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Kuwait held its 13th Municipal Council elections on 21 May, with 38 candidates competing, including one woman. Some 438,283 Kuwaitis were eligible to vote.

Defence minister Sheikh Hamad Jaber Al-Ali Al-Sabah and interior minister Sheikh Ahmed Mansour Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah sparked another political crisis in Kuwait, by issuing a joint resignation statement on 16 February. They said necessary reforms were impossible to achieve under the prevailing political circumstances.

Justice minister Jamal Al-Jalawi has come under pressure from members of parliament (MPs) over an extradition agreement signed with the UK in 2017 to bring disgraced former Public Institution for Social Security director Fahad Al-Rajaan back to Kuwait.

Any progress in the National Assembly (parliament) has been put on hold by the government’s resignation on 9 November, following the amnesty. The session on 9 November was supposed to be critical, with 11 grillings of ministers scheduled, including health minister Basel Al-Sabah, commerce and industry minister Abdullah Al-Salman and defence minister Hamad Jaber Al-Sabah.

The Saudi government has been accused of trying to control information about the kingdom posted on online encyclopaedia Wikipedia, with indications that other governments may be making similar efforts to burnish their image.

MBS at centre stage: Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman remains the centre of attention as autocrat and reformer, a populist who is ruthlessly concentrating power in his hands. His unpopularity among elements of the royal family and Islamist circles in May led to rumours he had been the victim of an assassination attempt or some other health and/or political problems. But MBS came back into public view as May wore on. On 30 May he visited the Kremlin in Moscow. for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. MBS was also guest of honour as Russia kicked off the FIFA World Cup against Saudi Arabia on 14 June.

General Electric has said it could invest up to $3bn “to develop and localise industrial value chains” in the kingdom. This is in line with Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS)’s Vision 2030. The US industrial giant’s tie up is with Saudi Arabian Industrial Investments Company (Saiic), which was established in 2014 by MBS’s favoured Public Investment Fund (50%), with Saudi Aramco and Sabic (both 25%). The partners said they would roll out joint investments of $1bn by 2017 along with an aggregate potential investment of $2bn) to “drive projects in water, energy, aviation, digital and other sectors from 2017”.

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.