosecutor, as saying on Aug. 25.

QATAR'S latest act of defiance is likely to cause anger as its damaging dispute with Saudi Arabia and other Middle East countries continues.

Qatar restored full diplomatic relations with Iran early on Thursday and promised to send its ambassador back to Tehran — a move that flies in the face of the demands issued by neighbouring Arab nations.

After two and a half years of war, little is functioning in Yemen.

Repeated bombings have crippled bridges, hospitals and factories. Many doctors and civil servants have gone unpaid for more than a year. Malnutrition and poor sanitation have made the Middle Eastern country vulnerable to diseases that most of the world has confined to the history books.