Interesting news from Saudi Arabia...

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Saudi Arabia’s most powerful royal reportedly thinks women should be allowed to drive

...In a long profile by Bloomberg’s Peter Waldman, deputy crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, the most powerful man in Saudi Arabia...hinted at changes to come for women as part of a plan to restructure the country’s economy and modernize its culture.

“We believe women have rights in Islam that they’ve yet to obtain,” the 31-year-old prince said...

Saudi women were granted the right to vote, and be elected to office, for the first time ever, in a Dec. 2015 municipal election. Eighteen female representatives were elected.

On Apr. 13, Saudi Arabia also moved to reduce the power of its Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, its “religious police” infamous for abuses. Under the new regulations, the committee won’t be allowed to arrest people, nor “restrain them, chase them, request their documents, confirm their identities, or follow them.”

http://qz.com/668574/saudi-arabias-most-powerful-royal-reportedly-thinks-women-should-be-allowed-to-drive/?utm_source=YPL

The news about cracking down on the Religious Police is almost as shocking as letting women drive. If they can't arrest, restrain, chase, request documents etc., they won't have very much to do.

When I was over there, they generally didn't bother foreigners too much. Unless they saw a Western couple obviously out on a date. Then they would "request documents" to see if you both had the same last name and were married. If not, the couple could be arrested and deported.

If I were advising Prince Salman right now, I'd tell him to hire plenty of extra security. Religious leaders tend to get really cranky when their undeserved perks and privileges are challenged or changed.