Bahrain Live Blog

This video uploaded to YouTube is said to show clashes between riot police and protesters in Nuweidrat village last night. The video shows protesters throwing a number of Molotov cocktails at riot police, which have become more commonly used among protesters as the nightly protests and subsequent police raids continue in villages across the country. 

Bahraini police fired tear gas on hunger strikers protesting against their detention over last year's pro-democracy protests, an activist said, adding that one of them was admitted to hospital on Tuesday.

Riot police "fired tear gas Monday on detainees on hunger strike in one of the cells," the head of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR), Mohammed al-Maskati told AFP.

Maskati said the incident caused no injuries but that one of the hunger strikers, opposition activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, was "hospitalised Tuesday as he suffered from hypotension and low blood sugar levels."

The interior ministry insisted that the hunger strikers were being well looked after.

"All prisoners are receiving full medical care and a team of medics is present 24 hours to provide treatment when needed," the ministry said in a statement carried by the official BNA news agency.

The US is selling some military equipment to Bahrain as it walks a fine line between pushing the Sunni monarchy to open talks with the opposition while proceeding cautiously with a strategic ally to counter Iran.

The sale of an undisclosed amount of spare parts and equipment has drawn opposition from some in Congress who argue that it sends the wrong signal about the US commitment to human rights.

The State Department said the equipment is for Bahrain's external defence and support for the US Navy's 5th Fleet, which is based in the country.

"This isn't a new sale nor are we using a legal loophole," the department said.

"The items that we briefed to Congress were notified and cleared by the Hill previously or are not large enough to require Congressional notification."

Amnesty International has urged Bahraini authorities to release a female protester after the court of cassation on Monday upheld her jail sentence for demonstrating and listening to "revolutionary" songs.

Fadhila Mubarak was sentenced to 18 months in prison and the court has rejected her appeal, the London-based rights watchdog said in a statement.

"Fadhila Mubarak is a prisoner of conscience who was reportedly beaten and tortured in detention and then sentenced in an unfair trial before a military court on spurious charges for standing up for her rights," said Hassiba Hadj-Sahraoui, the rights group's Middle East and North Africa deputy director.