In Bahrain today, there is a practice session for Sunday's motor race. There are also mass arrests, teargas, and stun grenade assaults by the police on peaceful protesters.

But it's important to keep things in perspective, as German driver Sebastian Vettel has. Vettel has supported the idea of holding the race in Bahrain from the beginning. Last night he said: "I am happy once we start testing tomorrow because then we can start worrying about the stuff that really matters like tyre temperatures, cars..."

Meanwhile, the list of journalists denied entry to the Gulf kingdom gets longer. Simeon Kerr of the Financial Times, Stuart Ramsay, chief correspondent of Sky News, a photographer for Agence France-Presse, two Dubai-based writers for the Associated Press, and Andrew Hammond from Reuters have all had to leave after being blocked at immigration at Bahrain's airport. What could the regime possibly have to hide?

Take action: Be better informed than Vettel – read Amnesty's report, released this week, on torture and unfair imprisonment in Bahrain, and sign Amnesty's petition in support of hunger striker Abdulhadi al-Khawaja – tortured and sentenced to life imprisonment for organising peaceful pro-democratic protest last year.