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Iraq’s newly-appointed Prime Minister Mohammed Shiaa Al-Sudani is a veteran of the post-Saddam Hussein political scene. He was governor of Maysan province in 2009-10 and then served as human rights minister in Nouri Al-Maliki’s administration, from December 2010 to October 2014.

A list of the 22 members of Mohammed Shiaa Al-Sudani's cabinet, covering agriculture, communications, culture, defence, education, electricity, finance, foreign affairs, health, higher education and scientific research, industry and minerals, interior, justice, labour and social affairs, migration and displacement, oil, planning, trade, transport, water resources, and youth and sports.

Saudi Arabia’s new defence minister has steadily gathered influence as the Bin Salman clan has consolidated its power across the commanding heights of the kingdom’s politics and economy. GSN profiles Prince Khalid Bin Salman’s rise through a military career to become ambassador to Washington and then deputy defence minister – with an important role in the Yemen conflict – before replacing his brother, Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, in the top defence job

Gulf States Newsletter (GSN) provides profiles of the children of Saudi Arabia's King Salman Bin Abdelaziz, including Crown Prince and prime minister Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS), his brothers Khalid and Turki, his half-brothers Fahd, Sultan, Ahmed, Abdelaziz, Faisal and Saud and his half-sister Hessa.

Along with the Abu Dhabi leadership’s other ‘Sheikha Fatima brothers’ (President Mohammed Bin Zayed and sheikhs Hamdan, Hazza, Tahnoun and Abdullah), Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan has been groomed for power as a son of UAE founding president Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al-Nahyan and Sheikha Fatima Bin Mubarak Al-Ketbi.

Sheikh Ahmed Al-Nawaf Al-Sabah is Kuwait’s sixth prime minister in less than two decades and may prove to be one of the shorter-serving PMs, if speculation that he will step down following upcoming National Assembly (parliament) elections proves accurate.

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani and Sheikha Jawaher married in early 2005 following an engagement. They have four children: Sheikhas Mayassa and Aisha, and Sheikhs Hamad and Jassim.

UAE National security advisor Sheikh Tahnoun Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan was born in the late 1960s, a son of the late UAE President Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan from his marriage to Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Al-Ketbi. As such, he is one of the six Bani Fatima brothers who now hold much of the power in Abu Dhabi. Tahnoun is married to Khawla Suwaidi, the prominent daughter of a long-time advisor to Sheikh Zayed.

President Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, who died on 13 May, lived through a period of extraordinary change for his country. Born at a time when pre-oil Abu Dhabi was relatively isolated and under British protection, he played a key role in the emergence of the UAE on the regional and world stage.

GSN provides profiles for three of the key figures in Oman’s ruling family: Sayyid Shihab Bin Tariq Al-Said, Sayyid Taimur Bin Assad Bin Tariq Al-Said and Sayyid Badr Bin Hamad Bin Hamood Al-Busaidi.

Crown Prince Salman is the eldest son of King Hamad, from his first marriage to Sheikha Sabika Bint Ibrahim Al-Khalifa. Born in October 1969, Salman was schooled in Bahrain and then obtained degrees from the American University in Washington DC (BA political science, 1992) and Queen’s College, Cambridge (MPhil history and philosophy of science, 1994). He was appointed crown prince when his father became emir in March 1999.

Much recent attention has focused on King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa’s fourth son, Sheikh Nasser Bin Hamad, who – in his mid-30s – is nearly 20 years younger than his half-brother Crown Prince Salman Bin Hamad.

Personally popular with fellow rulers for his relaxed style, but often criticized for flaws in Bahrain’s management and its troubled relations with its majority Shia population, King Hamad Bin Isa Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa has ruled Bahrain for 22 years, first as emir and, since 2002, as its self-declared king.

GSN profiles Abu Dhabi power-broker Sheikh Tahnoun Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (TBZ), a son of the late UAE President Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan from his marriage to Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Al-Ketbi.

Who were the main attendees at Saudi deputy defence minister Prince Khalid Bin Salman’s virtual meeting with Chinese national defence minister General Wei Fenghe? GSN runs the names, and explains their significance.