Search results

The UAE's early September announcement that it had set up a federal gambling regulator is a further sign of how the competition between regional economies is pushing them to diversify into areas that would previously have been regarded as too sensitive or even taboo.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman stopped in Muscat on 11 September on his way home from the G20 summit in India. Although billed as a "private visit" he arrived with a large delegation and held talks with Sultan Haitham Bin Tariq Al-Said, covering the Yemen war, Iran and trade.  

Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani flew to Guyana on 12 September, meeting President Irfaan Ali and overseeing the signing of economic and legal agreements. Ali was in Doha in May to open an embassy and discuss investment opportunities.

Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Iran Abdullah Bin Saud Al-Anzi arrived in Tehran on 5 September to assume his official duties. On the same day, his Iranian counterpart Alireza Enayati arrived in Riyadh to start his work there.

Saudi King Salman Bin Abdelaziz travelled from Jeddah to the new northwestern city of Neom on 1 September. He chaired a cabinet meeting in the city on 5 September. The ruler spent an extended period in Neom in 2020 and 2021. 

Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah travelled to Italy early September on what officials described as a "private visit". The ruler was in Italy in March and June this year seeking medical treatment. 

Saudi Prince Fahad Bin Jalawi Bin Abdulaziz Bin Musaed was named president of the International Camel Racing Federation (ICRF), during a general assembly held in Taif. He will hold the position for five years.

New deputy governors were appointed for both Bahrain's Northern and Southern governorates, in a decree by King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa. Both have been appointed for four-year terms.

It is almost a year since 22-year-old Mahsa Amini was arrested in Tehran for failing to adhere to Iran's strict dress code for women. She died in police custody on 16 September, prompting nationwide outrage which soon morphed into the "Women, Life, Freedom" protest movement. The Iranian government has been nervously preparing for the anniversary of Amini's death, by targeting protestors and their supporters.

The high-profile campaign to make Saudi Arabia a global power in football, golf and other sports has, in many ways, eclipsed the state's domestic spending – which conventional policy wonks might say should be of greater importance to the 22m population – but the activities of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS)'s prized Public Investment Fund (PIF) over the past few months tells an equally important story.

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.

Bahrain's Sheikh Abdullah Bin Ahmed Bin Abdullah Al-Khalifa was named chairman of the Board of Trustees of the King Hamad Global Centre for Peaceful Coexistence, in a royal decree issued by King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa.

The UAE and India agreed to do more trade in their own currencies, rather than the US dollar, in a memorandum of understanding signed mid-July during an official visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Abu Dhabi – the Indian leader's fifth trip to the country in the past eight years.

Sultan Salmeen Saeed Al-Mansouri was named as Qatar's new ambassador to the UAE, in a decision by Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani.

Commerce spoke louder than diplomacy when the state-owned QatarEnergy announced a ten-year deal to supply condensate to the Dubai government-owned Emirates National Oil Company (Enoc). It represents the first major commercial deal since the two Gulf Co-operation Council partners (or mainly, in recent years, rivals) agreed in June to reopen their respective embassies.