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According to the original winning bid for the 2022 World Cup, the Doha metropolitan area was expected to host ten of the planned 12 stadiums that would be used in the tournament. Doha is now a much larger, more cosmopolitan entity than it was 12 years ago – which was one of Qatar’s main aims in launching its controversial bid – but the number of stadia was subsequently scaled down to eight.

Imagery recently released by the United States space agency Nasa has highlighted the dramatic change in Bahrain over the past three and half decades, as a result of huge land reclamation schemes.

Saudi Arabia’s Ajlan & Bros Holding Group plans to set up a mining and metals exchange in a joint venture with National Stock Exchange of Australia (NSX), which could serve to deepen the local market and continue the family-owned conglomerate’s rapid growth.

The UAE president's younger brother Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed is furthering Abu Dhabi's media – and soft power – reach with investments in new digital outlets, adding to his extensive portfolio of business interests and public appointments.

Norway's DNO confirmed that it had bought Mondoil Enterprises from the UAE’s RAK Petroleum. Mondoil holds a 33.3% stake in Foxtrot International, which has interests in offshore gas and associated liquids in Côte d'Ivoire. The move is part of DNO’s efforts to expand beyond its current focus areas of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and the North Sea.

Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) has been pushing his economic reform agenda in the days since being named prime minister. On 29 September, he unveiled a new strategy for Savvy Games Group, a subsidiary of the state-owned Public Investment Fund (PIF), with the aim of turning the kingdom into a hub for gaming and esports by 2030.

Abu Dhabi Executive Office chairman Sheikh Khalid Bin Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan visited the  headquarters of Japanese energy company Inpex, which works closely with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) in exploration and production in the UAE.

A case in the High Court in London between Qatari Sheikh Hamad Bin Abdullah Al-Thani and renowned dealer John Eskenazi was set to resume in early October, in a dispute over alleged fake art works. Sheikh Hamad is demanding a refund for seven works of art, for which he had paid a total of £4.5m ($5m).

The recent death in London of disgraced former Kuwait pensions boss Fahad Al-Rajaan – convicted in 2019 for embezzling funds from the Public Institution for Social Security (PIFSS) – has meant efforts to recover the missing assets are now likely to shift to other family members and accomplices.

The United States Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (Ofac) has sanctioned four companies – Safiran Airport Services, Paravar Pars Company, Design and Manufacturing of Aircraft Engines (Dama) and Baharestan Kish Company – for their alleged involvement in manufacturing and supplying drones for Russia’s war in Ukraine.

MBC Group began operating from its new headquarters in Riyadh on 18 September, having moved from Dubai Media City, where the Saudi-owned broadcaster had been based for the past 20 years.

Dubai-based DP World said on 20 September that the Hong Kong Court of Appeal had ruled in its favour in the latest stage of a long-running dispute over a contract to run the Doraleh container terminal in Djibouti.

Doha is spending heavily on catering to visiting football fans’ artistic sensitivities during the World Cup, with the roll-out of Qatar Museums chair Sheikha Al-Mayassa Bint Hamad Al-Thani’s “outdoor museum” programme, involving some 40 pieces of public art.

Qatar is gearing up for the start of the Fifa World Cup on 20 November, following a last-minute change in the tournament schedule. A massive public arts campaign is being rolled out – led by Qatar Museums chief Sheikha Al-Mayassa Al-Thani – to go alongside state-of-the-art stadium architecture. The authorities will be hoping sport and culture remain the focus, rather than criticism about workers’ rights or any untoward behaviour by fans, but as a Perspective article from GSN issue 1154 highlights, Qatar has successfully dealt with numerous other challenges in the run-up to being awarded the tournament in 2010.

DP World is a principal tool in the UAE’s economic relationship with Russia. The Dubai-based ports and logistics giant has established itself as a leading actor in eastern Europe; it has a sizeable presence in the Black Sea and nearby areas, handling trade into and out of Russia and neighbouring countries.