A few days ago Saudi Arabia and a host of other Arab countries issued a steep list of demands to Qatar in order to end the ongoing diplomatic crisis. In other news around the Middle East featuring Saudi Arabia, the President of Egypt -- Abdel Fattah al-Sisi -- ratified an agreement to hand over two islands in the Red Sea.

What are the demands that have been issued to Qatar?

The 13-point list of demands that Qatar received from Saudi Arabia and the other Arab countries features a number of actions that the small Persian Gulf country must take. Kuwait, which is acting to mediate the diplomatic crisis, presented the list to Qatar on Thursday.

Qatar now has 10 days to meet all the demands. They must also pay an unspecified amount of money as compensation to meet one of the demands.

Included in the list of demands, Qatar must shut down news network Al-Jazeera, cut back their diplomatic ties with Iran, cut all ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and end Turkey's military presence in their country. They must also stop funding for any people or groups designated as terrorists by America, Saudi Arabia and other countries. They must stop granting citizenship to wanted nationals and hand over any such people from Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. They must also cease contact with political opposition in these countries and align their interests with those of other Gulf nations.

This list includes conditions that Qatar previously said it would not meet, with the country saying that they will not negotiate until the blockade against them is lifted. It is also likely that Qatar will argue that their sovereign affairs are being dictated by outside forces due to such far-flung demands.

What islands did Egypt hand over?

Egypt ratified an agreement with Saudi Arabia to give them sovereignty over two uninhabited islands in the Red Sea. The agreement is important, as Saudi Arabia is a key ally of al-Sisi's Egypt. However, the issue has hurt him politically, as street protests broke out over the issue last year and the courts in the country disagreed with the decision.

However, the court decisions were overruled by Egypt's parliament and al-Sisi.

Transferring control of the Tiran and Sanafir islands was an agreement that the two sides came to last year, with the deal being a source of tension for both countries. Since al-Sisi became President of Egypt after the 2013 coup d'etat, Saudi Arabia has given Egypt billions of dollars in aid money.