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Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Mishaal and Qatar Foundation chief executive Sheikha Hind met the British monarch at the headquarters of his King’s Foundation charity in January – continuing Charles’ long, but not always easy, relationship with Gulf charities.

Suhail Bahwan Group and its fertilizer venture have experienced a bumpy ride in Algeria over the past two decades, but recent talks in Algiers suggest the Omani group could be ready to agree further investment – adding to its long history of being a big player in the sultanate.

A 40-bedroom Regent’s Park property was put up for sale in 2023 for £250m, after being repossessed when Khalid Bin Sultan defaulted on a £160m loan. It has now been sold for £139m to an unnamed buyer.

Phoenix Group, which has a number of links to billionaire UAE national security adviser Sheikh Tahnoun Bin Zayed’s business empire, has secured a 80MW power supply for a new crypto-mining site in Ethiopia, in the latest stage of an international push which has taken the Abu Dhabi-based cryptocurrency firm to Oman, Canada and the US –and which could soon lead it to South America.

The Ministry of Energy and Minerals has launched a bidding round for three onshore blocks, including one bordering Yemen and Saudi Arabia which was last offered in 2023.

Recent bilateral talks on border security, water resources and the 5m Afghans living in Iran point to a more positive atmosphere between the neighbours – prompting speculation that Tehran could soon recognise the Taliban government. It comes at a time when other Gulf states have been recalibrating their relations with the isolated regime.

The issue leads with an examination of the opening weeks of US President Donald Trump's new presidency, which have sent shockwaves across the region.  Deal-making has been quickly overtaken by more strategic concerns and grandiose political posturing, with suggestions the US could force Gaza’s population to move to Jordan, Egypt or even Saudi Arabia. Trump has also renewed his ‘maximum pressure’ campaign on Iran, hinting darkly that Washington could support Israel ‘bombing the hell out of them’. GSN also takes a look at Gulf relations with Syria. Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim recently became the first foreign head of state to visit Damascus since Bashar Al-Assad’s fall. Soon afterwards, Syria’s new President Ahmed Al-Sharaa chose Riyadh for his first overseas trip. The two episodes highlight how Doha and Riyadh are leading the engagement with the new Syrian regime. Iran, however, is still licking its wounds from its ally’s defeat and wondering how to revive its influence. Finance and business coverage includes an examination of AI leadership in Abu Dhabi, plus a look at the performance of UAE national security adviser Sheikh Tahnoun Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan's IHC investment group. GSN also reports on Bahrain's intention to siphon off more money from its oil export revenues into its Future Generations Reserve Fund (FGRF), as it looks to rebuild a contingency pot which has yet to recover from the government’s drawdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic. A risk report update focuses on Kuwait, which has set out a series of revenue-raising initiatives, from a corporate tax to a levy on unhealthy products and higher traffic fines, as it tries to reduce its budget deficit and reliance on oil. Its economy is in a weak state, contracting in late 2024 amid a slump in non-oil activity and Opec+ limits on hydrocarbons output. The GSN View focuses on Afghanistan, with Iran seeking a 'new path' in its relations with the Taliban and GCC states also seeking to re-engage.  

A government-to-government deal between Doha and Jakarta has committed Sheikh Abdelaziz Bin Abdulrahman’s Qilaa International to building up to 1m affordable housing units in Indonesia – where Abu Dhabi has also been linked to a possible investment in President Subianto’s plans to build 3m homes a year.

Late King Fahd’s son Prince Mohammed had some of the most wide-ranging and controversial business interests of any Al-Saud, starting in the oil boom days of the 1970s.

The visit by four vessels from the IRGC Navy and the regular Iranian Navy to a port in Sharjah in early February was the first of its kind and is part of a planned exchange of naval visits. It is part of Iran’s efforts to bolster its diplomatic relations with its neighbours and comes as a time when it is also strengthening its domestic defences against potential attacks.

The initial days of Donald Trump’s second stint in the White House seemed to pick up where his first term left off, with big investments promises by Gulf states to secure the president’s favour. However, deal-making has been quickly overtaken by more strategic concerns and grandiose political posturing, with suggestions the US could force Gaza’s population to move to Jordan, Egypt or even Saudi Arabia, while Trump has renewed his ‘maximum pressure’ campaign on Iran, hinting darkly that Washington could support Israel ‘bombing the hell out of them’.

Sections of this RMR on recent developments in Kuwait include: Economic contraction, Raising sin and other new revenue, Budget deficit, Public Debt Law, Oil discoveries, Crude output rise, Death penalties enacted and Iraqi talks. 

Manama is to increase the proportion of relatively limited crude export revenues that flow into its Future Generations Reserve Fund, which has still not recovered from the drawdowns the government made during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

Italian export credit agency Sace is proving its largest ever finance facility to support Saudi megaproject Neom’s use of Italian supplier.

The newly-appointed board of trustees at Mohamed Bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence includes several familiar faces – in yet another indication of how small the core group is that runs Abu Dhabi’s AI efforts.