When Fifa announced earlier this month to a stunned world that tiny Qatar will host the 2022 football World Cup, it signalled the arrival of the Gulf era. Clearly the events in our region have climaxed and caused this titanic shift, changing stereotypes about the insignificance of our region.

For most Qataris, the world's most watched sporting event represents a chance to offer a new image of their homeland and the wider Middle East. "This is not just for Qatar, but for the whole region," Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned, wife of the country's ruler, told Reuters in an interview.

China rallied its diplomatic allies to boycott Friday's Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, lobbied other nations not to attend the event and allowed scholars to announce a rival Confucius Peace Prize. But the diplomatic drive, backed by tough rhetoric from state media and the Foreign Ministry, appeared to have damaged China's image in Western nations, analysts said.

The Atlantic Council of Turkey, which is working to increase public involvement in NATO affairs, gathered analysts from various countries and held its 18th International Antalya Conference on Security and Cooperation to discuss the future of the alliance.

For the second time in six months England have been left crushed by the World Cup. After the humiliation of this summer's 4-1 defeat to Germany in South Africa came another resounding rejection for football's mother country.

Mexico, host of the Cancún climate talks that began Monday, enforced tougher environmental standards in its notoriously dirty capital and vastly improved air quality.

What is the most dynamic city in the post-recession world? Grading each metropolis by the growth of its income* and employment, the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program found that the world's fastest recovering cities are overwhelmingly in three key areas: China and India, Southeast Asian islands, and Latin America. The surprising answer is Istanbul, according to a new report that shows the developing world is leading the way out of the Great Recession.

As India seeks to cement its place as a world leader with its bid for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council , Gallup surveys find India's leadership has work to do on its global image. Its leadership remains unknown to large parts of the world.