Tag: Saudi Arabia reforms

Saudi Arabia has issued its first driver’s licenses to 10 women as the kingdom prepares to lift the world’s only ban on women driving in three weeks. The Saudi General Traffic Directorate began to issue domestic driving licences to women who have international ones. Though the Kingdom has started to grant licenses to women, a number of women who’d campaigned for the right to drive are under arrest and facing charges related to their activism. The 10 women who were issued licenses already held driving licenses from other countries, including US, UK, Lebanon and Canada. They took a brief driving test and ... Read more

Saudi Arabia was the only Gulf state with no public Christian places of worship. Saudi has entered into a deal with Vatican to build churches in the Gulf region. “This is the beginning of a rapprochement… It is a sign that the Saudi authorities are now ready to give a new image to the country,” President of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, told the Vatican News website after returning from Riyadh. The agreement was was signed between local Wahhabi leaders and a Vatican cardinal to establish a cooperative relationship. The deal signed between Tauran and Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdel ... Read more

Saudi Arabia is all set to host its first fashion week from April 10 to 14 at the Ritz Cartlon in Riyadh. The four-day event will feature local Arab designers and European brand names including Roberto Cavalli and Jean Paul Gaultier. “Since the initial announcement made in February, Arab Fashion Week Riyadh has garnered significant interest from international guests wanting to attend,” said Layla Issa Abuzaid, the country director for Saudi Arabia at the Arab Fashion Council. The event, which was scheduled to be held in February, got postponed “to accommodate all the international guests who had applied to attend,” said ... Read more