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UAE President Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (MBZ) began the annual process of prisoner pardons to mark Ramadan, by ordering the release of 1,025 inmates. Such pardons are a staple of UAE life, but the number of people pardoned this year is substantially higher than last year.

The UAE has withdrawn from the race to hold the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in 2026 and instead thrown its support behind Qatar’s bid.

A day after his appointment to the Mubadala board, Sheikh Theyab Bin Mohammed Al-Nahyan gained another role when his father UAE President Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (MBZ) appointed him to chair the newly-established Abu Dhabi Transport Company.

While America and Europe continue to present a united front in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine, the UAE’s more ambivalent stance continues to cause concern in western capitals – and has the potential to undermine, or at least complicate, the country’s diplomatic and commercial relations with the United States and its allies.

Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) states are reshaping their regional outlook, as transactional relationships replace some of the more ideologically-driven approaches taken since the 2011 Arab Spring. Former outcasts led by Iran and Syria are being welcomed into Gulf palaces once again, at least in part due to concerns the US can no longer provide a trusted security umbrella. In this rapidly changing environment, Iran could yet emerge as a significant new market for GCC investors.

The UAE’s relationship with Israel – formalised via the 2020 Abraham Accords – is under renewed pressure as a result of incendiary comments by Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, who said that the Palestinian village of Huwara "needs to be wiped out".

The leadership of Abu Dhabi’s two main wealth funds – the $790bn Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia) and the $285bn Mubadala Investment Company – has been reshuffled, with national security adviser Sheikh Tahnoun Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan becoming chairman of Adia and Presidential Court minister Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan taking that role at Mubadala. Their brother UAE President Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (MBZ) had previously been chairman of both funds.

The Central Bank of the UAE said it revoked the licence of Dubai-based exchange house Dollar Exchange due to "serious regulatory misconduct by the exchange house". Before that, it said it had taken similar action against Al-Rasheed exchange house, which had engaged in "serious AML malpractice".

UAE state-owned defence conglomerate Edge Group dominated the contract awards at the latest running of the International Defence Exhibition (Idex) and Naval Defence Exhibition (Navdex) in Abu Dhabi in February.

Major General Pilot Sheikh Ahmed Bin Tahnoun Bin Mohammed Al-Nahyan was named deputy chief of staff of the UAE Armed Forces. He previously served as National and Reserve Service Authority chairman, overseeing the launch of national service for UAE citizens in 2014.

Fujairah Ruler Sheikh Hamad Bin Mohammed Al-Sharqi represented the UAE at the fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries in Doha. Hamad Bin Mohammed, who has ruled Fujairah since 1974, also represented the UAE at the China-Middle East summit held in Riyadh in December.

Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum announced the birth of his third son, Mohammed, in February. Hamdan’s wife Sheikha Sheikha Bint Saeed Bin Thani Al-Maktoum previously gave birth to twins in May 2021.

The relationship between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) and UAE President (since May 2022) Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (MBZ) goes back some way.  However, the two have grown more distant in recent years.

Relations between the two heavyweight Gulf monarchies – Saudi Arabia and the UAE – appear to have succumbed to a renewed period of tension, amid rising economic competition and a growing list of differences over regional diplomatic issues.

The death of Emirati Sheikha Maryam Bint Abdullah Bin Sulayem Al-Falasi was announced in February. She was the mother of Sheikha Salama Bint Hamdan Bin Mohammed Al-Nahyan, the wife of UAE President Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (MBZ).