Bahrain’s king declares state of emergency

BAHRAIN’S king has declared a three-month state of emergency and gave the country’s military chief wide authority to battle a Shi’ite-led protest movement that has threatened the Sunni monarchy and drawn in forces from around the Gulf.

The martial law-style order was read out on Bahrain state TV a day after more than 1,000 Saudi-led troops arrived to help prop up the US-backed regime in the first major cross-border military action to challenge one of the revolts sweeping across the Arab world.

Clashes broke out across the tiny island nation, with a doctor reporting that hundreds of protesters were injured by shotgun blasts and clubs and that one died from a bullet to the head. One of the Saudi soldiers was also shot and killed by a protester, said a security official in Saudi Arabia.