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The UAE and Bahrain have agreed a wide-ranging co-operation programme covering diplomacy, economic ties, cybersecurity, education, healthcare and other areas. The announcement was made on 9 November during a visit by Crown Prince Salman Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa to Abu Dhabi, where he held talks with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and UAE Armed Forces deputy supreme commander Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (MBZ).

Sheikh Ali Bin Abdulrahman Bin Ali Al-Khalifa was named as Bahrain’s new ambassador to Saudi Arabia on 4 November.

French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Jeddah on 4 December for a short but busy visit, centred on talks with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) at Al-Salam Royal Palace and a phone call between the two of them and Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati, that was intended to close a damaging dispute between Riyadh and Beirut.

President Bashar Al-Assad welcomed foreign minister Badr Hamad Al-Busaidi to Damascus on 31 January, in the latest sign of GCC states’ interest in strengthening ties with the Syrian regime following Assad’s survival through 11 years of a brutal civil war.

The UAE could conclude negotiations on a trade and investment deal with Indonesia in March, according to officials. The two countries began discussing a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (Cepa) in early September, with a view to eliminating tariffs and increasing investment.

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Yemen have announced that their ambassadors to Lebanon will to return to Beirut, some five months after they were withdrawn over comments by then Lebanese interior minister George Kordahi about the Yemen war.

Royal Court advisor Ahmed Bin Abdelaziz Qattan has racked up more support for Riyadh’s bid to host the Expo 2030 fair, as he resumed his tour of African countries in May.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken was among senior US officials who attended a farewell reception on 13 June for long-serving Kuwaiti ambassador to Washington Sheikh Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and his wife Sheikha Rima.

Kuwait Red Crescent Society secretary-general Maha Al-Barjas was elected vice-president for Asia and the Pacific of the International Federation of Red Cross and Crescent Societies -- the first Arab woman to hold the post.

Bahrain’s King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa received Bahraini-Russian Friendship and Business Society chairman George Al-Zuraikat and vice chairman Anatoly Mitrochin at Safriya Palace in Manama.

Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Argentina’s charge d’affaires to hear Tehran’s protests over a decision to bar five Iranian nationals from leaving Argentina.

Saeed Iravani has been named as Iran’s next permanent representative to the United Nations, taking over from Majid Takht Ravanchi.

Oman drew an audience of international oil companies and others to an event at London’s Mansion House in late July to push green hydrogen (GH2) and other ‘future fuels’ projects.

Abdelaziz Bin Mohammed Al-Wasel presented his credentials as Saudi Arabia’s permanent representative to the United Nations in New York to UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres. Al-Wasel had been serving as ambassador to the UN in Geneva since 2016.

Gulf Co-operation Council countries have pledged humanitarian aid and substantial amounts of investment support to Pakistan amid devastating floods which have destroyed large swathes of agricultural land and left millions homeless.