The year 2022 carried with it somber news of the demise of prominent and influential figures, such as the Lebanese Samar Al-Haj, who spared no effort in advocating for the people of Bahrain for over a decade, Dr. Jalila Al-A'ali, a member of the imprisoned medical cadre, and the pursued activist Sadiq Al-Hayki, who passed away in exile, far from home, due to security pursuits by the authorities.

In the early hours of January 24, 2022, Serbia closed the file on Bahraini dissident and torture survivor Ahmed Jaafar, handing him over to Manama after about two months of detention. This took place despite a European court decision prohibiting it, following pressure from Interpol, now led by the Emirati Ahmed Naser Al-Raisi, and from Bahrain's security forces.

For the second consecutive year, Qatar continued to disregard Bahrain's appeals for normalizing relations and ending the political dispute initiated by Manama years ago. Despite signing the Al-Ula Agreement in January 2021, the Qatari ruling family decided there was no need to repair relations with its smaller neighbor.

The most prominent issues that dominated the scene in 2022 were revealed in August when information surfaced about a government plan to establish a "Jewish Quarter" in the capital, Manama, as part of the accelerating normalization agreements.

In 2018, the Bahraini government, along with other Gulf governments, began employing Pegasus software to track activists. Reports from specialized organizations led to legal actions against the company, involving applications such as WhatsApp and other entities.

Throughout the year 2022, Bahrain experienced a surge of Bahraini-Israeli normalization events and visits. During this time, the government aimed to make normalization with Israel an inevitable reality, even resorting to threats and pressuring employees to be present during Israeli delegations, as seen with doctors at Salmaniya Hospital.

In the Bahraini reflection on the year 2022 and the World Cup, the harvest of fields unveils a disappointing reality in terms of competition, production, and development. Across these arenas, Bahrain finds itself devoid of any semblance of competitiveness, productivity, or progress. Instead, we witness a desolate landscape in every aspect.

Despite Bahrain's announcement of normalizing relations with Israel in 2020, the normalization steps taken in 2021 were numerous, totaling approximately 25 normalization steps. Not a month passed without Bahrain taking new normalization measures with the Israeli entity, accumulating around 25 normalization steps throughout the year.

In 2021, Bahrain witnessed 49 violations against freedom of media, opinion, and expression, with half of these incidents related to Internet cases, specifically 26 cases. As revealed by the annual monitoring conducted by Bahrain Press Association (BPA), the majority of documented cases involved summonses for interrogation at police centers and public prosecution.

"The Defenders" has won the Sydney Film Festival Audience Award for best Australian documentary.

Bahrain's state investment fund Mumtalakat is buying preference shares and warrants worth £400 million ($510.48 million) in carmaker McLaren from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and Ares Management, Sky News reported on Wednesday.

The former CEO of Bahrain's sovereign wealth fund has signed on with an Israeli firm that invests in companies in the Middle East and North Africa to expand the footprint of Israeli technologies in the region.

The Conservative MP Bob Stewart has been charged with a racially aggravated public order offence after an incident outside a reception hosted by the Bahraini embassy.

Angry protests erupted in Bahrain against the execution of two Bahraini nationals by Saudi Arabia.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the Kingdom of Bahrain has decided to resume diplomatic representation at the level of ambassadors with the Lebanon.

Thousands of Bahrainis took to the streets in crowded protests in different villages across Bahrain, marking International Quds Day, which falls on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani confirmed that "the agreement with Saudi Arabia has positively affected Iran's relationship with Bahrain."

US National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, said "We welcome the restoration of diplomatic ties between Bahrain and Qatar, two close U.S. partners and Major Non-NATO Allies."

Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman confirmed that Secretary General of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf will meet with the Bahraini delegation in Riyadh to complete the work of the "Qatari-Bahraini Follow-up Committee", in implementation of what was stated in the "Al-Ula Summit" statement.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani announced that Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed to take executive steps to reopen the diplomatic missions of the two countries. Official relations between the two countries were resumed based on the Beijing agreements.