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Ras Al-Khaimah Ruler Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Al-Qasimi officially opened the RAK Digital Assets Oasis, a free zone dedicated to digital and virtual assets companies. 

The businessman son of Qatari Sheikh Hamid Bin Jassim Bin Jaber Al-Thani, Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, has withdrawn from the race to buy Manchester United Football Club. He failed to agree a valuation in talks with American owners the Glazer family.

In a surprise announcement, the Iranian authorities said that the length of mandatory military service had been cut by three months.  Military service will now range from between 14 and 21 months, depending on the location and mission of a conscript.

Eight years after the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal was adopted, a wave of restrictions on Iran’s ballistic missile programme have automatically fallen away. The US, Europe and others have vowed to keep up the pressure, imposing fresh restrictions on Iran, but the flows of drones and other weapons from Iran to Russia – and perhaps other consumers – seems only likely to increase.

Bahrain's General Sports Authority chairman and Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) president Sheikh Khalid Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa was in Riyadh to attend the opening ceremony of the 2023 World Combat Games, the first time the martial arts event has been held in the Arab region.

Saudi Arabia is reportedly considering buying up to 54 Rafale jets from France's Dassault Aviation. Dassault has built up a sizeable customer base for its jets in the Gulf: Qatar has taken delivery of 36 Rafales, and the UAE has ordered up to 80 of the fighter bombers. 

Sharjah Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Bin Sultan Al-Qasimi named Adel Ahmed Ali Alwan Al-Naqbi as director of the Ruler's Court in Dibba Al-Hisn – a part of the emirate on the Gulf of Oman coast which borders Oman's Musandam peninsula.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has upheld the conviction of France's TotalEnergies and Switzerland-based Vitol for bribing Iraqi officials during the United Nations-run Oil-for-Food (OfF) programme between October 2000 and March 2003.

Iran has discovered its largest-ever dry gas field at Lamerd, in the south of Shiraz province, petroleum minister Javad Owji announced during a visit to provincial capital Fars. The discovery is estimated to contain reserves of 623bcm of natural gas.

Turkish attacks: Türkiye (Turkey) launched a sustained aerial bombardment of Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK) bases in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) in early October, following a suicide bombing at the Ministry of Interior building in Ankara on the opening day of the month, a few hours ahead of the reopening of the Turkish parliament after a three-month summer recess.

Kuwait was one of 15 countries elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council. It will serve a three-year term, starting 1 January 2024, alongside Albania, Brazil, China, France and others. The 47 seats on the council are distributed on a regional basis.

The Palestinian issue has been steadily sidelined in the minds of most leaders in recent years, but that all changed with Hamas' brutal attack on Israel on 7 October and the devastating bombardment of Gaza that has followed. With the death toll quickly running into the thousands and claims of war crimes being levelled against both sides, Gulf governments are scrambling to deal with the fallout.

Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on 9 October that Tehran’s diplomatic relations with Sudan were to resume after a seven-year break, with the reopening of embassies in the near future.

Saladin governor warrant: An arrest warrant was issued by Iraq's Federal Commission of Integrity against a former governor of Saladin province, following accusations of corruption involving contracts for water services in the area. A statement by the commission on 7 October said the warrant had been issued under Article 331 of the Penal Code.

A plan by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) and British major BP to jointly buy a 50% stake in Israel's NewMed Energy, the largest shareholder in the offshore Leviathan gas field, may yet collapse after a panel set up by NewMed to review their $2bn offer recommended a higher price tag.