Citizens in Bahrain are getting ready for the first direct tax on goods and services, after the government obtained a formal approval from parliament to apply the value added tax (VAT) starting next year.

Two scenes on the day of the 17th anniversary of the King's Accession to the Throne that summarize the current situation of the country, of the Bahraini citizen as well as the days to come with which the king promised his people.

former Bahrain international footballer Hakeem Al-Araibi told media outlets and activists that Thai and Bahraini governments are working together to extradite him so that he'd be tortured in Bahrain, despite having the right to political asylum in Australia.

Like critical football games, Bahrain did its best to arrest football player Hakeem Al-Araibi, revealing the magnitude of the ill intentions it hides for the player currently held in a detention center in Bangkok, Thailand.

It is well known to zoologists that the rhinoceros suffers from short-sightedness, which makes it attack first without marking the target. Thus, the target realizes it is being attacked after it is too late.

No one can understand the pain in this letter unless they have witnessed the harsh experience in Bahraini prisons and the long-years they spend that are eaten out of their lives.

King Hamad bin Isa Al Kahlifa reassigned on Sunday (December 2, 2018) to his uncle Khalifa bin Salman the task of forming the government.

The two top Western allies, Britain and America, announced their support for comprehensive reconciliation in Bahrain, yet they are working against what they claim to support when they encouraged the legislative elections that took place last weekend, disregarding the statements made by international organizations describing the election environment as “oppressive”.

The ruling family in Bahrain has decided, mid-way into the election process, to remind Bahrainis of its intensified harsh campaign launched against human rights, telling them that there is no place for these rights.

Some candidates running in the 2018 Parliamentary elections remind us of the amusing contestants who join the Arab Idol contest.

The Bahraini regime's plan went well as it managed to get $10 billion dollars in Gulf support. This support is sufficient to cover the “regime’s deficit” over the next five years. We, as Bahrainis, wish this, but we do not trust that the regime will behave well.

A Bahraini economist confirmed that all commodities not included in the list of 97 main commodities exempted from value added tax will be included in the implementation of the tax.

Why didn't the King of Bahrain explicitly say that he was the one who passed the law? Why didn’t the official newspapers say that the parliament's call for holding a tax law session was merely a nominal order to enforce the king’s will?

King of Bahrain once said: "I do not believe in the democracy of decrees!" In fact, he has never believed in anything but decrees. He also seemed to have forgotten the existence of a Shura Council and House of Representatives.

Al-Wefaq Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Hussein Al-Daihi officially announced boycotting the upcoming Parliamentary and municipal elections.

A source close to the government said that “the budget of the ministries in Bahrain is in a very precarious situation, as there are no financial allocations to implement the projects approved in the financial budgets.

After Bahraini Ministry of Interior announced that it will be monitoring any news or messages calling for non-participation in the forthcoming parliamentary elections, Bahrainis launched a hashtag entitled #We_Will_Participate_If.

Two strikes by the Minister of Industry Zayed Al-Zayani have stirred the Bahraini social media, causing outrage.

Bahrainis see how the ruling government has resorted to their pockets in order to pay for the country’s debts and compensate for budget deficits that have resulted from the lean years.

With the withdrawal of pro-government parties and opposition ban, Bahrain is the only country in the world that awaits legislative elections without any parties.