After his first as she was published in december of one nine hundred fifty three featuring a naked Marilyn MonroeFamily Member say he passed away at the famous playboy mansion you are right up to speed with all our top stories up next its inside story in twenty five minutes. Its not just phones contributing to samsungs bumper profits if we look at the u. S. Economy the moment it does seem to be in pretty good shape up until around two thousand and five greek debt levels were basically stable we bring you the stories that are shaping the economic world we live in counting the cost at this time on zero zero. Women in saudi arabia finally allowed to drive from next year is lifting the ban a fine of real reform in the kingdom but it speed up for action with the powerful religious establishment this is inside. Hello im sam is a than welcome to the show now its the only country in the world where women were banned from getting behind the wheel of a car but not for much longer just nine months to be exact you see the king salad man is allowing women to legally drive for the first time from next june the royal decree removes a cornerstone of saudi conservatism some Credit Service to voices on social media are unhappy or rights activists are delighted that saudi women are finally being allowed to do whats entirely normal everywhere else so will the decree excel or eight existing tensions in the kingdom and is it a major step towards gender equality in a male dominated society well be discussing that and more in a moment with our panel but first polls have a g. M. Reports. Activists like dr mahdi however jewish have been lobbying for decades for the kingdom of saudi arabia to allow women to drive and instead again been teamsters again im ready my daughter is ready and also society is ready how much longer can we live in an Oppressive Society that prevents us from our full rights. By next summer dr mcgee how will be allowed to drive without risking arrest fines and punishment the new policy will allow women to obtain a drivers license without having to ask permission of the husband father or male guardian the kingdoms representative to the United Nations talk about the policy during a meeting at the un this is a historic day for Saudi Society for men and women and we can now say at last so you arabia is hoping the policy will help the economy and increased role of women in the workforce as part of the economic reform agenda and the efforts to streamline the amount of money that the state spends on its citizens with diminished oil revenue the idea of including more women into the labor force would definitely help and so driving is is one mechanism to increase womens economic participation and almost anybody can be something that other activists reacted on social media mundo a shot if theres a saudi womens rights advocate who was arrested for posting a video of herself driving in two thousand and eleven to protest the law in a tweet celebrating the decree she use the hashtag women to drive and daring to drive she also said the fight for equality in saudi arabia is far from over i grew up in ultra conservative society the United States also welcomed the move by the kingdom well they were happy were happy were certainly happy to hear that if saudi women are now able to drive certainly here in the United States we would certainly welcome that and so i think its a great step in the right direction for that country. Another step thats been lauded by rights activists. Over the weekend for the first time women were allowed to enter the king fahd stadium to celebrate the eighty seventh anniversary of the kingdoms foundation the father i know how to still and with saudi women are able to do anything they are respected and have proven themselves in every field they are not so weak as to be contained to one place. The the right for women to drive may be a welcome step but some human rights organizations say the kingdom has a long way to go in guaranteeing equal rights for not only women but for minorities like those who are subjected to hate speech and Violent Attacks culture dirge on aljazeera. Well lets get the thoughts of our guests now joining us on the panel today is a cav senior lecturer at the university of east anglia where she teaches courses on women and film in miami in the usa we have saudi activist yes i mean saw it and in london rauf the bag of womens rights researcher at Human Rights Watch welcome to the show everyone if i could start with yes i mean in the usa in miami so women driving sounds like a very normal situation elsewhere in the world even elsewhere anywhere in the muslim world how much of a big step is this though specifically for saudi arabia i would definitely say that its a very big staff and its one of the most visible signs. You know modernization efforts by saudi government to date even though there have been a lot of other reforms that have been happening in the last twenty years and your man and the crown prince and south as well this is definitely the one that has made global headlines are rightfully so because like you said any saudi arabia is is the only country in the world where well need have until two thousand and seventeen been banned from driving so that really big deal its a big deal i lam its been on the table for a while now the authorities have always pushed back against attempts to try and change the situation when it came to women being able to drive what prompted this decision now. Im not sure if this decision was prompted at this very moment in time there might be other ideological and political reasons why it was prompted at this moment in time but why i would like to kind of consider this from an historical point of view in two thousand and eleven as the report suggested also in two thousand and thirteen i was teaching in my classes about saudi womens driving ban and they were still at the time playing videos of themselves on twitter for example to share their experience of driving as a subversive act and the images that ive seen today in relation to this particular news item was also this were also the same they were very much similar to those images i think is something that is to do with the concept of change change is something that happens very slowly but its good that this is happening fighting against patriarchy fighting against male domination and fighting for womens rights are things that wont change overnight they will take time and i think this is just a step forward or its all about step forward lets go to roth now what practical difference does this make to the lives and the freedoms that women enjoy in saudi arabia rotha. Sorry women driving is a huge achievement for the womens rights activists in the country have been fighting for this more than two decades they one of the biggest issues that theyve talked about is the reality that they face not being able to drive this is a country where Public Transportation is limited where to get anywhere around the country you do need to have to drive and of course that means that you are reliant on your male relatives or male drivers to do so now if youre well off when you are able to have that kind of access then male drivers no problem but for many women even if they are independent and have the money in the means they want to be able to go get into a car and drive just like any other man in the kingdom and for many other women who actually cant afford a driver who find it very difficult to maintain the lifestyle they have with a driver in place that can be very difficult it can be difficult to get a job it can be difficult to maintain a job if you need to be able to pay your way to get to get to get to work on time so this has been a real impediment for those in particular in terms of access to employment but also in situations like Domestic Violence if youre being beaten up how do you get out the house how do you get to the Police Station if you need to get to the hospital you need need Immediate Care you will you were going to be arrested if you end up in a car trying to drive yourself there you will need to find other ways and means to be able to do that this decision would if in completely allows women with the same access as men to drive would provide a historic difference to womens lives all right more so let me jump in does not it is not unlike that you would use that if it allows completely the same access to drive as it aroused to men yes i mean this still is not the nine months to go and the committee has to study the degree says how this is implemented is it going to happen and do you think theres going to be any attempt to push back at it in the next nine months. I definitely do think that its going to happen when a royal decree is issued of this magnitude usually and actually theyve even announced it themselves that the senior scholars and saudi arabia have approved didnt have no objection with islamic law as they call it and so i think that it is going to happen im sure that there are going to be some pushback in certain more conservative segments of Saudi Society who see this. This allowance for women to drive as it moves towards greater independence for for women and saudi arabia which is something that they. Would object to and so i will i definitely do anticipate some resistance from the more conservative sectors of society but in general i think that this nine months is actually a good time to give the Saudi Society time to sort of digest this its been anticipated you know. Thirty forty years. Theyve been talking about this and. You know if they will have to organize the road is going to be you know you can imagine a lot more drivers on the road there are issues are licenses and driving schools are going to be have the comedy to the female population so i think that there are going to there is going to be procedural a logistical bureaucratic adjustments that need to happen but i think most importantly in the next nine months theres going to need to be some education and making awareness in saudi arabia with the public that this is actually a very good step for sorry society it is really in the interest of Saudi Society for women to be able to drive for all the reasons that the other you mentioned some interesting terms their. Public Awareness Education is this a country that is genuinely right now reforming and expanding the margins of freedom in general on the way about womens issues and and beyond i think there are lots of other issues that not just saudi but many countries have to face with their tackling with in terms of gender politics in terms of womens rights i do think that there has been a great progress in terms of change within saudi i know this from the perspective of films that were made for example within the country the first ever film for example was made by a woman i found mansurs film called wild show that came out in two thousand and twelve in which she kind of the picks those issues around gender segregation driving ban and other issues including force married child brides and so on so there are lots of other issues but i think the key question that i would like to focus on is this idea of the middle east or the arab world all saudi arabia in this case. Being kind of regarded or talked about or perceived as the backward kind of culture that needs to change i was really particularly kind of surprised today to see a comment from as the report suggested from the United States and one of the governmental departments said this is a great progress in terms of the right direction i think we really need to stop for a minute and this kind of think about who decides on what is right and what is wrong what those Cultural Values are that makes things right or wrong and all of a really really forcing by talking about saudi arabia or any part of the arab world or the middle east in that regard are we talking about them in a really kind of backlash way that would put all reinforce those stereotypes are we recreating those with our language that we used to talk about these progressives elements the media in general has been nice not necessarily helpful in representing saudi in particularly positive ways but i think this is a big step or and. Youre coming to the right place with you and. How we frame things im so glad youve raised that but lets put things into a broader perspective and that seems to be the way were going now with this because allowing women to drive is in line with a Broader Program called vision twenty thirty its promoted by the Saudi Crown Prince mohammed bin salamander it aims to modernize Saudi Society for the First Time Ever last week women were allowed into a sports stadium for example as part of Saudi NationalDay Celebrations up to now sports arenas have been strictly men only the Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fund for example announced a plan this month to invest in the entertainment sector public cinemas are banned in the kingdom saudi leaders have confirmed plans to build more resorts and the recreation city dedicated to sports culture and entertainment the crown prince also launched a crackdown on dissent. Though social media reports say political rivals critics clerics even have fallen victim the reports say at least ten scholars were detained including the popular sound man allowed hours more than fourteen million twitter followers let me take that question to you while women may be able to drive next year or you said social media reports so some pretty prominent figures are being put in jail even economists like assam azzam for disagreeing with the countrys economic reform process so you know let me put the question again to you is this a country that is really reforming or is this you know some say cynical p. R. Move well ill put it in a slightly different way when we talk about reform in saudi arabia we have to ask how much are they really reforming so when we talk about him for instance just talk about the driving for instance they could have said that women are allowed to drive and tomorrow women are allowed to drive as women with international rivals licenses can take to the road but instead they said theyll take thirty days to review the decision and that means they could be spending that time to come up with ways to restrict womens right to drive and by june two thousand and eighteen well actually see what the reality is like for that we form but in general around the country inside arabia we know that while it has always you know for the last how many decades has embraced what we consider to be modern Society Technology and so on so it was been very proud and bracing of such things they have at the same time doing credibly repressive over the years weve seen prominent human rights defenders like mohammed the tiny like. Many other human rights are defenders who have been arrested who have now spending ten to fifteen Years Imprisonment and in the last year or so weve seen many more activists defend people on twitter expressing their peaceful opinion who have been arrested or continue to be harassed and intimidated by the authorities so while side arabia does have a vision twenty third. It does is talking about reform in the country in a variety of ways that we form package the understanding of what reform means has to be about human rights for all both men and for women and designing a package of reforms that actually see that reform country reality not ones that actually restrict the reform itself yes many of you mentioned the pushback from some conservative quarters numb wondering will this sort of moving crease the tensions within Saudi Society between the government and some of the conservative quarters in who i think that there is definitely some level of polarization that exists in Saudi Society between moderate saudis and traditional saudis and i think its very visible even when you are in now. Or in more of the inland areas and so i do. Anticipate that there will be definite tension which is why its very important for the media to play a very Important Role yes i mean if you still highlight from National Viewers give us an idea well though some of those visible signs that you would see that perhaps not everyone is aware of terms of differences between riyadh the being you know on the west coast and riyadh being in the east of saudi arabia well i think generally speaking i mean obviously there are conservatives and liberals and realises well but if i were to generalize and say that you does is more liberal in their lifestyle in there or theyre just saying the compounds where the host. You know the lifestyle there are a lot more open a lot more flexible for families and as opposed to more traditional lifestyles that where women cover completely including their faces and their hands and there are theres a. Rate a greater restriction for them to be able to get scholarships and travel abroad freely or study abroad theyre in they dont send their daughters the they get married earlier so there are many different lifestyle differences and there is there is very obvious polarization in the country in terms of myself so i do anticipate seeing. You know considerable resistance from them or serve in the south side of society which is why its really important to spend the next several months educating them on the Practical Implications of will be able to drive and how it will greatly benefit the economy and society as a whole there really needs to be a very formal sense of educating the public on why these kinds of reforms are in the best interest of the nation i let me mention the minutes ago we have to be very careful about the sort of terms we use about what is the right direction how much consensus then is there within Saudi Society about what is the right direction for reform i mean some people would prioritize this sort of issue as being one of the T