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KING ABDULLAH: Eastern Province tour and Mitchell visit, Hussa Bint Trad: Prominent role, CP Sultan: Still in New York, Mansour Bin Miteb: Women may get municipal vote, Turki Al-Faisal: New York and London, Abdullah Bin Miteb Bin AbdullahA: Show jumping success, Faisal Bin Salman: Think tank position

The Abu Dhabi ruling family has earned international respect for its discreet behaviour and traditionally unostentatious stewardship of its huge wealth, so that some senior Al-Nahyan were genuinely embarrassed at the media circus surrounding Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed’s takeover of British football club Manchester City.

When Saddam Hussein’s regime fell in 2003, a sizeable portion of the Arab Socialist Baath Party leadership fled to Syria, Jordan and other regional states. Jihadist fighters have travelled to Iraq from Arabian Peninsula sites such as Saudi Arabia or Yemen, or repressive Arab states such as

Emir Sheikh Hamad: Eyes Porsche, Jooan Bin Hamad: Rally success, Sheikha Hanadi: Dana Gas board

Sheikh Khalid Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan has married a daughter of Education Minister Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al-Nahayan.

Bahrain’s King has earned a breathing space, but only real concessions can defuse the impact of a soon to be launched extra-parliamentary alliance with political and religious appeal.

Emir Sheikh Hamad: Bulgaria and Belarus, HBJ: Letter from Charles, HBJ: US visit

Defunct Miami-based internet phone company Latin Node Inc has agreed to pay a $2m fine after pleading guilty for violating the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. It was charged with paying bribes to officials in Honduras and Yemen in exchange for favourable interconnection rates.

CP Sultan: Out of hospital, Musad Bin Abdelaziz: Hospitalised, Mishaal Bin Abdallah: Appointed Najran governor, Abdelrahman Bin Mohammed: Ibn Saud grandson dies, Al-Sauds: Princesses mourned, Abdelaziz Bin Fahd: Geneva holiday

In the immediate post-9/11 years Gulf watchers became used to the level of ‘Saudi-bashing’ coming out of the United States. Sensationalist authors churned out books such as Princes of Darkness: The Saudi Assault on the West, or Hatred’s Kingdom: How Saudi Arabia Supports the New Global Terrorism that sought to explore the flaws in Saudi culture and religious thought that had allowed the Kingdom to produce 15 out of the 19 hijackers.

Kuwaitis will go to the polls to elect a new parliament on 16 May, just under a year after the last elections and the third such vote since May 2006.

UAE Prime Minister and Dubai Ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum has been busy as usual.

Emir Sheikh Hamad: Travel and meetings, Sheikh Hamad: QNB resignation , Mohammed Bin Hamad: FIFA bid

King Abdullah: Meetings, Sultan Bin Abdelaziz: Brother gives health update, Princes: Marriages, Salman Bin Abdelaziz: Banquet for Andrew, Khalid Bin Salman: Pilot graduation,Khalid Bin Sultan: Coral study funded

Whoever wins the Iranian election will have to engage in sustained diplomatic fence-mending. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s apparently thoughtless way with words has cost Iran dear over the past three and a half years. This month, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has been in Riyadh – where he met King Abdullah Bin Abdelaziz – and Manama, seeking to patch up the latest strains in relationships with Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. He also visited Kuwait, with whom Tehran’s dealings are rather more placid.