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Regional attention is focusing on the assistant interior minister as a serious contender for the Saudi throne following his narrow escape from a terrorist attack, writes Sultan Sooud Al-Qassemi*. There has been an unusual development in the much-debated topic of the Saudi succession,

Like Iraq’s air force, the country’s military helicopter force became a politically sensitive issue after the fall of Saddam Hussein due to the perception that such forces were extensively used in internal repression. It was arguably General Norman Schwarzkopf’s agreement to let Saddam use his helicopters after the 1991 Safwan ceasefire that sealed the fate of the uprising against him at the end of the 1991 Gulf War. Nevertheless, no modern military can function without helicopters, much less one involved in the most intense counter-insurgency in the region. As a result, the modern Iraqi helicopter force is developing faster than other aspects of the country’s air force.

Bloomberg meeting; Daughter marries

Among this season’s crop of strange, apparently Gulf-related football stories is the case of England’s oldest football league club, Notts County, which was purchased in July by Munto Finance, described as a special purpose vehicle of the unknown Qadbak Investments Ltd. There was immediate speculation that Gulf businessmen or ruling family members were involved – particularly the Qataris – although the club’s board remained coy, saying they did not know the identities.

Prince Mansour Bin Mohammed Bin Nawaf Al-Saud, the 26-year-old son of the Saudi ambassador to London, has died after a sudden heart attack. Deputy Defence and Aviation Minister Prince Abdelrahman Bin Abdelaziz has been on a week-long tour of the Kingdom’s military Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal is reportedly being sued by a member of staff. PetroSaudi International, which belongs to Prince Turki Bin Abdullah Bin Abdelaziz Al Saud, and Malaysian state-owned Malaysia Development Berhad have said they will establish a $2.5bn partnership to invest in oil, gas and real estate projects. British newspapers have reported that Janan Harb, a divorced widow of King Fahd, is to bring another court case against the Al-Saud family

Ajman businessman Sheikh Hassan Bin Ali Al-Nuaimi is said to be close to buying loss-making French fashion house Christian Lacroix

The use of letters of credit (l/cs) by Middle East importers and exporters is increasing due to the harsher risk environment, according to a Dubai-based trade financier. "Traders have faced delays in receiving payments and, in some cases, even lost money in this region in 2008,

The IrAF plans to have 38 squadrons by the second half of the next decade. It currently has eight. Of the 30 unformed squadrons, aircraft orders and training account for 17 squadrons

Demands for the return of Saddam-era jets stranded abroad by international sanctions and a raft of contracts for fighter and training aircraft illustrate the IrAF’s impatience to achieve ‘strategic independence’ by 2020

It was the (literally) hands-on experience of the French-Algerian goalkeeper turned literary icon Albert Camus that caused him to observe: “After many years in which the world has afforded me many experiences, what I know most surely in the long run about morality and obligations, I owe to football.” In the harsh environment of arguably the world’s most high-profile sporting contest, the morality and obligations of a growing number of Gulf royals and businessmen are being tested in the English Premier League. Despite huge adverse publicity, Abu Dhabi’s representative in Manchester seems to be the most successful, and a number of clubs are looking to other Saudis for salvation.

The mainstream Shia parliamentary opposition appears to have become sidetracked by marginal and sectarian issues, and is now caught between a tactically astute government and vigorous rivals

UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al-Nahayan has been in Cuba

Seychelles meeting

Exploration successes by a number of small independent companies in Iraqi Kurdistan have inspired investor interest. But scrutiny of the regional government’s unorthodox financial arrangements with its partners shows that political risks remain high, even if the geological risks are lower than first supposed