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Qatar is to become the first Arab country in the US Visa Waiver Programme from December, while the UAE has signed up to the US Global Entry Programme.

Three and a half years on from the Al-Ula declaration, which ended the 2017-21 regional boycott of Doha, the number of Saudi visitors to Qatar continues to rise, while Qatar Airways is increasing its services to the kingdom.

China’s Premier Li Qiang has called for faster progress on free trade negotiations with the GCC during a trip to Riyadh. At the same time, the GCC has been holding trade talks with Indonesia and Turkey, Oman has been pursuing a bilateral deal with India, and the UAE has been making changes to its approach to trade pacts after mixed results from its initial deals.

The Qatar Investment Authority has invested $180m in critical minerals investor TechMet to try and ensure future supplies of lithium, nickel, cobalt and rare earths.

Qatar’s ambassador to Bahrain Sultan Ali Yousef Mohammed Al-Khater presented his credentials to Bahrain’s King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa further cementing the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

In late July, just as the UAE was wrapping up several of its latest bilateral free trade deals, a GCC delegation was in Ankara from 29-31 July for the first round of discussions on a free trade deal with Türkiye.  That was soon followed on 1 August by the official launch of negotiations on a free trade agreement between the GCC and Indonesia.

The Doha-based energy company has agreed to take a 20% stake in offshore Block 5 from American major Chevron – adding to an already diverse global asset portfolio.

A dispute between art collector Sheikh Hamad Bin Abdullah Al-Thani and other family members behind the Al-Thani Foundation over the world’s largest cut blue diamond, the Idol’s Eye, is heading for the High Court in London.

Bahrain’s ambassador Mohammed Al-Ghatam presented his credentials to Qatar’s minister of state for foreign affairs Soltan Bin Saad Al-Muraikhi in Doha on 28 July.

The former Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Bob Menendez was convicted on 16 July for accepting cash, gold and other assets, with prosecutors accusing him of “selling his office to the highest bidder”.

The Qatar Fund for Development is providing a grant for the $12m Qatar Square development in Tirana, which will include exhibition spaces, shops and a park.

Role: Minister of state for interior affairs Sheikh Abdelaziz was appointed deputy commander of the Internal Security Force (Lekhwiya) in 2017. In an early-2020 reshuffle, he was promoted to Lekhwiya commander and Ministry of Interior undersecretary.

Sheikh Fahd is the second-eldest son of Father Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani with his wife Sheikha Mariam Bint Mohammed Al-Thani.

Role: Ambassador to the UK Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed was named as Qatar’s ambassador to the United Kingdom on 12 June 2024. It is his second major diplomatic post, having been ambassador to Germany from August 2020, following a long career in business, finance, politics and the military.

Role: Culture minister Sheikh Abdulrahman Bin Hamad was appointed culture minister in the October 2021 cabinet reshuffle.