Two sons of a Bahraini MP, who allegedly attacked three members of the ruling family with a wrench, yesterday denied the charges. The brothers, in their 20s, appeared before the Lower Criminal Court for the first time where they pleaded not guilty to assault. A third brother, who was earlier released from police custody, failed [...]
Manama Four ministers have been summoned to appear before a parliamentary committee investigating alleged immoral activities in Bahrain’s tourism sector. The ministers of interior, culture and information, municipality affairs and industry and commerce will on Monday present their views to the five-member committee formed last week by the lower house. The committee looked into charges [...]
AN URGENT inquiry into the scale of prostitution in Bahrain was launched by parliament yesterday. MPs said vice was rife in the country’s hotels, furnished apartments and nightspots – with one blaming it for the divorce rate soaring to 40 per cent. They voted to set up their own inquiry after Culture and Information Minister [...]
MPs’ claims that a Bahrain maternity hospital was not fit enough to deliver animals, let alone babies, were denied by the Health Ministry yesterday.It claimed in a statement that although the Sitra Maternity Hospital was old, it was still up to the mark. “The ministry’s planning department has decided there is no use spending a [...]
Bahrain’s largest opposition bloc has come under scathing attack by a political society, which has slammed its 17 Shia MPs for working ‘ for their own benefit rather than national interest.’ Lawmakers from Al Wefaq bloc ( Conservative Shia) recently backed a government draft law on retirement pension for MPs, which has now become a [...]
Municipalities and Agriculture Affairs Minister Mansoor bin Rajab – who had been accused of financial, administrative and constitutional irregularities – was cleared by a parliamentary committee yesterday. The minister appeared before parliament’s financial and economic affairs committee two weeks ago to face accusations of illegal business activities, as well as irregularities in the allocation of [...]
Parliament suspended discussions on criminalising “sorcery and witchcraft” yesterday, after a row erupted between an MP and government officials. MP Ibrahim Busandal accused Justice and Islamic Affairs Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa of disregarding Islamic laws, which he said call for the death penalty against “sorcerers and witches”. Shaikh Khalid told MPs that [...]
“Bring me a person caught practising sorcery who is capable of bringing the evil spirit,†the Minister of Justice and Islamic Affairs, Khalid bin Ali Abdulla Al Khalifa, told the Chamber of Deputies yesterday. “The minister’s words are unconstitutional,†Al Asala Deputy Ibrahim Mohammed Bousandal said. It all began when Al Wefaq MP Mohammed Youself [...]
MPs will vote next week on whether to recommend action against Cabinet Affairs Minister Shaikh Ahmed bin Ateyatala Al Khalifa over allegations that he kept secret the fact that Bahrain’s population had soared to over a million. Shaikh Ahmed was questioned for around five hours yesterday by the services committee, plus nine of the 10 [...]
School students could soon be spied on under a campaign to stamp out homosexuality, under demands made by MPs yesterday. Parliament also demanded that the Interior Ministry stop granting any residence permits to foreign homosexuals. Any already here should be deported as soon as they are detected, MPs said at parliament’s weekly session. MPs also [...]
