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Like most high-level Saudi princes, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Bin Abdelaziz (MBS) is known to have extensive business interests, although he is understood to have toned down his involvement in the business world since his elevation to high political office with his father on the throne. According to one source, “he used to be a very pushy businessman indeed, but I think he is no longer so actively involved. He can’t be because he’s hugely busy with government.” However, taking on senior government roles hasn’t stopped princes accumulating vast business interests in the past.

Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) may be a toxic product for many as details of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s brutal murder in Istanbul emerge, as was reflected when many global leaders shunned his Future Investment Initiative (FII) conference in Riyadh.But others are showing a more neutral approach, believing that business may well return to usual, despite the foreboding of many thinking Saudis.

Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS)’s flagship charity Misk is the subject of a review by Saudi officials, according to The Financial Times, following a scandal in which one of its senior officers, former secretary general Bader Al-Asaker, is alleged to have spied on Twitter users.

Qatar faces further scrutiny of its official business practices in a legal case in London, where Doha is suing Luxembourg-based Banque Havilland for allegedly working with the UAE government to try and destabilise the Qatar rial and undermine preparations for the 2022 Fifa World Cup. The claims are linked to the boycott of Qatar by the GCC-3 of Bahrain, the UAE and Saudi Arabia from June 2017 to January 2021.

Doha’s Washington embassy has hired seven US-based lobbying and consulting firms so far this year, according to United States Department of Justice Foreign Agents Registration Act (Fara) filings. The deals reflect the Democratic Party takeover of the White House and a wider upturn in Qatari lobbying, after Doha had under-spent some of its neighbours.

Doha has struggled to deal with criticism from global media and former Fifa insiders as it prepares for the start of the 2022 World Cup. Its insistence that “everyone is welcome” will be tested in the coming weeks, but GSN’s research shows that one group has already done very well from the event, with Qatar’s big business families – including the ruling Al-Thanis – having secured major construction contracts.

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.

Peace talks between Chad’s warring factions began in Doha on 13 March, two weeks later than originally planned. They involved representatives of the ruling Transitional Military Council (CNT) and numerous armed groups.

A year on from the Al-Ula agreement that ended the boycott of Qatar by three of its Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) neighbours – Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE – Qatar is enjoying a fresh period of political calm. Indeed, in many ways it now looks to be in a better place than most of its erstwhile foes in the GCC.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo landed in Doha on 11 September for the latest round of peace talks between the Taliban and Afghan government hosted by Qatar. The discussions kicked off the following day (to avoid falling on the 19th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in the US), led by High Council for National Reconciliation chairman Abdullah Abdullah for the Afghan government and Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.

With signs of improved relations between Bahrain and Qatar on the cards, GSN looks back through the archives at the fluctuating relationship between the too often feuding neighbours.

Qatar has invested heavily in Europe’s largest economy, favouring large investments in companies with high political value or systemic importance.

Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Bin Jassim Al-Thani’s emergence as a bidder to buy Manchester United FC has thrust the banker into the global limelight, while also posing questions about the balance of power and wealth in the opaque world of Qatari politics, which his father Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim (HBJ) dominated for so many years.

The Saudi authorities continue to expend substantial energy on supressing criticism on social media about government policies, using an army of ‘flies’, made up of automated accounts, stolen accounts and paid sympathisers.

Newcastle United says it is considering what further action to take following a decision by the English Premier League to reject a takeover bid for the club by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and others. In a 9 September statement the club said it had supplied “overwhelming evidence and legal opinions that PIF is independent and autonomous of the Saudi Arabian government”.