In case you haven't been paying attention to the news from Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah announced on the weekend that, as part of a policy of "reform and opening up", Saudi women would at last be allowed to vote...effective in 2015.They will even be permitted to stand as candidates for election to what passes in Arabia for a parliament. Presumably their election posters won't feature photos because, errr, what would be the point?
Meanwhile, Associated Press reports today that a Saudi woman has been sentenced to ten -- count `em, ten -- lashes for driving a car, in defiance of the kingdom's ban on women drivers.
Shaima Ghassaniya was found guilty Tuesday of driving without the government's permission. No laws prohibit women from driving, but conservative religious edicts have banned it. [Sounds sensible to me. Ed.]
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