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Abeer Anwar Al-Awadhi becomes the second leader of Kuwait’s cybersecurity body, taking over from Major General Mohammed Bouarki.

Backed by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s Misk Foundation, the new Asaan museum will be built at a favoured MBS location, Diriyah, on the edge of Riyadh, under his wife’s guidance.

In her first public engagement, Sheikha Fatima Al-Dana Bint Salman Al-Khalifa inaugurated a pop-up exhibition for local fashion and beauty brands at The Avenues shopping mall.

A series of memoranda and other agreements were announced during President Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan’s brief state visit to Rome, in MBZ’s second trip to Europe in a matter of weeks.

Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko visited Doha in late February to meet his counterpart Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, in the latest sign that Gulf leaders have no interest in following western countries’ efforts to isolate the autocratic regime in Minsk over its support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Iraqi population is now over 46m, according to the latest census data released by the Ministry of Planning, some 700,000 higher than the estimate released in November. In theory, the data should help the authorities to allocate resources more fairly, although there are likely to be heated debates about what funds are spent where.

Dubai Ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum and three of his sons – Ahmed, Hamdan and Mansoor – visited the Dubai International Boat Show, held on 19-23 February.

Prince Sultan Bin Mishaal Bin Abdelaziz has been disqualified from participating in British horse racing until he pays a debt of nearly £322,000 owed to trainer Richard Hannon.

The initial days of Donald Trump’s second stint in the White House seemed to pick up where his first term left off, with big investments promises by Gulf states to secure the president’s favour. However, deal-making has been quickly overtaken by more strategic concerns and grandiose political posturing, with suggestions the US could force Gaza’s population to move to Jordan, Egypt or even Saudi Arabia, while Trump has renewed his ‘maximum pressure’ campaign on Iran, hinting darkly that Washington could support Israel ‘bombing the hell out of them’.

Relations between Baghdad and Kuwait remain strained over the shared Khor Abdullah waterway and other issues, but there have been some recent signs of progress.

Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani was the first head of state to visit post-Assad Damascus, when the Qatari leader flew into the Syrian capital on 30 January, after which President Ahmed Al-Sharaa chose Riyadh for his first overseas trip. Meanwhile Iranian military commanders have emerged from licking their wounds after the Assad regime’s defeat to claim they are now rebuilding resistance cells in their former client state.

Sections of this RMR on recent developments in Kuwait include: Economic contraction, Raising sin and other new revenue, Budget deficit, Public Debt Law, Oil discoveries, Crude output rise, Death penalties enacted and Iraqi talks. 

Revenues grew by more than 50% in 2024 but profits were down by a third, as the conglomerate chaired by UAE national security adviser Sheikh Tahnoun Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan dealt with a mixed performance from some key subsidiaries including Multiply Group and Alpha Dhabi.

Sharjah Art Foundation president Sheikha Hoor Bint Sultan Al-Qasimi’s appointment to head the newly-created Creative Quarter adds to her portfolio of jobs in the arts and fashion.

Amendments to the General Amnesty Law and Personal Status Law, alongside a new Property Restitution Law were passed in a single vote, in an apparent ‘grand bargain’ between Sunni, Shia and Kurdish groups, but critics alleged that the voting process was deeply flawed and have petitioned the Supreme Court to throw out the laws.