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General president of Youth Welfare and head of the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee Prince Abdullah Bin Musaid Bin Abdelaziz was in Baku on 12 June to attend the opening ceremony of the 2015 European Games. He also attended an official lunch hosted by Azeri President Ilham Aliyev, who visited Saudi Arabia in April, and on 13 June had talks with him. Abdullah Bin Musaid, whose official roles have increased his prominence since 2014, was last in Azerbaijan in April, to sign an agreement on holding the Islamic Solidarity Games there.

Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah hosted Qatar’s deputy prime minister and minister of state for defence affairs Khalid Bin Mohammed Al-Attiyah for talks on 21 January. While in Kuwait, the Qatari minister also held meetings with prime minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah and first deputy prime minister and defence minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Sabah Al-Ahmad. Earlier in the month, Sheikh Nasser had travelled to Bahrain for a meeting with Crown Prince Salman Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa on 10 January.

With many of the Saudi ruling generation ailing, as well as aged, attention is again turning to potential candidates for top jobs among Ibn Saud’s grandsons. GSN has long monitored developments within the Al Saud pecking order, but working out who will be allocated the most senior roles in the next decade remains an inexact science. However, it is possible to identify some of the ‘younger’ royals for whom greater prominence beckons

Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Nayef performed funeral prayers on 25 April at Imam Turki Bin Abdullah mosque in Riyadh for Prince Nasser Bin Sultan Bin Nasser Bin Abdelaziz who was killed in a car accident. The prince was one of several sons of Prince Sultan, who is patron of the Riyadh cricket league and sponsors the Prince Sultan T20 Cup.

King Abdullah Bin Abdelaziz Al-Saud has been diagnosed with pneumonia and needed medical intervention to help him breathe, after being admitted to hospital on 31 December. In a statement on 2 January, the Royal Court said that “following the necessary medical tests, the medical team detected pneumonia, a matter that required a tube to be temporarily fitted to help breathing. The procedure was successfully carried out Friday evening (2 January).” The Saudi monarch – who is about 90 years old – has been known to suffer from respiratory problems, and has at times used an oxygen tube to assist his breathing

Emir: Diplomatic meetings, Sherborne promotion, Tamim Bin Hamad: French military co-operation,Kasi Al Thani: In the news again

Sheikh Abdullah Salem Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah has again been drawing unwelcome attention to himself, after a recording of a testy phone call with a vehicle licensing official emerged online. Local media reported that Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah’s grand-nephew is facing an investigation due to his use of “offensive phrases and insults” during a call with Lieutenant Colonel Saleh Al-Rashed of the Vehicle Licensing Sector at the Capital Traffic Department. Al-Rashed had declined to approve the renewal of a vehicle license due to missing documentation.

Defence minister and president of the royal court Mohammed Bin Salman Bin Abdelaziz Al-Saud (MBS) travelled to Manama on 13 April to hold talks with King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa, which focused on Yemen, and Bahrain’s participation in the Saudi-led campaign against the Houthis. The next day, he flew to Cairo, accompanied by culture and information minister Adel Al-Turaifi, where he was received by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, again talking about Egypt’s role in the Yemen campaign. On 19 April, MBS – who, in his role as defence minister has publicly been shown to be taking a lead on overseeing the Yemen campaign.

US publication ARTnews has named Sheikh Saud Bin Mohammed Bin Ali Al-Thani as one of the biggest art collectors in the world in the past 12 months.

The Federal Supreme Council (FSC), made up of the seven emirates’ rulers or their deputies, on 6 November re-elected President Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan to a fourth five-year term as head of state. With predictably no mention of the infirmity Sheikh Khalifa has suffered since a stroke in January 2014, the FSC’s statement said the council had “deep confidence” in the president’s “wise leadership”. It “wished him good luck to continue the journey of development and prosperity.”

King Abdullah: Reaching out in the United States, CP Sultan: Meets Orange prince, Bahraini King, Princes: Marriages, travel, Princes Adila: Healthcare

Prince Mohammed, who during the reign of his father King Saud was a favourite to succeed him, died in early July. Born in the 1930s, he had a long career in government, serving as royal chamberlain and diwan head in the 1950s and defence minister in the early 1960s. He was Baha Province governor for some two decades before stepping down in August 2010 (GSN 884/8, 849/5).

Prince Saud Bin Abdelaziz Bin Nasir, jailed for murder in the UK, is likely to be flown home by the end of the year as part of a deal by British officials, according to The Times newspaper. He is one of 11 Saudis in British jails who can now seek transfers home.

King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa travelled to the Moroccan capital Rabat on 20 January for what was described as a “private visit”. He was welcomed by Crown Prince Moulay Hassan Ibn Mohammed Al-Alaoui and went on to meet King Mohammed VI on 23 January, when the two monarchs reviewed bilateral ties and their potential expansion. Hamad returned home on 24 January. Foreign affairs minister Sheikh Khalid Bin Ahmed Bin Mohammed Al-Khalifa was also in Morocco, holding talks with his counterpart Nasser Bourita on 22 January.