Bahrain

Bahrain’s HRH Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa is set to play a major role in spurring trade relations with Asia at the 21st World Economic Forum on East Asia.

Bahrain plans to set up two factories specialised in producing urea and ammonia at an outlay of $1.5 billion, said Energy Minister Dr Abdulhussain Mirza.

Insurance is a strong driver of growth in the financial sector in Bahrain, and its contribution to the gross domestic product climbed to eight per cent in 2011 from three per cent in 2003.

Bahrain is currently under expansion of the refining and petrochemical industry by conducting more excavation and exploration operations.

The UAE, Qatar and Bahrain urged their citizens to avoid travel to Lebanon, where clashes linked to the conflict in neighbouring Syria have left several people dead.

Iran raised its voice on Wednesday against a proposed union between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, calling on Iranians to rally against what Tehran sees as an attempt by Riyadh to "annex" a territory formerly belonged to Iran.

Gulf Arab countries will continue discussions on a possible union of six nations but any such plan will take time, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal said on Monday.

Bahrain is to spend between $6 billion and $8 billion on modernising its refinery within the next six to seven years, said a senior government official.

The total domestic credit in the Kingdom of Bahrain has grown by a robust 15.9 per cent as on end-March 2012 when compared with end-March 2011 levels.

The King of Bahrain has expressed his gratitude to the organizers of the Formula 1 race held Sunday in the kingdom, despite violent protests by the Shiite opposition which calls for fundamental reforms.

Bahrain's budget deficit has increased up to five-fold in the last 10 years, a senior government official said.

Manama Ministers in Bahrain are being urged to open personal Twitter accounts to help boost communication with the people.

Thousands of prospective university students are discussing study options at a major educational exhibition that opened in Bahrain yesterday.

Bahrain’s Cabinet has approved an BD8 million ($21.2 million) plan to train and employ an additional batch of 2,500 university graduates as part of efforts to keep unemployment at "its lowest".

Firmly into 2012, how are the Arab revolutions developing? We check in with some of the Arab protest pictures to gauge to what extent they have reached revolution saturation, or on the contrary are just getting started.