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A director and shareholder of Doha-based defence consultancy Digital Soula Systems (DSS) has filed an action at a court in California against the State of Qatar, the Qatar Armed Forces (QAF) and the country’s Ministries of Defence and Economy and Commerce. Tarek Fouad alleges breach of contract and non-payment for advice on the acquisition of a command, control, communications, computers and intelligence (C4I) system, known as the Falcon Project, for Joint Operations Command.

Away from the spin and razzmatazz of last month’s Future Investment Initiative (FII) conference in Riyadh, analysts are starting to question whether the sums underlying the economic reform initiatives being pursued by Saudi Arabia really add up. McKinsey & Company, the chief architect of the Vision 2030 strategy, has previously estimated that $4trn of investment is needed to implement the sort of wide-ranging economic reforms it has suggested for the country.

Abu Dhabi-owned Al-Hilal Bank is setting up an Islamic bank in Kazakhstan. The Almaty-based bank will

One little-noticed target of Qatar’s global investment drive and quest for political influence has been the South-east Asian nation of Myanmar. As Myanmar opens up, Qatari investors already have their foot on the ground. Majority state-owned telecoms firm Ooredoo acquired one of the country’s first two mobile network licences in June 2013, and expects to start operations in Q3 2014; state-owned Qatar Airways is one of the few non-Asian carriers offering direct flights to Yangon; and then assistant foreign minister for foreign affairs Ali Bin Fahad Al-Hajri travelled to Yangon in August 2013 to discuss bilateral relations.

Defence minister Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) travelled to Abu Dhabi on 22 February to attend IDEX 2015, the international defence exhibition. Deputy national security adviser Tahnoun Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan met him at the airport, and accompanied him round the exhibition, which was opened by Dubai ruler Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, in the presence of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan. Travelling with MBS were the director-general of the defence minister’s office Fahd Bin Mohammed Al-Issa, the president of special affairs at the defence minister’s office Khalid Bin Mohammed Al-Rayis and chief of general staff General Abdulrahman Bin Saleh Al-Bunyan.

A month into the unilateral ceasefire called by Saudi Arabia, there are still no signs of renewed peace talks. Meanwhile, challenges are mounting throughout the south as fighting continues along a number of fronts against the Houthis. The late April declaration of self-administration by the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) has shown again how little control Riyadh has over events on its southern border.President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government has lost significant territory since March, as Houthis now control western Al-Jawf and Mareb provinces.

US secretary of state John Kerry’s get-to-know-you tour of Europe and the Gulf spelled out the extent of the challenges facing US policy in President Barack Obama’s second term. Washington’s determination to ‘pivot toward Asia’ has grabbed the headlines, and the notion of loosening relationships with certain Gulf states might appeal.

Abdullah, the emir’s son by his third wife Sheikha Nura Bint Khalid Bin Hamad, recently celebrated his marriage

Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit on 29 December provided the Turkish president with an opportunity to lobby King Salman Bin Abdelaziz on potential multi-billion dollar equipment sales, during talks that he told reporters committed the two states to developing commerce and the defence industry. Among sales promoted by Erdogan was the supply of armoured vehicles by the Ankara-based Nurol Holding/US-based BAE Systems Land & Armaments LP joint venture FNSS Savunma Sistemleri. US-based defensenews.com reported a Turkish official as saying FNSS could produce armoured vehicles in Turkey or in Saudi Arabia.

The steady flow of prosecutions in Omani courts relating to corruption cases has dominated headlines in the sultanate. A renewed clampdown on graft has led to the sentencing of high-profile individuals – such as the chief executive of state-owned Oman Oil Company (OOC), the managing director of Galfar Engineering & Contracting, a number of government aides, businessmen and officials at state-owned Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) (GSN) – providing compelling evidence that the government’s effort has teeth, even if it is being conducted with at least half an eye on the gallery of public opinion.

On 6 October, King Salman met Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz, attended by Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, trusted state minister Musaid Al-Aiban, finance minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf, foreign minister Adel Al-Jubeir and others. A day earlier, the king received Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

UAE interior minister Lieutenant General Sheikh Saif Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan chaired the first meeting of the federal Department of Behavioural Rewards on 15 May. Part of the Ministry of Possibilities, this virtual ministry was set up in April. by federal Vice President and Prime Minister, and Dubai Ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum its aims include developing ways to encourage good behaviour by citizens through a points-based rewards system that locals can use to pay for government services.

Assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs Andrew Shapiro has confirmed that the Obama administration has asked Congress to approve a $60bn arms deal with the Kingdom (GSN 886/6). The 20-year deal involves the sale of 84 Boeing F-15 fighter jets and an upgrade

New administration but same pressures: new US sanctions against Iran’s largest state bank have underscored Washington’s determination to eviscerate Tehran’s trading capabilities.

There is much interest in Oman’s role in the recent US-Iran rapprochement (see page 1) and, on 4 December, Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani is due in Muscat for talks with the senior leadership. On 21 November, Sultan Qaboos issued three decrees, of which two were of particular interest. The first (62/2013) established a National Museum of Oman, affiliated to the Ministry of Heritage and Culture; all archaeological artefacts held by the ministry will become the property of the museum. Decree 64/2013 ratified Oman’s accession to the UN Convention Against Corruption.