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Former military officer Sheikh Zayed Bin Hamdan, who suffered serious injuries in a helicopter crash in Yemen in 2017, has become an influential official with a role in some of the most sensitive media and AI dossiers backed by his Bani Fatima uncles.

A fund owned by Abu Dhabi conglomerate Chimera Investments’ Lunate has acquired a 40% stake in Adnoc Oil Pipelines from private equity giants BlackRock and KKR, in a move to take overwhelming control of a strategic local asset.

UAE national security advisor Sheikh Tahnoun Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (TBZ) controls a $1trn-plus investment empire that, mixing private and public funds, is in full expansion mode. Although now widely commented on, the structure of Tahnoun’s business empire and the identities of those individuals who work most closely with TBZ often remain opaque, as is the nature of financial links with his powerful Bani Fatima brothers.

The Saudi government is reportedly scaling back its ambitions for some vastly expensive megaprojects, such as The Line linear city in Neom, in a sign that Riyadh is still struggling to attract the amount of foreign direct investment needed to underpin Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s long-term economic reform agenda, while the UAE leads rivals in drawing in FDI.

The opening of another field hospital in Chad and talk of a ‘foreign legion’ project have led to renewed focus on the UAE’s involvement in the Sudan conflict and Abu Dhabi’s efforts to extend its influence in Africa and other parts of President Mohammed Bin Zayed’s ‘near abroad’

First among equals in the UAE – as well as a major player in an expanding ‘near abroad’ – President Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (MBZ) and his Bani Fatima brothers dominate national politics and business. MBZ and his siblings are among the first in a major series of profiles of Abu Dhabi’s Al-Nahyan family.

More than 1,500 prisoners were pardoned by King Hamad Bin Isa All-Khalifa on 8 April to mark Eid Al-Fitr, a majority of whom appear to be political prisoners.

Ajman Ruler Sheikh Humaid Bin Rashid Al-Nuaimi launched the Ajman Principles document in early March, covering areas such as sustainability, inclusivity, accountability and government agility.

One of the Bani Khaili brothers, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority MD Hamed Bin Zayed has long played a key role in Abu Dhabi’s economic development and also has his own business interests.

Sheikh Hazza Bin Sultan, son of the late Sultan Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan became a member of the advisory board of an Islamic cryptocurrency venture in February 2023.

Sheikh Sultan is a businessman who also served as a presidential advisor under his father the late UAE President Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Bin Sultan Al-Nahyan.

At one stage a young commander-in-chief of the UAE Armed Forces, and later – as one of his  father's favourite sons – accumulating a number of big jobs, Sultan Bin Zayed had a spotty reputation and dropped out of the limelight in his later years.

Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, who died in May 2022, lived through a period of extraordinary change for his country. Born at a time when pre-oil Abu Dhabi was relatively isolated and under British protection, as head of state from 2004 until 2022, Khalifa played a key role in the UAE’s emergence on the regional and world stage – while being progressively replaced in decision-making by his half-brothers, led by Mohammed Bin Zayed.

Sheikha Shamma Bint Sultan, a grand-daughter of the late President Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, has become prominent on environmental issues. This places her in a topical and controversial area following the UAE's hosting of the COP28 summit in November 2023, where it promoted an agenda that was opposed by many climate activists.

Sheikh Zayed was sworn in as the UAE’s ambassador to Qatar in August 2023, two-and-a-half years after the end of the boycott of Qatar by its neighbours.