Bahrain’s King Hamad on Sunday called parliamentary and municipal elections for October 23, the state news agency BNA reported. The king, who chaired a cabinet meeting attended by Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa and Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, urged voters to turn out in large numbers for the polls. “Decision-making [...]
As Bahrain heads toward elections for the lower house of Parliament in September or October, a climate of public unhappiness with the incumbents prevails. The Parliament elected four years ago was dominated by Islamists, including the Shiite opposition Al-Wefaq Islamic Society on the one side and the two Sunni groups – Al-Minbar Islamic Society (an [...]
A TOP MP yesterday said a new United Nations without the US was the answer to all of the world’s problems. Adel Al Ma’awada said that the savage action by Israeli security forces on the Freedom Flotilla and the subsequent “subdued” UN reaction was “evidence it is not the UN, but the US” speaking. “What [...]
Bahrain is not ready for women in politics, says parliament chairman Khalifa Al Dhahrani. He spoke out after Princess Sabeeka asked the students if they would vote for a well-qualified woman in parliament. The majority in the room raised their hands, while others said they had yet to see women prove their capabilities in the [...]
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 [...]
كش٠«التقرير الاستراتيجي البØريني 2009» عن تصاعد عامل الطائÙية ÙÙŠ البØرين ÙÙŠ الأعوام الأخيرة، الأمر الذي جعل تÙسير الكثير من الأØداث من منظور طائÙÙŠØŒ بØسب التقرير. وأكد التقرير وجود 12 قضية مهمة Ø·ÙرØت خلال العامين 2008 – 2009ØŒ تقدمتها: البيئة، الجامعات الخاصة والتعليم العالي ÙÙŠ البØرين، Øرية الصØاÙØ©ØŒ البطالة، وغيرها. ولÙت إلى أن المشهد الداخلي [...]
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 [...]
AN MP yesterday blamed Health Minister Dr Faisal Al Hamer for the growing death rate of premature newborn babies due to bad planning. Sayed Jameel Khadim said that current specialised ICU facilities at the Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC) were below international standards, where there were shortages of beds as well as insufficient numbers of nurses [...]
A proposal by a conservative Bahraini political bloc to ban women from four countries from entering the country did not make the grade among Bahraini lawmakers but raised quite a few eyebrows when it was offered up. The conservative Al Asala bloc proposed that Bahraini authorities stop issuing visas to Russian, Thai, Ethiopian, and Chinese [...]
Foreign embassies in Bahrain yesterday refused to be drawn into a row over whether tougher visa rules should be brought in for women from certain countries. It follows calls by a group of MPs on Tuesday for a clampdown on women coming in from Thailand, Ethiopia, Russia and China in a bid to tackle prostitution. [...]
