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Sharjah Ruler Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al-Qasimi has laid the foundation stone for the Academy of Ecology and Natural Sciences (AENS) in the inland city of Al-Dhaid.

GSN Risk Grade: B3↓ Recent developments Ukraine hesitancy: The government said it was watching developments in Ukraine “with deep anxiety”, following a Council of Ministers (cabinet) meeting at Al-Barakah Palace on 3 March chaired by Sultan Haitham.

An attempt by GCC secretary-general Nayef Al-Hajraf to convene a fresh round of dialogue in Riyadh for Yemen war belligerents appears to have failed, with the Houthis refusing to take part. However, there are signs of further Saudi-inspired political initiatives to break the stalemate on the ground, which could have significant consequences for President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and the wider political process.

US President Joe Biden has nominated Timmy Davis as US ambassador to Qatar. Arabic-speaking Davis spent almost a decade in the US Marine Corps before joining the diplomatic service.

The Muscat Stock Exchange is to allow full foreign ownership of listed companies. In a brief statement issued on 28 March, the bourse said the cancellation of foreign ownership limits would make it more attractive to international investors.

Personally popular with fellow rulers for his relaxed style, but often criticized for flaws in Bahrain’s management and its troubled relations with its majority Shia population, King Hamad Bin Isa Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa has ruled Bahrain for 22 years, first as emir and, since 2002, as its self-declared king.

Sharjah Ruler Sheikh Sultan Bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi has stepped in to pay AED200,000 ($54,500) in ‘blood money’ to secure the release of a UAE woman from prison. Local media reported on 23 March that the unnamed woman had been jailed by a Sharjah court after one of her employees had been killed by electrocution.

A key Chechen figure involved in Russia’s campaign around the now-devastated Ukrainian city of Mariupol is member of Russia’s State Duma (parliament) Adam Delimkhanov, who is also a cousin and close associate of Chechnya’s President Ramzan Kadyrov.

The first two NH90 NFH helicopters designed for naval operations have been delivered to the Qatar Emiri Air Force. Qatar has 12 of the aircraft on order, as part of a wider €3bn ($3.7bn) contract to buy 28 helicopters which was announced in March 2018 at the Doha International Maritime Defence Exhibition (Dimdex).

Oman's Ministry of Energy and Minerals has invited bids on four mining blocks for potash and associated commodities.

Iran has named Mohammad Kazem Al-Sadeq as its new ambassador to Baghdad. As is often the case with Iranian ambassadors to Iraq, Sadeq is reportedly a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp’s elite Quds Force.

All six Gulf Co-operation Council states abstained in a vote at the UN General Assembly on 7 April on suspending Russia from the UN Human Rights Council.

GSN provides brief profiles of the eight members of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council, which was formed at a GCC-convened summit in Riyadh in late March/early April.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues to roil global oil and gas markets – particularly in Europe where countries are chasing alternative supplies to reduce their heavy energy dependency on Russia.

Risk Management Report: International politics and economics. Breakeven prices: Oil prices have remained high in the shadow of the Ukraine war, with the cost of a barrel well above $100 through much of March and April. This means that most Gulf states are in a position to post budget surpluses this year.