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Vodafone has signed a deal with Kuwait’s Zain Group, to significantly expand its reach in the Middle East. In a statement to the London Stock Exchange on 3 September, Vodafone said that, under the non-equity partnership agreement, Vodafone would work with Zain companies in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan and Iraq.

Up to 2,000 people took to the streets for a sit-in outside parliament to demonstrate their opposition to proposed changes to electoral law which they claim is an attempt at gerrymandering.

The Gulf nations were not expected to top the Olympics medal table – and, apart from an impressive 12-medal haul from Iran (putting it 17th on the overall medals table), the region’s athletes did not bring home much metal. Qatar ranked 75th in the table, with two bronzes, and Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain tied 79th with one bronze apiece. But the medals won in London have increased the historical tally of Olympic medals from the region by almost a third – to 70 from just 53.

Kuwait’s first attempt at swearing in the newly formed cabinet failed on 31 July because not enough MPs turned up to parliament. Speaker Jassem Al-Kharafi said he had adjourned the session for one week. It was not an unexpected hiccup.

Sheikh Mishal Al-Malik Al-Sabah – an extended family member of Kuwait’s ruling Al-Sabah – was detained for several days after posting comments on Twitter accusing the authorities of corruption and calling for political reform.

Embattled national airline Kuwait Airways has had to ground several aircraft because of safety concerns, and is facing a law suit demanding suspension of all flights. Lawyer Hawra Al-Habeeb filed a suit the day after the government grounded several aircraft because of repeated malfunctions.

Kuwait’s latest political crisis seems to be progressing much as expected, for now at least, with the convoluted process that should lead to fresh elections now in motion (GSN 925/6).

Kuwait’s limited parliamentary democracy has often been held up as the most democratic political system in the region, but it has also led to a string of political crises; there have been four elections in less than six years.

Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah has rejected a draft bill passed by parliament that would have made blasphemy punishable by a maximum penalty of death (GSN 924/5). The bill will now be passed back to parliament, and will require a two thirds majority to override the Emir’s objection.

Kuwait plunged further into political crisis on 20 June, as the constitutional court ruled February’s election void and said the previous assembly should be restored. A brief statement by state news agency Kuna said “[the] court rules ‘unconstitutional’ the call for the 2012 elections and restores [the] previous assembly”.

The announcement on 20 June that the February election in Kuwait was unconstitutional was an unexpected twist in a political drama already thick with confrontations, resignations and involuntary vacations.

A controversial MP has been banned from attending parliament after being accused of drunkenness, spitting at a fellow MP, making vulgar gestures and verbally insulting him

A 26-year-old man accused of insulting the Prophet Mohammed on Twitter appeared in court on 21 May, where he pleaded not guilty to charges which have proved highly divisive in Kuwait. Hamad Al Naqi, a Shiite, has been in prison since he was arrested in March for insulting religious figures and the Sunni rulers of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Detractors have called for him to be executed (GSN 922/16).

Kuwait, like many Gulf states, has been grappling with how best to deal with sociAl networking sites such as Twitter, which have given wings to dissent that in the past would not have left the realms of private conversation.

CROWN PRINCE SALMAN: Korea visit; PM JABER: Visit from Tony Blair; SULTAN QABOOS: Holiday; EMIR SHEIKH HAMAD: Meetings