News stories by Suad Hamada, page 2

Women candidates seem to be getting scarcer in Bahraini elections, but women leaders here say female poll participation is no longer about getting into office.

Bahrain may be dependent on expatriate labour, but that has not stopped it from deporting migrant workers who are found to be HIV-positive.

It was his second time to be caught stealing a car, so Turki was meted a jail term of five years. But the young repeat offender was only 17 years old at the time of his arrest, and therefore was still considered a minor under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

In her 30s, Muza has been married for years but has managed to remain financially independent. In fact, she was even able to help build the home she has with her husband, using the money she earned as a teacher.

When Abdulkhaliq Mohammed arrived in Bahrain as a contract labourer 20 years ago, the first thing he did on setting foot in the oil-rich Gulf state was to hand his passport over to his employer.

Surging dowries and the skyrocketing costs of living amid constricting economic opportunities made worse by the global financial crisis have placed a heavy burden on Bahraini men contemplating marriage.

Bahrain has observed a de facto moratorium on the death penalty for years, but many are watching to see if the Gulf country will follow the international trend toward the abolition of capital punishment in the future.

Legislators say it would encourage more Islamic behaviour and cure social ills, but critics say a complete ban by Bahrain on selling alcohol would mean big losses in tax revenues and lead to a black market in liquor.

Cunning rapists in Bahrain can avoid victimising virgins so they could escape the maximum penalty provided by law, and those who force themselves on young girls can evade punishment by promising to marry their victims.

Umbassil* is unlike other engaged women. Instead of planning her wedding she is wondering where she will have her baby. She is not pregnant but she knows that Bahrain's maternity hospitals will not admit her because she is HIV positive.