SHAFAQNA

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – Bahrainis have staged a mass anti-regime demonstration near the capital, urging Formula One authorities to cancel the sporting event in the Persian Gulf state. Tens of thousands of Bahrainis rallied along the Budaiya highway west of Manama on Friday, two days before the Formula One Grand Prix, demanding the cancellation of the race over Manama’s crackdown on protests. The demonstrators also demanded democracy and called for the ouster of ruling Al Khalifa dynasty. Regime…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) -- Protesters in Bahrain plan to step up demands for reform ahead of this weekend's Formula One Grand Prix, setting the scene for a showdown with authorities determined to stage an incident-free race. The main opposition Al-Wefaq political bloc has called for a massive rally to coincide with free practice on Friday, the same day the radical February 14 Movement has urged youths to protest under the slogan "Volcano of Anger". The Shiite Al-Wefaq is…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) -- For the second consecutive year, Bahrain will host a Formula One (F1) race despite severe human rights violations documented by local and international human rights organizations, including the United Nations.For the second consecutive year, the race will proceed with great fanfare as the plight of dozens of athletes who weredetained and tortured for exercising their freedom of expression goes unnoticed. Many of these athletes weretargeted, arrested and defamed because of their participation in the…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) -- With Bahrain about to host the 2013 Formula One Grand Prix, the spotlight has returned to the Gulf country’s human rights record. Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director, Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, talks about the crackdown against anti-government protesters following the uprising two years ago. What’s been happening in Bahrain?In 2011, thousands of people took to the streets in Bahrain – a small island nation in the Gulf – to demand political…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) –Another Bahraini has died due to asphyxia after inhaling poisonous tear gas fired by Saudi-backed regime forces as Manama's brutal crackdown on protests continues. The victim, identified as Haj Ibrahim Hassan Salman, died on Tuesday nearly 45 days after inhaling toxic tear gas fired by regime forces. Salman, 60, was hospitalized last month after security forces fired tear gas canisters into residential areas in the town of Samaheej. His funeral is due to be held later…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) -- Since its first running in 2004, the Bahrain Grand Prix has been a mainstay of the country's complex political calendar. Indeed, controversy brewed well before a single race could take place, with critics decrying the expense of constructing the vast Bahrain International Circuit even as many citizens struggled to find jobs, housing, and affordable land. At the same time, the track's isolation in the far south of the island -- well, as far south…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) -- Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone insists this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix will go ahead as planned, despite a series of small explosions taking place in the troubled country.The February 14 Youth Coalition, an underground youth movement, have embarked on a week-long campaign entitled ‘volcanic flames’, which concluded with a gas canister blowing up inside a stolen car in the financial district. No injuries were reported.And internet hacking organisation Anonymous have also vowed to disrupt…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) –Riot police raided a high school and fired tear gas at students in Bahrain’s capital Manama Tuesday morning as the teenagers demonstrated for the release of a pupil arrested the previous day. Amateur footage posted online show police firing tear gas at hundreds of students at the Jabriya boy’s school. The students were demanding the release of 17-year-old Hassan Humidan who was arrested on Monday. The school is located close to the US Embassy in…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) -- Bahraini security forces have raided a high school in the capital Manama, firing teargas at the students angry over the recent arrest of a fellow student. Regime forces clashed with students protesting outside their school, located close to the US embassy in southern Manama, on Tuesday.  The students were angry over the arrest of 17-year-old student Hassan Humidan at the school on Monday.  Bahrainis have been staging peaceful anti-regime demonstrations since mid-February 2011 despite the…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) –In addition to torturing Bahraini opposition activists, Ian Henderson was known for his brutal techniques against the Mau Mau activists in Kenya. Henderson died yesterday in Bahrain, but torture in the tiny Persian Gulf island nation is still being implemented, and his policy of torture didn’t die with him.  In 2011, Bahraini regime of al-Khalifa released 300 political prisoners under extreme pressure from protesters who are fed up with his 40-years brutal rule.  Released political…