Search results

GSN Risk Grade: C↑3↓ Election preparations: Elections for the Majlis Al-Nuwab (Council of Representatives) are due to be held in November, with 40 single-seat constituencies up for grabs. In preparation, the Ministry of Justice and Islamic Affairs has reportedly written to local political societies to warn them they should only meet representatives from foreign embassies in co-ordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and with a MFA representative in attendance.

Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities (Baca) chair Sheikha Mai Bint Mohammed Al-Khalifa has been dismissed from her post, after reportedly refusing to shake hands with Israel’s ambassador to Bahrain Eitan Naeh.

Manama and Doha took a significant step towards reconciliation at the Jeddah Summit for Security and Development, with a face-to-face meeting between Bahraini King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani.

US President Joe Biden’s imminent trip to the Middle East has prompted renewed discussion about the idea of a region-wide defence pact to counter Iran. Such ideas have long been floated for the GCC states alone – and always failed due to a lack of commitment among the six countries to pool their defence resources and command-and-control structures. The talk these days is of an even wider arrangement, involving the likes of Egypt, Iraq, Jordan and Israel.

Bahrain’s King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa received Bahraini-Russian Friendship and Business Society chairman George Al-Zuraikat and vice chairman Anatoly Mitrochin at Safriya Palace in Manama.

Bahrain’s Sheikh Nasser Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa won a 160km endurance horse race at Šamorín, Slovakia.

Bahrain’s King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa issued a royal order to set up a Military Institution for the Development of Warfare Industries, as Bahrain takes further steps to develop its own military manufacturing sector, following the lead of the UAE and Saudi Arabia in the region.

Leaders from across the Arab Gulf states and Egypt have been travelling around the region to heal fractures and head off the perceived threat from Iran’s nuclear ambitions, amid speculation that more GCC member states could move towards normalisation with Israel when US President Joe Biden comes to the region.

Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council chairman Rashad Al-Alimi has also been on a regional tour - visiting Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar - as a recently-extended truce with the Houthi rebels continues to hold.

Gulf sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) are flexing their muscles again, with logistics now a key focus. While high oil prices have bolstered Gulf funds, their recovery began before prices shot up this year.

Gulf Co-operation Council countries continue to develop their links with Moscow, in the face of concerted pressure by western governments to loosen the ties.

Former Bahraini ministers who lost out in a wide-ranging government reshuffle, including several members of the ruling Al-Khalifa family, have been appointed to new roles, in a series of royal orders issued by King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa.

Gulf Co-operation Council countries formally launched the process to negotiate a free trade agreement (FTA) with the UK. The GCC is the UK’s seventh largest export market.

The United States is reportedly drawing up plans for a defence co-operation agreement between Israel and the six Gulf Co-operation Council states, as well as Egypt, Jordan and Iraq, to counter the perceived threat from Iran.

King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa made 17 new cabinet appointments on 13 June, although most of the more influential government posts were untouched. Mohammed Bin Mubarak Bin Dainah becomes oil and environment minister, while Sheikh Khalid Bin Abdulla Al-Khalifa was named deputy prime minister and infrastructure minister; new tourism minister Fatima Bint Jaafer Al-Sairafi is one of four women in the 25-strong cabinet.