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GSN’s listing of the 33rd Kuwait cabinet, announced 4 August 2013.

Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah has pardoned all those convicted of insulting him. “I’m pleased on the occasion of Ramadan to grant an emiri amnesty to all those convicted of offending the emir, to be effective immediately,” he said in a speech broadcast on state television on 30 July.

In the heat of a Ramadan summer, Kuwaitis went to the polls on 27 July for the third time in less than two years. The turnout of around 52% – higher than the record low 40% of the last poll in December – only just topped the temperature, which climbed close to 50 degrees Fahrenheit during the day. The election results – most notable for significant Shia losses – are difficult to read; the elected assembly seems to be slightly more balanced than in recent years, but the chances of it leading to any profound improvement in Kuwait’s prospects nonetheless seem slim.

A constitency-by-constituency listing of MPs elected on 27 July 2013 and votes received.

Kuwait has often been held up as a beacon for democratisation in the region. Friction between the elected parliament and the appointed government has been an ongoing problem, however, often resulting in paralysis of the state. Parliament has twice been shut down – from 1976 to 1981 and from 1986 to 1992 – and there have been three elections in the past 18 months.

The Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA)’s main investment arm, the Kuwait Investment Office, now manages more than $120bn globally, compared with just $27bn ten years ago. KIA managing director Bader Mohammed Al-Saad was recently quoted by Reuters as saying the sovereign wealth fund had more than doubled its investment in the UK. “The KIA has invested more than $24bn in the UK across all asset classes, sectors and industries. Ten years ago, it was $9bn,” he told an investor lunch in London.

Atlanta-based Meggitt Training Systems has installed and commissioned a new live fire law enforcement range at Mubarrak Al-Kabeer, the first new Police Governorate headquarters. Ten identical installations are planned across Kuwait; Meggitt has already won the contract for the Al-Jahra tactical range, and is also completing the installation of a multiple range complex at the new Police Training Centre.

Atlanta-based Meggitt Training Systems has installed and commissioned a new live fire law enforcement range at Mubarrak Al-Kabeer, the first new Police Governorate headquarters. Ten identical installations are planned across Kuwait; Meggitt has already won the contract for the Al-Jahra tactical range, and is also completing the installation of a multiple range complex at the new Police Training Centre.

The Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA)’s main investment arm, the Kuwait Investment Office, now manages more than $120bn globally, compared with just $27bn ten years ago. KIA managing director Bader Mohammed Al-Saad was recently quoted by Reuters as saying the sovereign wealth fund had more than doubled its investment in the UK. “The KIA has invested more than $24bn in the UK across all asset classes, sectors and industries. Ten years ago, it was $9bn,” he told an investor lunch in London.

The price of a vote in Kuwait seems to be even steeper than usual as a result of changes in the election law. The emirate will hold its next parliamentary election on 27 July; holding a vote in Ramadan is unprecedented, and there are some concerns that heat, fasting and election fatigue could see turnout dip even lower than the 39.7% seen last December.

On 16 June, Kuwait’s constitutional court made two key rulings that have once again set the election process in motion. The first was that the emiri decree which set up the National Election Commission in October was unconstitutional, and that parliament must be dissolved. The next parliamentary election will be the third in less than two years, following votes in February and December 2012. The second ruling was more contentious. The court decided the emiri decree that introduced a new voting system before the last election was legitimate.

The government has approved the formation of Kuwait’s first anti- corruption authority, according to state news agency Kuna. On 3 June, Kuna said the cabinet had met and approved a draft decree to establish the authority, which will be chaired by Abdulrahman Saleh Al-Namash. His deputy was named as Riyadh Humoud Al-Hajri, and five board members were also appointed.

On 16 June, Kuwait’s constitutional court is expected to deliver a long-awaited decision about the constitutionality of Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah’s 2012 election law. The court’s tiptoeing towards resolution of the conflict has left Kuwait watchers divided over which side is likely to prevail, though, by mid-May, a consensus seemed to be converging on the view the law would be overturned and yet more elections scheduled. Promulgated during a parliamentary interregnum in October, and ratified by the parliament it produced, the election law’s primary provision was to reduce the number of votes per voter from four to one, a radical change widely seen as favouring pro-government candidates and prompting an opposition boycott of the 1 December poll.

M Al-Kharafi and Sons has won a final arbitration decision worth $930m from the Libyan government as a result of breach of contract, according to Kuwaiti media. In 2006, the company entered into a contract with the government of Muammar Qadhafi to build a seafront resort in Tripoli, including a five-star hotel, apartments and villas and a shopping mall, through a 90-year concession.

The fallout from Kuwait’s K-Dow saga has seen a string of dismissals and appointments, topped off on 19 May by the appointment of Nizar Mohammad Al-Adsani as chief executive of state-run Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) and of new managing directors to many of its subsidiaries, in an attempt to “infuse new blood” into the industry. On 7 May, KPC subsidiary Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC) finally settled its dispute with US Dow Chemical Company, paying $2.195bn in damages for pulling out of a $17.4bn deal in 2008.