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Several senior public figures have been referred to the Public Prosecution over suspected fraud, including an unnamed former minister, a former senior figure at the Ministry of Education and the head of a sports federation.

Saif Saeed Ghobash will lead Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khalid Bin Mohammed’s office, adding to the Abu Dhabi Executive Council secretary-general’s extensive portfolio of positions.

The new AD Naval joint venture will focus on developing small and mid-sized vessels in Abu Dhabi, in a similar arrangement to Edge’s existing deal with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri.

Qatar’s embassy in Washington has signed a series of contracts with lobbying and communications firms, many with close ties to the Republican Party.

New York-based Karv, which works with the Public Investment Fund and on the Neom giga-project, is to open an office in Riyadh, joining a wave of advisory firms and lobbyists that have been drawn to the Saudi capital.

Bahrain’s Al-Munther satellite was carried by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which took off from California on 15 March, also carrying the UAE’s Etihad-SAT. The authorities in Manama then announced the creation of a Bahrain Space Agency, to sit under the Supreme Defence Council headed by national security advisor Sheikh Nasser Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa.

The government has released a significant number of political prisoners over the past few months, causing speculation inside and outside the kingdom about what could be motivating the policy – even while Saudi jails remain full to people who have upset Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s regime and the Presidency of State Security under General Abdelaziz Al-Howairini wields an iron fist, as it has since MBS’ 2017 crackdowns.

A decision by the Opec+ bloc to raise production from April has put more downward pressure on crude prices – and hence Saudi and other producer governments’ revenues for the year ahead. Crude prices may struggle to stay above $70/bbl, while Riyadh’s fiscal position is also being tested by Saudi Aramco’s falling profits and dividend payments.

Yemen’s civil war seems all but forgotten on the international stage –overshadowed by fighting in Gaza, upheaval in Syria, Russia’s war in Ukraine and other issues – but it remains a live conflict, with more than 100 battles involving Houthi forces in the first two months of this year alone. In late March, Saudi Arabia will mark a decade since Prince Mohammed Bin Salman launched the air campaign against the Houthis, hoping a quick victory would restore security to its southern border.

While the UAE has  made most headlines, the governments of Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are all trying to tap into the potential for artificial intelligence to improve public sector productivity and services, often with the help of American technology companies.

A liquidator has been appointed to Italian software company Artis Wrld SRL, which is part-owned by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s brother Prince Turki.

Saudi Arabia has hosted a series of talks involving US, Russian and Ukrainian leaders in recent weeks, as it tries to position itself as the mediator of choice to help resolve the conflict in Europe – however, there have been some missteps, with Ukraine’s president postponing a February visit at the last minute after being left out of a US-Russian meeting in the Saudi capital.

GSN research show that Gulf-based companies have invested in more than 100GW of renewable energy capacity around the world, in a global push to be a leader in future energy markets, as well as transitional hydrocarbons industries, that is driven by commercial and diplomatic imperatives.

Investor Prince Khalid Bin Alwaleed is set to join the board of Vesalius Longevity Labs, which is researching the potential for using peptides to increase human’s healthy lifespan.

Public works minister Nora Al-Mashan will take on the electricity, water and renewable energy file on an acting basis from the departing Mahmoud Bushehri.