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S&P Global Ratings revised its outlook for Bahrain’s sovereign rating to stable from negative on 26 November, citing its expectation that the government will implement further measures to reduce the budget deficit and will also benefit from support from other Gulf sovereigns.

Capital Governorate governor Sheikh Hisham Bin Abdulrahman Al-Khalifa has been named Ministry of Interior undersecretary for nationality, passports and residence affairs.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Queen Rania Al-Abdullah made a brief tour of the Gulf in November, starting in Manama on 22 November and moving on to Abu Dhabi the following day. It came as the parliament in Amman began debating proposed political reforms which would see the prime minister chosen by parliamentary majority rather than picked by the king.

The government announced details of a $30bn investment programme on 24 November. Known as the Strategic Projects Plan, it covers 22 schemes, including the creation of five cities on newly-constructed islands, which will increase Bahrain’s total land area by more than 60%.

Sheikh Rashid Bin Khalifa Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa has been named chair of the newly-formed National Council for the Arts.

Mena Aerospace Enterprises (MAE) – a company chaired and one-third owned by Sheikh Ahmed Bin Ali Bin Abdullah Al-Khalifa of Bahrain’s ruling family – is expanding beyond its core business aviation services to become an air cargo operator. MAE is also targeting the aviation services market in Saudi Arabia.

Pakistan has issued hunting permits to 39 Gulf dignitaries for this year’s houbara bustard winter hunting season. According to Karachi-based The News International, 18 permits went to Qatar, 11 to the UAE, seven to Bahrain and three to Saudi Arabia.

The UAE and Bahrain have agreed a wide-ranging co-operation programme covering diplomacy, economic ties, cybersecurity, education, healthcare and other areas. The announcement was made on 9 November during a visit by Crown Prince Salman Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa to Abu Dhabi, where he held talks with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and UAE Armed Forces deputy supreme commander Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (MBZ).

Sheikh Ali Bin Abdulrahman Bin Ali Al-Khalifa was named as Bahrain’s new ambassador to Saudi Arabia on 4 November.

Talks on reviving the JCPOA Iran nuclear deal are soon to restart, but key players in the region are deeply sceptical that a positive outcome can be negotiated. Hardliners in Tehran appear more confident, while GCC states are questioning the US commitment to the region and Israel is accelerating preparations for covert and overt conflict

 The government launched a revised timetable to balance its budget on 31 October, alongside plans to cut spending on public sector pay, raise more non-oil revenue and encourage more locals into private sector jobs. The previous aim to balance the budget by 2022 has been pushed back by two years, although economists have cautioned that further reforms will probably still be needed to reach that target.

GSN Risk Grade: C↑3↓ Recent developments Ratings downgrade: Second tier ratings agency Capital Intelligence (CI) cut long-term foreign and local currency ratings on 8 October to B+ from BB-, revising the outlook to stable from negative.

Southern governor Sheikh Khalifa Bin Ali Al-Khalifa was reappointed for a second four-year term by King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa on 6 October. Hamad met a delegation of Southern Governorate citizens at Sakhir Palace on the same day.

Minister of state Prince Turki Bin Mohammed Bin Fahd Al-Saud has been on the move again, visiting Bahrain, Kuwait and the UAE in recent weeks.

The UN Human Rights Council voted to end the Group of Eminent Experts (GEE) on Yemen’s mandate on 7 October. The GEE was set up in 2017 to investigate war crimes by all sides in the conflict; it has repeatedly found that air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition and actions by the Houthis may amount to war crimes.