Good news from Bahrain where the American PR firm Qorvis was recently hired at $40,000 a month to polish up the kingdom's image.

An announcement via PRNewswire reveals that Bahrain is to fund "a state of the art special hospital in Somalia as well as a nursing school to train medical personnel." It says: " His Majesty King Hamad of Bahrain has prioritized aid to Somalia in hopes of meeting the famine-stricken country's growing medical needs."

Meanwhile in Bahrain itself (and not reported on PRNewswire), twenty doctors, nurses and paramedics who treated activists wounded during anti-government protests have been sentenced tojail terms of between five and 15 years by a military court.

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 30 September 2011.

UPDATE, 1 October: A press release about the medics has now appeared, detailing the accusations agains them.