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Umm Al-Qaiwain Ruler Sheikh Saud Bin Rashid Al-Mualla received the first dose of coronavirus vaccine on 10 January. Fujairah Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed Bin Hamad Bin Mohammed Al-Sharqi received his first jab of the vaccine on 13 January.

There was no great surprise when prime minister Sheikh Sabah Khalid Al-Hamad Al-Sabah’s government resigned in mid-January: this had been widely expected amid rising tensions between the executive and the National Assembly (parliament) in the period since the 5 December general election. In a three-stage process, deputy prime minister Sheikh Hamad Jaber Al-Ali Al-Sabah offered the resignation of all cabinet ministers at a meeting with Sheikh Sabah at Seif Palace on 12 January.

Ethiopian authorities said they had foiled a plan to attack the UAE embassy in Addis Ababa. A 4 February Ethiopian Press Agency report cited a National Intelligence Security Service statement that said 15 people were arrested, and arms and explosives seized.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) named Majid Al-Usaimi as its first national ambassador from UAE on 25 January, with a remit to advocate for children’s rights in the country.

Mohamed Mahmoud Al-Khaja was sworn in as the first UAE ambassador to Israel, in a ceremony at Al-Watan Palace in Abu Dhabi on 14 February in front of federal vice president and prime minister and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum and presidential affairs minister Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan.

Sultan Haitham Bin Tariq Al-Said’s wife Ahad Bint Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Busaidi made one of her rare public interventions on 24 February, when she issued a message paying tribute to those working in the education sector on Teachers’ Day.

An Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation (AGCFF) delegation visited Basra in early April to review preparations the 25th Arabian Gulf Cup, which is due to be held in the southern Iraqi city later this year.

The Ministry of Defence signed a memorandum of understanding with the Jordanian government covering military co-operation and industries on 14 April.

Qatar and the Republic of Equatorial Guinea – one of sub-Saharan Africa’s largest oil producers and least tolerant polities – signed a joint statement to establish diplomatic relations on 9 April, in a ceremony at the headquarters of Qatar’s delegation to the United Nations.

The founding father of the UAE, the late President Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al-Nahyan has had his name given to an airport in north-east Albania. 

Hassan Khomeini, a grandson of the leader of the 1979 revolution the late Rahbar (Supreme Leader) Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, is reported to have decided not to compete in the June presidential elections, after Rahbar Ayatollah Ali Khamenei asked him not to run.

Jeddah governor Prince Mishaal Bin Majid Bin Abdelaziz was appointed an adviser to King Salman Bin Abdelaziz with the rank of minister, in a royal order issued on 15 April.

Saudi Arabia has unveiled the masterplan for its huge cultural project at Al-Ula, which has been costed at $15bn.

Louvre Abu Dhabi has bought 27 works in the past year. 

Princess Noura Bint Mohammed Bin Abdullah, a great-granddaughter of King Faisal, told Arab News in late May about her work in creating Adhlal (mentors/patrons), a platform to help young Saudis get into the design industry. Adhlal is building a learning and development section to promote local designers.