Bahrain Feature: Problems for the Financial Sector? (French)

Bahraini financial firms face a tough task raising funding in 2012, as political tensions from last year's Arab Spring unrest fester and real estate investments show no sign of paying off.

Analysts say one option for banks in the tiny island kingdom is to look to neighbour Saudi Arabia, but getting a hearing is often a challenge because lenders there have enough local business on their hands.

The violent protests against Bahrain's rulers rattled Western banks operating there and equally importantly dealt a body blow to real estate prices, leading to impairments at Islamic banks in particular.

"Bahrain is a ghost town right now," said one Dubai-based banker who makes frequent trips to the island, speaking on condition on anonymity.

Click to read more ...

Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: So They Had This Meeting in New York....

Interactive Map of Conflict Around Damascus

View Damascus, 2012 Feb 1 in a larger map

See also Iraq Feature: State Department Drones Are Overhead...But For How Long?
Sudan Feature: 10 Leaders of Protest Movement Arrested
Tuesday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: More than 100 Die as UN Discussion Begins

---

2046 GMT: In Egypt, at least 73 people have been killed and 1,000 injured in a riot at a football match in Port Said.

The match was between Al Ahli, one of Egypt's leading clubs, and al-Masry, a Port Said team. Live TV footage showed fans running onto the field and chasing Ahli players.

Egypt's state prosecutors have ordered an investigation into the pitch invasion and the violence. Parliament will hold an emergency session on Thursday.

Click to read more ...

Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: More than 100 Die as UN Discussion Begins

Interactive Map of Today's Events near Damascus

View Damascus, 2012 Jan 31 in a larger map

See also Bahrain Special: Candles, Balloons, and Molotov Cocktails
Syria Video Special: On the Ground with the Free Syrian Army
Syria 1st-Hand: The Cat-and-Mouse Game in Kafar Souseh
Monday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Can the Regime Recapture the Suburbs?

---

2130 GMT: At the United Nations, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton focuses on the deaths --- more than 5,400 civilians, according to UN estimates --- and the violence: "The evidence is clear that Assad's forces are initiating nearly all the attacks that kill civilians." She says, "o one in Syria is safe, including women, children, Red Crescent workers," and says the regime is working hard to pit Syria’s ethnic and religious groups against each other, risking civil war. "As Syrians take up arms, violence will spiral out of control."

The take-away line: "Stand with people of Syria and the region, or become complicit in the increasing violence."

Click to read more ...

Bahrain Special: Candles, Balloons, and Molotov Cocktails

The candle-lit vigil for Mohammed Ebrahim Yaghoob, the latest teenager killed in the uprising, held Monday night in Mehaza village

---

An EA correspondent reported from Bahrain last night, "On my way to attend a candle-light march in Sitra, Sefala village. We are planning to fly 63 light balloons, the same as the number of martyrs."

Later, the correspondent reported that the march had been disrupted by police:

We got attacked with teargas and stun grenades before we started in Sefala village.

So we have regrouped in Mehaza village now. The march just started with protesters chanting, "down, down, Hamad."

The young organizers came holding....candles and started distributing the candles to protesters before we started marching. While others look for police in case they decide to attack, we are marching inside the village roads. The march is very peaceful and protesters are saying sad slogans in the memory of the martyrs. While we walk and chant, I see a small group of kids writing "DOWN WITH HAMAD" using the candles. [Protesters chanted] "Oh world, hear us, we will not bow."

The march completed peacefully, then we lit the balloons --- 63 balloons representing the martyrs.

Click to read more ...

Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Opposition Expands

Claimed footage of Syrian troops and tanks moving into Ghouta suburb, east of Damascus

See also Syria Opinion: "Women Have Been Essential in the Uprising"
Bahrain Feature: Rubber Bullets --- Another "Non-Lethal" Weapon For The Police
Saturday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: More than 100 Die But Opposition Slowly Advances

---

2052 GMT: Earlier today (see 1535 GMT) we posted video of a march in Kafranbel in northwest Syria, with Free Syrian Army soldiers holding their weapons high. Now we are pointed to claimed footage of the insurgents standing in a "liberated" main square:

2045 GMT: Video from Dumistan in Bahrain on Friday, as police shoot tear gas inside a car --- a woman, reported to be driving, faints after she gets out of the vehicle:

Click to read more ...

Bahrain Feature: Rubber Bullets --- Another "Non-Lethal" Weapon For The Police

American Scott Olsen, an Iraq war veteran, was shot in the head by rubber bullets, fracturing his skull, for filming police at the Occupy Oakland protest

---

The Bahraini Minister of Interior called yesterday for new legislation which ensured a harsh sentence of up to fifteen years for anybody who attacks a police officer or who incites violence against the police.

The announcement by Lieutenant-General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalif also outlined the training and new equipment for police, after the declaration of "reforms" introduced by John Yates and John Timoney, the former US and British police chiefs brought in to advise Bahrain's forces. The training involves a one-year "rehabilitation" programmes, whilst the equipment involves a complete kitting-out of protective clothing and gear, communications systems, and weapons.

That list of weapons includes "guns that fire rubber bullets".

Click to read more ...

Bahrain Feature: Obama Administration "Quietly Sells Arms to Regime"

Bahrain's Crown Prince & US Secretary of State ClintonPresident Barack Obama's administration has been delaying its planned $53 million arms sale to Bahrain due to human rights concerns and congressional opposition, but this week administration officials told several congressional offices that they will move forward with a new and different package of arms sales -- without any formal notification to the public.

The congressional offices that led the charge to oppose the original Bahrain arms sales package are upset that the State Department has decided to move forward with the new package....The State Department has not released details of the new sale, and Congress has not been notified through the regular process, which requires posting the information on the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) website. The State Department simply briefed a few congressional offices and is going ahead with the new sale, arguing it didn't meet the threshold that would require more formal notifications and a public explanation.

Click to read more ...

Bahrain Feature: The Clouds of Tear Gas and Death Gather Once More

Clouds of tear gas cover Dar Kulaib village last night

---

Yesterday began as just another day in Bahrain, from cool to mild. By night, however, things had gone cloudy across the country --- clouds which signalled tear gas rather than impending rain. On the latest occasion in two months, Bahrain's protesters found themselves beaten back and collectively punished, not just on the streets but also inside their homes. Despite the regime's proclamations of "reform" and "national dialogue", since December, the situation has gone from bad to worse.

Click to read more ...

Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Blanket of Tear Gas, A Battle in Homs

2240 GMT: An EA correspondent in Bahrain reports that Sitra looked like a "war zone" today:

"Sitra was heavily attacked today I spend the time trying to get trapped people out. People who are not from Sitra doesn't know all the inner roads..I had to drive around trying to get some of them out... [because many roads were blocked by police].

"This used to be kind of safe before police started attacking and hitting the cars! Today finished fine, so let's hope I keep on being lucky!

"I am getting news that there are some searious injuries too...but can't check now since it's late."

Our correspondent also sends us a video that he describes as a montage of the police attack on mourners in Waydan village. Several other sources also reported that the video was legitimate:

2230 GMT: This video was reportedly taken earlier today in Daraa, Syria. It is important for several key reasons. First of all, it's dramatic:

Click to read more ...

Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Insurrection?

See also, Syria Video Special: Free Syrian Army Captures Iranian Soldiers

---

2133 GMT: Bahraini police have released claimed footage, released by Bahraini police, of 17-year-old Mohammad Ebrahim (see 0555 and 1700 GMT), who was allegedly hit by a police jeep on Wednesday and later died in hospital.

The video shows an alert Ebrahim, but he is in great discomfort, apparently from pain in his lower body, and needs to rest on the person next to him; also pain seems to be stemming from lower part.

This would appear to match up with the video we posted this morning, where Ebrahim appears to be limping away after being struck by the police jeep.

Curiously, the video --- like the one released by police earlier this month in which they denied beating activist Nabeel Rajab --- has no sound, limiting what we can learn of the incident.

Click to read more ...