Billion-dollar facelift as Bahrain bids to join Gulf boom
With a multi-billion dollar economic revamp in full swing, tiny Bahrain is vying to keep pace with its Gulf neighbours after more than a decade beset by political unrest. It’s…
Bahrain deal spotlights Saudi’s stealth normalisation with Israel
Bahrain’s move to formally establish relations with Israel could not have happened without Saudi Arabia’s green light, another step in what observers call Riyadh’s “alternative normalisation” of ties with the…
From Belarus to Bahrain, the small states going big on cryptocurrency
When Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko met entrepreneur Viktor Prokopenya in March 2017, their discussion was scheduled to last for an hour but went on for three times that long. The…
From Belarus to Bahrain, the small states going big on cryptocurrency
When Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko met entrepreneur Viktor Prokopenya in March 2017, their discussion was scheduled to last for an hour but went on for three times that long. The…
US-led Bahrain meeting: a chance for Israel-Gulf rapprochement?
A US-led peace conference on the Palestinian economy could present Washington with a new opportunity to push Gulf allies and Israel closer together as tensions with common foe Iran rise.…
Gulf, Israel closer after Bahrain meet but full ties unlikely
The US-organised economic workshop in Bahrain failed to deliver tangible results over the long-awaited Middle East peace plan but it opened the door for closer Israeli-Gulf ties, analysts say. Despite…
Bahrain impasse risks more instability in 2014
Bahraini government and opposition groups are sliding into an increasingly dogged confrontation amid rising fears over violence, with authorities using arrests, raids and strict new laws against activists seeking political…
Forgotten Bahrain
As Libya and Syria dominate headlines as far as unrest in the Middle East is concerned, the tiny Gulf monarchy of Bahrain has slipped off the international community’s radar. A…
Wasteful water habits
I remember how in my childhood I would come home from school and being thirsty after a long walk go straight to the water tap and drink large amounts of…
Oil price drop turns up heat on emerging market crude exporters
A steep drop in crude oil prices largely due to US President Donald Trump’s tariffs will squeeze budgets of emerging market oil exporters, analysts said, while the potential economic slowdown…
