The recent dramatic slide in crude oil prices has led to economic strain throughout the Arabian Peninsula, particularly in Bahrain. The near-70% fall in oil price since mid-2014 has “shattered” government revenues. While Saudi Arabia has funded its deficit by drawing on its central bank deposits, and Kuwait, Qatar, and the UAE have sufficient assets[…]
According to the Ministry of Interior (MOI), “skirmishes” took place around the Al-Marzouq religious center in Sitra, Bahrain, on January 11, 2016. The MOI said that gunfire mistakenly damaged some of the center’s facilities. Eyewitnesses reported that around 3:00 a.m., a black vehicle opened fire at the Al-Marzouq center, damaging some of the center’s windows[…]
Bahrain | Updates from the Ground | News & Opinion Saudi Arabia | Other Gulf States | UN Complaint Program Bahrain Dispatch: Bahrain Newspapers Sign Restrictive “Charter of Press Ethics” On 2 December 2015, the Government of Bahrain announced that the editors-in-chief of Bahrain’s six daily newspapers had reviewed and agreed to a new “Charter of Press Ethics” with[…]
Netsweeper, a Canadian company, has offered to provide the Bahraini government with internet censorship technology. In exchange for $1,175,000, the company will supply the Bahraini government with a “national website filtering solution.” Netsweeper has been involved in a number of questionable partnerships in recent years. Last year, researchers criticized the company for providing the Houthi[…]
Bahrain has demanded that the International Criminal Police Commission take steps to extradite activist Fadhel Radhi back to Bahrain. Armenian authorities detained Radhi on 1 January 2016 following his escape from Bahrain, where he was sentenced to seven years in prison for “political and arbitrary” reasons. A number of human rights organizations issued a statement[…]