A lovely new vase for Dave here, a multi-million pound arms deal there – but it’s not all forced handshakes and stony smiles in Bahrain. Today the country’s Industry and Commerce minister Hassan Fakhro has issued a decree banning imports of Guy Fawkes masks. Apparently the Bahrain authorities are worried about the masks being smuggled in through ports by anti-government freedom fighters. As the most famous wearer of the mask memorably declares:

“People should not be afraid of their governments, governments should be afraid of their people. Beneath this mask there is more than flesh. Beneath this mask there is an idea, and ideas are bulletproof…”