![Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt agreed in January to restore diplomatic, trade and travel ties with Qatar, which had been severed in 2017 [Showkat Shafi/Al Jazeera]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/6N0A8308.jpg?resize=570%2C380)
Delegations from two neighbouring countries meet in Kuwait, weeks after agreement to end diplomatic rift.
United Arab Emirates
![A delegation visits the display of Halcon, a manufacturer of precision-guided systems, during the opening day of the International Defence Exhibition & Conference, IDEX, in Abu Dhabi [Kamran Jebreili/AP Photo]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/AP_21052435394958.jpg?resize=570%2C380)
Major arms makers attended a convention in Abu Dhabi hoping to swing deals with militaries across the Middle East.
![Clearance in the United Arab Emirates is important for Boeing because the country serves as an international air-travel crossroads via hub airports in Dubai and Abu Dhabi [File: Bloomberg]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/boeing-1.jpg?resize=570%2C380)
Local airlines must outline a plan and address concerns before flying the Max in Emirati airspace, authorities said.
![A group of 24 international firms including Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Bechtel and PepsiCo announced they were moving their regional headquarters to the kingdom at an annual investment conference organised by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund last month [File: Maya Anwar/Bloomberg]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/368144579.jpg?resize=570%2C380)
Saudi Arabia has offered firms a package of incentives including tax breaks to urge them to set up shop in the kingdom.
![Eilat's coral beach reserve extends some 1.2km off the city's coast, protecting reefs that are home to a rich variety of marine life [File: Menahem Kahana/AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/000_92R29T.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Experts and activists warn that deal to bring Emirati crude to a pipeline in the Red Sea port of Eilat can cause leaks.
![Etoum lived in Abu Dhabi for five years with his wife and two children where he worked as a school teacher [Ahmed Etoum's Facebook]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/66872_10205431846383373_4972612927306139611_n-1.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
HRW says Ahmed Etoum was sentenced in October solely for peaceful Facebook posts on corruption, inequality in Jordan.
![The deal was seen as a turning point for a club that had gained notoriety for its racist fans and its refusal to sign Arab players [File: Nir Elias/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/2020-12-07T170842Z_1527327320_GM1E92B0EAI01_RTRMADP_3_ISRAEL-EMIRATES-SOCCER-BEITARJERUSALEM.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Questions over the sheikh’s finances have halted his proposed purchase of a 50 percent stake in Beitar Jerusalem.
![Gargash has held the position of foreign minister since February 2008 [File: Waleed Ali/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/2021-02-10T114741Z_1652484081_RC2NPL92EQOE_RTRMADP_3_EMIRATES-POLITICS.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Sheikh Shakhbout will replace Gargash, who was appointed an adviser to UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
![This illustration depicts the UAE's Mars probe. [Alexander McNabb/MBRSC via AP]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/AP_21037752544770.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
The feat makes UAE the fifth space agency in the world to reach the planet while it plans for a Mars settlement by 2117.
![The unmanned missions promise to yield new insights for Earth-bound scientists intent on unravelling the mysteries of the solar system [File: NASA/Handout via Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/2016-05-19T120000Z_893607076_TM3EC5J10N801_RTRMADP_3_SPACE-MARS-HUBBLE.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Deep-space ventures by the UAE, US and China will arrive at Earth’s planetary neighbour this month.
![Communications intercepted by UAE spies included personal reflections, security details, and an itinerary change [File: Steve Marcus/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/2017-07-29T182542Z_1385082113_RC192027B9C0_RTRMADP_3_CYBER-CONFERENCE.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
New York Times says email communications between former US first lady and Qatari royal were surveilled.
![UNRWA provides education, healthcare and other vital services to some 5.7 million registered Palestinian refugees across the Middle East [File: AP]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/b3520c1935864def9612988afdf1acf9_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
The UAE gave UNRWA just $1m in 2020 compared with more than $50m the previous year.
![Qatar filed the case in 2018, a year after the blockade was imposed [File: Mike Corder/AP]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/35a0faffafad4c058993af59e85b7ef8_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
The ICJ upholds objections raised by UAE that the 2017 blockade measures were not racially motivated.
![A woman gets tested before receiving a dose of a vaccine against the coronavirus at St Paul's Church in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, whose economy the International Monetary Fund forecasts will grow by 3.1 percent this year [File: Khushnum Bhandari/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/uae.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
The IMF warns that emerging markets in the Middle East and Central Asia will not recoup 2019 GDP levels until 2022.