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Our women excel in life, letting them drive will take time: Saudi minister

February 13, 2016

Munich, Feb 13: Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister defended his country’s treatment of women on Friday, saying it had made progress on female education but would take time to let them drive cars.

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“When it comes to issues like women’s driving, this is not a religious issue, it’s a societal issue,” Adel Al-Jubeir told an audience at the Munich Security Conference.

He said it was unfair to fixate on the issue of women drivers, given the Kingdom’s efforts to educate girls.

“We went from no schools for women in 1960 to universal education, to where today 55 percent of college students are women,” said Al-Jubeir.

“Some of our top doctors and engineers and lawyers and business people are women. The issue is one that is evolving just like it is in other countries.”

He compared Saudi Arabia to the United States, arguing that it took 100 years after America’s independence before women were given the right to vote, and another 100 years for it to elect its first female parliamentary speaker. “I’m not saying ‘Give us 200 years’. I’m saying ‘be patient’,” said Al-Jubeir.

“We hope that in the modern world with technology and communications that this process is accelerated, but things take time. We can’t expect to rush things.”

He also said that Daesh militants will only be defeated if Syrian President Bashar Assad is removed from power and this goal will ultimately be achieved.

Al-Jubeir called Assad the “single most effective magnet for extremists and terrorists in the region” and said his removal was crucial for restoring stability.

“That’s our objective and we will achieve it,” he said. “Unless and until there is a change in Syria, Daesh will not be defeated in Syria, period,” he added.

Separately, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif said Tehran and Riyadh must overcome years of strained relations and work for stability in Syria and the Middle East.

Following Al-Jubeir’s speech, Zarif said: “We need to work together.” He added: “Iran and Saudi Arabia cannot exclude each other from the region,” he said. “We are prepared to work with Saudi Arabia ... I believe Iran and Saudi Arabia can have shared interests in Syria.”

In Damascus, Syrian tyrant Bashar Assad vowed to retake the entire country but warned it could take a “long time.” Hours before a new cease-fire plan was announced early Friday by world powers in Munich, Assad said he backed peace talks but that negotiations do “not mean that we stop fighting terrorism.”

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News Network
January 12,2020

Tehran, Jan 12: Iranian police dispersed students chanting “radical” slogans during a Saturday gathering in Tehran to honour the 176 people killed when an Ukrainian airliner was mistakenly shot down, Fars news agency reported.

News agency correspondents said hundreds of students gathered early in the evening at Amir Kabir University, in downtown Tehran, to pay respects to those killed in the air disaster. The tribute later turned into an angry demonstration.

The students chanted slogans denouncing "liars" and demanded the resignation and prosecution of those responsible for downing the plane and allegedly covering up the accidental action.

Iran said Saturday that the Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737 was “unintentionally” shot down on Wednesday shortly after taking off from Tehran's main airport. All 176 people on board died, mostly Iranians and Canadians, many of whom were students.

Fars, which is close to conservatives, said the protesting students chanted “destructive” and “radical” slogans. The news agency said some of the students tore down posters of Qasem Soleimani, the Iranian general killed on January 3 in a US drone strike on Baghdad.

Fars published pictures of demonstrators gathered around a ring of candles during the tribute and a picture of a torn poster bearing the image of a smiling Soleimani. It said that police "dispersed" them as they left the university and blocked streets, causing a traffic jam.

In an extremely unusual move, state television mentioned the protest, reporting that the students shouted "anti-regime" slogans.

A video purportedly of the protest circulated online showing police firing tear gas at protesters and a man getting up after apparently being hit in the leg by a projectile. It was not possible to verify the location of the video, or when it was filmed.

Iran's acknowledgement on Saturday that the plane had been shot down in error came after officials had for days categorically denied Western claims that it had been struck by a missile. The aerospace commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards accepted full responsibility.

But Brigadier General Amirali Hajizadeh said the missile operator acted independently, shooting down the Boeing 737 after mistaking it for a "cruise missile".

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Agencies
May 1,2020

Saudi Arabia has initiated refund of work visa fee to foreigners unable to travel to the Kingdom due to the suspension of international flights in the aftermath of Covid-19 pandemic.

Several work visas were cancelled, following which the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, in cooperation and coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, announced the refund. The cancellation and refunding of the stamped visas will be considered effective from the date of issuance of the royal decree on March 18, reported Saudi Gazette.

As a precautionary measure to curb the spread of coronavirus, the Kingdom suspended all international flight. The ministry of health in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday announced 1,325 new Covid-19 coronavirus cases and 169 recoveries. With this, the total number of cases in the Kingdom now stands at 21,402, while recoveries stand at 2,953, as on Wednesday reported KT.

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Agencies
July 31,2020

Makkah, Jul 31: Organising this year's scaled-down hajj required "double efforts" by Saudi authorities amid the coronavirus pandemic, King Salman said Friday after being discharged from hospital following gall bladder surgery.

Only up to 10,000 people already residing in the kingdom are participating in this year's pilgrimage, compared with 2019's gathering of some 2.5 million from around the world.

"Holding the ritual in the shadow of this pandemic... required reducing the numbers of pilgrims, but it obliged various official agencies to put in double efforts," 84-year-old King Salman said in a speech read out on state television by acting media minister Majid Al-Qasabi.

"The hajj this year was restricted to a very limited number of people from multiple nationalities, ensuring the ritual was completed despite the difficult circumstances," he said.

The speech came on the occasion of Eid al-Adha, the Muslim festival of sacrifice, a day after the king left hospital following a 10-day stay for surgery to remove his gall bladder.

The hajj, which began on Wednesday, is one of the five pillars of Islam and a must for able-bodied Muslims at least once in their lifetime.

Authorities implemented the "highest health precautions" during the rituals, the king said.

Pilgrims, who were all tested for the virus, are required to wear masks and observe social distancing.

For Friday's "stoning of the devil", the last major ritual of the hajj, Saudi authorities offered the pilgrims pebbles that were sanitised to protect against the pandemic.

In a sign that its strict measures were working, the health ministry reported no coronavirus cases in the holy sites on Wednesday or Thursday.

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