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Qatar’s late August mediation of a fresh truce between Hamas and Israel in Gaza has reinforced Doha’s continued influence in Palestine – without the media fanfare surrounding the diplomatic breakthrough between Israel and the UAE.

GSN understands that UK-based Xcalibur Aerospace – a drone company, which is part-owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) – tried to raise $500m in a fund-raising effort focused on the US west coast earlier this year. However, it is believed the effort came to an end without any funds being raised, as investors were unpersuaded about what was on offer.

Several Gulf economies have returned to the international debt markets as they try to get to grips with the fiscal challenge of low oil revenues, subdued economic activity and a need for high spending to offset coronavirus’s impact.

Suspicions about Saudi Arabia’s nuclear intentions are growing in the United States, amid evidence of undeclared uranium activities in the north and other undisclosed activity. The concerns led the US House of Representatives Intelligence Committee in early August to insert a provision in the Intelligence Authorisation Bill which requires the US administration to investigate Riyadh’s efforts to develop a nuclear capability.

Court proceedings against former Airbus subsidiary GPT Special Project Management and a number of businessmen began on 14 September.The case involves charges of corruption between January 2007 and December 2012 related to a £2bn ($2.6bn) contract to provide communications services to the Saudi Arabian National Guard (Sang).

Dubai deputy ruler and UAE finance and industry minister Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum returned to a warm welcome in Dubai on 10 September following surgery abroad for an unspecified condition.

An incident in July off the coast of Dubai, which has came to court, highlights the problem of fuel smuggling between Iran and the UAE – a persistent cause of friction between the countries, both of which are attempting to clamp to down on the illegal trade.

Risk Management Report – GSN Risk Grade – D↓4↓ Baghdad Dialogue: Federal Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi flew to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) on 10 September for talks with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). He was met at Erbil International airport by KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani.

At the third annual Kurdistan Oil and Gas conference in Erbil, on 1-4 December, Turkey’s energy minister, Taner Yildiz, went to considerable effort to make clear that he was seeking an amicable, three-way agreement between Ankara, Baghdad and Erbil, iterating his message in Arabic, Kurdish and English to make sure there was no confusion. “We wish to receive the consent of the Iraqi central government for commercial export of oil from the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government to Turkey and to launch a trilateral cooperation project that will serve all the parties,” he said on 2 December.

Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah has had “successful minor surgery” in the United States, and left hospital on 5 March. The emiri diwan said he had received phone calls wishing him a quick recovery from dignitaries including the Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki and Turkish President Abdullah Gul. While in the US, he visited his nephew Sheikh Mubarak Al-Abdullah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, who has been having medical treatment there for some time, “to check on his well-being and the medical care he is receiving”.

Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah on 7 May hosted Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, who paid a two-day visit before leaving for Bahrain and talks with King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa. Sisi was quoted by the state Middle East News Agency (Mena) saying the “security of the Gulf states was also Egypt’s security”, and “Egypt would not allow threats to the stability and security of its brother countries in the Gulf”.

While the late Emir Sheikh Sabah was a giant on the regional diplomatic stage, his legacy at home is more mixed. Less drawn to economics than politics, he proved unable to shepherd the economy onto a more sustainable, long-term footing away from oil and gas dependency.

New Emir Sheikh Nawaf  Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah was born on 25 June 1937 to then Emir Ahmed, who ruled from 1921 to 1950. He has been identified as a staunch supporter of the late Emir Sheikh Sabah. Nawaf was locally educated and has held a succession of senior jobs. He was governor of Hawalli governorate (1962-78) and was then appointed to the cabinet, serving as interior minister (1978-88) and defence minister – a job he held as Iraq invaded in August 1990.

The Saudi consulate in Houston, Texas has paid a $500,000 bond for an Uber driver who was charged with the first-degree murder of a passenger, enabling him to briefly avoid being held in custody awaiting trial. Local media reports said Omar Ba-Abbad, who holds both US and Saudi citizenship, was accused of running over Jeremy Shadrick in June after the two men got into a fight in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

UAE Team Emirates rider Tadej Pogacar won the Tour de France on 20 September, scoring a soft power victory for the UAE in the process. In three previous attempts at professional cycling’s most prestigious event the team had never finished higher than eighth.