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PTT Exploration and Production has bought its 10% stake in the offshore concession from Germany’s Wintershall Dea, which now plans to close all its operations in the UAE.

Faisal Bin Saud Al-Mujfel has been named as Saudi Arabia’s envoy to Damascus as formal diplomatic ties are slowly restored, but wider relations with GCC countries continue to be undermined by the flow of illegal drugs to the Gulf from regime-held areas in Syria.

Despite a $10m US bounty on his head, Sirajuddin Haqqani held talks with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan in Abu Dhabi during what is believed to be the Afghan interior minister’s first trip abroad since the Taliban seized control in 2021.

Abu Dhabi Deputy Ruler Sheikh Tahnoun Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan held talks with US national security advisor Jake Sullivan and former president Barack Obama in Washington on 5 June, before travelling to Seattle to meet senior Microsoft figures.

An arbitration hearing between the English Premier League and championship-winning football club Manchester City FC is due to start on 10 June over a policy designed to prevent clubs signing artificially inflated commercial deals with companies linked to their owners. It is only one element in a complicated saga surrounding Abu Dhabi’s financing of a prized soft power asset.

Ajman Ruler Sheikh Humaid Bin Rashid Al-Nuaimi named Marwan Obaid Al-Mehairi as the new director general of the Emiri Court in late May, among a number of other personnel changes at the Ajman authorities.

With great power competition rising between the US and China over the development of artificial intelligence, the major Gulf economies are being forced by Washington to pick a side. The UAE appears to have come down firmly in favour of working with American AI firms, while Saudi Arabia has been divesting its American AI investments and striking deals with Chinese rivals.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company’s decision to buy a 10% stake in Mozambique’s offshore Area 4 concession from Portugal’s Galp, at a cost of some $1.15bn, further positions the Emirate as a growing investor in African gas.

UAE President Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (MBZ) travelled to South Korea in late May for a two-day official visit, during which he oversaw the signing of a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

UAE sovereign wealth funds Investment Corporation of Dubai and Abu Dhabi's giant Mubadala Investment Company have reported growth in their assets under management of 10% or more over the past year.

Dubai has revived plans to turn Al-Maktoum International into the world’s largest airport, pointing to a huge projected upturn in regional carriers’ business in coming decades and the commercial emirate’s determination to counter the challenge posed by regional rivals.

Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) is to develop a 2GW offshore wind project in Bahrain and is also part of the winning consortium for a 1.5GW solar power plant in its home market.

A second natural gas discovery within six months has made the UAE company into the ‘sweetheart’ of the Indonesian exploration sector, but there will be challenges in balancing local expectations with Mubadala’s own objectives.

As the GCC region’s big economic powers vie for global business, Dubai is reviving plans to turn Al-Maktoum International into the world’s largest airport, not least preparing for the challenge posed by Saudi Arabia’s eye-watering aviation strategy. The Dubai megaproject’s revival comes as Riyadh pushes to grab a big slice of the international aviation market – if Saudi carriers can overcome the challenge of securing sufficient planes, pilots and passengers needed to meet the kingdom’s hugely ambitious plans.

Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Nahyan has reportedly struck a multi-billion dollar deal with the under-pressure South Sudanese government, although questions remain about the ultimate source of funds accessed by the Abu Dhabi junior royal who previously raised his profile, in the wake of the Abraham Accords, by taking a stake in controversial Israeli football club Beitar Jerusalem, which soon collapsed.