For years, women in Saudi Arabia have not been able to either run in elections or cast their votes. According to the news on internet is that this is going to change since they can register as voters as from August 22 while those that want to run in elections can register as from August 30. Despite this being a milestone for women who will be able to participate in choosing their leaders, they cannot participate on a national level as they are only allowed to only vote on the municipal level.
As the registration day for voters came, some women could be seen on the streets giving out leaflets to create awareness. Women need to be heard in the December elections. For a long time, Riyadh has been highly criticized in the manner that it has treated its women and this progress has been described as modest or even inconsequential. Women in the country have been denied rights such as working, driving a car, going to school or even traveling alone.
United States of America is one of the countries that have criticized treatment for women in Saudi Arabia. According to this link online Adam Coogle of Human Rights Watch wrote that despite the positive change, the full integration of women in the public life of the country was not secured. Women had back in the year 2011 been granted a chance to participate in political opportunities by the late King Abdullah.
Another breaking news came on Friday, many boarded a high speed train from Amsterdam headed to Paris. It is during the journey that they heard a gunshot that followed a sound of glass breaking. According to cnn live stream is that an identified man came from the bathroom with a rifle while shirtless. The attacker had several weapons as he had a Luger automatic pistol, a box cutter as well as a Kalashnikov assault weapon and nine chargers. A French man was the first one to counterattack the gunman then Spencer Stone an Air Force member followed by Alex Skarlatos a National Guard member and then Anthony Sadler a civilian.
Others who assisted in overpowering the gunman included Chris Norman a Briton and also a Frenchman. The outcome could have been worse if the three did not intervene as the attacker who is believed to be Moroccan is said to have Islam radical ties. The struggle was worth it as those helped only suffered non-threatening injuries whereas if he was never stopped, there could be a bloody massacre.
Due to the incident, the high-speed train was rerouted 185 km from Paris to Arras. Spencer had injuries on his face and neck while his thumb was almost cut off, another passenger had a gunshot wound while Jean-Hugues Anglade, a French actor suffered a hand injury. The man was taken into custody and held at the Arras police station north of Paris but according to General Directorate for External Security, he later taken to anti-terrorist police unit and France’s external intelligence agency for interrogation.