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The government on 24 February said it was looking at ways to reduce the cost of two big power generation contracts concluded in 2008 with Siemens (to supply and install 16 gas turbines in a €1.5bn deal) and General Electric

Central Bank of Kuwait governor Sheikh Salem Abdelaziz Al-Sabah was very bullish, going so far as to say that the “crisis has not hit it that much.”

In a fast-evolving regional situation, French President Nicolas Sarkozy is touring the Gulf again, visiting Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait

Iraq’s border areas are a wild frontier, marked by intense mafia activity and low-level tribal violence. But the security situation is becoming more manageable than seemed likely even one year ago.

Russia’s Gazprom has made a deal with Kuwait’s Noor Financial Investment Company to set up a joint venture targeting exploration and production work in Russia and the Middle East. The signing of a bilateral agreement on civil nuclear co-operation with George W Bush’s administration prior to the Republican president’s departure from office has raised some eyebrows in the United States, for fear that it will spark a ‘nuclear arms race’ in the region.

With unsubstantiated rumours of a potential bid for Liverpool FC splashed across the UK newspapers, and a new deal to work with Gazprom, Kuwait’s prominent Al-Kharafi family is receiving more attention than usual.

Five country ratification is the first hurdle. Policy and structural detail will have to follow soon if markets are to take the GCC’s monetary union plan seriously.

Kuwait and Iraq have signed their first formal military agreement since the 1990-91 occupation, as both countries build up their coastal security.

Following weeks of negotiations and delays – which prompted talks of a walkout by parliamentarians and fresh grilling threats against the prime minister – Kuwait has a new government, albeit one with only two new faces. Many MPs have responded angrily to what is in effect a minor reshuffle rather than a new government, with 12 parliamentarians staging a walkout at the National Assembly ceremony to swear in the new cabinet.

The breakdown of the deal between The Dow Chemical Company and Petrochemical Industries Company – in which the Kuwaiti state-owned PIC would take a 50% stake in the United States’ largest chemicals group for around $9bn in return for the Americans developing the emirate’s downstream value-added via the KDow joint venture – is unsurprising.

While Kuwait’s latest government crisis keeps the headline writers busy (see Politics, below), major oil companies are worrying that their hopes of developing the emirate’s huge reserves seem as elusive as ever. Some IOCs will struggle to make a profit even

Mere survival is not enough: supporters of Sheikh Nasser Mohammed want to see the prime minister give decisive leadership in overcoming family rivals and parliamentary opponents. Sheikh Nasser Mohammed Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Kuwait’s embattled reformist prime minister, continues to face down conservative

Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammed’s administration is feeling the heat from defenders of traditional politics.

KAF Apache support deal for DynCorp BAE Systems in Eurofighter Typhoon talks with Oman. Qatar-India defence co-operation

One of the region’s strongest financial systems has weaknesses to address despite its successful management of last month’s mini-crisis.