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The Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) is to host the 2024 Confederation of Independent Football Associations (Conifa) World Football Cup, with 16 teams competing. Conifa caters for teams representing ethnic or linguistic minorities, indigenous groups and unrecognised territories.

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.

Sharjah Ruler Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al-Qasimi was conferred with France’s National Order of the Legion of Honour at the rank of Grand Officer, in recognition of his scientific, cultural and literary achievements and his efforts to boost bilateral relations.

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani reshuffled the country’s security establishment in a series of decrees and orders, naming his brother and interior minister Sheikh Khalifa Bin Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani as commander of the Internal Security Force (Lekhwiya).

Saudi Prince Fahd Bin Saad Bin Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Bin Turki was named governor of Al-Diriyah, a governorate on the outskirts of the capital. He takes over from Prince Ahmed Bin Abdullah Bin Abdulrahman, who was relived of the job after more than six years in post.

Sheikh Ahmed Bin Ibrahim Bin Ahmed Al-Mualla was named director general of Umm Al-Quwain (UAQ)'s Department of Economic Development on 11 April, in a decree by UAQ Ruler Sheikh Saud Bin Rashid Al-Mualla.

The Geneva meetings of Yemen's Houthi rebels and representatives of the internationally-recognised government led to the first prisoner exchange between the two sides since 2022. The exchange involved a total of 887 prisoners, with 181 released by the Houthis and 706 freed by the government or the Saudi-led coalition.

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.

Syrian foreign minister Faisal Mekdad travelled to Jeddah for talks with his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal Bin Farhan, as part of a concerted attempt by Riyadh to move the regime of President Bashar Al-Assad back into the Arab mainstream. Prince Faisal then travelled to Damascus for talks with Assad, the first such trip by a Saudi foreign minister since 2011.

The recent flurry of senior appointments by Emirati President Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, including the naming of his brother Sheikh Mansour as federal vice president, highlights the extent to which Abu Dhabi controls all the main levers of power in the UAE – and its competition with Dubai for commercial, as well as political, dominance.

Kuwait's political turmoil has continued in the wake of the shock Constitutional Court ruling on 19 March that annulled last year's general election and reinstated the previous parliament. In a bid to move the situation forward, Crown Prince Mishaal has dissolved the newly-returned chamber and set the scene for yet another poll. The new cabinet announced in early April is likely to be in post for only a couple of months.

A leak of top secret US intelligence reports included allegations that UAE intelligence agents have been cooperating with their Russian counterparts to act against western interests. Abu Dhabi has denied there is any substance to these allegations, but they have come at a time of heightened concern in Washington about commercial and military ties between the UAE and Moscow.

In Kuwait, the court’s willingness to hold members of its ruling family to account has been revived, with a ten-year prison sentence handed to Sheikh Sabah Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, son of the former premier Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, for his role in a $1bn corruption case.

A fresh outbreak of violence in Sudan between the country’s two military strongmen, General Burhan and Hemedti, has shown the limits of UAE and Saudi influence, despite years of close involvement by the Gulf powers.