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A member of Fujairah’s small ruling family, the Al-Sharqi, has been promoting Arabian Warrior, a new series of obstacle course races of 5-50km in length. Sheikh Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Sharqi is spokesperson for the series, with the first event to be held in Dubai on 26 October. 

Scholarships have been approved for studies at six institutions in the emirate, including some at the University of Al-Dhaid which is due to be inaugurated in mid-September.

A string of American and European lobbying and PR firms have been opening new outposts in the region in search of government contracts, with Riyadh and Abu Dhabi the main hubs of activity.

Ras Al-Khaimah Ruler Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Al-Qasimi on 22 August received the United States ambassador to the UAE Martina Strong and a delegation from the American Business Council in Dubai (AmCham) at his palace in Saqr Bin Mohammed City.

Sharjah deputy ruler Sheikh Abdullah Bin Salem Al-Qasimi in late August oversaw the Sharjah Economic Council’s decisions to approve AED112m ($30.5m) worth of road schemes.

Sheikha Hoor Bint Sultan Al-Qasimi, a daughter of Sharjah’s Ruler Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al-Qasimi, has set up a partnership with Lagos Fashion Week, in an effort to identify design talent for the 2026 intake to the Qasimi Rising incubator programme.

The Omani ruler left Muscat on 8 July for what officials described as a private visit to Germany and the UK. He returned home almost seven weeks later on 24 August.

The cabinet changes saw four new ministers join an expanded executive team, just three months after the previous cabinet had been appointed, in a sign that Emir Sheikh Mishaal is intent on pushing his reform agenda.

Minister of state for foreign trade Thani Al-Zeyoudi has been appointed executive chairman of Rorix Holdings, a trade finance, commodities exchange and insurance specialist recently set up by International Holding Company, the powerful local conglomerate.

President Masoud Pezeshkian secured parliamentary approval for his full cabinet on 21 August – the first time this had happened in more than two decades. The process was helped by the implicit support for his nominees from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei – but the limited number of female, young and moderate ministers has irked some of the president’s supporters.

Talks between Mohammad Hassan Akhund and the UAE’s President Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed are a further sign of slowly-developing ties between Abu Dhabi and the Taliban regime.

The Kuwait National Guard’s only commander since it was set up in 1967, Sheikh Salem Al-Ali Al-Salem Al-Sabeh, died on 12 August. He was one of the oldest and richest members of the Kuwaiti ruling family.

The UAE has seen distinctly mixed results from the six Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements that it has brought into force over the past two years. Trade with India has been growing at a slower pace than trade with the rest of the world and other deals have also been underperforming, as the easing of tariffs and other trade restrictions rubs up against broader geopolitical and macroeconomic issues.

Qatar’s ambassador to Bahrain Sultan Ali Yousef Mohammed Al-Khater presented his credentials to Bahrain’s King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa further cementing the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The UAE has been clamping down hard on opposition figures this year, in what appears to be an increasingly repressive domestic political arena. A mass trial ended in July with the conviction of 53 people – many of them still behind bars from a 2013 court case. Abu Dhabi now says it has identified a new secret group of exiles operating outside the country trying to stir up trouble back home.