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Rumours about Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Al-Said’s health and imminent death had become a staple of political analysis about Oman and the wider region, reflecting his longstanding position as an essential mediator in Middle Eastern conflicts, as well as the architect of his nation’s emergence from a conflicted and backward-looking past. Close observers said that, by mid-December, the 79-year-old sultan had abandoned a planned programme of medical treatment in Leuven, Belgium, knowing it would be futile.

Ahead of the visit of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip, senior Al-Nahyan were busy meeting foreign dignitaries.

Crown Prince Salman Bin Abdelaziz Al-Saud has continued his tour of Asia, flying from Pakistan to Japan for a week-long official visit. On 19 February, he held talks with Emperor Akihito at the Tokyo Imperial Palace, where discussions focused on developing ties. The following day, he held talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the cabinet’s headquarters in Tokyo. Abe has been making a concerted effort to strengthen ties with the Gulf, and is the first Japanese leader to have visited all six Arab Gulf monarchies, having toured the region in September and returned in January to visit Oman.

The UAE has announced its first female ambassadors with the appointment of Sheikha Najla Bint Mohammed Bin Salim Bin Mohammed Al-Qasimi to Sweden, and Dr Hassa Al-Otaiba to Spain.

Prince Mishal Bin Abdullah Bin Abdelaziz arrived in Najran province in mid-May to begin his duties as governor. He appears to be a popular choice, being received by large crowds who lined roads from the airport on his arrival. Mishal, King Abdullah’s son, was appointed following the November dismissal of hard-line governor Prince Mishal Bin Saud Bin Abdelaziz.

Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (MBZ) had talks in Cairo with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on 9 June. The UAE continues to be a major supporter of Egypt, financially and politically. Sisi’s first visit to the Gulf after seizing power from Mohammed Morsi was to the UAE, in March 2014 (it was his second foreign visit, the first having been to Russia the previous month), not long before he declared he would be standing for president.

Sheikh Joaan Bin Hamad’s four-year-old filly Treve won the Qatar-sponsored Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe for the second year running on 5 October. There had been some doubts as to whether Treve was still in contention, but jockey Thierry Jarnet (riding instead of Sheikh Joaan’s principal jockey Frankie Dettori, at the trainer’s request) secured the win for Sheikh Joaan’s Al-Shaqab racing. The race at Longchamp, which Qatar is sponsoring until 2022, is the most richly rewarded turf race in the world, with prize money of €5m ($6.4m) for the main race.

Various princes have begun returning to Saudi Arabia at the conclusion of their summer holidays, including several who had been staying in Morocco with Crown Prince Sultan.

Crown Prince Salman Bin Abdelaziz returned to the kingdom on 16 March following a month-long trip. On 15 February, he went to Pakistan for a three-day visit and then to Japan for a week-long round of meetings, including with Emperor Akihito . Salman then travelled to India on 26 February, and the Maldives two days later. Most recently, he was in China, arriving on 12 March for a four-day state visit. He signed various memorandums of understanding and held talks with Chinese President Xin Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and defence minister General Chang Wanquan.

Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah left the United States late on 26 April after his latest medical check-up

UAE president and Abu Dhabi ruler Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and Sharjah ruler Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al-Qasimi visited the UAE’s Olympic mission at the 2012 London Paralympic Games.

A Saudi citizen – widely reported by the French media to be Prince Abdelaziz Bin Fahd – was carjacked in Paris on 17 August as he travelled to the airport in a convoy said to be carrying sensitive documents and large amounts of money, by some accounts more than $300,000. According to the French media, the prince had left the Four Seasons George V Hotel (which is owned by Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal’s Kingdom Holding Company), and was heading for Le Bourget airport to the north of Paris in a convoy of some dozen cars. French police said between five and eight armed, masked gunmen swooped on the convoy and made the occupants get out, driving away within a matter of seconds.

King Salman Bin Abdelaziz officially launched the Qaddiya culture and entertainment project on 28 April, laying the foundation stone at the site some 40km west of Riyadh.

Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal’s Kingdom Holding Investments (wholly owned by Kingdom Holding Company, KHC) has sold Kingdom 5-KR-182, which owned 50% of the Four Seasons Resort Mauritius at Anahita. The stake has been sold for $40m to Mauritian hotel group Sun Resorts, Kingdom’s joint venture partner in the property. Kingdom retains an interest in the resort, through its 47.5% stake in management company Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts. KHC’s hotel real estate portfolio includes the Four Seasons Hotel George V in Paris, the Four Seasons Hotel in Toronto, The Plaza in New York, The Savoy in London, and the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco.

In the weeks after ordering airstrikes on the Houthis in Yemen, King Salman Bin Abdelaziz Al-Saud has made a number of telephone calls to world leaders. On 17 April, he called US President Barack Obama (who had called him earlier in April to discuss the nuclear deal with Iran ); the White House said that they discussed the United Nations Security Council’s resolution on Yemen, and agreed their “collective goal” was to achieve stability in Yemen “through a negotiated political solution facilitated by the United Nations and involving all parties as envisioned in the GCC [Gulf Co-operation Council] initiative”.