ArchivesTag : report
‘Unrealistic’ rights report slammed
A top government official and a leading opposition member have criticised as unfair and unrealistic an annual global report which ranks the country alongside Afghanistan, China and North Korea in terms of political freedom and civil liberties.
Bahrain is one of five countries downgraded into the “not free” category of Freedom House’s Freedom In The World [...]
Global monitors to probe concerns
Global monitors will meet government officials in Bahrain today over human rights issues.
Representatives from the Dublin-based Front Line, who visit countries to analyse the treatment of activists in their native countries, are in Manama to speak with activists and authorities on the situation here.
They are due to meet with officials from the Ministries of Foreign [...]
Bahrain strategic report launched
The Bahrain Centre for Studies and Research (BCSR) yesterday launched its second annual publication of the Bahrain Strategy Report.
Present at the ceremony, held at the centre in Awali, was BCSR chairman Mohammed Al Ghatam.
The report covered developments in various fields throughout this year, including environment, higher education, inflation, freedom of the Press, financial crisis and [...]
Bahrain Infrastructure Report 2010
New report provides detailed analysis of the Construction market
After rapid growth in real GDP during earlier years (6.5%-7.8% between 2005 and 2007), we expect slower economic growth in Bahrain going forward. However, Bahrain has not been as badly affected by the economic crisis as other countries in the region. It is believed that GDP will [...]
Welcome to the world’s friendliest countries
A new report says these nations are the most hospitable to expatriates
The Middle East has long had a reputation for being one of the world’s perennial trouble spots. But for expatriates, the tiny Persian Gulf county Bahrain ranks as one of the most welcoming places to work.
That’s the surprising result of a new survey of [...]
UAE, Saudi among world’s top website censors – project
The UAE ranks high among countries that have blocked most websites, a recent report has revealed.
Internet users in the country reported the eleventh highest rate of blocked websites from among the countries in the world, according to the Herdict project.
Herdict is a project of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. It [...]
Press law amendments hailed but journalists still face jail and websites risk closure
Reporters Without Borders has welcomed some amendments to the press law in Bahrain but voiced concern about some remaining failings that leave journalists and publications exposed to risk.
Despite real improvements, Bahraini journalists still face prison sentences for what they write and officials keep the right to close websites, the worldwide press freedom organisation said in [...]
UN report praises Bahrain’s progress
Bahrain is being urged in a United Nations human rights report to scrap its amnesty for officials allegedly involved in abuses before February 2001.
The UN Human Rights Council praises Bahrain for stamping out such abuses, but criticises the “blanket amnesty” for previous alleged violations.
There should be no “immunity for officials who have perpetrated or acquiesced [...]
Building on Success
After a record-breaking year in 2007, Bahrain’s Gulf Finance House (GFH) is now looking to build on last year’s success, unveiling a series of new projects over the past few weeks.
Having announced year-end results in January showing net profits of $340m for last year, a 61% increase over 2006, on February 17 the bank approved [...]
Bahrain spurred into economic change
Bahrain’s crown prince aims to revive the country’s stalled economic reform process following a public warning from his father, King Hamad, that government officials resisting change will be swept aside.
Sheikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa has since 1999 helped implement sweeping political and constitutional changes centred on raising living standards, by rooting out institutionalised corruption, building [...]
Exporting Experience
As the pioneer of Islamic banking, it was fitting that Bahrain played host to the recently concluded 14th Annual World Islamic Banking Conference, held in Manama on December 9 and 10.
The two-day event attracted more than 1000 delegates from 35 countries, well up on the 300 to 400 who attended the same conference five years [...]
Employment Swings
While other Gulf states have been enacting policies to reduce the numbers of foreign workers in the labour force, Bahrain has announced it intends to go down a different path, easing restrictions on hiring employees from overseas.
As of July 1 next year, a new quota system will come into force, reducing the percentage of Bahraini [...]
Refinery Upgrade
Bahrain is planning to consolidate its place at the centre of the Gulf region’s oil refining industry, unveiling a series of large investments to boost production capacity and the flow of crude into the country.
On November 19, Abdulhussain bin Ali Mirza, Bahrain’s oil and gas minister and head of the National Authority for Oil and [...]
Clean Hands
Bahrain has moved fast to polish up an image somewhat tarnished by a recent report suggesting corruption was on the rise in the kingdom.
The latest study on the rates of perceptions of corruption in countries around the globe conducted by Transparency International (TI) said the levels in Bahrain have significantly worsened over the past year. [...]
Gas and Hot Air
Manama and Tehran are edging closer to an agreement that will see Iran become a major supplier of natural gas to Bahrain, helping to fuel the country’s programme of industrial expansion and diversification.
If all goes according to plan, Bahrain could be receiving shipments of Iranian natural gas as early as 2012, via a pipeline that [...]
