United Arab Emirates

Turkey's TAV Construction has once again become the world's largest airport construction company in 2015 on the global list released by the Engineering News-Record (ENR), the company announced in a press release on Jan. 4. 

The total contract value of the projects TAV Construction has undertaken so far has exceeded $17.2 billion.

Tensions between Iran and its Sunni Arab neighbors reached new heightsyesterday as Saudi Arabia and its allies cut or downgraded diplomatic ties with Tehran in a row over the execution of a Shiite cleric.

Saudi Arabia opened its embassy in Baghdad after 25 years closed on Jan. 1. It had been closed ever since Iraq invaded Kuwait. 

The White House has delayed imposing new financial sanctions on Iran over its ballistic-missile program, The Wall Street Journal reported on Dec. 31. 

Fire engulfed a 63-storey skyscraper in downtown Dubai on Dec. 31 night, but there appeared to be no injuries, a civil defense official said.

Turkey now boasts more than 100,000 millionaires, making it the Middle East's top country for the wealthy, according to an expert on high net worth individuals.

Andrew Amoils of the London-based New World Wealth predicted that Turkey would see a 60 percent increase in the number of millionaires living in the country by 2025.

Saudi Arabia said on Dec. 28 it was raising petrol prices by more than 50 percent for some products from Dec. 29 as it cuts a range of subsidies after posting a record budget deficit at $95 billion.

Prices will also increase for electricity, water, diesel and kerosene under the cuts decided by the council of ministers headed by King Salman, the official SPA news agency reported.

Dubai plans to raise spending by 12 percent next year, balancing that out with identical growth in revenue, on a budget of 46.1 billion dirhams ($12.6 billion), the government said yesterday.

Muslims must improve the image of their religion, which has been tarnished by the violence of hardline groups such as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Dec. 27, while also slamming archrival Saudi Arabia.

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic on Thursday opened a medical diagnostic center in Novi Pazar, southwestern Serbia.

It is one of three facilities built as a result of the city's good cooperation with the Serbian government and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).