Search results

GSN examines how commentators, columnists and opposition voices have reacted to Russia's Ukraine war through social media channels and the region's newspapers.

Given the ambivalent position adopted by Saudi Arabia and the UAE in particular, questions may be asked about the longevity of some Gulf economic links with Ukraine, which encompass military, energy, agriculture and other ties.

The Ministry of Energy has awarded two solar PV projects with a combined capacity of 1GW, after Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPPC) signed power purchase agreements (PPA) for the Al-Rass and Saad Solar projects.

Petrofac’s Sami Iskander was in buoyant mood as the London Stock Exchange-listed contractor released 2021 results days after Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) lifted its suspension from bidding for contracts, which had been imposed a year earlier as the extent of Petrofac’s governance problems emerged.

Iranian forces have unveiled a new launch system for the Shahed-136 drone’s latest variant, giving clear indications of how the Islamic Republic of Iran Army Ground Forces (Nezaja) intends to deploy the ‘suicide’ drones – which appears to have become the attack weapon of choice.

The Royal Court announced on 24 March the death of Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, widow of the late Sheikh Isa Bin Rashid Al-Khalifa who died in March 2020 and aunt of King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa.

Prominent royal son Sheikh Nasser Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa was on hand to present the podium prizes to the top three finishers at the Bahrain Grand Prix on 20 March, the first race of the season.

King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa commissioned five ships into the Royal Bahraini Naval Force (RBNF) at an early April ceremony. The ships – Damsah, Al-Farooq, Al-Ghurairiah, Jenan and Sakhir – are Cyclone-class patrol ships previously used by the US Navy Fifth Fleet.

Sultan Haitham Bin Tariq Al-Said’s son Sayyid Bilarab Bin Haitham has made an unspecified contribution to the Fak Kurbah initiative, which offers help to Omanis imprisoned for being unable to pay their debts.

Bahrain's foreign affairs minister Abdullatif Bin Rashid Al-Zayani was in Moscow for talks with his counterpart Sergey Lavrov on 7 April – as the latest UN General Assembly vote over the Ukraine conflict was held.

Former US ambassador Richard Olson is expected to plead guilty to charges including illegal lobbying on behalf of the Qatari government, The New York Times reported on 27 April.

The Iranian Army (Artesh) put a number of previously-unseen pieces of kit on display during the annual Army Day parade in Tehran on 18 April. The parade, overseen by President Ebrahim Raisi, featured the army’s ground forces, Air Force, Air Defence Force and the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy (Nejada).

The Saudi government announced a deal with electric car maker Lucid Motors on 26 April to buy 50,000 vehicles from the US firm over ten years, with an option for up to 50,000 more. Lucid currently has one manufacturing plant in Arizona but is setting up another in the kingdom with production capacity of up to 150,000 cars a year. Nasdaq-listed Lucid is 61% owned by the Saudi government’s Public Investment Fund.

Muscat expects to launch a personal income tax in the first half of 2023, according to an unnamed official at the National Programme for Fiscal Balance cited by Al-Monitor on 22 April.

Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov flew into Muscat on 10 May, where he met his counterpart Sayyid Badr Al-Busaidi and Sultan Haitham Bin Tariq Al-Said. Neither his talks in Oman, nor a preceding visit to Algeria, had been publicised in advance. Bilateral ties and the Ukraine war were at the centre of the discussions, but the prospects for a revived Iran nuclear agreement will have been hard to ignore.