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Cabinet reshuffle: Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani appointed Emiri Diwan chief Sheikh Khalid Bin Khalifa Al-Thani as prime minister and interior minister on 28 January, taking over from Sheikh Abdullah Bin Nasser Al-Thani who had resigned after six and a half years as premier. Khalid’s appointment marks a further stage in the growing centralisation of power around the Emiri Diwan since 2013, when Tamim took over from his father.

Protests continue: Demonstrations continued across many parts of the country through the early weeks of January, as the authorities struggle to come to terms with public discontent at the poor state of public services, corruption and foreign interference. Prime Minister Adel Abdel-Mahdi resigned in late November but remains in office in a caretaker capacity as it has proved impossible for President Barham Salih to find a consensus candidate to replace him. Indeed, it is now possible that Abdel-Mahdi may be pressured to remain in the job.

The extent to which Iraq’s 30 April elections has been considered a successful democratic exercise largely reflects the environment in which it took place. At least 12 people were killed on the day, eight voters at polling stations in Diyala and Salah Ad-Din, and four soldiers, but given the extreme violence witnessed in recent months, the toll was better than many had feared.The election differed hugely in different parts of the country, however. In most Shiite provinces, voters experienced something like a regular democratic campaign. Security is good in most areas, and candidates were able to go out and hold rallies, talk to voters, and attend community events.

A report on the Arabi21 news site in late March said a senior leader of the Al-Murrah tribe had returned to Doha, apparently seeking forgiveness from Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani. Arabi21 – which is widely followed and believed to be Qatari-funded – quoted an unnamed source saying Sheikh Taleb Bin Mohammed Bin Lahom Bin Shuraim (or Sherim) arrived at Doha airport with his family and voluntarily handed himself over to the authorities. Taleb had complained in September 2017 that he and 54 family members had been stripped of their Qatari citizenship after he refused to insult the Saudi leadership.

The Iraqi federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) announced a draft agreement on sharing oil revenues on 2 December, following two days of negotiations between federal Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi and KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani. The deal, which builds on a temporary agreement signed in November, still needs to be approved by parliament and written into the 2015 budget. Presuming it is, the KRG will supply 250,000 b/d for export through the federal State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO) in return for a resumption of monthly payments of the KRG’s 17% slice of the budget.

There was a lull in the speculation over the potential bombing of Iran by the United States or - more likely - its ally Israel, with the world transfixed by Barak Obama's victory in the US presidential election. Talk of significant offensive action against Tehran became intense during the late summer, with two theories circulating on the eventuality of a strike to knock out Iran's nuclear facilities and perhaps other targets. One theory was that the outgoing Bush administration would sanction a strike as its last neo-conservative hurrah; and, two, that Israel would be emboldened to act. In September, UK daily The Guardian, added to the debate by publishing details of documents showing how Washington had sought to rein in Israeli hawks who were ready to attack.

Delegates attending the 30th Gulf Co-operation Council summit in Kuwait, which started on 14 December, have said they support Saudi Arabia in its stance against Yemen's Al-Houthi rebels. Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah

Tensions between President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his predecessor Ali Abdullah Saleh arguably reached an all-time high in mid-June. On 11 June, Hadi ordered presidential guard troops to raid the offices and studios of Al-Yemen Al-Youm television, which is part-owned by the Saleh family. CCTV footage shows soldiers searching the building; media outlets close to Saleh – who is still sitting president of the General People’s Congress (GPC) – said Hadi had ordered the station’s temporary closure in his capacity as secretary-general of the GPC. GPC deputy secretary-general Sultan Al-Barakani was quoted as saying Hadi, with the cabinet’s approval, also subsequently temporarily shut down Al-Yemen Al-Youm newspaper.It is not clear why the media were closed, but the motivation appears to be political. The GPC has a 49% stake in Al-Yemen Al-Youm media, which includes a radio station. The rest is owned by Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh and his cousin Yahya Mohammed Saleh. If Hadi’s decision was linked to an internal party matter – as many suspect – the use of government troops is highly controversial.

Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani has agreed to expel Sakher El Materi, the son-in-law of former Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, from the country, the Tunisian News Agency (Tap) reported on 10 September.

A court ordered the closure of Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society on 14 June, following a two-hour hearing prompted by a request from the Ministry of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments. A full court case is due on 6 October, but the headquarters of Bahrain’s main opposition party have been closed and its assets frozen in the meantime. The move followed a week of arrests that was leavened by the departure of dissident Zainab Al-Khawaja for Denmark, where she has dual citizenship.

Kuwaiti MPs’ most beloved pastime, the ‘grilling’ of cabinet ministers, looks set to dominate the first few weeks after the National Assembly (Majlis Al-Umma) reconvenes on 27 October. The number of threatened grillings made during summer recess is usually a good barometer for MPs’ mood – and although speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim has promised a more consensual legislature, at least five parliamentary interpellation requests have been or will be submitted against ministers, including Ali Al-Omair (oil), Hind Al-Subaih (social affairs) and Bader Al-Issa (education).

The political stalemate continues in Bahrain, where the government – ignoring ongoing international criticism – is pursuing its policy of restricting opposition freedoms and detaining or jailing opposition members, and mainstream opposition parties have again boycotted the National Dialogue in protest. Amid the ongoing conflict, however, there are occasional glimmers of reform. On 26 September, King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa relinquished the role of president of the Supreme Judicial Court, appointing in his place Salim Al-Kuwari, a senior judge. The king’s handing over of the judiciary is unprecedented, but passed largely unnoticed. Al-Kuwari was also named president of the Court of Cassation, while Sheikh Khalifa Bin Rashid Al-Khalifa becomes president of the constitutional court.

Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani and Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan co-chaired the fifth session of the Qatar Turkey Supreme Strategic Committee on 25 November in the Emiri Diwan. Topics under discussion in Doha included political, energy, economic, investment and tourism links. An existing currency swap agreement between the two central banks was amended. Erdogan said the Turkish military base in Qatar, where 5,000 troops are stationed, was now complete and would be named after the 7th century Muslim commander Khalid Bin Walid, whose armies united Arabia for the first time.

In a blow to hopes that vast sums of aid would soon be pouring into Yemen, Riyadh has cancelled a donor meeting planned for the Saudi capital in late June, aid agency and diplomatic sources have told GSN.

The Saudi executions and Iranian response have drawn a further divide between two of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec)’s most important members. Opec has weathered bigger storms: as GSN reported at the time, Iran and Iraq sent representatives to meetings during the 1980-88 war and Iraqi officials and representatives of Kuwait’s exiled government were both present after the 1990 invasion.