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A group of eight countries led by Saudi Arabia have signed a founding charter for the Council of Arab and African Coastal States of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, cementing an initiative that was launched in late 2018. The other founding members are Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Jordan, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. The new body will seek to enhance co-operation in sectors including maritime transport.

Emir Sheikh Tamim made a two-day visit to Ethiopia in early April, his first since becoming ruler. He held talks with President Mulatu Teshome and Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn. Qatar has traditionally been close to Eritrea’s President Isaias Afwerki, who has been a frequent visitor to Doha. These relations have caused diplomatic tensions with Ethiopia in the past; in 2008, Ethiopia broke off ties, accusing Doha of supporting extremism in the Horn of Africa. Relations were mended only a few years ago.

Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Company (KGL) has signed a logistics deal worth up to $1.38bn with the US Department of Defense’s Defense Logistics Agency. KGL’s 99%-owned subsidiary KGL Catering Company will provide food and logistics services for more than 20,000 US military personnel stationed in Kuwait, Iraq and Jordan as part of a 24-month contract, which is renewable for up to 60 months.

Even before the disaster in Mecca that killed at least 769 people on 24 September, a “definite sense of disquiet” was apparent across Saudi Arabia, as one analyst based in the kingdom put it. A variety of sources have spoken to GSN about growing unease among Saudis over the military intervention in Yemen and a perceived lack of urgency in tackling the dual challenges of Islamic State (IS, or Daesh) and low oil prices. While many in the kingdom will agree with Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdelaziz Bin Abdullah Al Al-Sheikh’s view that the stampede of Hajj pilgrims was “beyond human control”, many Saudis are apprehensive about wider political developments during 2015.

The Iraqi government condemned “in the strongest possible terms” a Turkish drone strike on a refugee camp near Makhmur on 15 April, in which two women died and at least four others were injured. The Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the action by Ankara violated its sovereignty and represented a “grave violation of international humanitarian law”.

Saudi Arabian Corporation for Oil Shale (Sacos) has reiterated its commitment to the Jordanian shale oil industry by signing a $2bn, 40-year concession to develop oil shale reserves in Attarat Umm Ghadran. It was one of a pair of deals signed on 14 February; the other covers reserves in the Lajoun region and was signed with Karak International Oil (KIO), a subsidiary of UK-based Kerogen Shale. Both Sacos and KIO are now looking for financiers to support their projects, Jordan’s official Petra news agency reported.

Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and UAE Armed Forces deputy supreme commander Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan spoke to Austria’s young Chancellor Sebastian Kurz by phone on 27 July, to discuss ways to promote bilateral ties. The call followed a meeting between Kurz and minister of state and Adnoc Group chief executive Sultan Bin Ahmad Al-Jaber in Vienna on 22 June.

A number of Gulf Co-operation Council states have begun to amend their employment laws to provide relief for employers, although little is being done for expatriate staff. The most comprehensive changes have come in the UAE, where expat workers have for years enjoyed laws governing tenure, redundancies and terminations which in general have been well-enforced and usually interpreted in favour of employees when disputes come to court.

The region’s 129 paralympians came back from the London 2012 Paralympic Games with 31 medals, 24 of those won by Iran, which came 11th in the medal table. It was Iran’s best medal haul to date.

The US Department of Defence (Pentagon) in late January said Lockheed Martin Corporation had been awarded a $92.7m modification to its foreign military sales (FMS) Patriot missile support contract. Lockheed will conduct a Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) and Missile Segment Enhancement Multi-Band Radio Frequency Data Link obsolescence redesign, the Pentagon said. Completion of the contract is scheduled by January 2020. The award follows a separate $1.1bn US Army contract, awarded in December, that included the sale of PAC-3 technology to Qatar, along with Saudi Arabia and Korea.

The UAE’s National Election Committee (NEC) has announced that elections for the Federal National Council will take place on 24 September. Campaigning will run from 4 to 21 September, while candidate registration will take place over four days from 14 August and the final list announced on 28 August

A flagship art show patronised by King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa’s wife Princess Sabeeka Bint Ibrahim Al-Khalifa and supported by development agency Tamkeen has been criticised by dealers and contractors who complain the organisation was chaotic and some participants haven’t been paid after the March 2017 second edition.

Gulf grandees arrived in Beijing for the Arab-China Cooperation Forum (ACCF) in early July, but the country that appeared to take the event most seriously was Kuwait, whose Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah was the only Gulf ruler to attend. The emir was in China from 7-10 July, holding bilateral talks with President Xi Jinping before heading on to the ACCF. In an interview with the local Xinhua News Agency, Sheikh Sabah said he hoped China would help to establish industrial and high-tech park in northern Kuwait.

Lieutenant General Hamad Thani Al-Rumaithi, chief of staff of the UAE Armed Forces, visited his troops in Yemen in late August and attended the reopening of airports at Aden and Riyan in Hadhramaut. Emirati troops continue to operate in southern Yemen, despite a series of confusing announcements in June that suggested the country was withdrawing from the conflict.

There was symbolism in the fact that petroleum and mineral resources minister Ali Bin Ibrahim Al-Naimi, for long the government’s most senior non-royal, was in Beijing as King Salman Bin Abdelaziz reshuffled his government and control of the oil industry, in moves which should have lasting impact on Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) and the industry pecking order (see page 1). The separation of Aramco from the oil ministry, and the appointment of Saudi Aramco chief executive Khalid Al-Falih as health minister and as the oil giant’s chairman triggered further speculation about Naimi’s future, which the veteran petroleum minister immediately side-stepped by focusing on relations with China, which could prove critical to the kingdom’s future economic health.