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In an unusual move, Sheikh Khalid, the 21-year-old fifth son of Bahrain’s King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa, has married Sahab Bint Abdullah, a daughter of the Saudi monarch. As with Saudi Arabia’s $400m grant to Sunni neighbour Jordan, announced on 2 June, the move demonstrates increased regional interconnectedness during a period when Bahrain’s stability – and the wider region’s future direction – is uncertain. The dynastic marriage is “a sign of the times,” Brookings Doha Center director Salman Shaikh told GSN. The Gulf states all have serious concerns about regional stability and this is reflected in signs of growing intra-Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) unity – bar ongoing bilateral spats between some neighbours.

International policy-makers have long been wary of large, opaque and factional ruling families, but compared to just a couple of years ago, the picture is becoming very slightly clearer.

On 20 May, King Abdullah a number of senior appointments

Such is the desire to understand what some see as Qatar’s sudden move against Libya – after several years of apparently steady relations – that rumours of leading Qatari players’ childhood connections have emerged.

PRINCESS SITA: Big funeral; KING ABDULLAH: Rest and meeting; KHALID BIN SULTAN meetings; FAISAL AL-FARHAN: Wedding SAUD BIN FAHD: Business interests; PRINCE AHMED: Malaysian agreement S17

Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani has been in the US, where he held talks with President Barack Obama

MOHAMMED BIN SALMAN: More visible presence; MOHAMMED BIN NAYEF: Security itineraryNAYEF BIN ABDELAZIZ: Overseas trip; KHALID AL-FAISAL: Term renewed; KHALID BIN BANDAR BIN SULTAN: English wedding; ABDELAZIZ BIN ABDULLAH: Syria and property deals; TURKI AL-FAISAL: Public speaking; SATTAM BIN ABDELAZIZ: Wedding; FAISAL BIN ABDULLAH: Sri Lankan investments

Prince Abdelaziz, son of King Abdullah,was reportedly in Damascus in March to ask Syrian President Bashir Al-Assad to warn Iran to stop meddling in Gulf affairs. Prince Abdelaziz has taken a lead role in the Syria portfolio in recent years. He owns a 5.2 acre estate in Benedict Canyon, north-west of Beverly Hills, but The Los Angeles Times reported that his proposal for a 85,000ft2 compound on the site had been opposed by neighbours, including singer Bruce Springsteen.

Doha-based observers say an unusual marriage has recently taken place, between a grandson of a prominent Shia businessman and an Al Thani.

SENIOR ROYALS: Return home; TURKI AL-KABIR: Munich security conference; ROYAL ORDER: Mishaal Bin Abdullah (Jiluwi); SENIOR ROYALS: Meetings with French prime minister

Crown Prince Salman Bin Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa said on 8 February that Arab leaders should make popular demands for political freedoms a “priority”,

Meetings

SALMAN BIN HAMAD: Comments on freedom; SENIOR AL-SAUD: Meetings with international dignitaries; NAYEF BIN ABDELAZIZ: Jeddah floods leadership; AL-SAUD: Marriages and funerals; BADR BIN ABDELAZIZ: Overseas trip; TURKI BIN TALAL: Tribal mediation

Heir apparent Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani met commander of US Central Command. Qatar and France have agreed to cancel a meeting of a mediation group on Lebanon.

KING ABDULLAH: Return to Morocco. CROWN PRINCE SULTAN: Remains in public eye. KHALID BIN SULTAN: Military meetings. KHALID BIN. MOHAMMED BIN NAYEF: Bouteflika meeting. ABDELAZIZ BIN FAHD: High-profile wedding/ NAYEF BIN SULTAN: December wedding. FAISAL BIN ABDULLAH: Wellington interest. NAWWAF BIN FAISAL BIN FAHD: New Youth Welfare head. PRINCES: Funerals. RIMA BINT BANDAR: Comments on women drivers