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The 88-year-old Saudi monarch has had a series of health scares in recent years, but has recovered from the latest incident according to the Royal Court.

The 1,000-metre Jeddah Tower project ground to a halt in 2018, after about a third of its 157 floors had been completed, amid a crisis at construction giant Binladin Group and shortly after Kingdom Holding’s Prince Alwaleed found himself caught up in the crown prince’s anti-graft campaign. Work is now restarting, with Binladin Group once again signed up for the task.

The barrage of up to 200 ballistic missiles Tehran fired at Israel on 1 October was the latest in a series of escalatory steps taken by Israel and Iran, as a conflict that began in Gaza a year ago threatens to spread across the region. Arab Gulf states have largely been bystanders to the events, but could yet fulfil important roles – by providing mediation, influencing allies and helping to stabilise energy markets.

An eight-bedroom mansion bought for Prince Khalid Bin Salman in 2017 for $12m has been sold after five years on the market. Over that time the asking price for the Washington-area property has been cut from $14m to $11.8m.

Saudi Arabia is said to be considering dropping its unofficial price target of $100/bbl in favour of chasing market share. Concerns around the wars involving Israel and Iran and its proxies could help to sustain oil prices, although there is a risk of a disorderly break-up of the Opec+ agreement between oil cartel Opec and other major producers including Russia.

King Salman Bin Abdulaziz issued a royal order on 19 September approving the by-laws of the King Salman Foundation, a non-profit body focusing on cultural issues.

Three and a half years on from the Al-Ula declaration, which ended the 2017-21 regional boycott of Doha, the number of Saudi visitors to Qatar continues to rise, while Qatar Airways is increasing its services to the kingdom.

The plunging value of the Egyptian pound over the past few years has made deals significantly more attractive to Gulf investors. President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s regime needs the financial support as much as ever.

In decades past, Saudi Arabia used to try and extend its international influence by leveraging its status as the home of Islam’s holiest cities and by funding mosques and madrassas around the world. That strategy often drew unfavourable attention and these days it seems to pay more attention to garnering favourable coverage from social media influencers or hosting sporting events. Might artificial intelligence offer another path to promote its soft power status?

Saudi Arabia is trying to close the gap in artificial intelligence infrastructure with the UAE, by building up its network of data centres, developing more large language models and investing in local AI companies. Many thorny issues still need to be addressed though, including ideas around ‘digital sovereignty’ and the huge power requirements of the sector.

China’s Premier Li Qiang has called for faster progress on free trade negotiations with the GCC during a trip to Riyadh. At the same time, the GCC has been holding trade talks with Indonesia and Turkey, Oman has been pursuing a bilateral deal with India, and the UAE has been making changes to its approach to trade pacts after mixed results from its initial deals.

After a 12-year gap, Saudi Arabia has reopened its diplomatic base in Damascus, although ambassador Faisal Bin Saud Al-Mejfel has yet to take up his post in the Syrian capital.

Prince Fahd Bin Mansour led the Saudi delegation to the StartUp20 summit in São Paulo in September, as part of the host country’s presidency of the G20.

Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman on 4 September led the funeral prayers for his aunt, Princess Latifa Bint Abdelaziz, who had died a day earlier.

In a series of royal orders issued on 29 August, the Saudi monarch replaced the Joint Forces commander and the chiefs of staff of the navy and land forces.