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Saudi Arabia

(7 Posts)
absent Fri 23-Jan-15 06:12:44

King Abdullah died this morning (Friday) and has been succeeded by a brother who seems to have been pretty much in step with the late king's policies and snail-pace reforms. With IS on Saudi Arabia's borders, given this organisation's stated intention of bring down the bin Saud dynasty, and the very low price of oil, it will be interesting, to say the least, to see what happens in the near future.

thatbags Fri 23-Jan-15 06:41:35

Saw a tweet today that says the ruling Saudi Arabian Royal Family is 15,000 strong. If that's true I doubt there'll be much change to speak of.

absent Fri 23-Jan-15 06:56:36

Probably not politically, but it looks as if 2015 may be the first year that Saudi has a deficit; could be a problem aggravated by other changes and events.

Also if there are 15,000 or even a quarter or eighth of that number who would like to be King… There have been differences of opinion before.

thatbags Fri 23-Jan-15 07:00:41

Time will tell.

absent Fri 23-Jan-15 07:04:46

I'm afraid it will.

durhamjen Fri 23-Jan-15 18:42:27

www.politics.co.uk/comment-analysis/2015/01/23/comment-domestic-slavery-in-britain-is-worse-than-saudi-arab

Anyone else seen this?

Eloethan Sat 24-Jan-15 01:16:30

I saw that programme. It is terrible to think that here in this country women are being treated like slaves - made to work 18 hours a day, sleeping on the floor, being physically abused, their passports withheld and no way of escaping. It is truly sickening.

So much for Theresa May's fine words about abolishing slavery - this government's new visa requirements have further facilitated this sort of exploitation.

These women's employers are a disgrace and I wish they could be prosecuted but it seems many of them are diplomats and immune from prosecution. They can't even be named and shamed because that would put their staff at risk.