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New York-based Karv, which works with the Public Investment Fund and on the Neom giga-project, is to open an office in Riyadh, joining a wave of advisory firms and lobbyists that have been drawn to the Saudi capital.

Bahrain’s Al-Munther satellite was carried by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which took off from California on 15 March, also carrying the UAE’s Etihad-SAT. The authorities in Manama then announced the creation of a Bahrain Space Agency, to sit under the Supreme Defence Council headed by national security advisor Sheikh Nasser Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa.

While the UAE has  made most headlines, the governments of Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are all trying to tap into the potential for artificial intelligence to improve public sector productivity and services, often with the help of American technology companies.

A liquidator has been appointed to Italian software company Artis Wrld SRL, which is part-owned by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s brother Prince Turki.

Investor Prince Khalid Bin Alwaleed is set to join the board of Vesalius Longevity Labs, which is researching the potential for using peptides to increase human’s healthy lifespan.

The Omani economy grew at a healthy 1.9% through most of 2024, which was due to increased non-oil sector activity, as the hydrocarbons economy was affected by lower prices and lower output last year – which is being countered by efforts to develop new markets for LNG exports.

Khalid Bin Mohammed Al-Nahyan’s one-day visit to Islamabad was the latest in the Abu Dhabi crown prince’s increasingly busy international schedule and involved a high-level delegation of security, investment and infrastructure officials.

Some $4.5m in a Riyad Bank account belonging to a Prince Faisal Bin Turki – who’s identity remains unclear – has been frozen by a judge at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur over alleged links to funds obtained fraudulently from the 1MDB sovereign wealth fund.

Baghdad has found itself caught in the middle of America’s ‘maximum pressure’ campaign against Iran, as the US tries to restrict Tehran’s access to hard currency via the Iraqi banking system and its electricity exports. While Iraq is still able to buy Iranian gas, Baghdad is scrambling to secure other sources of fuel supplies in case that too is targeted by America.

The cabinet has approved a new National Investment Strategy, which includes targets to attract $65bn/yr in foreign direct investment by 2031 and to increase the total value of UAE FDI stock to $600bn.

In one of the largest corporate actions ever seen in the Gulf, Adnoc has agreed to merge its Borouge subsidiary with Austria’s Borealis and will also acquire Mubadala’s Nova Chemicals.

President Masoud Pezeshkian’s administration has lost two senior figures after finance minister Abdolnaser Hemmati was sacked by parliament and vice president for strategic affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif resigned under pressure from the judiciary chief. The changes suggest hardline factions are flexing their political muscles at a time when the economy is under renewed strain from the Trump administration’s ‘maximum pressure’ campaign.

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.

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.

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.