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Candidates vying for a seat in the UAE's Federal National Council will be able to spend up to AED3m ($816,000) in the run-up to voting on 4-7 October, after the National Election Committee (NEC) raised the campaign spending limit from the previous AED2m. In previous elections to the advisory body, most candidates have spent well below the threshold.

Former senior Parastin intelligence agency officer Brigadier General Mohammed Mirza Sindi was killed in Zakho, Iraq's Dohuk governorate, when the car he was travelling in exploded. Parastin has close links to the Kurdistan Democratic Party.

There has been widespread anger in the Gulf and the wider region after copies of the Koran were publicly burned in Sweden and Denmark. Scandinavian authorities have so far said they cannot prevent such episodes as they would be counter to freedom of speech (although they could constitute a hate crime).

Securing workable energy, economic and security relations with Turkey has even greater urgency for Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government as the KRG says it can no longer afford to pay its employees’ salaries due to the closure since late March of the vital crude oil export pipeline.

There has been fresh speculation about the health of King Salman Bin Abdelaziz, after dissident Saudi blogger Mujtahidd claimed the monarch had not attended a cabinet meeting since 23 May and that images purporting to show him at two meetings since then had been fabricated.

Saudi Arabia signed a deal to buy the Akinci combat drone from Turkey’s Baykar Technology, during a visit to the kingdom by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Bayraktar called it the largest defence and aviation export contract in Turkish history.

The Kuwaiti Ministry of Defence had signed a contract with the Turkish government to buy an unspecified number of Bayraktar TB2 combat drones built by Baykar Technology. The deal was said to be worth $367m and aims to strengthen Kuwait's defence capabilities.

The United States has stepped up its military presence in the region, with additional aircraft, naval vessels and personnel being deployed to the Gulf. This has led analysts to suggest that Washington was preparing to deal with a wider range of threats, perhaps in anticipation of a formal collapse in negotiations with Iran to revive the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal.

At least three Al-Saud princes called on UAE President Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (MBZ) to offer their condolences on the recent death of his brother Sheikh Saeed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan.

UAE President Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (MBZ) visited Ethiopia in August for talks with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. The two leaders oversaw the signing of more than a dozen memoranda of understanding and other deals. 

Bahrain's King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa issued a decree appointing a number of senior police and other security officials.

The Saudi economy fell into a recession in Q2, with initial estimates pointing to a quarter-on-quarter decline of 0.1% in GDP during the period, following a 1.4% fall in Q1. While non-oil activity grew, the limits the government has imposed on oil output meant the oil sector contracted by 1.4%.

Ras Al-Khaimah Ruler Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Al-Qasimi held talks with the governor of Oman's Musandam region, Ibrahim Said Al-Busaidi. The talks covered ties between the two regions and followed a visit by Sheikh Saud to Muscat in June. 

Revised June 2023, this map shows football clubs across the globe including information regarding their ownership and financiers.  An accompanying table outlines information on spectator attendance by club and season.  The map is available as a PDF file using eps graphics, meaning that there is no loss of resolution as the file is enlarged.

Grundberg diplomacy: United Nations special envoy Hans Grundberg has been meeting senior figures around the region, in an effort to inject new momentum into the peace process. He was in Riyadh on 9 August where he met Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) head Rashad Al-Alimi, Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik, foreign minister Ahmed Bin Mubarak and Saudi ambassador to Yemen Mohamed Al-Jaber. The following week, Grundberg was in Muscat for talks with Foreign Ministry undersecretary Khalifa Al-Harthy and Houthi chief negotiator Mohammed Abdel Salam.