Tag Archives: Saudi

Cairo, Egypt | AFP | Egypt’s constitutional court on Saturday voided contradictory lower court rulings on the controversial transfer of two islands to Saudi Arabia, state media reported. The ruling on the transfer of the Tiran and Sanafir islands in the Red Sea, which sparked protests in Egypt, effectively ends …

Beirut, Lebanon | AFP | Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri said he has accepted an invitation Monday to visit Saudi Arabia, returning for the first time to the kingdom where he announced a shock resignation that he later rescinded. The November 4 resignation and his prolonged stay in Saudi Arabia stirred …

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | AFP | Women in Saudi Arabia can now open their own businesses without the consent of a husband or male relative, as the kingdom pushes to expand a fast-growing private sector. The policy change, announced by the Saudi government on Thursday, also marks a major step …

Paris, France | AFP | The United States are set to overtake Saudi Arabia as the world’s number two oil producer after Russia this year, as shale companies, attracted by rising prices, ramp up drilling, the International Energy Agency said on Friday. “This year promises to be a record-setting one …

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia | AFP | Saudi Arabia allowed women to enter a football stadium for the first time to watch a match Friday, as the ultra-conservative kingdom eases strict decades-old rules separating the sexes. The new measure comes after Riyadh, long known for imposing harsh restrictions on women, announced …

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | AFP | Palestinians have the right to Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem as their capital, Saudi King Salman said Wednesday, echoing calls at an Islamic summit in Istanbul from which he had stayed away. “The kingdom has called for a political solution to resolve regional crises, foremost of which …

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | AFP | Saudi Arabia on Monday lifted a decades-old ban on cinemas, part of powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s far-reaching liberalisation drive that is shaking up the ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom. The government said it would begin licensing cinemas immediately and the first movie theatres are expected …

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | AFP | Saudi Arabia’s crown prince vowed to “pursue terrorists until they are wiped from the face of the earth” as officials from 40 Muslim countries gathered Sunday in the first meeting of an Islamic counter-terrorism alliance. “In past years, terrorism has been functioning in all of …

Beirut, Lebanon | AFP | Lebanon’s Prime Minister Saad Hariri said Wednesday he was suspending his surprise resignation, pending talks, providing a potential way out of a political crisis that has rocked the country. In a rousing address before large crowds of supporters gathered outside his Beirut home, he pledged he …

Cairo, Egypt | AFP | Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri briefly stopped Tuesday in Egypt for talks on his way back from France to his country, which is reeling from his surprise resignation amid an escalating regional crisis. Hariri’s media office said he met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who has …