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The Kuwaiti authorities are reviving long-running plans to drastically reduce the number of foreign workers, despite signs that such a policy could harm Kuwait’s ability to develop a viable post-oil economy.

The Qatar Emiri Naval Forces (QENF) launched its coastal missile defence system at the Umm Al-Houl naval base late February. In September 2016, Qatar signed a deal with European defence group MBDA for a coastal defence system using the extended range version of the Marte missile and Exocet MM40 Block 3 missile.

The failure of Yemen’s warring parties to renew their truce in October is regarded by many observers as a sign of both the increasing strength of the Houthi rebel group and a failure of the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) to resolve its own internal differences.

Since the six-month ceasefire in Yemen ended in early October, Houthi forces have launched a series of drone attacks on energy infrastructure targets. To date, they have caused minimal damage, but the rebel group showed during the summer that it has a large stock of weapons at its disposal and more strikes seem likely.

Yemen’s Sunni Islamist party Al-Islah is facing mounting challenges, as southerners demand full implementation of the 2019 Riyadh Agreement – under which the Southern Transitional Council (STC) was recognised as the legitimate representative of the southern people – and Houthis escalate their campaign across Marib and Taiz.

GSN Risk Grade: B↓2↓ PM grilling: A grilling of Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah over alleged irregularities in running state affairs, including embezzlement of public funds, is due to take place in the National Assembly (parliament) on 29 March.

There have been further movements of coalition forces following Saudi troop redeployments and withdrawals in Mahra, Shebwa and Aden in October. Saudi and UAE forces have withdrawn from the port area of Hodeidah, in effect ceding the city to the Houthis. A coalition spokesman described this as part of tactical redeployments, with the troops needed elsewhere.

Tensions between leadership rivals in Mahra and Socotra are rising, as fighting between Houthi forces and those of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government intensifies in Marib and threatens to spill over into the few regions that have not seen major fighting, specifically Hadhramaut and Mahra.

Developments in recent weeks suggest that local resistance to outside interference has stiffened in Yemen’s Mahra governorate, which borders Oman. It has not reached the point where Mahris wish to secede from Yemen, but there is an insistence that they enjoy a high degree of autonomy in any post-war settlement.  

President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government continues to lose ground against the Houthis in Marib province, where the rebels are close to encircling Marib city. Since taking control of the Al-Awadh tribal area in Al-Baydha province’s Radman district, south of Marib governorate, Houthis have advanced into the Qayfah area and have pushed Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and Islamic State elements further away from their stronghold in Rada, Al-Baydha.

GSN Risk Grade - B3. Hydrogen developments: The government is among those that have seen an opportunity to be an early mover in the potentially huge global hydrogen economy.

Peace negotiations in Riyadh between the Southern Transition Council (STC) and President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government remain at an impasse, but there are some indications that Riyadh’s patience with Hadi is wearing thin.Saudi Arabia has maintained its support for the Hadi administration through most of the Yemen conflict, but his authority is being continually undermined by his allies in the south – predominantly vice president Ali Mohsen and the Sunni Islamist party Al-Islah – but also by his own conduct while residing in Riyadh, where sources say his hosts have been disappointed by Hadi’s lack of engagement with local or international actors.

Talks under way in Riyadh between President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government and the Southern Transitional Council (STC) could pave the way for a return of government officials to the interim capital Aden, even after the recent ousting of Hadi’s governor from Socotra by STC forces closely aligned with the UAE. Saudi Arabia has been pushing for a political deal between the two parties, in the hope it will bring an end to clashes in Abyan governorate.

Nomination papers were filed by 376 candidates for the upcoming National Assembly (parliament) election by the time of the 7 September deadline, including 27 women. Among the candidates were over 44 members of the outgoing parliament, as well as former national speaker Ahmed Al-Saadoun.

Regular analysis of satellite imagery of Perim Island in the Bab El Mandeb strait over recent weeks suggests a new 1,900m runway planned by the UAE remains incomplete, although enough of it has been built to mean it is probably usable by tactical transport aircraft.