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Saudi energy minister Prince Abdelaziz Bin Salman (ABS) has adopted a more prolix and confrontational tone than was often apparent in the many years he has spent as a rare senior Saudi royal energy official – although the 63-year-old official has long been known for having a sometimes-quirky nature.

The foreign ministers of Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE were in Cape Town in early June, as part of an expanded meeting of the Brics group of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

The multi-billion-dollar revamp of Saudi Arabia's domestic football league and the merger of the Saudi-backed Liv Golf with the more established PGA Tour represent the next step in Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS)'s strategy to make Saudi Arabia a central player in an emerging new world order, and himself a popular leader.

His political affiliations in Qatar will be scrutinised thoroughly – although the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF)’s purchase of Newcastle United has set the bar low on whether a buyer is considered an arm of the state – but banker Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Bin Jassim Al-Thani seems to have emerged as the leading bidder for Manchester United Football Club, paying a possible $6bn.

United States secretary of state Antony Blinken visited Riyadh for talks with senior Gulf Co-operation Council figures as well as Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council head Rashad Al-Alimi and Iraqi foreign minister Fuad Hussein.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman left for a state visit to France on 14 June, which will include talks with President Emmanuel Macron on 16 June and leading the Saudi delegation at the New Global Financial Pact summit on 22-23 June. In between, MBS will take part in the 19 June reception for Riyadh’s candidacy to host the Expo 2030 world fair – a project on which considerable resources have already been expended.

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.