Strait of Hormuz Disruption: Global ocean carriers have frozen Bahrain cargo bookings and rerouted shipments after the chokepoint shutdown, with lines like MSC, Hapag-Lloyd and COSCO pushing “end of voyage” offloads via Oman and UAE land-bridge routes, raising costs and operational uncertainty for Bahrain’s trade flows. Energy Market Shock: CITIC and Vitol warn oil is underpricing the risk of supply damage from prolonged Strait closures, with potential knock-on effects for inflation and risk assets, including crypto. Bahrain-US-Iran Tensions: Iran fired ballistic missiles and drones toward Bahrain and Kuwait, which Bahrain says were intercepted; the U.S. also struck Iranian radar/surveillance sites and shot down drones near Hormuz as ceasefire talks stay fragile. Labour Enforcement: LMRA reported 4,003 inspection campaigns in May, detaining 129 workers and deporting 324 for labour and residency violations, with multi-agency drives across all governorates. Digital Government Services: Bahrain’s Ministry of Works digitized its service consultancy for government entities, cutting processing time from 14 to 7 working days for engineering designs, supervision and tender documentation. Islamic Finance Deal: Cibafi (based in Bahrain) signed an Islamic finance arbitration pact with OIC-AC to strengthen alternative dispute resolution and legal certainty for the sector. Hospitality Talent Pipeline: Gulf Hotels Group opened registration for its 2026 Summer Internship Programme, starting 1 July, across hotel departments from engineering to procurement.