While the Queen welcomes King Hamad to the event, the UK is turning a blind eye to the slow murder of political prisoners
Calls have gone out from senior municipal council officials to allow expatriates who are residing in Bahrain and own properties or businesses in the Kingdom to take part in the quadrennial municipal elections, similar to the citizens of GCC countries. The participation of foreign investors in municipal elections has been raised multiple times in recent years, confirms Muharraq Municipal Council Chairman Mohammed Al Sinan.
The Shura Council has said that His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa’s kind gesture to commute the death sentence against a number of convicts found guilty of forming a terrorist cell and other terrorist crimes reflects the noble humanitarian stances, and the tolerance and forgiveness principles embraced by the King.
Such noble values which HM the King inherited from his esteemed parents and grandparents have made Bahrain, under his leadership, a land of tolerance, co-existence and peace, the Shura Council said.
A heated discussion over bribery accusations against some government establishments broke out at the Council of Representatives during its weekly meeting yesterday. The debate between MP Abdulrahman Buali and Shura Council and Representative Council Affairs Minister Ghanim Al Buainain began after the former claimed that corruption has spread in government entities, specifically the municipalities.
His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al-Khalifa has urged all efforts to be mustered to spearhead national development and progress. He stressed the necessity of putting vital national interests above all other considerations, urging cooperation between all segments to serve the nation and achieve desired goals.
This came as he received Royal Family members and officials to discuss domestic issues and Government-led efforts to ensure stability and achieve the royal directives of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa.
Bahrain has charged the leader of the country's outlawed main opposition party with "spying" and suggested the 2011 Arab Spring protests that gripped the country were instigated by a "foreign country".
Bahrain's public prosecutor charged Ali Salman, secretary-general of the al-Wefaq party, and Hassan Sultan, a former member of parliament, of colluding with Qatar to carry out "hostile acts" in Bahrain and damage its "prestige", a statement on the state news agency BNA said on Wednesday.
Dubai: The Kingdom of Bahrain on Monday published a list of 68 Islamist groups it classified as terrorist, the state news agency BNA said.
Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah movement, already branded as “terrorist” by the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Arab League, topped the list approved by Bahrain’s cabinet, BNA said.
Also on the list was Al Qaida and its branches in Yemen and North Africa, as well as Al Nusra Front in Syria and Daesh.
Nigeria’s Boko Haram, Egypt’s Islamic Jihad and Al Murabitoun in Mali are also on the list.
COST-CUTTING measures and productivity improvements must be made across all government bodies and ministries, the Cabinet has ordered.
'We have numerous targets that we plan to achieve in administrative and financial practices,' said Information Affairs Minister and official government spokesman Isa Al Hammadi in a media briefing following the weekly Cabinet session yesterday.
'These are not just related to quality or cost-saving measures, but go beyond that to perfectionism.
PARLIAMENT has pledged to take on board recommendations to emerge from a women's forum yesterday.
The First Parliamentary Women Forum took place at the Gulf International Convention and Exhibition Centre, Gulf Hotel.
Manama: A court in Bahrain on Wednesday postponed the trial of Ali Salman, the secretary general of Al Wefaq Society, to June 16.
MANAMA: The Cabinet yesterday approved a number of immediate measures to cut expenditure, boost revenues, redirect subsidies, optimise the cost of public services and merge government agencies.
The austerity measures are expected to have an overall impact, saving a potentially massive BD386 million.
A BID by Bahrain's three municipal councils and their counterpart in Manama to safeguard their powers will now go through parliament, after they were told they did not have authority to submit a case at the Constitutional Court.
A NEW government-drafted law on international commercial arbitration in Bahrain has been approved.
Shura Council yesterday approved the bill, which had been "urgently" referred by the Cabinet - meaning members only had two weeks to discuss the matter.
Manama, Sep23(BNA)Bahrain’s legislative elections will be held on November 22, 2014. His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa today issued royal order (47) for 2014 fixing the date of the legislative polls and nominations.
Manama, June. 19. (BNA) – The Supreme Council for Women (SCW)'s media support programme, which is conducted in cooperation with Mayasim Telecommunications Company, continues to hold meetings that address the mechanisms and optimal ways to address voters, for the affiliates of the political empowerment programme of potential female candidates for the next parliamentary and municipal elections.
The Bahrain Observatory for Human Rights has called on the Manama regime to respond objectively to the concerns raised by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) over human rights violations in the country.
A Bahraini court has sentenced a group of 21 anti-regime protesters to 15 years in jail each amid the ongoing harsh crackdown on the country’s dissent.
Bahrain’s largest opposition party al-Wefaq said in a statement on Tuesday that the defendants were subjected to torture during their detention and interrogation sessions.
Scores of Bahraini political activists have already been placed behind bars for organizing or taking part in anti-regime demonstrations across the oil-rich monarchy due to its appalling human rights record.
