Never mind that there has been a storm and an earthquake in Japan, that the UK has identified the Skripal poisoners or that another book has come out attacking Trump.
The big news this week is that a Swedish flat-pack furniture store has finally opened in Bahrain.
Yes everybody, IKEA has finally arrived!
It seems about 10 years since it was first mooted.
I have been in a few of their stores and they are so massive that it always struck me that Bahrain was simply too small for one.
However, I guess the businessmen have done their sums and decided it is worth the multimillion dinar investment.
At least they did not add it into a new mega mall – we already seem to have a shopping mall for every 120 shoppers in Bahrain.
One group of people who will not welcome IKEA are the bunch of enterprising individuals who make money collecting goods from the store in Al Khobar and transporting them to Bahrain across the King Fahad Causeway.
For a while I was doing the same, although I was not making money out of it!
I would just pick up things for my wife and friends and bring them across as I had a Saudi visa and a big truck.
In fact, I was such a regular visitor to the Al Khobar store that I not only managed to memorise the network of aisles, I actually knew where the shortcuts were – even if they did move from time to time.
I am hoping the new one in Bahrain will have the same layout, so when we first go we manage to extricate ourselves in less than six hours!
However, the road layout in the area leaves much to be desired and requires attention from the country’s traffic planners.
You have to go down Shaikh Khalifa Bin Salman Highway to Hamad Town, do a U-turn at the roundabout for the BDF Hospital, back up the same highway and then take the slip road for Mina Salman.
The IKEA entrance road is off that slip road. Make sure you don’t miss it! I can already picture the cars reversing back along the highway.
As you come out of the store you are handily close to Manazel, which is fortunate because you are going to need a new screwdriver set, cordless drill, saw, hammer and wood glue.
Make sure you have a good supply of various nuts, bolts and screws and, above all else, you will need a large magnifying glass.
Believe me, I have been building their flat-pack furniture for years! Meatballs anyone?