Saudi king gives women right to vote

He also announced that women would have the right to join the all-appointed Shura (consultative) Council, in an address opening a new term of the council.

“Starting with the next term, women will have the right to run in municipal elections and to choose candidates, according to Islamic principles,” he said.

This means that women will be able to take part in the elections that will be held in four years, as the next vote is due to take place on Thursday and nominations for those are already in.

“We have decided that women will participate in the Shura Council as members starting the next term,” the king also said in an unexpected move to enfranchise women in the ultra-conservative kingdom.

“The Muslim woman… must not be marginalised in opinion or advice,” said King Abdullah.

More than 5,000 men will compete in Thursday s municipal elections, only the second in Saudi Arabia s history, to fill half the seats in the kingdom s 285 municipal councils. The other half are appointed by the government.

The first elections were held in 2005, but the government extended the existing councils  term for two years.

More than 60 intellectuals and activists called in May for a boycott of the ballot because “municipal councils lack the authority to effectively carry out their role” and “half of their members are appointed,” as well as because they exclude women.

Saudi Arabia s Shura Council had recommended allowing women to vote in the next local polls, officials have said.

In April, Samar Badawi said she was suing the municipal affairs ministry for upholding the ban on women taking part in the local poll.

Badawi filed a lawsuit at the administrative court in Mecca against the ministry for denying women the right to register as voters.

Also in April, a group of women defied the ban on women in elections by turning up at a voter registration office in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, in a rare public demonstration against the male-only electoral system.

But they were turned back by the head of the centre who told them women were still banned from voting.

Women s rights activists have long fought to gain the right to vote in the kingdom that applies a strict version of Sunni Islam and bans women from driving or travelling without the consent of a male guardian

A group of defiant Saudi women got behind the steering wheels of their cars on June 17 in response to calls for nationwide action against the ban.

Saudi King Called Zardari Greatest Obstacle to Pak Progress

Wikileaks: Saudi King Abdullah called President Asif Ali Zardari the greatest obstacle to Pakistan’s progress, according to an online report of New York Times that quoted Wikileaks as saying.

The report further quoted King Abdullah as saying: “When the head is rotten, it affects the whole body.”

The cables released by Wikileaks, the whistle-blower, disclose that aging monarch of Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah, as speaking scathingly about the leaders of Iraq and Pakistan.

Speaking to another Iraqi official about Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, King Abdullah said, “You and Iraq are in my heart, but that man is not.” The king called President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan the greatest obstacle to that country’s progress. “When the head is rotten,” he said, “it affects the whole body.”

AFP quoting US documents leaked by WikiLeaks and published by Britain’s Guardian newspaper, said King Abdullah urged the United States to attack Iran to destroy its nuclear programme.

Leaked memos from US embassies across the Middle East recorded the king’s “frequent exhortations to the US to attack Iran and so put an end to its nuclear weapons program.”

The memo showed that the king told the United States to “cut off the head of the snake,” and said that working with Washington to roll back Iranian influence in Iraq was “a strategic priority for the king and his government.

Obama, King Abdullah urge Iran to end nuclear program

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama and Saudi Arabia”s King Abdullah on Tuesday voiced “strong support” for international efforts to curb Iran”s nuclear program, which the West says masks a secret drive to develop the capability for an atomic bomb, the White House said.

Obama and the King also expressed hope “proximity talks between Israelis and Palestinians will lead to the resumption of direct talks with the aim of two states living side-by-side in peace and security,” the White House said in a statement.

President Barack Obama says he and King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia agreed Tuesday on the need to press for Middle East peace in a “significant and bold way,” including the creation of a Palestinian homeland.

The two leaders briefly addressed reporters in the Oval Office after finishing a private meeting and lunch. Obama said he and Abdullah covered Afghanistan and Pakistan, efforts to combat extremism and Iran”s attempts to obtain nuclear weapon capability.

The president praised what he called a strong, strategic relationship with Saudi Arabia, which holds considerable leverage in the Middle East. Obama told the king he appreciated his friendship and counsel. Abdullah said Obama is respected around the world as an “honorable man.”

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Martin Luther King Jr

Martin Luther King Jr, Impact and service of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday with several traditional annual events. This year’s theme is “Challenges Beyond the Dream.”

* The prayer breakfast is held at 7 a.m. at the Reed Center near Rose State College in Midwest City.
* There will be a program at 9 a.m. Monday featuring Rebecca Ross as guest speaker at The Freedom Center, 2609 N. Martin Luther King Blvd.
* Immediately after the program, the silent march begins, followed by the Governor’s ringing of Oklahoma’s Liberty Bell replica in front of the Oklahoma History Center.
* At noon or so, the annual program from the Martin Luther King Jr. Coalition of Oklahoma City takes place at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral on NW 7th. The keynote address will be delivered by Reverend Anthony Walker, Pastor.
* Finally, the downtown parade, one of Oklahoma’s largest, begins at 2 pm. at the Broadway Circle and North Broadway. Here’s the parade route.

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Martin Luther King Jr was first posted on January 18, 2010 at 3:38 pm.

Saudi King Abdullah Satisfied With oil Price

RIYADH: Saudi king Abdullah described oil prices as satisfactory in an interview published on Saturday, at a time when the largest OPEC producer is seeking price stability.

“We predicted an oil price of US$75 to US$80 per barrel at the beginning of the year, what we considered acceptable, and now it has reached this level,” the king told the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Siyassah.

“(We expect) the price will stabilise or increase marginally,” he added.

King Abdullah also expressed confidence in the state of the Saudi economy, which he said had successfully managed to withstand the global financial crisis.

“The effects of the crisis have not caused people to panic. Our sovereign wealth funds have not been affected and we are maintaining a rate of growth that is lower but remains positive,” he said.

“We have experienced sustained economic activity, GDP is growing and inflation has slowed,” said the king, whose country adopted a budget for 2010 that forecasts an 18.7-billion-dollar deficit but provides for record-high government spending of US$144 billion.

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Saudi King Abdullah Satisfied With oil Price was first posted on December 27, 2009 at 2:12 pm.

Obama Receives Nobel Peace Prize

OSLO: President Obama, who earlier arrived in Norway with his wife Michelle, also defended the US record in Afghanistan and his planned surge of 30,000 military personnel as motivated by his desire to bring peace to the war-torn country.

In his acceptance speech, he hit back at critics of his plan to begin withdrawing US soldiers from Afghanistan in mid-2011, saying he was “unambiguous” about the date and would debate it no further.

But he struck a modest note when he said others may be “more deserving” of the prestigious prize this year.

Shortly before his own investiture as a Nobel laureate, Obama marvelled at the “galvanising” impact of the US civil rights leader Martin Luther King.

President Obama and wife went directly to the Norwegian Nobel Institute to sign the guest book after flying into tightly secured Oslo for a day of events marking the first-year US president’s surprise Nobel prize.

“Michelle and I were commenting on the fact that when Dr King won his prize it had a galvanising effect around the world, but also lifted his stature in the United States in a way that allowed him to be more effective,” US President said.

He said he was honoured to receive the peace prize, and had paid tribute to the work of the Nobel committee in the guest book.

“I think it’s important to congratulate the Nobel Committee for the work that it’s done over the course of history to highlight the cause of peace, but also to give voice to the voiceless and the oppressed around the world.”

Martin Luther King won the Nobel peace prize in 1964. Obama has often said that he owes part of his success in becoming the first black US president to the legacy of the civil rights leader.

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Obama Receives Nobel Peace Prize was first posted on December 10, 2009 at 4:49 pm.

Angelina Jolie, DiCaprio to Work Together

Angelina Jolie, DiCaprio to Work Together, Hollywood stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Angelina Jolie are in talks to play the king and queen of the dynasty of the Gucci fashion director Ridley Scott’s new movie.

Jolie is set to play Patrizia Reggiano, the former wife of Maurizio Gucci, who was sentenced to 29 years in prison for conspiring to murder the fashion guru.

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Angelina Jolie, DiCaprio to Work Together was first posted on October 24, 2009 at 5:00 pm.