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Numerous Gulf royals were among the 1,700 guests at the wedding of Jordan's Crown Prince Al-Hussein Bin Abdullah II to Rajwa Al-Saif of Saudi Arabia in Amman – although it was notable that members of the Al-Saud family were absent from any of the official photos released from the celebration.

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its Opec+ allies agreed an agenda for H2 2023 at the cartel's 4 June ministerial meeting in Vienna.

Amid a waning consensus over strategy, the Opec+ meeting in Vienna in early June broke up with Saudi Arabia making a unilateral output cut of 1m b/d, reflecting Riyadh’s determination to shape market forces and bolster prices. The UAE was also handed a higher production quota, but several other members were left unhappy at an unwelcome squeeze on their future production.

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan secured a third term as Turkey's president in late May, despite significant weaknesses in the domestic economy and a stronger than usual opposition challenge. Gulf leaders quickly called to congratulate Erdoğan and the UAE president was one of the first to do so in person – a sign that, even if they are increasingly reluctant to write blank cheques, they are still keen to do business with a country with significant economic and military potential.

Russia is providing the bulk of Saudi diesel and fuel oil imports, as power generation and wider growth increase domestic demand according to recent industry reports. Saudi officials have argued this trade predates Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, but market data highlight the depth of bilateral relations.

Few doubt Al-Ula would have remained an interesting but little-visited pre-Islamic site in north-western Saudi Arabia without Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) and his multinational advisors. Instead, with their input, the Nabatean site of Medain Saleh has become an ambitious experiment in economic and social reinvention.

Huge art and archaeology projects say a lot about contemporary Saudi Arabia, as Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) pushes ahead with ever-expanding ambitions to remodel the country's economy and society. Major cultural developments in the north-west are emerging as a hub, with big budgets drawing in international institutions, architects, artists and curators, but the changes also provide scope for significant local expression, including for female and younger artists – even as MBS' critics languish in prison, some facing death penalties.

Mohammed Hussein Al-Amoudi was born from an Ethiopian-Yemeni marriage in the early 1940s and moved to Saudi Arabia in the mid-1960s to join relatives. His route to wealth was not dissimilar to other foreigners who joined in the kingdom's boom periods and became associated with senior royals.

Germany’s largest bank Deutsche Bank has been pursuing bankruptcy proceedings against entities in Sweden and the Cayman Islands connected to Saudi-Ethiopian businessman Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Al-Amoudi. The Grand Court of the Cayman Islands had ordered the winding-up of Amoudi Aviation, following a petition submitted one month earlier by Deutsche Bank Luxembourg.

Saudi Arabia's Al-Baha governor Prince Hussam Bin Saud Bin Abdelaziz is likely to be served with a bankruptcy petition from Kuwait's Mobile Telecommunications Company (Zain or MTC) through his legal representatives Millbank Solicitors, after the High Court in London ruled that the telco had "a good arguable case" that the Saudi prince had a place of residence in the UK during the relevant period.

Canada and Saudi Arabia announced that they had agreed to resume full diplomatic relations and appoint ambassadors to each other’s capitals. The move followed discussions between Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the sidelines of last November’s Apec forum in Bangkok.

Iran has appointed Alireza Enayati as its ambassador to Saudi Arabia, following the China-brokered rapprochement between the two Gulf powers in March. Enayati previously served as ambassador to Kuwait, from 2014 to 2019.

Princess Sara Bint Mashour Bin Abdelaziz, wife of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS), launched an education centre for science, technology, reading, engineering, arts and maths, in a rare public outing for the 'first lady'.

Former Italian foreign affairs minister Luigi di Maio was named as the European Union’s special representative for the Gulf region. Critics have questioned his suitability for the role, given the difficulties in Italian-Gulf relations when he was foreign minister.

Saudi Aramco appointed Nasir Al-Naimi as president of its upstream business and Mohammed Al-Qahtani as president of its downstream activities, in a shake-up. Both men will report to group president and chief executive Amin Nasser once they assume their newly-created positions on 1 July.