Bahrain arrests foreign journalists attempting to cover civil rights demonstrations following F1 race. Ten women also being held for holding photo of AlKhawaja at F1 race, one beaten severely.

As I write this, the F1 teams are preparing to go ahead with their Grand Prix in Bahrain. The race begins at 1200 GMT with activists promising to try to disrupt it. From outside Bahrain, Anonymous is also going after Bahrain as seen in twitter comments at #OpBahrain.

Last summer, the King of Bahrain funded the “independent” Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry to review human rights issues in the country. The report was praised by the King’s American friends – and presented as justification for continued American support of the monarchy.

A variety of links to articles/interviews/speeches on current issues that may be of interest.

This photo shows Abdulhadi Al Khawaja in his 57th day of a hunger strike, on this his 51st birthday. Protests across Bahrain calling for his release have been put down with considerable violence on the part of the US backed Bahrain government.

Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, leading Bahraini human rights defender, and father of Zeinab who tweets at @AngryArabiya whose reports we’ve followed closely in the past, is feared close to death as he enters the 56th day of a hungerstrike inside Bahrain’s prisons.

A variety of links to articles/interviews/speeches on current issues that may be of interest.

A variety of links to articles/interviews on current topics that may be of interest.

A variety of links to articles/interviews on current topics that may, or may not, be of interest.

A variety of links to articles/interviews on current topics that may, or may not, be of interest.