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Minister of the Saudi Arabian National Guard Prince Miteb Bin Abdullah Bin Abdelaziz flew to Paris on 13 June for an official visit in which he was due to hold talks with French President François Hollande and defence minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.

London’s High Court is preparing for a high-profile case due to start in February, involving two Saudi royals: businessman and Allegiance Commission chairman Mishaal Bin Abdelaziz and his son Abdelaziz (Apex Global Management Ltd v FI Call Ltd, Global Torch Ltd, HRH Prince Abdelaziz Mishaal Bin Abdelaziz Al-Saud, Emad Mahmoud Ahmed Abu-Ayshih, HRH Prince Mishaal Bin Abdelaziz Al-Saud, GSN 947/6). The defendants are accused of funding Hizbollah and spent months trying to have the case heard in secret based on the argument that they were entitled to sovereign immunity (GSN 943/9) and that a public hearing would damage Saudi relations with Britain and the US (GSN 941/7).

A young Al-Thani, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid, laid out his plans for a new Arab and Islamic art institute in New York in an interview with The Art Newspaper in March Sheikh Mohammed hopes to open the 2,500m2 cultural space in May in downtown Manhattan. It will host exhibitions travelling from the Arab and Islamic worlds. Shows will be held on a quarterly basis at the institute, which will run a residency programme and will produce publications.

Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani met Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on 23 April, during the latter’s three-day state visit to Qatar. Following the meeting, the state news agency QNA said a number of memorandums of understanding (MoUs )were signed, namely an agreement on economic, commercial and technical co-operation; an agreement on “the encouragement and mutual protection” of investments; an agreement on co-operation in the legal field; an agreement on the avoidance of double taxation and prevention of income tax evasion

Sweden’s Cassandra Oil, which recycles hydrocarbon-based waste, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Tomorrow Environment Company (Teco), which belongs to Prince Faisal Bin Miqrin Bin Abdelaziz. A joint venture company will be formed to process oil waste products relating to Teco’s licence with Saudi Aramco. Prince Faisal’s father is the former deputy crown prince Miqrin. Faisal has been in business for many years.

Federal Vice President and Dubai Ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum (MBR) used a 29 February visit to Fujairah to unveil a Dh7bn ($1.9bn) spending on infrastructure projects, which the state Emirates News Agency (Wam) said included approvals worth Dh5bn in the next five years for new residential complexes (12 compounds providing homes for 42,000 people), as well as roads (including the extensions of Emirates Road to the Ras Al-Khaimah ring road and Khatm Al-Milaha road to Fujairah), schools, health centres and government buildings. Communicating via Twitter, MBR said he was there to “review the development projects of three ministries”, and that “the government will closely follow-up on all sectors and infrastructure [which was] at the top of its agenda to provide decent living conditions for citizens”.

Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Al-Said celebrated his 45th anniversary on the throne on 23 July – the day he overthrew his father in a coup in 1970 and now known as Renaissance Day in the country – but he remained out of the public eye. Since returning in April from Germany, where he underwent the latest round of medical treatment for what is thought to be cancer, he has kept a low profile, although health minister Dr Almed Al-Saidi recently insisted the sultan was in good health.

Deputy defence minister Prince Salman Bin Sultan has been in Washington, where, on 20 March, US secretary of defence Chuck Hagel hosted an honour cordon to welcome him to the Pentagon. Prince Salman met Hagel on 6 December in Bahrain, but it was his first trip to Washington since taking the post of defence number two in August. On 19 March, he met deputy secretary of state William Burns for discussions on Syria, other regional challenges, and “our shared commitment to further strengthening our security relationship”, according to the Department of State.

Prince Sultan taken ill

Vice-president, prime minister and ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum (MBR) travelled to Paris on 11 June for a three-day visit with an entourage that included Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan and foreign minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan. On 13 June, he met President François Hollande at the Elysée Palace, and attended a reception hosted by the UAE embassy.

Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani travelled to Poland on 4 May for talks with officials including President Andrzej Duda and Marshal of the Sejm (parliament) Marek Kuchcinski. A few days earlier the emir was in Jeddah, to greet King Salman. Back in Doha, he received Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa, in a meeting attended by prime minister and interior minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Nasser Al-Thani. On 10 May he hosted GCC secretary-general Dr Abdulatif Bin Rashid Al-Zayani at the Emiri Diwan.

Qatar’s show jumping team will make its maiden appearance at the Olympic Games after qualifying during the Furusiyya 2015 FEI Nations Cup where they grabbed the sole spot after beating Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The six-member Netherlands-based team included Sheikh Ali Bin Khalid Al-Thani and members of the Al-Emadi and Al-Attiyah families.

Aircraft used by members of the Qatari ruling family are in line for a security upgrade by the United States, after the State Department in late September approved the sale of two counter-measures systems at a cost of around $86m. The systems will be fitted to two of the Amiri Flight’s Boeing 747-800 aircraft, described by the US government as “Head-of-State aircraft”. The Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures (LAIRCM) systems include missile warning sensors and Guardian laser turret assemblies. The main contractor is Northrop Grumman.

Busy as usual; Ever prominent, Al-Abdullah alliance; Marriage to KBS daughter; Kuwait visit; Funerals of prominent mothers; Marriages in the cadet branches

Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (MBZ) went to Doha on 28 November at the invitation of Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, a significant meeting given that MBZ, the de facto ruler of the UAE, is thought to be the driver of anti-Brotherhood, anti-Qatari feeling in the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC). The two men had seen each other at a wider meeting in Riyadh 12 days before, which officially marked the end of the GCC spat between Qatar on one side and the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain on the other, but nonetheless, the solo visit gave Qatar the opportunity to lay on appropriate pomp and show there are no hard feelings.