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Bahrain’s King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa was a surprise absentee from the 18th consultative meeting of Gulf Co-operation Council leaders and the first GCC-Central Asia Summit, both held in Jeddah. The Bahraini monarch in fact sent his son, fast-rising national security adviser Sheikh Nasser, instead.

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.

Gulf Co-operation Council foreign ministers were in Moscow on 10 July for the sixth round of the Russia-GCC strategic dialogue – the first time the meeting had been held in Russia since 2016. Moscow appeared keen to ensure the Ukraine war did not dominate the talks.

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.

Bahrain's government has said it will start issuing a "platinum residence permit" to those who have lived in the country for at least 15 years and have no criminal record. Anyone wanting to take advantage of the visa will need to have a minimum salary of BD4,000 ($10,600) for the past five years in Bahrain.

Gulf leaders have been prominent interlocutors with Russia's President Vladimir Putin in the days since an abortive mutiny by the Wagner Group mercenary force led by Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Budget balance: The government said it is aiming for a budget deficit of less than 1% of gross domestic product in 2024, which will bring it close to the target set out in the amended Fiscal Balance Programme of balancing its books that year. The government originally hoped to break even by 2022, but delayed that by two years during the Covid pandemic.

Bahrain's Royal Endurance Team captained by Sheikh Nasser Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa has been stripped of the Team World Champion title that it had been awarded at the FEI Endurance World Championship 2022 in the UAE in February, after one of its horses was found to have been given the anabolic steroid Stanozolol, a banned substance.

Staff Lieutenant Commander Sheikh Isa Bin Salman Al-Khalifa – a son of Bahrain’s Prime Minister and Crown Prince Sheikh Salman Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa – has completed the year-long Joint Command and Staff Course at the United States Marine Corps University (MCU) in Virginia.

Bahrain said it would send an ambassador back to Lebanon, after a break of some 19 months. Manama had withdrawn its envoy in October 2021, in response to comments by Lebanese information minister George Kordahi in which he was highly critical of the Saudi-led war in Yemen.

The Bahraini government has rowed back on changes to its school curriculum involving Jews and Israel, after criticism from local preachers, Shura Council members and others. While heavily promoted by the government, Bahrain’s normalisation deal with Israel remains deeply controversial among the population. 

Manama has agreed to establish diplomatic relations with two Pacific Island countries, Samoa and Nauru, in late April and May.

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani travelled to London to attend the coronation ceremony of King Charles III on 6 May. Also to attend the service was Bahrain’s King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa, Kuwait's Crown Prince Sheikh Mishaal Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, and Oman's culture, sports and youth minister Sayyid Theyazin Bin Haitham Al-Said. It was not clear who would attend from the UAE or Saudi Arabia.

National security advisor, Supreme Defence Council secretary-general and Royal Guard commander Sheikh Nasser Bin Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa was promoted from major general to the rank of lieutenant general in an order by his father King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa on 30 April.

Bahrain and Qatar said they would resume full diplomatic relations, following a meeting of senior officials at the headquarters of the GCC General Secretariat in Riyadh.