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Libya has acquired Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia)’s stake in Bahrain-based Arab Banking Corporation (ABC), bringing its total holding in Bahrain’s second largest bank to almost 60%.

The effects of the global downturn on Dubai, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have forced traders, financiers and insurers to assess GCC credit and political risk more closely. And some firms are expanding their GCC teams to do so

Governments seek Atacms deals, US in $71m Javelin missile sale

An underwriter told GSN that, adding salt to the wounds, “there has been no real premium hike for Saudi risks whereas premiums are high for Bahrain, disproportionate to its credit rating, as it starts to come back in the market”. The underwriter added

After a solid performance by Al-Wefaq, Bahrain’s secular liberals now face a critical challenge in the run-off contest for the lower house. For the first time since parliament was restored eight years ago, the opposition has a tangible chance of winning half the seats in the national assembly, after the results of the first-round vote on 23 October.

The government is under serious international pressure over its crackdown on opposition supporters, many of whom have been detained for months without trial and with little or no contact with families or lawyers.

The House Financial Services Committee hearing A Review of Current and Evolving Trends in Terrorism Financing took place on 28 September. Among the four witnesses was Eric Lewis, a partner in Washington-based law firm Baach Robinson Lewis, who is representing Ahmed Hamad Al-Gosaibi and Brothers (AHAB). The hearing looked at the dispute between AHAB and Maan Al-Sanea, and the movement of $1trn of funds between Middle East financial institutions and US banks since 11 September 2001.

Bahrain remains determined to attract foreign investors – readers of The Economist or travellers on London’s underground system are faced with advertisements promising a friendly and sophisticated business centre, and the Economic Development Board is on a European tour to promote Manama (senior EDB and Bahrain Chamber of Commerce & Industry representatives were in Paris and London in late September).

Seychelles scandal, Media comments, Art activities, Saudi visit, Iranian guest, Concern over national divisions, Football controversy

King Hamad shows no sign of relaxing a security campaign that seems intended to squeeze opposition outside parliament and depress voter turnout in support of opponents within the constitutional framework, when legislative elections are held on 23 October

King Hamad shows no sign of relaxing a security campaign that seems intended to squeeze opposition outside parliament and depress voter turnout in support of opponents within the constitutional framework, when legislative elections are held on 23 October

No sign of an official retreat from the Bahraini crackdown, International offensive, Elections in question, A much bigger crackdown, Ahmadinejad faces new challenges from within, KhameneiAfter seeing off popular protests and reformist opponents, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad now faces challenges from within the regime as hardliners attempt to rein in the president’s growing personal authority. Suggestions of a possible impeachment have even been mooted by some deputies in the Islamic Consultative Assembly of Iran (Majlis), as the relationship between president and parliament becomes increasingly strained. uneasy but still, apparently, supportive

In the wake of the Manama authorities’ crackdown on opposition, the political societies’ delicate position has left NGO campaigners more exposed as independent voices. The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights – officially banned but in practice still active – says it has been able to confirm 200 arrests, but believes the true number of those taken into detention is many more.

There is no sign of a let-up – or of an alleged plot to disrupt upcoming elections – as the authorities deploy mass arrests and pressure on the media to try to bring protests under control

There is growing concern over whether a new parliament will find a way to reinvigorate peaceful constitutional opposition at a time of pressure on the streets. Bahrain’s political societies have begun to confirm their campaign intentions as the autumn election season approaches. While Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society