Saudi Arabia

11 June 2021; MEMO: In a landmark move, Saudi Arabia is to allow unmarried, divorced or widowed women to live alone without the consent of close male relatives who are normally their guardians, or wali according to Islamic law.

08 June 2021; MEMO: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman yesterday met with British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab in the city of Neom, northwest of Saudi Arabia, the SPA news agency reported.

Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal Bin Farhan also attended the meeting which was held in the kingdom's futuristic city, which is part of the kingdom's Vision 2030.

02 June 2021; MEMO: Saudi Arabia's Islamic Affairs Ministry has defended its decision to limit the volume of loudspeakers used by mosques to only one third of their capabilities.

(Reuters) --- Saudi Arabia is lifting a ban on travelers arriving from 11 countries that it imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus, the Saudi state news agency said on Saturday, but will still require quarantine procedures.

Travelers from the United Arab Emirates, Germany, the United States, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Switzerland, France and Japan, will be allowed entry from Sunday, SPA reported, quoting an Interior Ministry source.

29 May 2021; MEMO: A Saudi court has sentenced one of the royal family princes, who works in the Ministry of Municipal, Rural Affairs and Housing, to two years in prison with a fine of 100,000 Saudi riyals after obtaining a forged qualification.

The court indicated in its verdict that the convict is addressed as a "Royal Highness", a title that is exclusively granted to the offspring of King Abdulaziz Al-Saud.

28 May 2021; MEMO: The Saudi Arabian academic and opposition figure Saeed Bin Nasser Al-Ghamdi has revealed that the authorities in Riyadh have recently arrested another thirteen activists because of their "human rights activities and communication with activists abroad." He did not reveal the names of those detained.

27 May 2021; MEMO: A delegation from the Syrian regime arrived in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on Tuesday, in the first public official visit to the kingdom since the outbreak of the Syrian revolution in early 2011, the SANA news agency reported.

17 May 2021; MEMO: Saudi Arabia and Turkey yesterday foiled the attempted smuggling of over eight million amphetamine pills. The drug haul highlighted the widespread production and smuggling of narcotics across the region.

JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Vaccinated Saudis will be allowed to leave the kingdom for the first time in more than a year on Monday as the country eases a ban on international travel aimed at containing the spread of the coronavirus and its new variants.

For the past 14 months, Saudi citizens have mostly been banned from traveling abroad out of concerns that international travel could fuel the outbreak of the virus within the country of more than 30 million people. The ban, in place since March 2020, has impacted Saudi students who were studying abroad, among others.

(Reuters) --- Saudi Arabia on Sunday condemned Israel’s “flagrant violations” of Palestinian rights and called for global action to end military operations while fellow Gulf states that forged ties with Israel said a ceasefire was needed for regional stability.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, addressing a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) as hostilities between Israel and militants in Gaza entered a seventh day, condemned what he called the violation of the sanctity of Islamic holy sites.