Bahrain this week ...

LIBERALS have hit back at Islamist MPs who criticised Bahrain’s Spring of Culture and launched a probe into what they describe as its “sleazy” content.

The controversy was sparked after MP Shaikh Mohammed Khalid attended the event’s opening concert by Lebanese singer Marcel Khalifa and said he was outraged by dancers’ erotic performances.
MPs later unanimously voted to “investigate” the event, which they described as the “spring of sex”.
However, businessmen, art enthusiasts and human rights activists have defended the show, saying that MPs should focus their attention on more important matters.
“This is an appalling situation where we find our parliament wasting our time on issues that are not relevant to the country,” said businessman and former Al Muntada Society president Adel Fakhro. “Instead of talking about employment, the budget, the economy, they are wasting time forming committees to investigate the arts.”

A BAHRAINI supermarket chain that has boycotted US products for five years says the move has actually helped to boost business. Al Muntazah Market is currently planning a major expansion that could see the launch of five new supermarkets and several fast service outlets.
Manager Tamer Nasser said the US boycott had made the chain’s customers more loyal because it gave them the impression that the company was about more than just profits. He added: “The boycott has actually helped us and business is now better than ever.”
Boycott against US products have been implemented for limited periods of time for many years in protest against US foreign policy, mainly with relation to the Palestinians. However, most companies eventually go back to importing from the major US manufacturers. Al Muntazah is perhaps the most prominent company that has kept this policy in place.

A SERIES of lectures is being organised jointly by the French Embassy, Alliance Francaise de Bahrein and the Shaikh Ebrahim Centre for Culture and Research from the end of this month.
The first lecture ‘Afghanistan, Rediscovered Treasures: Collections from the National Museum of Kabul’, will be held on March 26 at the Alliance Francaise, Isa Town, at 6.30pm.
Cecile Becker, the head of the Cultural and Educational Office at the Guimet Museum of Asian Arts in Paris, France, will deliver this lecture in French. The same lecture will be held in English on March 28 at the Bahrain National Museum, Manama, at 7pm.

THE number of Bahraini families employing housemaids from the Philippines has significantly dropped since the new $400 (BD151) salary law was introduced late last year, a Philippine Embassy official has confirmed. Since the start of the New Year, only about 30 Bahraini and non-Bahraini employers have hired Filipino maids, said Labour Attaché Alejandro Santos.
“There has been a drop, but this was expected. Before the $400 salary law was approved by the Philippine government, the embassy was processing more than 30 new housemaids’ contracts a month.” The number has now gone down to about 10 a month.

GERMAN runner Robby Clemens will run through Bahrain today and tomorrow as part of a 23,000km charity marathon around the world.
Mr Clemens, whose goal is to complete the run in 298 days, will cross the King Fahad Causeway, run through Manama and the Seef District, across the Shaikh Isa Bridge and on to Arad on the first day.
He will depart for Doha on Thursday.
The 46-year-old runner is running around the world to collect donations for children and the handicapped. He began on January 3.

GOVERNMENT schools are being urged by the Lions Club of Bahrain to take part in the forthcoming Lions Schools Olympics.
Twenty private schools have registered to take part, but organisers are hoping that government schools will also send their students to compete in the fund-raising and sporting event. Funds raised will go towards the club’s Sight First Project, which promotes and supports the Bahrain government’s campaign for the prevention of blindness.
The event is being held on April 20 at the Muharraq Stadium, starting at 7am.

And finally, Bahrain-based Al Salam Bank general counsel Mohammed Paracha has been named in this year’s Hot 100 list by UK magazine The Lawyer. The accolade is given to the best international lawyers in the profession and it is not the first time the British-born Muslim, who lives in Bahrain, has been recognised for his work. He won the coveted Lawyer of the Year Award in 2004 for his efforts in introducing Islamic finance to the UK.