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Gulf royal families have generally been closely associated with only a narrow range of traditional preferred sports – including camel racing, horse racing and falconry – but younger Saudi princes and princesses now occupy senior positions in bodies overseeing a far wider range of pursuits, from motorsport and esports to triathlons and diving. Their efforts to promote sports and attract international events feed into Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman's economic and social diversification drive.

Securing workable energy, economic and security relations with Turkey has even greater urgency for Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government as the KRG says it can no longer afford to pay its employees’ salaries due to the closure since late March of the vital crude oil export pipeline.

Saudi officials have been lobbying for international support for Riyadh's bid to host Expo 2030, in the wake of the formal bid launch in June by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, during his visit to Paris.

Saudi Aramco underlined the kingdom's deepening relationships with China when the national champion announced the acquisition of a 10% stake in Rongsheng Petrochemical Company.

Political upgrade: It may seem not the most opportune moment to remove the downwards negative trend arrow from Saudi Arabia’s ‘B’ political risk rating – coming amid more speculation that King Salman Bin Abdelaziz’s health is fading and with the International Monetary Fund giving the kingdom its “steepest growth downgrade among major economies”, as Bloomberg put it on 25 July, and longer-term investment plans in question.

The high-profile campaign to make Saudi Arabia a global power in football, golf and other sports has, in many ways, eclipsed the state's domestic spending – which conventional policy wonks might say should be of greater importance to the 22m population – but the activities of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS)'s prized Public Investment Fund (PIF) over the past few months tells an equally important story.

Oman has introduced a unified national pension scheme, merging the assets and liabilities of 11 existing pension systems into a single Social Protection Fund. The reform is based on a unified regulatory regime for contributions, payments and retirement ages. It will reflect both need and its members' history of payment contributions.

The UAE and India agreed to do more trade in their own currencies, rather than the US dollar, in a memorandum of understanding signed mid-July during an official visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Abu Dhabi – the Indian leader's fifth trip to the country in the past eight years.

Sheikh Nasser Bin Abdulrahman Bin Nasser Al-Thani's real estate company Daruna for Real Estate Brokerage Company has been granted permission by the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) Civil and Commercial Court to seek higher damages from Lesha Bank (previously known as Qatar First Bank) in a dispute over a failed plan to build workers’ accommodation north of Doha.

The Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) is to resume negotiations with Japan on a free trade agreement (FTA) after a break of 14 years, following talks between GCC secretary-general Mohammed Al-Budaiwi and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio in Jeddah.

A US Senate committee has shed light on the key personalities involved in the controversial agreement between Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and the PGA Tour to create a new global golf entity; many of the names will be familiar to Saudi-watchers.

Mozambique's former finance minister Manuel Chang has been extradited to the United States in a grand corruption case in which UAE-based firms feature heavily.

Hydrogen economy plays: Underlining Oman’s determination to be a first mover in the predicted new global hydrogen economy – an apparent cornerstone of Sultan Haitham Bin Tariq Al-Said’s more progressive economic policy – energy and minerals minister Salim Al-Aufi signed agreements for two green hydrogen (GH2) projects on 21 June.

Audit chief resigns: State Audit Bureau (SAB) president Faisal Al-Shaye resigned on 6 July, citing political interference in his work. A number of members of the recently elected National Assembly including Hamad Al-Mudlej had called on Al-Shaye to resign or be sacked over unspecified violations and mismanagement.

Kuwait's finance minister Manaf Al-Hajeri resigned on 11 July, less than a month after his appointment to Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmed Nawaf Al-Sabah’s cabinet, reportedly in protest at the decision to move responsibility for the Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) over to minister of state for economic affairs and investment Saad Al-Barrak, who also serves as oil minister.