The United Arab Emirates (UAE) awarded 4.5 billion dirhams ($1.2 billion) in military procurement deals on Sunday, part of a total of 20 billion dirhams worth of purchases it expects to make at an arms fair this week, a spokesman for the expo said.

The Bahraini Minister of Interior said on Monday (February 20, 2017) that martyr Abdullah Al Ajouz sustained an injury as he attempted to escape, and died as a result of the injury after being transferred to the hospital.

The UK-based daily the Guardian said, “The global transfer of major weapons systems rose over the past five years to the highest volume since the end of the cold war as the Middle East nearly doubled its imports, according to an annual report on arms sales.”

U.S.-backed Iraqi forces fought Islamic State fighters on Monday to clear the way to Mosul's airport, on the second day of a ground offensive on the jihadists' remaining stronghold in the western side of the city.

Bahraini young man, Abdullah Al Ajouz (21 years old), was killed today morning as security forces attempted to detain him in a raid at a house in Nuwaidrat, South East of Manama, according to Bahrain Center for Human Rights.

The Third High Court upheld the imprisonment verdict against former member of parliament, Osama Al-Tamimi for 1 month, on charges of insulting a policeman.

Bahrain Mirror issued the second edition of the Jaw Novel this week on Wednesday (February 15, 2017). “Jaw,” a literary work written by a Bahraini political prisoner, was well received by readers and gained popularity in the country.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that conflicts in Iraq, Syria and Bahrain do not have military solutions, adding that each requires a political solution.

Bahraini judges addressed King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa urging him to treat them equally to their fellows who received real estates documents.

The trial of the prominent Bahraini human rights activist Nabeel Rajab is scheduled to resume on February 21, 2017, Human Rights Watch said. He faces a total of 18 years in prison based on two sets of speech-related charges that clearly violate his right to free expression. His eight months in pretrial custody appeared to amount to arbitrary detention.

Gulf Arab states are poised to continue to spend billions of dollars on defence despite low oil prices causing severe budget deficits forcing Gulf States to introduce austerity measures and cut spending.

The Council of Representatives is expected to pass on Tuesday (March 21, 2017) a draft to amend item (b) of article 105 of the constitution concerned in granting military judiciary broader authority.

Member of the finance and Economic Affairs Committee Ahmed Qarata expected that the state’s public debt of the two fiscal years (2017 and 2018) would be referred to the House of Representatives at the end of March 2017, adding that the debt would be about 2 billion BD to each fiscal years; i.e. 4 billion BD to the two fiscal years.

Bahrain’s public debt continued to rise reaching 8.68 billion BD in November 2016, which constitutes 72% of the Gross domestic product (GDP).

Bahraini activists confirmed that the Bahraini authorities detained activist Nader Abdul Imam, and transferred him to “Jaw Central Prison” to serve a new sentence over charges linked to taking part in a peaceful protest in the capital Manama.

Saudi Arabia has broken up four Islamic State cells suspected of providing shelter to wanted militants and recruiting fighters, the Interior Ministry said on Thursday, according to Saudi state television.

A soldier from the United Arab Emirates died while taking part in a Saudi-led military operation in Yemen, state news agency WAM reported on Friday, without clarifying the circumstances of his death.

The Supreme Court of Appeal amended the prison verdict issued against an appellant, from 7 years to 3 years, in a case linked to burning tires and planting a fake bomb in the Budaiya Street.

The Supreme Court of Appeal upheld a 7-year prison verdict against a defendant in a case linked to burning tires and planting a fake bomb.

The Fourth High Criminal Court ruled a 2-year prison verdict against 3 defendants, while it acquitted 2 others in a case linked to planting a fake bomb in the Bahraini town of Shahrakan.