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King Abdullah: Meetings, Sultan Bin Abdelaziz: Brother gives health update, Princes: Marriages, Salman Bin Abdelaziz: Banquet for Andrew, Khalid Bin Salman: Pilot graduation,Khalid Bin Sultan: Coral study funded

 Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc)’s new 11-member board of directors was appointed on 28 February. Previously, the 16-member Supreme Petroleum Council (SPC) functioned as the Adnoc board, but it was merged into the new and powerful 11-member Supreme Council for Financial and Economic Affairs (SCFEA) in late December. At that point it was said the SPC members would sit on the Adnoc board until a new one could be formed. Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (MBZ) now chairs Adnoc.

The UAE's new National Media Office in Abu Dhabi adds another layer of 'Bani Fatima' reporting to Presidential Court minister Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and chaired by President Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed’s nephew and son-in-law Sheikh Zayed Bin Hamdan Al-Nahyan.

Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan held a brief conversation with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani while both were in Beijing for the opening ceremony of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games on 4 February.

Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khalid Bin Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan approved a package of AED7.6bn ($2bn) worth of housing loans and other benefits for UAE nationals in the emirate in late November.

Abu Dhabi Executive Office chairman Sheikh Khalid Bin Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan visited the  headquarters of Japanese energy company Inpex, which works closely with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) in exploration and production in the UAE.

Foreign minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (ABZ) was in Kenya on 8 June, where he met President Uhuru Kenyatta on the first leg of a regional tour aimed at boosting co-operation and investment. Travelling with minister of state Reem Bint Ibrahim Al-Hashemi and DP World chief executive Sultan Ahmed Sulayem, ABZ went on to Uganda the next day for talks with President Yoweri Museveni, after which the two countries signed a double tax avoidance agreement.

UAE foreign minister Abdullah Bin Zayed was among world leaders taking part in a huge unity rally in Paris on 11 January, following the attack on Charlie Hebdo. Other international politicians there included French President François Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, UK Prime Minister David Cameron and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. Middle Eastern representatives were Bahraini foreign minister Sheikh Khalid Bin Ahmed, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Algerian foreign minister Ramtane Lamamra. Saudi Arabia sent minister of state for foreign affairs Nizar Bin Obaid Madani.

A flurry of announcements by GCC leaders about energy transitions and industrial strategies suggest major shifts are under way, if not always at the pace that global consultancies, uncritical media and ruling family boosters claim. As they emerge from the coronavirus pandemic and seek an exit from the Yemen war, core royal leaderships are applying a distinctly top-down approach to centrally plan their way towards a new global role.

Foreign minister Abdullah Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (ABZ) had a visit from his Canadian counterpart John Baird in mid-November, the latest chapter in concerted efforts to strengthen ties between the two countries. They held a bilateral meeting at the foreign ministry on 13 November and attended a panel hosted by the UAE-Canada Business Council to celebrate its establishment. The council aims to promote direct foreign investment, support small and medium enterprises, and says it will “evaluate opportunities of joint co-operation between the two sides, as well as others in the Middle East and North Africa”.

Foreign affairs and international co-operation minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan travelled to South Africa to co-chair the second session of the UAE-South Africa Joint Commission in Pretoria on 23 October, alongside his local counterpart Lindiwe Sisulu. The two ministers also held bilateral discussions and signed a memorandum of understanding on social development.

Foreign affairs and international co-operation minister Abdullah Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (ABZ) has continued what increasingly looks like a world tour. Following visits to a number of Asian countries, he arrived in Canada, where he held talks with foreign affairs minister Chrystia Freeland and national defence minister Harjit Singh Sajjan on 29 May. A deal to give UAE citizens visa-free access to Canada was announced following a meeting with immigration, refugees and citizenship minister Ahmed Hussen.

Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan was in London for talks on 25 October with British Prime Minister David Cameron. Foreign minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan has been on a tour of Asia. In Vietnam, he held talks with President Nguyen Minh Triet, prime minister Nguyen Tan Dung and foreign minister Pham Gia Khiem.

Foreign affairs and international co-operation minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan inaugurated the new UAE embassy building in Dakar, Senegal on 5 March. He was accompanied on the trip by minister of state for international co-operation Reem Bint Ibrahim Al-Hashimy. Among the local dignitaries on hand were Senegalese foreign affairs minister Sidiki Kaba and culture minister Abdoulatif Coulibaly.

General Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (MBZ), the crown prince of Abu Dhabi and deputy supreme commander of the armed forces, has already taken on day-to-day presidential duties, as the health of UAE President Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan deteriorates. It has long been assumed that the presidency will be his on his half-brother’s death. The first president of the UAE, MBZ’s father, Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al-Nahyan, made clear his intentions when he named MBZ deputy crown prince in 2003; when Sheikh Zayed died the following year, Sheikh Khalifa became ruler of Abu Dhabi and MBZ his heir.