Cleared for takeoff: Saudi women start exercising their newest right

* Saudi women must have male guardian for major decisions

* Regulatory changes have steadily granted them more freedom

* Riyadh faces fierce criticism over human rights record

RIYADH - Saudi Arabia's international airports are the scene of the latest "first" for women citizens, who can now leave the country without permission from a male relative as the kingdom chips away at its heavily criticized guardianship system.

Salma, a 40-year-old mother of three, travels abroad regularly with authorization from her legal guardian - formerly her then-husband and now her father. But those rules were cancelled this month, so when she went to Riyadh airport on Thursday, she crossed passport control on her own authority.

"You just feel like you're human, you're a complete human," she told Reuters from the gate. "Not half, not part of, but you're a complete human."

Saudi Arabia has long endured Western censure over guardianship, which assigns each woman a male relative - a father, brother, husband or son - whose approval is needed for various big decisions throughout a woman’s life.

While some significant controls remain, the authorities have steadily tweaked regulations as they try to open up society under a broad reform agenda led by de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The latest changes mean women over 21 can now get a passport and go abroad without permission. They also allow women to register child birth, marriage or divorce, be issued official family documents and be a guardian to children who are minors.

More than 1,000 women in the kingdom's Eastern Province have already traveled abroad under the new rules, the local newspaper Al Yaum reported on Tuesday.

So far, though, implementation has been uneven.

Women complained on Twitter that they were still blocked from ordering passports through the government's online portal, called Absher. Local media said they would need to apply in person until the electronic system was activated.

Human Rights Watch called the new regulations a long-awaited victory and urged the authorities to ensure male guardians cannot use court orders to sidestep them.

"These combined changes are among the most sweeping reforms of women's rights that Saudi Arabia has made and the first significant break with the country's male guardianship system..." said senior women’s rights researcher Rothna Begum.

"Now the Saudi authorities should uproot all remaining discrimination against women in both law and practice."

"CRUCIAL MILESTONES"

The freedom to travel abroad follows last year's lifting of a ban on women driving cars, which was widely celebrated at home and praised abroad.

At the same time, Saudi Arabia has faced fierce criticism for detaining around a dozen women's rights activists who had called for reforms, especially after last year's murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the kingdom's Istanbul consulate.

Several high-profile cases this year of women fleeing abroad from what they said were abusive families brought more negative attention to the guardianship system.

Guardianship's status between law and custom makes it a thorny issue for the crown prince, who indicated last year he favoured ending the system but stopped short of endorsing its annulment.

Saudi researcher Eman Hussein said the state had been reluctant to dismantle certain parts of the system to avoid provoking unrest from conservatives who have relied on it to impose law and order inside their families.

"The steps taken so far are crucial milestones for the advancement of women’s rights in the country," she wrote this month on the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington website.

"All of these laws show the Saudi leadership’s efforts to strike a balance between opening up the country and preserving some traditional values by differentiating between customs, Islamic laws, and gender rights."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Rapper Nicki Minaj to perform in Saudi Arabia

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia—US rapper Nicki Minaj will perform in Saudi Arabia this month, organizers said, triggering a storm on social media as the ultra-conservative kingdom loosens decades-old restrictions on entertainment.

Minaj, known for her profanity-laced lyrics and raunchy music videos, will perform in the western city of Jeddah on July 18, organizers of the ongoing Jeddah Season cultural festival announced on Twitter on Tuesday.

The headline act, to be televised on MTV, will also feature British musician Liam Payne and American DJ Steve Aoki, local media reported.

"She (Minaj) is going to be actively on her social media, she'll be posting right from the stage in Jeddah and at her hotel in Jeddah," Robert Quirke, an event organizer, was quoted as saying by the Arab News daily. 

"Everyone is going to know that Nicki Minaj has landed in Saudi Arabia."

The performance in the kingdom, which forbids alcohol and has a strict social code, comes as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pursues a sweeping liberalization drive that has led to new cinemas, concerts and sporting extravaganzas.

The news was widely welcomed in a country where two-thirds of the population is under 30, with one Twitter user posting a picture of Minaj and writing: "My dream has come true." 

But it also triggered outrage from conservative quarters.

"She is going to go and shake her backside and all her songs are about sex... and then everyone tells me to wear the abaya. What the hell!" one woman said in a video posted on Twitter.

Saudi Arabia is boosting entertainment that allows citizens to have fun, in what some see as an attempt to blunt public frustration over an economic downturn and high youth unemployment.

The kingdom's General Entertainment Authority said it plans to pump $64 billion into the sector in the coming decade.

The reform also stems partly from an economic motive to boost domestic spending on entertainment as the kingdom has reeled from low oil prices.

Saudis currently splurge billions of dollars annually to see films and visit amusement parks in neighboring tourist hubs like Dubai and Bahrain.

While Saudi Arabia is yet to offer tourist visas, the country has fast-tracked electronic permits for international visitors to attend such festivals to further boost revenue.

But such acts have fuelled controversy in a country still steeped in conservatism.

In June last year, Saudi Arabia sacked the head of its entertainment authority, following an online backlash against a circus featuring women wearing skin tight leotards.

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Turkey vows to reveal 'naked truth' over Khashoggi death

ISTANBUL - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday vowed to reveal within days the "naked truth" over the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as Riyadh said it did not know the whereabouts of his body and that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had been unaware of any operation to murder him.

The Turkish leader's statement came the day after Saudi authorities conceded Khashoggi had been killed inside their diplomatic compound in Istanbul.

"We are looking for justice here and this will be revealed in all its naked truth, not through some ordinary steps but in all its naked truth," Erdogan told a rally in Istanbul.

In his strongest comments to date on the affair, President Donald Trump accused Saudi Arabia of lying about the killing of Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist who fell out of favour with the ultraconservative kingdom, as pressure built on the US administration to strike a tougher line.

The Saudi foreign minister, Adel al-Jubeir, on Sunday described the killing as a "tremendous mistake" and said it had been a "rogue operation" by individuals who "exceeded their responsibilities" and then "tried to cover up for it".

Jubeir insisted in an interview with Fox News that the operation was not ordered by the crown prince known by his initials MBS, also adding that "we don't know where the body is".

Erdogan, who has not yet directly blamed Saudi Arabia, held a telephone call with Trump on Sunday where the two leaders agreed the Khashoggi case needed to be clarified "in all its aspects," a Turkish presidential source said.

Erdogan is expected to make a full statement to his party's MPs in parliament at around 0800 GMT on Tuesday.

Turkish officials have said they believe that 15 Saudi men who arrived in Istanbul on two flights on October 2 were connected to Khashoggi's death.

Riyadh reacted by claiming one of the 15 had died in a car accident years ago.

Saudi officials originally said Khashoggi, who stepped inside the doors of the diplomatic mission on October 2, had left unharmed, before announcing he was killed inside the building in what they described as an altercation.

The kingdom has since admitted Khashoggi died in a "brawl" inside the consulate and said it has fired five top officials and arrested 18 others in an investigation into the killing.

'LIES'

Khashoggi, who would have been 60 this month, sought refuge in the United States after fleeing his native Saudi Arabia after the 2017 appointment of strongman Mohammed bin Salman as heir to the throne.

The journalist, who had espoused both Islamist and liberal views throughout his decades-long career in the press, was engaged to a Turkish woman.

His killing has further soured relations between Saudi Arabia and Turkey, already at loggerheads over Qatar, with which Riyadh cut ties in 2017 and to which Ankara has deployed aid and troops.

Turkish officials now believe Riyadh carried out a state-sponsored killing and dismembered the body, with pro-government media in Turkey reporting the existence of video and audio evidence to back those claims.

As the Turkish leader is expected to reveal all details into the journalist's killing, Trump has stepped back from his stance that Saudi Arabia's latest explanation over the death was credible amid mounting pressure at home.

"Obviously there's been deception and there's been lies," he said of the shifting accounts of Khashoggi's death offered by Riyadh.

"Their stories are all over the place."

Several senior members of Trump's Republican Party said they believed Prince Mohammed, the kingdom's de facto ruler, was linked to the killing, and one called for a "collective" Western response if a link is proved.

Trump has stopped far short of calling for the prince to be replaced, emphasising as he has before how important the US-Saudi relationship is to Washington's regional strategic goals.

He described the 33-year-old prince as a "strong person; he has very good control."

"He's seen as a person who can keep things under check," added Trump. "I mean that in a positive way."

UK, FRANCE, GERMANY

The controversy has put the kingdom -- for decades a key ally in Western efforts to contain Iran -- under unprecedented pressure.

It has also blown up into a major crisis for Prince Mohammed whose image as a modernising Arab reformer has been gravely undermined.

Britain, France and Germany have shown a united front, demanding Saudi Arabia clarify how the journalist died inside its Istanbul consulate backed by "credible" facts.

Australia, Canada, the UN and the EU have also demanded greater clarity around Khashoggi's death.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel added that Berlin would not export arms to Saudi Arabia "in the current situation".

Germany last month approved 416 million euros ($480 million) worth of arms exports to Saudi Arabia for 2018. In the past, military exports by Berlin to Saudi have mostly consisted of patrol boats.

burs-fo/boc

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Merkel says Khashoggi killers must 'answer for their actions'

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday said those behind Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi's death must be brought to book and called for "transparency" from Riyadh.

"Those responsible must answer for their actions," Merkel and Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in a joint statement. 

"We expect transparency from Saudi Arabia on the circumstances of his death," it said. "Available reports on what happened in the Istanbul consulate are insufficient."

After days of denying that it was involved in the death of the Washington Post journalist at its Istanbul consulate, Saudi Arabia finally admitted early Saturday that Khashoggi had died during a "brawl" inside the mission.

Eighteen Saudis have been arrested in connection with his death and two top aides of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as well as three other intelligence agents, have been sacked.

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Saudi faces business backlash over Khashoggi disappearance

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is facing a backlash over the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi from business and media previously supportive of his reform drive, with partnerships at risk and big names boycotting a major conference this month.

The crown prince, the son of King Salman, has spearheaded an ambitious program known as Vision 2030, aiming to make the oil-rich conservative kingdom a hub for global innovation and better able to respond to the demands of its increasingly youthful population.

Despite enduring criticism of Saudi's human rights record and its role in the war in Yemen, business chiefs, investors and prominent media figures have been impressed by the crown prince's rhetoric and backed his vision of a new Saudi Arabia.

The showcase of this international support was set to be on October 23-25 at the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh, a lavish conference to be attended by top foreign business leaders and dubbed the "Davos in the Desert" after the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort.

But the disappearance of Khashoggi -- who has not been seen since he walked into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2 -- has given chills even to those who strongly supported Mohammed bin Salman's plans.

Turkish officials have said they believe Khashoggi -- a contributor to the Washington Post who has on occasion penned articles critical of Mohammed bin Salman -- was killed inside the consulate. Saudi Arabia has strongly denied this but has failed to explain the journalist's fate.

- 'Change ability to do business' -

Charismatic British entrepreneur Richard Branson, the founder of the Virgin Group, announced he is suspending two directorships linked to tourism projects in Saudi Arabia around the Red Sea due to the unexplained disappearance of Khashoggi.

Branson said he had "high hopes" for Saudi Arabia under the crown prince but added if the claims about Khashoggi's disappearance were true it would "clearly change the ability of any of us in the West to do business with the Saudi government."

He added Virgin would suspend discussions with Saudi Arabia over a proposed investment in Virgin Galactic, which is set to carry out its first space flight within weeks.

Meanwhile the Future Investment Initiative has seen a litany of cancellations from prominent names who decided it best not to be associated with Saudi Arabia at this time.

The CEO of ride-hailing app Uber, Dara Khosrowshahi, said that he will no longer be attending the event unless "a substantially different set of facts emerges", explaining he was "very troubled by the reports".

His absence will be hugely symbolic as Saudi Arabia's mammoth sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), invested $3.5 billion in Uber in 2016.

An increasingly key player, the PIF also has a stake in Tesla, the electric car company headed by Elon Musk while also taking a shareholding in its rival Lucid.

However, US President Donald Trump underlined in comments which outraged supporters of Khashoggi that there would be limits to any backlash, saying he was not minded to limit arms sales to the key American ally.

"They are spending $110 billion on military equipment and on things that create jobs," Trump said Thursday. The Saudis will "take that money and spend it in Russia or China or someplace else," he warned.

- 'Terribly distressed' -

Media organisations, some of whose writers played some part in cheering the reforms of Mohammed bin Salman, are also deserting the Riyadh event, with the New York Times pulling out as a sponsor and Viacom CEO Bob Bakish cancelling plans to appear.

Meanwhile celebrity journalists who were invited are also staying away. New York Times columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin said on Twitter he would not be attending after being "terribly distressed by the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and reports of his murder."

The ambiance is set to be a far cry from the first edition of the meeting in 2017, where Saudi Arabia wowed some 3,500 executives with talking robots and plans for a new city.

The tensions also create new doubts about the much-heralded IPO of state oil giant Aramco, expected to be the largest share offering in history, and which the crown prince has insisted will go ahead by early 2021.

But not all big names are staying away so far. German industrial giant Siemens, whose chief executive Joe Kaeser is invited, told AFP it had not cancelled its participation but was following the situation closely.

JPMorgan Chase chief Jamie Dimon and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are still scheduled to attend.

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Cinema makes return to Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia hosted its first public film screening in over 35 years on Friday, two days after US movie giant AMC unveiled the kingdom's debut theatre in Riyadh.

Clutching prized tickets for the sold-out showing of Hollywood blockbuster action film "Black Panther", men and women walked into the movie hall with tubs of popcorn and fizzy drinks.


AMC chief executive Adam Aron on Wednesday said its multiplex theatre at Riyadh's King Abdullah Financial District will for now operate one screen with a seating capacity of around 250.

He said plans were afoot for three more screens in the coming months.

The conservative desert kingdom lifted a decades-long ban on cinemas last year as part of a far-reaching modernisation drive, with AMC Entertainment granted the first licence to operate movie theatres.

Religious hardliners, who have long vilified movie theatres as vulgar and sinful, were instrumental in shutting down cinemas in the 1980s.

Reopening movie theatres is part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's ambitious reform drive as he seeks to balance unpopular subsidy cuts in an era of low oil prices with more entertainment options.

The choice of "Black Panther", a film about a young monarch of a fictional resource-rich African kingdom, has drawn parallels with the Saudi prince.

On social media, many Saudis complained that the ticket price of 75 Saudi riyals ($20), which included a new entertainment tax and value-added tax introduced this year, was too exorbitant in an age of austerity.

"If we go as a family we will need a loan," one Saudi tweeted.

Saudis currently splurge billions of dollars annually to see films and visit amusement parks in neighbouring tourist hubs like Dubai and Bahrain.

"Welcome to the era when movies can be watched by Saudis not in Bahrain, not in Dubai, not in London... but inside the kingdom," Aron said Wednesday at the launch of the theatre.

International theatre chains have long eyed Saudi Arabia as the Middle East's last untapped mass market, with its more than 30 million people, the majority of whom are under 25.

AMC will face stiff competition from heavyweights such as Dubai-based VOX Cinemas, which on Thursday announced it had also secured a government licence to operate in Saudi Arabia and would open the kingdom's first IMAX theatre in the coming days.

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Saudi Arabia to spend big after economy shrinks

Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday its economy contracted for the first time in eight years due to painful austerity measures as it announced record spending to stimulate growth.

The OPEC kingpin said gross domestic product for 2017 shrank by 0.5 percent due to a drop in crude production in line with an agreement with major oil producers aimed at boosting prices.

Oil sector GDP fell 2.0 percent in 2017, the ministry said

The last time the Saudi economy contracted was in 2009, when GDP fell 2.1 percent after the global financial crisis sent oil prices crashing.

Riyadh also posted a higher-than-expected budget deficit in 2017 and forecast another shortfall next year for the fifth year in a row due to the drop in oil revenues.

It unveiled plans to spend more than ever in 2018 in a bid to stimulate the sluggish economic, saying it expects GDP to grow by 2.7 percent.

The kingdom has set aside 978 billion riyals ($260.8 billion) for expenditure, up 10 percent on this year, said the finance ministry.

"The 2018 expansionary budget includes a number of new development projects," said powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who oversees economic affairs.

"About 50 percent of the new budget will be financed from non-oil sources," he said, quoted by the official Saudi Press Agency.

The contraction comes as the world's top oil exporter tries to cope with persistent budget deficits that began in 2014 when crude prices plummeted.

In the past four years, Riyadh posted a total of $258 billion of budget deficits, drew on $240 billion of its reserves and borrowed around $100 billion.

King Salman said the Gulf country would "continue to decrease its dependence on oil to reach just 50 percent" of total revenues.

The finance ministry estimated a deficit of $52 billion for 2018.

It said the deficit for 2017 came in at $61.3 billion, or 9.2 percent of GDP, and higher than the expected $53 billion.

The shortfall is still 25 percent lower than the $82 billion posted in the previous year.

- Loosening the purse strings -

King Salman told the cabinet that Saudi Arabia expects to continue posting deficits through to 2023.

Revenues in 2018 were estimated to be 783 billion riyals ($208.8 billion), up 13 percent on the previous year's projections.

Actual revenues for the current fiscal year rose by a healthy 34 percent compared with 2016 to $185.6 billion due a sharp increase in both oil and non-oil revenues.

Capital Economics said Saudi Arabia had loosened up its purse strings.

"After the harsh austerity of 2015-16, the government appears to have loosened fiscal policy in 2017," said the London-based think-tank.

It was expected to continue doing so next year, it added.

Actual non-oil revenues collected in 2017 reached 256 billion riyals ($68.3 billion), a 38 percent rise on the previous year, reflecting the impact of hiking prices and imposing fees.

Riyadh has resorted to a string of austerity measures to contain spending and imposed a variety of subsidy cuts and rises in prices of services.

Prince Mohammed, the architect of the "Vision 2030" program of reforms for a post-oil era, has announced a host of mega projects, including a futuristic megacity with robots and driverless cars, which require about $500 billion in investments.

The cornerstone of the reforms is an initial public offering of nearly five percent of national oil giant Aramco planned for next year.

Prince Mohammed has also been behind stunning decisions to allow women to drive and to lift a 35-year-old ban on cinemas.

Last month, the heir to the throne launched a wide-ranging crackdown on dozens of elites, ostensibly to tackle corruption, but experts say it was also a way of consolidating his grip on power.

Since 2015, the ultra-conservative kingdom has introduced a series of price hikes on fuel and electricity.

It has also imposed fees on expats and is preparing to introduce value-added tax in the new year.

The finance ministry said unemployment among Saudis rose to 12.8 percent in June, up slightly on last year.

The government has allocated $13.9 billion for the cash transfer program called the Citizen Account to compensate the needy for hiking prices.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Two dead in school shooting in Saudi Arabia; no children present

RIYADH - Two people were killed and another injured when a man opened fire inside a private school's administration building in Saudi Arabia's capital, Riyadh, on Wednesday, but no students were present, the head of the school told Reuters.

The shooting was "a case of a disgruntled employee," said Talal al-Maiman, CEO of Kingdom Holding and chairman of Kingdom Schools, which operated the school.

"It is with regret that the administration building of Kingdom Schools witnessed this morning a shooting incident by an Arab national who was dismissed from the school four years ago on the basis of anger issues and an unstable personality," he told Reuters.

The victims were a Saudi national and a Palestinian national, he said, and the situation at the school was contained as of mid-afternoon.

The school had been closed about a week before the Ramadan holiday, in line with a royal decree. The holiday began on Saturday. Police cars could be seen at the school campus, but the scene was otherwise quiet.

An Interior Ministry spokesman said it was a "criminal case" and that Riyadh Police would issue a statement with further details.

Kingdom Schools is owned and operated by Kingdom Holdings, a company of Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. It is situated in northern Riyadh.

Maiman said the school's private security guards followed established procedures until the case was handed over to government authorities.

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Saudi condemns 15 to death for spying for Iran

A Saudi court Tuesday sentenced 15 people to death for spying for the kingdom's rival Iran, local media and a source close to the case said, in a move likely to heighten regional tensions.

The source told AFP that most of the 15 Saudis were members of the kingdom's Shiite minority.

Tehran swiftly denied the espionage charges and urged Saudi Arabia not to "seek to bring baseless accusations against Iran with the intention of political gains and increasing tensions in the region".

The espionage trial opened in February, a month after Riyadh cut diplomatic ties with Tehran over the burning of the Saudi embassy and a consulate by Iranian demonstrators protesting against the kingdom's execution of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.

The most serious charge levelled against the accused was high treason.

Prosecutors also alleged the accused had divulged defence secrets, tried to commit sabotage and recruit moles in government departments, to send coded information, and supported "riots" in the Shiite-dominated eastern district of Qatif, Saudi media reported.

The 15 were among a group of 32 people tried over the espionage allegations, Alriyadh newspaper said.

Some of the defendants were accused of meeting Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The death sentences will be appealed, said the source close to the case, who cannot be identified due to its sensitivity.

Two of the group were acquitted while the rest received jail sentences of between six months and 25 years.

Apart from one Iranian and an Afghan, all the defendants were Saudis. The source said that one of those acquitted was a foreigner.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said Riyadh had not passed on "any information to the Islamic Republic of Iran regarding the alleged Iranian person" in the trial.

Amnesty International, in a statement, called Tuesday's sentence "a travesty of justice and a serious violation of human rights".

"Sentencing 15 people to death after a farcical trial which flouted basic fair trial standards is a slap in the face for justice," said Amnesty's Samah Hadid.

- Syria, Yemen tensions -

Adam Coogle, a Middle East researcher for Human Rights Watch (HRW), told AFP that the trial was "flawed from the beginning".

It was tainted by allegations that the accused did not have access to lawyers during interrogation, Coogle said.

They were also charged with offences that do not resemble recognisable crimes, including "supporting demonstrations", attempting to "spread the Shia confession" and "harming the reputation of the kingdom", he said.

"Criminal trials should not be merely legal 'window-dressing' where the verdict has been decided beforehand," he said.

HRW earlier cited a lawyer who represented some of the accused until March as saying the timing of the case "may relate to ongoing hostility between Iran and Saudi Arabia".

All but one of the accused had been detained since 2013.

The region's leading Shiite and Sunni powers are at odds over a range of issues including the wars in Syria and Yemen.

Saudi Arabia has also expressed concern over an international agreement that lifted sanctions on Iran in exchange for guarantees it would not pursue a nuclear weapons capability.

Riyadh fears the pact will lead to more Iranian "interference" in the region.

With relations at a low, Iranian pilgrims in September -- for the first time in nearly three decades -- did not attend the annual hajj in Saudi Arabia after the two countries failed to agree on security and logistics.

Nimr, the executed cleric whose case sent tensions soaring, was a driving force behind protests that began in 2011 among the Shiite minority, most of whom live in the kingdom's east which faces Iran across the Gulf.

The protests developed into a call for equality in the Sunni-dominated kingdom, where Shiites have long complained of marginalisation.

Nimr was convicted of terrorism and executed in January alongside 46 other people -- mostly Sunnis -- found guilty of the same crime.

Rights activists say more than two dozen other Shiites are on death row in Saudi Arabia.

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18 dead in week of Saudi floods, rain

Eighteen people have been killed during heavy rains and floods over the past week in Saudi Arabia, the civil defence agency said on Thursday.

In a statement, it said the toll covered much of the country, from Riyadh to Hail, Mecca, Medina, Al-Baha, Asir, Najran and Jazan.

The agency said it rescued 915 people.

Among the dead were two people reported by state television earlier Thursday as killed in the southwestern Jazan region, which borders Yemen.

The pair died when three areas in the mountainous district were inundated by flood waters, Al-Ekhbaria news channel reported on its Twitter feed.

The Saudi Red Crescent separately reported one death in Al-Baha, more than 300 kilometres (180 miles) north of Jazan city.

Another 27 people in Al-Baha were injured over three days because of accidents during heavy rains.

Severe downpours have struck Saudi Arabia this week, including in the desert capital Riyadh where schools closed on Wednesday after floods caused traffic chaos during a storm.

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Saudi seeks to minimize domestic impact of oil fall: king

RIYADH - Saudi Arabia is trying to minimize the impact of plunging oil prices on its economy, King Salman said Tuesday in a wide-ranging address which promised a more diversified economy.

"The low prices witnessed by the oil market are having an effect on the income of the kingdom. However, we are working towards minimizing the impact on development," Salman, 79, said in his first major speech since acceding to the throne on January 23.

Over the second half of last year the global price of crude oil dropped by about half, from above $100 a barrel.

Yet the kingdom in December announced a 2015 budget that included a slight rise in spending to $229.3 billion with a projected fall in revenue to $190.7 billion. Those numbers leave the country with its first budget deficit since 2011.

Saudi Arabia is the Arab world's largest economy, and much of its spending is on health, education and social services as well as infrastructure.

Officials have said the kingdom's reserves, estimated at $750 billion, enable it to withstand the global crude price drop.

Saudi Arabia is the world's biggest crude exporter and oil makes up about 90 percent of government revenue.

Salman told government officials and other dignitaries that the search for new deposits of oil, gas and other natural resources in Saudi Arabia would continue.

"High petrol prices during the past few years have had a positive effect on the economy of the kingdom, in the development of projects," the king said.

But the plunge in oil prices has emphasized the need for economic alternatives, and Salman said the kingdom's future economy "will be based on a number of foundations", with a growing number of small and medium enterprises.

"The next few years will be full of important accomplishments aimed at emphasizing the role of the industry and the service sectors in the national economy."

Continuity

Salman delivered his wide-ranging palace address in front of Crown Prince Moqren, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, provincial governors, the top cleric Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh, other religious leaders, the Shura Council which advises the monarch, military officers and citizens.

"I have committed myself to continuing the work on the immutable foundations on which this blessed country has stood since its unification," he said, mentioning adherence to sharia Islamic law and preservation of unity and stability.

"We shall work continually towards the integrated, balanced and comprehensive development in all regions of the kingdom," added Salman, the latest in a line of ruling sons of King Abdul Aziz bin Saud, who founded Saudi Arabia in 1932.

The conservative Sunni-majority kingdom has a Shiite minority which has complained of marginalization.

Salman urged officials to "be attuned to the citizens", and indicated that he wants the fight against corruption stepped up.

The kingdom's foreign policy "is based on the teachings of our religion that call for peace and kindness", Salman said, but "extremism and terrorism" will be fought at their roots in cooperation with others.

"Defence of Arab and Islamic causes, and in the first place the right of the Palestinians to a state with Jerusalem as its capital, will remain at the top of Saudi Arabia's demands," Salman said.

Analysts have expected the new king to maintain a steady course for the kingdom's oil and foreign policy after his half-brother king Abdullah died aged about 90.

In September, Saudi Arabia joined air strikes as part of a United States-led coalition of Western and Arab nations bombing the Islamic State group extremists who have seized swathes of Iraq and Syria.

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Saudi urged to do more vs MERS coronavirus

RIYADH - An international health mission said Monday more measures are needed to combat the spread of MERS in Saudi Arabia, the country worst hit by the coronavirus.

The team of experts said it identified with health authorities in the kingdom the need for "understanding the animal/human interface" including the "modes of infection and transmission."

It also urged "improving disease prevention, especially in health facilities that continue to experience avoidable infections," in a statement issued by the World Health Organisation following the conclusion of the mission to Saudi Arabia.

The mission headed to the desert kingdom after a surge of cases in the past weeks, including 50 reported this month alone as well as infections acquired in health facilities.

A total of 899 people have been infected in the kingdom, of whom 382 have died, since the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) was identified globally in 2012.

The health ministry recorded five deaths on Thursday alone, bringing to 16 the number since February 11.

"When health workers are infected at work, this puts other health-care workers at risk, but also can be a risk to all other patients who seek care for other health conditions," said the statement.

It said that educating professionals and the public about the virus are "urgently needed," highlighting "significant gaps in community engagement to fully understand routes of infection and the preventive steps that should be taken."

More than 20 countries have been affected by MERS but most cases have been linked to the Middle East.

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Saudi stock market to open to foreigners by mid-2015

RIYADH - Saudi Arabia is on track to open its stock market to foreign investors by the end of June, the market's chief regulator said on Monday.

A final date will be announced after relevant regulations are issued but it "will be before the end of the first half of 2015," said Mohammed al-Shaikh, chairman of the Capital Market Authority.

Penny-stock players, however, will not be welcome on the expanded Tadawul All-Shares Index, the largest Arab bourse.

"We really want to attract large, sophisticated, experienced institutional investors and the requirements actually show that," Shaikh told the Global Competitiveness Forum, a Saudi-organised event bringing together world business leaders and top officials in the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia is a member of the G20 group of major world economies.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Salman takes Saudi throne with continuity pledge

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - New Saudi King Salman vowed to keep his conservative, oil-rich Muslim kingdom on a steady course and moved to cement his hold on power following the death of his half-brother King Abdullah.

Abdullah, a cautious reformer who led the US-allied Gulf state through a turbulent decade in a region shaken by the Arab Spring uprisings and Islamic extremism, died early Friday aged about 90.

In his first public statement as king, Salman, 79, vowed to "remain, with God's strength, attached to the straight path that this state has walked since its establishment".

He called for "unity and solidarity" among Muslims and vowed to work in "the defence of the causes of our nation".

Moving to clear uncertainty over the transition to the next generation, he named his nephew, Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, 55, as second in line to the throne behind Crown Prince Moqren, 69.

That helps to solidify control by his Sudayri branch of the royal family.

Salman also appointed one of his own sons, Prince Mohammed, as defence minister of the world's top oil exporter and the spiritual home of Islam.

World leaders praised the Abdullah as a key mediator between Muslims and the West, but campaigners criticised his human rights record and urged Salman to do more to protect freedom of speech and women's rights.

Gulf rulers and leaders including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif joined Salman for a simple funeral at Riyadh's Imam Turki bin Abdullah mosque Friday.

Abdullah's body, wrapped in a cream-coloured shroud, was borne on a simple litter by members of the royal family wearing traditional red-and-white checked headgear.

The body was quickly moved to nearby Al-Od public cemetery and buried in an unmarked grave, in keeping with tradition.

Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas and Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak arrived later to deliver condolences.

In the evening hundreds of Saudis queued to enter a royal palace where they rubbed cheeks and kissed the hands of their new leaders, in a symbolic pledge of allegiance.

Officials did not disclose the cause of Abdullah's death, but the long-ailing ruler had been hospitalised in December with pneumonia.

- Obama hails 'valued' ally -

Under Abdullah, who ascended the throne in 2005, Riyadh has been a key Arab ally of Washington, last year joining the coalition carrying out air strikes against the Islamic State jihadist group.

President Barack Obama was quick to pay tribute to Abdullah as a "valued" ally, and the State Department said Washington sees no indication that cooperation will change.

Vice President Joe Biden said on Twitter he would lead a delegation to Saudi Arabia "to pay respect and offer condolences".

Other foreign leaders also paid tribute.

French President Francois Hollande announced a visit to the kingdom, hailing Abdullah as "a statesman whose work profoundly marked the history of his country".

British Prime Minister David Cameron said Abdullah would be remembered for "his commitment to peace and for strengthening understanding between faiths."

Cameron will travel to Saudi Arabia Saturday, when Prince Charles is also to arrive.

As the top producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Saudi Arabia has been the driving force behind the cartel's refusal to slash output to support oil prices, which have fallen by more than 50 percent since June.

Prices surged Friday, amid uncertainty over whether the new king would maintain that policy, but the International Energy Agency's chief economist said he did not foresee major policy shifts.

"And I expect and hope that they will continue to be a stabilisation factor in the oil markets," Fatih Birol told AFP in Davos, Switzerland.

- Royal family stalwart -
Saudi Arabia is home to Islam's holiest sites, Mecca and Medina, and its role as a spiritual leader for Sunni Muslims has seen it vying for influence with Shiite-dominated Iran.

Tehran nonetheless offered its condolences, saying Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif would travel to Riyadh to take part in official ceremonies Saturday.

Behind his thick, jet-black moustache and goatee, Abdullah had a shrewd grasp of regional politics.

Wary of the rising influence of Islamist movements, Saudi Arabia has been a generous supporter of Egyptian leader Abdel Fattah al-Sisi since the army ousted Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Egypt declared seven days of official mourning for Abdullah.

Riyadh has also played a key role in supporting opposition to Iran-backed President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, and will allow US troops to use its territory to train rebel fighters.

Salman is widely expected to follow closely in Abdullah's footsteps, in foreign and energy policy as well as in making moderate reforms.

Abdullah pushed through cautious changes, challenging conservatives with such moves as including women in the Shura Council, an advisory body.

He promoted the kingdom's economic development and oversaw its accession to the World Trade Organization, tapping into the country's massive oil wealth to build new cities, universities and high-speed railways.

- 'Insensitive to human rights' -

But Saudi Arabia is still strongly criticised for a dismal human rights record, including the imprisonment of dissidents. It is also the only country in the world that does not allow women to drive.

Amnesty International head Salil Shetty told AFP that "the Saudi regime seems insensitive to human rights and human dignity".

Salman is a stalwart of the royal family credited with transforming Riyadh from a backwater to a thriving capital during his half-century as governor.

Since the death in 1953 of the kingdom's founder, King Abdul Aziz bin Saud, the throne has passed systematically from one of his sons to another.

Abdul Aziz had 45 recorded sons. Abdullah, Salman and Moqren were all born to different mothers.

Saudi Arabia has managed to avoid the social upheaval that has shaken many of its neighbours in recent years, thanks in large part to massive public spending.

But the new king will face some major challenges, especially as falling oil prices cut into state revenues.

Saud Mubarak, 24, a security guard, said he will miss King Abdullah but is confident that Salman can carry on the late monarch's work.

"Everything is gonna be fine," he said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Saudi suspects case of Ebola infection

RIYADH - Doctors in Saudi Arabia are testing a patient suspected of having contracted Ebola during a trip to West Africa, hit by an epidemic of the virus, the health ministry said Tuesday.

The Saudi man was admitted to hospital in the Red Sea city of Jeddah after showing symptoms of haemorrhagic fever upon his return from Sierra Leone.

The patient, in his 40s, is in critical condition and has symptoms "similar to that of Ebola infection."

Ebola-like symptoms include fever, vomiting, severe headaches and muscular pain and, in the final stages, profuse bleeding.

The UN World Health Organisation said Monday that at least 887 people have died from Ebola since the beginning of the year, after the virus spread across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

In April, Saudi Arabia announced a ban on visas for Muslims in the three West African nations wishing to perform the pilgrimage to the Muslim holy sites there.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Foreign woman dies of MERS in Saudi

RIYADH - A foreigner has died after she contracted MERS in the Saudi capital, the health ministry said on Friday, bringing the nationwide death toll to 73.

The 55-year-old woman, whose nationality was not disclosed, was suffering from chronic illnesses, a statement said.

The health ministry said five other people living in Riyadh were infected with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, two of them foreigners.

Late on Thursday, the ministry reported the death of a 70-year-old Saudi woman in the western city of Jeddah where the virus has spread in recent weeks.

It reported six other infections in Jeddah, among them an expat "health worker," bringing to 218 the number of MERS infections in the worst-hit country.

Panic over the spread of MERS among medical staff in Jeddah this month forced the temporary closure of an emergency room at a major hospital, prompting Health Minister Abdullah al-Rabiah to visit the facility in a bid to calm the public.

Local media reported Wednesday at least four doctors at Jeddah's King Fahd hospital have resigned after refusing to treat patients affected by MERS, apparently out of fear of catching the virus.

The MERS virus was initially concentrated in the eastern region of Saudi Arabia but has now spread across other areas.

The World Health Organisation said Thursday it had been told of 243 laboratory-confirmed cases of MERS infection worldwide, of which 93 have proved fatal.

Malaysia announced the first MERS death Sunday in the country of a man who had developed a fever, cough and breathing difficulties after returning from a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca on March 29.

The case prompted Malaysian authorities to quarantine 64 people in the dead man's village.

The MERS virus is considered a deadlier but less-transmissible cousin of the SARS virus that erupted in Asia in 2003 and infected 8,273 people, nine percent of whom died.

Experts are still struggling to understand MERS, for which there is no known vaccine.

A recent study said the virus has been "extraordinarily common" in camels for at least 20 years, and may have been passed directly from the animals to humans.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Crackdown on illegal workers felt in Saudi

RIYADH - Stores in a usually bustling district of the Saudi capital were closed, construction work at some sites slowed and bakeries around the country shuttered Tuesday, amid a clampdown on illegal workers.

On Monday, authorities began arresting people overstayers who had failed to take advantage of a months-long grace period to leave or legalise their status, and detentions were continuing on Tuesday.

Residents in Riyadh said stores were closed in the popular Al-Batha commercial hub, a cheap market that employs low-paid Asian vendors.

At the same time, residents said work had slowed at a construction site in Thumamama, north of Riyadh.

And Fahd Al-Salman, chairman of the National Committee for Bakeries at the Council of Saudi Chambers, told the Arab News daily that the labour shortage had led to the closure of many bakeries in the kingdom.

Meanwhile, private schools that had closed on Monday re-opened following reassurances that expat teachers, working illegally, could remain until the end of the first school semester in December, residents said.

Nearly 4,000 people have so far been arrested in Jeddah alone, the kingdom's commercial capital, said local police spokesman Lieutenant Nawaf al-Bouq.

In the capital Riyadh, 818 illegal immigrants, including two women, were arrested on Tuesday, the police spokesman there General Nasser al-Qahtani told AFP.

In the southwestern Jazan province, border guards have arrested more than 8,000 people of various nationalities trying to cross the border to Yemen in the past 24 hours, the official SPA news agency quoted a spokesman there as saying Tuesday.

Three thousand of these have been deported as authorities are still finalising deportation procedures for the remainder, the spokesman said.

Hundreds of expatriates have also been arrested in other areas across the kingdom, according to local media.

Nearly a million Bangladeshis, Filipinos, Indians, Nepalis, Pakistanis and Yemenis, among others, took advantage of the amnesty announced on April 3 and then extended for four months, and have left the country.

Another roughly four million have legalised their situation by finding employers to sponsor them, a must to reside in most Gulf monarchies.

On Monday, illegal Indonesian workers staged a protest in the port city to protest their consulate's slow pace in handling administrative procedures needed to organise their departure, local press reported.

In the past, foreigners desperate to work in the country were willing to pay for sponsorship, and sponsoring expatriates became a lucrative business for some Saudis.

But under the new rules, workers may be employed only by their own sponsors, banning the practise of working independently or for non-sponsors.

Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, is seen as a goldmine for millions of people from Asia and elsewhere in the Arab world, who find work as common labourers, drivers, porters and house maids.

Expatriates account for around nine million of the country's 27-million-population.

Saudi Arabia has the Arab world's largest economy, but the unemployment rate among natives is above 12.5 percent, a figure the government is aiming to reduce.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Saudi may try to end anonymity for Twitter users

RIYADH - Saudi Arabia may try to end anonymity for Twitter users in the country by limiting access to the site to people who register their identification documents, the Arab News daily reported on Saturday.

Last week, local media reported the government had asked telecom companies to look at ways they could monitor, or block, free internet phone services such as Skype.

Twitter is highly popular with Saudis and has stirred broad debate on subjects ranging from religion to politics in a country where such public discussion had been considered at best unseemly and sometimes illegal.

Early this month, the security spokesman for Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry described social networking, particularly Twitter, as a tool used by militants to stir social unrest.

The country's Grand Mufti, Saudi Arabia's top cleric, last week described users of the microblogging site as "clowns" wasting time with frivolous and even harmful discussions, local newspapers reported.

"A source at (the regulator) described the move as a natural result of the successful implementation of (its) decision to add a user's identification numbers while topping up mobile phone credit," Arab News reported.

That would not necessarily make a user's identity visible to other users of the site, but it would mean the Saudi government could monitor the tweets of individual Saudis.

The English-language daily and sister paper to the Saudi-owned pan-Arab Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, did not explain how the authorities might be able to restrict ability to post on Twitter. Both newspapers belong to a publishing group owned by the ruling family and run by a son of Crown Prince Salman.

Internet service providers are legally obliged to block websites showing content deemed pornographic.

One of the big investors in Twitter is Saudi Arabian billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a nephew of King Abdullah who also holds significant stakes in Citi Group, News Corp and Apple through his Kingdom Holding Company.

The country's telecom regulator, Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) did not immediately responded to requests for comment on the report. Last week it did not comment on the report it was seeking to restrict Skype use.

A spokeswoman for Kingdom Holding said Prince Alwaleed was not available to comment.

"There are people who misuse the social networking and try to send false information and false evaluation of the situation in the kingdom and the way the policemen in the kingdom are dealing with these situations," said Major General Mansour Turki, the security spokesman, at a news conference on Mar 8.

At a separate interview with Reuters this month, Turki argued that a small number of supporters of al Qaeda and activists from Saudi Arabia's Shi'ite minority used social media to stir wider sympathy for their goals and social unrest.

However, he also argued against banning the site.

Two weeks ago one of Saudi Arabia's most prominent clerics, Salman al-Awdah, who has 2.4 million followers on the site, used Twitter to attack the government's security policy as too harsh and call for better services. He warned it might otherwise face "the spark of violence".

Two leading Saudi human rights activists were sentenced to long prison terms this month for a variety of offences including "internet crimes" because they had used Twitter and other sites to attack the government.

Some top princes in the monarchy now use Twitter themselves and Crown Prince Salman, King Abdullah's designated heir and also Defence Minister, recently opened an official account.

source: abs-cbnnews.com

Kin of OFW killed in Riyadh blast appeals for help

MANILA, Philippines – The family of the lone Filipino fatality in the explosion in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia had been informed about the accident. They are now appealing for a speedy repatriation of their breadwinner’s remains.

Florentino "Tinoy" Santiago was among the 22 killed in n a fuel truck blast and building collapse in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Thursday.

At least 11 Filipinos were injured in the blast, said Philippine Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Ezzedin Tago in an interview with Umagang Kay Ganda on Friday.

Florentino is survived by his wife, Jocelyn, and two children aged 15 and 4.

Jocelyn, in an interview hours after the accident, said Florentino came home to the Philippines only last April.

She said she noticed a change in her husband's behavior before leaving for Saudi Arabia.

"Ang sabi niya 'iyung dalawang bata, yung mga anak mo huwag mong pababayaan lalo na si RJ, dahil maliit pa yan huwag mong pababayaan. Kung ano mang kailangan ng mga anak mo, bilhin mo,'" said Jocelyn.

"Pinagbilin niya sa akin lahat, pinaayos niya iyung mga papel papel na dating 'di naman niya ginagawa. Nilagay niya sa isang evnvelope," she added.

Jocelyn also noticed that her husband had been calling frequently than usual.

"Madalas ang tawag niya nitong linggong ito. Nagtataka ako sa kanya, tawag ng tawag," she said.

The Santiago family is also appealing for help for the speedy repatriation of Florentino's remains.

Tago said he is now working on the repatriation of the OFW’s body, but added that Jocelyn has to go to the Department of Foreign Affairs to sign an affidavit of acceptance.

"Ang unang requirement para ma-ship ang bangkay ay mag-sign ng affidavit of acceptance. We are contacting the employer para ma-process na ang requirement for the shipment," Tago said.

Tago said overseas Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia are usually covered by medical insurance. He added authorities in the kingdom assured that the tanker blast was not a terrorist act.

Meanwhile, Ildefonso Santiago, Florentino's brother, appealed for financial help from the government for Jocelyn and her two children.

"Lahat po sana ng pag-aaral ng anak niyang dalawa na iyan, tatlong mag-iina, eh masuportahan sana ng ating gobyerno," he said.

Crash

At least 22 people were killed in the accident when a fuel truck crashed into a flyover, triggering an explosion that brought down an industrial building and torched nearby vehicles, officials and state media said.

Health ministry spokesman Saad al-Qahtani said 135 people were injured in the disaster. He told state television they were mostly men and included some foreigners.

"The truck driver was surprised by a road accident on its route, causing it to crash into one of the pillars of the bridge," spokesman Captain Mohamed Hubail Hammadi said.

Although the incident took place near the headquarters of the Saudi Arabian National Guard and the Prince Nayef Arab College for Security Sciences, officials speaking on state television said it was an accident.

Driver blamed

Saudi civil defense chief Saed al-Tweijri said the fire caused by the blast has been brought under control. He blamed the tanker driver for the accident.

A warehouse several storeys high was leveled by the blast, which also caused severe damage to other neighboring buildings. Rubble, twisted metal and shattered glass littered a wide stretch of the surrounding area.

The blast, which struck at around 7.20 a.m. local time, was on one of the capital's busiest roads but because Saudi Arabia is still observing the Eid al-Adha holiday, traffic was lighter than normal.

An hour after the explosion, fires still raged in cars and trucks nearby and a column of black smoke billowed over the area.

Dozens of burnt-out vehicles surrounded the scene of the blast, including a small bus and other cars on top of the flyover, which was left buckling after the incident.

Television footage and pictures posted on social media showed a body lying by smoking vehicles and at least two charred bodies seated in a car. Another blackened corpse was visible in the remains of a truck.

More than 100 emergency personnel were combing the wreckage on the flyover and searching for victims in the rubble of the building, which housed the operations of Zahid Tractor, a distributor of heavy machinery. – with Jojo Malig, ABS-CBNnews.com; Reuters

source: abs-cbnnews.com

Saudi ‘Got Talent’, but no women or music

RIYADH – A Saudi city known for its ultra-conservatism has created its own version of the “Arabs Got Talent” television reality show, but with no music and women banned from taking part.

Instead, competitors will be permitted to perform religious chants, recite poems and engage in sports events.

The contest is being held north of the capital in the city of Buraydah, known as a centre for Wahhabism, a strict interpretation of Islam that is followed in the desert kingdom, Al-Hayat daily reported on Sunday.

“Buraydah’s Got Talent” is the title of the contest which will abide by the strict rules of segregation between the sexes, meaning it is not open to women.

Music, singing and dancing are strict no-nos, despite being staples in “Britain’s Got Talent” and similar talent competitions that have become a global viewing phenomenon with national versions televised in 32 countries.

The Saudi version, organised by the Internet Buraydah Forum, will take place in the open air before a jury comprising a poet, a television producer and TV presenters, Al-Hayat said, quoting forum supervisor Jalawi al-Shukair.

The Dubai-based Saudi television group MBC has for two seasons been running “Arabs Got Talent,” and a Saudi group is among this year’s finalists.

source: interaksyon.com