Iraq’s prominent Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has called on politicians and legislators to speed up reforming electoral laws, warning that nothing but the changes can resolve weeks of protests in the capital Baghdad and some southern cities.

Iraq's Foreign Ministry has decried the Bahraini foreign minister's "offence" to prominent Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and demanded an official apology.  

Scores of people have held a protest in Bahrain to voice their support for distinguished Shia cleric Sheikh Isa Qassim, who has been stripped of his nationality by the ruling Al Khalifah dynasty, and condemn the ongoing crackdown on pro-democracy activists in the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom.