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Former finance minister Ali Sherif Al-Emadi has been fined almost $17bn and given a 20-year sentence by a Qatari court for money laundering and other charges. The court also sentenced Sheikh Nawaf Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani to six years in prison and fined him $227m for misuse of public funds.

A five-year contract for Bahrain Steel to supply Emirates Steel Arkan with iron ore pellets appears to be motivated by both commercial and geopolitical considerations, with the Abu Dhabi government-owned steel-maker saying it was designed to “strengthen economic ties within the GCC”.

Emir Sheikh Mishaal Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah’s first cabinet retained just three ministers from the previous administration in Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Sabah Al-Sabah’s new government. However, many of the new ministers have served in cabinets before as shown in GSN’s round-up of the new administration’s CVs.

Edge is to use its extensive surveillance technologies for a six-month anti-crime initiative in São Paulo; the very active UAE state-owned defence conglomerate has also agreed a tie-up with Turkish drone manufacturer Baykar.

The second former US Navy frigate to join the Royal Bahrain Naval Force has arrived in Manama.

In a rare inward investment into Yemen, Oman’s Salalah Mills is paying $6.5m for a 50% stake in a grain mills and silos business in Mukalla, Hadhramaut government, which it will run with an unnamed Yemeni partner.

Sheikh Ali Bin Khalifa Bin Mohammed Al-Khalifa has been named secretary-general of the Royal Humanitarian Foundation, taking over from former oil industry executive Mustafa Al-Sayed.

Despite international criticism of its nuclear power programme – which critics allege is a cover for developing atomic weapons – the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran is pushing ahead with plans to develop 20GW of nuclear generating capacity by 2041.

Kuwait’s new Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Sabah Al-Sabah appears to have taken note of the recently enthroned Emir Sheikh Mishaal Al-Ahmed’s desire for change, with new ministers being appointed to all the major posts in cabinet, including defence, finance, foreign affairs and oil, while some portfolios have been rationalised to deliver more rational government.

Plans by the Saudi state-owned Public Investment Fund to remodel the world of professional golf continue to cause controversy in Washington, where senators are taking a dim view of the fund’s approach to their inquiries. That is not denting the PIF’s sporting appetite though, with cycling, rugby and motorsport deals in the pipeline.

International Holding Company reported an 18% year-on-year rise in revenues to $16bn for 2023, but profits were flat at the increasingly high-profile conglomerate chaired by UAE national security adviser Sheikh Tahnoun Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan.

Khalid Al-Shamlan takes over the real estate and infrastructure file at the Abu Dhabi government’s investment fund.

Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah has presented his government’s legislative programme to parliament, but critics inside and outside the National Assembly are likely to make political life difficult for the premier in the coming months, while Kuwait waits on a much-anticipated crown prince appointment

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company is aiming to use its $23bn decarbonisation budget to develop its domestic and international carbon management platforms, following a wave of deal-making in December and January aimed at bolstering bolster the UAE’S energy transition credentials.

The latest phase of tensions in Hadhramaut involves UAE-backed factions competing with groups linked to Saudi Arabia.