The Latest Breaking News from Bahrain

Pope calls for an end to rights violations during trip to Bahrain, which has been criticised for alleged rights abuses.

Pope Francis arrived in Bahrain on Thursday to start a four-day trip, the second by the pontiff to the Arabian peninsula.

Fiumicino (Italy) (AFP) - Pope Francis, leader of the world's 1.3 billion Catholics, departed Thursday for the Gulf state of Bahrain to foster ties with Islam in a trip overshadowed by criticism of human rights abuses.

Pope Francis leaves on Thursday for Bahrain, a trip aimed at improving ties with the Islamic world but which could thrust him into a human rights conflict between the Sunni-led monarchy and its Shi'ite Muslim opposition.

When Pope Francis visits Bahrain this week, it will be a dream come true for many Christians in the Gulf Arab country, but especially for Najla Uchi, whose father helped build the first Roman Catholic church in the island state.

Manama (AFP) - Before Bahrain established the Gulf's first church in the 1930s, priests would visit from Iraq to perform services for a small Catholic community.

Arab leaders and delegations began arriving in Algiers on Monday to attend the two-day Arab League summit that will kick off on Tuesday. Among the arrivals were Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Chairman of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council Dr. Rashad al-Alimi, Bahrain’s Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al…

Pope Francis is making the first-ever papal trip to Bahrain this week

Vatican City (AFP) - Pope Francis will become the first pontiff in history to visit Bahrain, in a trip this week that is hoped will cement ties with Islam but is also marked by accusations of human rights abuses in the Gulf state.