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Not all the headlines are positive, with wealthy Al-Thanis involved in controversial projects in London and Paris, but domestic indicators are good, business is building in Asia and the mega funds are back in action

Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and its associates are increasingly looking towards Asia. In early November, Qatari Diar said it would soon sign an agreement to develop a project in Vietnam. Qatar Holding, which invests on behalf of QIA, is close to opening an office in China to add to its presence in India. Chief executive Ahmed Al-Sayed recently

Voting, parliamentary seats and ministerial posts are only the start for Aseel Al-Awadhi. She wants women in Kuwait to be full citizens in more than politics. Despite recent reforms – discussed in Politics below – there is still a huge distance to make up in terms of women’s social and legal status, says the MP, who does not wear a hijab, inside parliament or elsewhere.

In an often fractious political scene, the 1962 document is the foundation upon which all Kuwaitis agree – and it is now working in favour of women’s freedoms

Dublin Stock Exchange and London Stock Exchange-listed Dragon Oil has agreed to a full takeover by its majority shareholder

Egypt’s role in the alliance gathered behind Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh’s efforts to crush the Houthi rebellion suggests the ‘sleeping giant’ of Middle East politics has not entirely withdrawn from its central role in regional diplomacy. Cairo still plays an important part in mediating in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, most recently in trying to heal the fratricidal rift between Fatah and Hamas. But otherwise, Egypt under 81-year-old President Hosni Mubarak seems to have long parted from its Nasserite status as a critical hub for Arab political and cultural thought and action.

Syria rapprochement; Egypt meetings; In Washington; Death; Condolences; French meetings; A number of nuptials

Despite the slow but steady progress now being made on policy issues, the prospect of an old-style ministerial grilling threatens Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammed and may lead to the dissolution of parliament

In a move to increase pressure on Tehran, the British government has followed US moves by banning all UK-based companies from entering into or continuing any transactions or business relationships with Bank Mellat,

After a turbulent year for several GCC economies, private sector underwriters and trade finance banks say they will remain wary of Saudi trade paper until a clearer understanding emerges of how much the Saad Group crisis is going to cost banks in the region.

Everyone from ‘Great Satan’ America to Al-Qaeda has been blamed for a suicide bombing that targeted senior IRGC commanders in Sistan va Baluchistan. The incident points to deepening confrontation in sensitive, often ethnically distinct border regions such as Khuzestan province, where Tehran has rejected all challenges to its authority

Former ambassador Peter Galbraith, who retired from the US State Department in 2003, and who recently made headlines after resigning as deputy head of the United Nations in Afghanistan, has admitted that he was negotiating a potentially lucrative oil deal in Iraqi Kurdistan in 2004 at the same time as he was advising the regional government on constitutional issues.

Following rumours last month that Prince Mishaal Bin Abdelaziz may have suffered a stroke, the Allegiance Commission (Al-Hayat Al-Bayaa) chairman is in Geneva for health care (GSN 861/7).