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The prospect of the UAE vice president gaining control of the influential right-wing newspaper is causing concern among many in the UK’s ruling Conservative Party – and may yet be thwarted by an official investigation. But the prospective deal highlights how Mansour Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan is steadily expanding his international media portfolio, increasing Abu Dhabi’s soft power in the process.

Russian President Vladimir Putin made an unexpected visit to the UAE and Saudi Arabia on 6 December – a rare foreign excursion for a leader who has tended to stay close to home since launching the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Notably, neither Gulf country is a signatory to the International Criminal Court, which in March issued an arrest warrant for Putin over Russian war crimes in Ukraine.

A showcase mega-event has its downsides, even while the climate  talks place the UAE at the centre of the global stage.

A unit of International Holding Company (IHC), an investment company chaired by UAE national security adviser Sheikh Tahnoun Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, was announced as the winning bidder for a stake in Zambia’s loss-making Mopani Copper Mines (MCM) in early December.

Risk grades: Abu Dhabi A1, Dubai A2. RAK’s Russian links: A delegation from the Ural region of Russia visited Ras Al-Khaimah in early November, comprising business owners involved in real estate, engineering services, IT development, food production and investment.

Climate goals: Ahead of the COP28 climate talks in Dubai, the UAE has set out a national action plan to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 – while also remaining a world-leading oil producer.

A 60-year operating licence for the fourth and final unit at the UAE's Barakah nuclear power plant was issued to Nawah Energy Company by the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation. The plant will have a total generation capacity of 5.6GW once complete.

Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum launched a generative artificial intelligence (AI) competition in early November, with prizes of AED1m ($272,000) available for winners of the Global Prompt Engineering Championship.

Emirati Sheikh Rashid Bin Ahmed Al-Maktoum and his British wife Natalie Lankester announced they were expecting a third child. Rashid Bin Ahmed is a professional show jumper, while his wife represents the UAE in dressage competitions; together they run the DXB Horses team. 

A joint venture between United States-based investment firm RedBird Capital and Abu Dhabi’s International Media Investments (IMI) has launched a bid to acquire a pillar of the United Kingdom’s Conservative establishment, the Telegraph Media Group (TMG), which includes The Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph newspapers, and weekly political magazine the Spectator, in a debt-for-equity deal.

The usual dizzying number of civil and military contracts were unveiled at the mid-November Dubai Airshow where, included among the 54 deals signed by the UAE government's Tawazun Council, was an air defence order with the unknown Black Diamond company, which GSN's research suggests is an Israeli venture created after Abu Dhabi's Abraham Accord was concluded.

Sheikh Khalid Bin Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan has attempted to cement his status within the political arena and strengthen his profile among local citizens since he was named Abu Dhabi’s crown prince on 29 March, in a move which put the 41 year-old first in line to succeed his father, President Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (MBZ). 

Former UK Prime Minister David Cameron made a surprise return to the British government when he was appointed foreign secretary. During his time as premier, from 2010 to 2016, he did much to expand relations with the Gulf states.

Tiny Ras Al-Khaimah doesn’t often attract great international attention, except at times of succession change and when its state-owned entities have become caught up in poisonous legal disputes or geopolitical tussles. But the leadership’s recent ambitions for a range of business interests have encouraged renewed focus on the northern emirate. Developments include casino giant Wynn Resorts’ plans for an ‘integrated resort’ with ‘gaming’ facilities, which comes alongside increasing investment from Abu Dhabi, a government pushing hard for the tourist dollar and an emir, Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Al-Qasimi, on the move to raise RAK’s profile. In a Special report, GSN examines RAK’s development plans and provides some historical context. 

Ras Al-Khaimah's efforts to raise its international profile – and bring in investment as a result – was underlined by Emir Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Al-Qasimi’s prominent role in China, as the UAE’s senior representative at the Third Belt and Road Forum in Beijing.