In Syria, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus in the first high-level Saudi visit to Syria since the start of the civil war in 2011. This comes as Syria’s Arab neighbors are discussing its possible return to the 22-member Arab League and other ways of bringing the war-torn nation out of isolation.

Meanwhile, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are moving forward on restoring their countries’ ties, with plans to reopen embassies more than two years after the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt lifted a blockade on Qatar.