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Ten Royal Saudi Land Force students completed a gruelling officer training programme at the Far Eastern Higher Combined Arms School (Dvoku), in the far east of Russia, in July, along with peers from Russia and eight other countries, including Namibia, Angola and Kyrgyzstan.

Russia’s military co-operation in the Gulf fits in with a broader approach to the Middle East/North Africa (Mena) region, by which it has established firm links with a number of countries and tested its equipment in conflicts, including Syria and Libya.

Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and UAE Armed Forces deputy supreme commander Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan visited the UK on 14 September for a brief private visit (he has a son at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst) before heading on to Paris for a meeting with President Emmanuel Macron the following day.

Outgoing British ambassador to Oman Hamish Cowell has been holding farewell meetings with officials in Muscat; he was received by foreign minister Sayyid Badr Hamad Al-Busaidi on 6 September, ahead of his replacement by Bill Murray, who was named in July as the incoming envoy.

Israel has named its chargé d’affaires to the UAE Eitan Naeh as its first ambassador to Bahrain. Naeh has previously served as ambassador to Turkey and was named as the temporary head of mission to Abu Dhabi in January.

Ajman Ruler Sheikh Humaid Bin Rashid Al-Nuaimi marked the 40th anniversary of his assumption of power on 6 September. Sheikh Humaid succeeded his father Sheikh Rashid Bin Humaid Al-Nuaimi, who ruled the emirate for 54 years until his death at the age of 79 in 1981. Humaid, who was born in 1933 and educated locally and in Cairo, had been crown prince since 1960.

Emirates Red Crescent (ERC) chairman and ruler’s representative in Al-Dhafra Region Sheikh Hamdan Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan had a 20 September phone briefing on UAE-funded projects in the Comoros Islands.

Sheikh Ahmed Abdullah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah has been appointed to head Crown Prince Mishaal Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah’s diwan.

Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani’s sister Sheikha Hind took part in the mid-September Hamburg Wasser World Triathlon Championship. Hind wrote in an Instagram post that she had been inspired by seeing an event take place outside her hospital window when her baby daughter was born in June 2011.

An investment fund linked to Qatar’s Ministry of Defence has taken an equity stake in Aeralis, becoming the second largest shareholder in the UK military jet developer.

The last stretch of tarmac on a 720km road linking Ibri in Oman with Al-Ahsa in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province was completed on 14 September, suggesting that the new crossing will open as planned before end-2021.

Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s favoured vehicle the Public Investment Fund (PIF) is to acquire a 25% stake in Emaar, the Economic City, to settle a debt of SR2.8bn ($755m) that the master developer of King Abdullah Economic City owed to the Saudi sovereign wealth fund.

London Stock Exchange-listed Petrofac has admitted seven counts of failing to prevent bribery in relation to contracts awarded in 2012-15 in Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, contrary to Section 7 of the UK Bribery Act 2010.

UK-registered company Lex Foundation, of which Prince Abdelaziz Bin Nawaf Bin Abdelaziz was recorded as a director for nearly two years, has brought a claim in the Commercial Court in London against Citigroup. Lex Foundation and its current director, British Cypriot national Olgun Halil Shah, claiming Citibank lost €10bn ($11.6bn) transferred from Deutsche Bank to an account at Citi.

The Gulf Co-operation Council is to launch formal negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United Kingdom in 2022, according to an 8 October British government statement. The GCC negotiating team will be led by Saudi Arabia’s Abdulraham Ahmed Al-Harbi.