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The Bahraini national security adviser has been appointed by his father King Hamad to a little-known but powerful body that deals with internal disputes and other issues within the ruling Al-Khalifa family.

Baku has restarted services from a new location in north-east Tehran, almost two years after its embassy was attacked by a gunman.

Interior minister and Internal Security Force (Lekhwiya) commander Sheikh Khalifa – a younger brother of Emir Sheikh Tamim – married Sheikha Fatima Bint Nasser Al-Thani on 7 December in Doha.

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko discussed industry and agriculture, as well as turmoil in the wider region, during a working visit to Muscat, while a Belarus delegation has sought to bolster commercial links in the UAE.

The authorities are keen for more Emiratis to have children – and have created a new ministry to encourage more locals to get married, while a revamped Ministry of Community Empowerment is focused on supporting low-income families.

The dramatic end to Bashir Al-Assad’s rule has created another crisis for Iran’s regional strategy and is an unnerving moment for Gulf monarchies which, in the name of ‘stability’, had been rebuilding ties with a Damascus regime that seemed to have survived a decade-plus of civil war. Diplomatic strategies will now have to be hastily redrawn, with an initial focus on ensuring Syria does not slide further into turmoil.

After launching a new economic development strategy, Ajman heir apparent Sheikh Ammar Bin Humaid continues to seek fresh deals to bolster the smallest UAE constituent’s economy, including a possible $1bn-plus Chinese investment programme.

The new arbiter of power in Damascus, at least for now, is HTS’ 42-year-old leader Ahmed Hussein Al-Sharaa, widely known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed Al-Golani (sometimes written Al-Jolani). Al-Sharaa has some Gulf ties, having spent the early years of his life in Saudi Arabia, where his father worked as an engineer in the oil industry. He later fought against the US forces in Iraq following the 2003 invasion, where he was captured and jailed. He returned to Syria in 2011 and set up an Al-Qaeda affiliate, Al-Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant.

Iran’s relationship with United Nation’s nuclear watchdog the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and with western powers has soured markedly in recent weeks, in the wake of a visit to Tehran by IAEA chief Rafael Grossi on 14 November. Grossi had been pushing for greater access to Iran by IAEA inspectors and to discuss uranium traces found at a number of sites around the country, but appeared to make little or no progress.

Abu Dhabi deputy ruler Sheikh Hazza Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan has been appointed as the ruler's representative in Al-Ain region – a role traditionally given to senior members of the family.

Islamist rebel group HTS’s rapid advances against Syrian regime forces have put the GCC countries’ recent strategy of re-engagement with Bashar Al-Assad’s regime into question. The volatile situation also complicates efforts to bring the Gaza and Lebanon wars to a definite conclusion and raises the spectre of turmoil spreading further across the region.

A major commitment to clean energy was made during Emir Sheikh Tamim’s state visit to the UK in early December.

President Emmanual Macron had hoped to secure more contracts for French companies during his three-day visit to Riyadh and Al-Ula, but few significant announcements were made during the trip which coincided with his government being voted down in the French parliament.

Some two dozen medals were handed out by the ruler to mark the sultanate’s 54th National Day, Haitham’s two sons being awarded the First Order of Oman, while other royal family members and senior officials were given a lower ranked gong.

During a hectic period for regional diplomacy, the Saudi crown prince visited his neighbour for the first time in three years, as Mohammed Bin Salman flew in to Al-Ain for talks with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed.