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The launch of legal proceedings in Argentina against Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and popular protests in allied Arab countries that the Saudi heir apparent is visiting to burnish his diplomatic credentials show that MBS remains under intense international scrutiny almost two months after dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi was butchered in Istanbul.

Matthew Hedges, a post-graduate researcher studying for a PhD at Durham University in the UK, has been accused by the UAE of spying for the UK’s Secret Intelligence Service, popularly known as MI6. No evidence has yet been produced to back up the allegations, which his family strongly deny. Hedges has been held without previous charge for five months.

Saudi Aramco has appointed Ibrahim Al-Buainain as chief executive of its trading unit, according to local media reports. He takes over from Yasser Mufti, who became executive director of new business development in June (GSN 1,016/10). Buainain was previously head of transaction development at the oil giant and president of Aramco Asia before that.

It is not just financial management and governance that is worrying the professional classes and other stakeholders in Dubai. There is growing concern about the education system, which the commercial emirate has until very recently insisted it manages itself.

While Netherlands Crown Prince Willem-Alexander was touring Dubai his wife Princess Maxima met with Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum’s wife Sheikha Haya.

Abu Dhabi Crown Prince’s Court head Sheikh Hamed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan was in New Delhi on 10-11 March for meetings with senior Indian officials, further cementing bilateral ties in the wake of India’s recent investment in the Abu Dhabi oil sector. On 10 March, Sheikh Hamed opened the doors of his residence in the Indian capital to oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan and commerce and industry minister Suresh Prabhu. The next day he held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the International Solar Alliance’s founding conference.

One un-named member of the Qatari royal family, along with a Pakistani national, was released by kidnappers in Iraq nearly four months after being taken captive while on a hunting trip, it was announced on 13 April. They were among more than 20 people abducted from a desert hunting party close to the Saudi border last December. According to a statement published on the official Qatar News Agency, “efforts are still ongoing to free the rest of the 26 kidnapped”.

Sheikh Ahmed Al-Fahad Al-Sabah resigned from the FIFA Council, the top level of football’s governing body, on 30 April. This followed references in court documents in a federal court in New York on 27 April that a senior Kuwaiti official had bribed Asian sports officials. He denies any wrongdoing.A nephew of Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Sheikh Ahmed is a thought to be keen to be named the next crown prince. His involvement in domestic and international sports, has often been the subject of controversy.

Saudi Arabia has donated $100m to the UN Counter-Terrorism Centre (UNCTT). The 7 August announcement was made during King Abdullah Bin Adelaziz’s annual Eid Al-Fitr address, in Mecca. Saudi Arabia and the UN signed an agreement to set up the UNCCT in 2011, with Riyadh giving $10m towards its establishment. Based in New York, it works with experts to reinforce UN counterterrorism initiatives.

Following official visits in the past two months to Latin America, Eritrea and Russia, Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani travelled to Italy on 27 January. He met senior figures from business and politics including President Sergio Mattarella (who said Italy welcomed Qatar’s hosting of the FIFA 2022 World Cup), Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and Eni chief executive Claudio Descalzi. On 29 January, Tamim left for Bosnia and Herzegovina for meetings with President Dragan Covic, Prime Minister Denis Zvizdi and House of Representatives speaker Borjana Kristo.

India’s Financial Express newspaper reported that Oman has become the first country in West Asia to place an order for guns with an Indian supplier.

On 22 September, the royal court announced the death of Princess Munira Bint Mohammed Bin Turki, aged 85. Funeral prayers including those by Prince Miqrin Bin Abdelaziz and a number of other princes, ministers and senior officials, were performed at the Iman Turki Bin Abdullah mosque in Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia lost one of its fighter jets in Yemen on 7 January amid differing accounts of what happened. Yemeni rebel sources claimed they shot down the Tornado aircraft over the northern Saada province. Coalition spokesman Colonel Turki Al-Malki said the crash was caused by a technical malfunction after the jet had carried out its mission. The two pilots were rescued. There have been at least 14 other coalition aircraft losses in Yemen or nearby border areas of Saudi Arabia since March 2015, with ‘technical issues’ usually the explanation offered by officials.

Following weeks of negotiations and delays – which prompted talks of a walkout by parliamentarians and fresh grilling threats against the prime minister – Kuwait has a new government, albeit one with only two new faces. Many MPs have responded angrily to what is in effect a minor reshuffle rather than a new government, with 12 parliamentarians staging a walkout at the National Assembly ceremony to swear in the new cabinet.

It will take more than a reshuffle to resolve the deep-seated contradictory pressures within Saudi Arabian politics and society. Even so, King Abdullah’s recent personnel changes send a powerful signal at a time of renewed succession concerns.