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Issue 1171’s leading article looks into the multi-billion revamp of Saudi Arabia’s football league. GSN considers this in the context of Mohammed Bin Salman’s attempts to establish himself as a popular leader in the new emerging world order.  This article is accompanied by a graphic displaying various football clubs across the globe with information on their holdings and spectator attendance.  The following politics articles concern political disputes in Kuwait following the election, Tehran’s clamp down on Iranian Kurdish exiles and the Gulf reaction to Erdoğan’s election win.  GSN defence and security coverage explores an Iranian naval commander’s claims that a new coalition of GCC states is forming to patrol the region’s waters.  As the OPEC+ early-June meeting broke up and with Saudi Arabia’s unilateral oil output of 1m b/d, GSN expects the nation will undertake more haggling will take place amongst the cartel. Risk Management reports for this issue concern Bahrain and Iran whilst the GSN View regards the unsteady fiscal path Iraq is taking.

United States secretary of state Antony Blinken visited Riyadh for talks with senior Gulf Co-operation Council figures as well as Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council head Rashad Al-Alimi and Iraqi foreign minister Fuad Hussein.

Kirkuk's location on the boundary between the Iraqi Kurdistan Region and the rest of Iraq has made it a key arena for the rivalry between Erbil and Baghdad. The region’s multi-ethnic character – a legacy of Saddam Hussein's Arabization policy – is likely to be to the fore in the run-up to provincial elections planned for December.

The appointment of the polarising figure of Sheikh Ahmed Al-Fahad Al-Sabah as Kuwait's defence minister in the new cabinet unveiled on 18 June could set the scene for further clashes between parliament and the executive, and could also lead to battles within the ruling family coming back into public view.

Qatar and the UAE reopened their embassies in each other's capitals on 19 June, saying it reflected their interest in strengthening bilateral relations. The decision also includes the reopening of Qatar’s consulate in Dubai.

UAE state-owned defence group Edge has signed a partnership and cooperation agreement with the Brazilian Navy for the development of long-range anti-ship missiles.

There are many reasons for environmentalists to be suspicions about the UAE's stewardship of the upcoming UN Climate Conference COP28, but it could prove a historic mistake for the mostly western critics to underestimate the summit's president-designate Sultan Al-Jaber. While detractors fear the event is morphing into a vehicle for hydrocarbons industry lobbying, the UAE claims it is serious about renewable energy and is recruiting a potentially powerful southern alliance to its side.

The former chief executive of Syria-focused Gulfsands Petroleum is targeting upstream oil and gas assets in Oman, as well as solar power opportunities. A return to Syria remains off the table for now, but Sajjad told GSN that "if the door opens again, we’ll be knocking".

Albania's patience with the exiled Iranian opposition group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK) appears to be wearing thin, following a recent raid on a camp near Tirana.

Bahraini Prime Minister and Crown Prince Salman Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa held a series of high-level meetings with British politicians in London. The visit's most notable public outcome was a commitment for Bahrain to invest £1bn ($1.3) into the UK economy.

The UAE's federal cabinet agreed to set up a Ministry of Investment, with Mohammed Hassan Al-Suwaidi named as the inaugural investment minister. The cabinet also approved a federal law to set up a Financial Stability Council, which aims to underpin stability in the markets and monitor associated risks.

Emirates Water and Electricity Company (Ewec) said it had received four bids to develop the 1,500MW Al-Ajban solar PV plant as an independent power project (IPP). It is Ewec’s third major PV project in Abu Dhabi and will bring the state-owned Abu Dhabi Power Corporation subsidiary's total solar capacity to around 4GW.

Revised July 2023, this map illustrates Kuwait's oil and gas infrastructure.  The locations of onshore and offshore oil and gas fields and pipelines are marked alongside associated infrastructure including oil refineries, gas processing plants, tanker terminals and LNG facilities. An accompanying box displays 2018 governorate populations alongside their governors. The map is available as a PDF file using eps graphics, meaning that there is no loss of resolution as the file is enlarged.

Turkish relations with the Kurdistan Region of Iraq are a focus for GSN 1,174, as the Kurdistan Regional Government attempts to secure workable energy, economic and security relations – and especially to reopen the Iraq-Turkey Crude Oil Pipeline – while President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is expected in Baghdad. The UK's tightening of sanctions on the Iranian regime is put under a critical spotlight, as GSN presents London's new measures and complaints they don't go far enough. Meanwhile, Iran's deal with Russia to obtain combat aircraft seems to have come unstuck – just at a moment when the United States is building up its forces in the Gulf back to pre-Trump levels.  GSN explores the Saudi Public Investment Fund's deal with the US PGA Tour, giving details of the controversial deal and the people instrumental in making it, while GSN view argues the PIF-led economy is not performing to the hoped-for Vision 2030 levels.Energy and Industry leads with GSN’s continued coverage on connections between the UAE and African resources industries – including mining in Democratic Republic of Congo, where state minister for foreign affairs Sheikh Shakhbut Bin Nahyan Al-Nahyan has been promoting Emirati ambitions on the continent.  This issue’s Risk Management Reports are Qatar – with an accompanying map – and Saudi Arabia, where the lacklustre economic performance also discussed in GSN view  is a longer-term concern, but is insufficient to give Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman any immediate political worries. Indeed, his ruthless approach to opposition means that, for now, MBS gets an RMR political risk upgrade.

The United States has claimed Iran is working with Russia to develop a drone manufacturing facility in the Alabuga Special Economic Zone (SEZ) on the Volga river in Tatarstan, some 900km east of Moscow.