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Rashed Al-Makhawi, a former UAE ambassador to Germany, has lost a case in London's High Court in which Emirates NBD bank was seeking to enforce a $57.5m judgement against him made by the Dubai courts.

Stephen Peter Day was a committed Arabist, while also being a guardian of British national interests – positions the diplomat, who has died aged 85, saw as complementary rather than incompatible. His conflicts could be with elements of the British establishment rather than with foreign governments, groups and individuals with whom he engaged with ease.

Manama has agreed to establish diplomatic relations with two Pacific Island countries, Samoa and Nauru, in late April and May.

Algerian foreign affairs and national community abroad minister Ahmed Attaf arrived in the Saudi city of Jeddah on 15 May for bilateral talks and preparations for the planned League of Arab States summit, to be held on 19 May.

Iraq has been hosting reconciliation talks between Iranian and Egyptian officials which should lead to the reestablishment of diplomatic relations "in the near future".

Iran officially welcomed Syria’s return to the League of Arab States, but the eagerness with which Damascus is accepting the renewed Arab hospitality may be a cause for concern in Tehran, which has been one of the Assad regime’s few consistent supporters throughout the civil war.

Almost 5,000 people have been evacuated from Sudan to Saudi Arabia since fighting broke out between rival generals in Khartoum on 15 April, the vast majority of them citizens of other countries.

Sheikha Al-Zain Al-Sabah submitted her credentials as Kuwait's ambassador to the United States during a meeting with President Joe Biden in April. She is Kuwait's first female ambassador in Washington. 

The outbreak of fighting between rival generals in Sudan in mid-April has been met with an increasingly active diplomatic stance by Saudi Arabia, which has taken a clear lead among Gulf countries in responding to the crisis  – offering further evidence of the new approach being taken to international relations by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS).

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani travelled to London to attend the coronation ceremony of King Charles III on 6 May. Also to attend the service was Bahrain’s King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa, Kuwait's Crown Prince Sheikh Mishaal Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, and Oman's culture, sports and youth minister Sayyid Theyazin Bin Haitham Al-Said. It was not clear who would attend from the UAE or Saudi Arabia.

Al Jazeera Media Network said its journalist Hisham Abdelaziz was released from custody in Egypt on 1 May, after spending almost four years in pre-trial detention.

Turkey has agreed to host an Iranian interests section at its embassy in Tirana, some eight months after Tehran and Albania broke off diplomatic relations.

Bahrain and Qatar said they would resume full diplomatic relations, following a meeting of senior officials at the headquarters of the GCC General Secretariat in Riyadh.

UAE relations with South Africa have soured after a Dubai court rejected a request from Pretoria to extradite Atul and Rajesh Gupta to face charges of money laundering, fraud and corruption.

There is hope of peace in Yemen, but a breakthrough between Houthi rebels and Riyadh remains just out of reach, despite extensive talks in Sanaa, where ambassador Mohammed Al-Jaber made the first senior Saudi visit since 2015. However, further talks are due to be held in May, against the backdrop of improving Saudi-Iran relations and a wider regional trend favouring diplomacy over conflict.