for saudi arabia and the previous u.p.i. this is very typical you know it's a lake a debating society we urge this saudi arabia we we admire you know people it will be political that the united sates will praise the saudi move and then we'll throw in soft words about encouraging and you know continue on and so on and the reality the council does not really play a role in terms of actually doing something like i said i spoke myself in two thousand and one april to then the commissioner mr robinson medal robinson who became the president of of ireland and she was defending the saudi government record and woman so really these people who are working there as staff they have no power it is the power of the state if the united states and other countries decided the saudi arabia is a bad actor then they can take that to the u.n. security council the crimes that's committed by not only by these ten every member state every government has human rights abuses but of course if you compare the saudis to the united states there is a hug

let's talk about saudi arabia.hey will find out next month if it will be included in the index for emerging-market countries. they said back in september they would soon meet the criteria to be promoted from unclassified to a secondary market. inclusion would help saudi arabia attract more money from foreign investment. we will bring in someone from the gulf research center. what is your assessment as to whether or saudi arabia will be able to lock in progress over the next few months. >> that is a good question. i think this is the year of saudi arabia for the stock market. this is the year everybody has been waiting a for. i think they will be included in the index this year. there is certainty at least from my part. this is what i hear from a lot of the investors, if not the majority of the investors arabia to search and see what there is an opportunities and equities. i think this is going to happen. ftse is going to announce in march is debated. but i think 2018 is the year. i think the stock market will go up

you just came back from sin -- from saudi arabia.ough your experience on the ground and where you see pockets of potential opportunities and risks as well. jahangir: the purge is coming to an end and i think they achieved a lot of what they set out to do. they say they got 107. have they reestablished the rule of law? done, thereess is debate about what is going on. when you are on the ground, there is definitely a sense of fear, or respect come up for the way things will go forward. that comes from the uncertainty. now the rule is following the rules more. yousef: it could be positive long term. i think it will be definitely positive long-term unless it leads to something else. ,he thing i like on the ground and our debt team does this. i will give you a postcard from saudi. i love the fact that when i arrived at immigration, people are welcoming. that used to be a system down a few years ago. that is very welcoming for foreigners coming in. when i come in, a year ago, the hotelsaudi's were at my check-in and i was spending 15 or 20

sectarianism coming out of iran, but also coming from saudi arabia. that a fair statement? >> i think perhaps in some social context. but also, there were some who saw khomeini's efforts must be countered by similar sectarianst throm saudi arabia. >> smith: the saudi government would grant their religious esblishment billions more saudi petrodollars to spread wahhabism around the world. >> they have to double down after 1979 becse they have these zealots internally, they have the threat of iran. so they mobilize all their religious resources. they pump a lot of money into religion, basically, both domestically and internationally, in order to boost their legitimacy, and in order to ward off and fighthe iranian threat, which was very serious. >> smith: anthen came an historic opportunity to promote wahhabi ideas in a country back across the gulf.un a y that had been founded as an islamic republic-- pakistan. (horns honking) the king faisal mosque in islamabad is the largest mosque in pakistan, and among the largest in the world. evoking a bedouin tent,

for key reasons. >> saudi arabia has a clear , the largestex inclusion market for saudi arabia will beespectively it will be announced that saudi arabia, we expect that they will be upgraded and it will drive $30 billion or $40 billion into the market over the next 12-24 months, and that should be supported for multiple expansion, which could you deliver -- which could deliver to the market. yousef: what is the biggest risk? is it what happens with global market as they open up, because maybe they are not ready yet? u.a.e. the biggest -- >> the biggest risk for saudi is the selloff of oil prices and geopolitical concerns in the region. maybe later on for the local market, the impact of the aramco on local liquidity, because when you bring a big listing to the market you have to see what that ass to the large caps investors try to fund the ipo allocation, they have to sell some stocks in saudi arabia and or the region, so these are the things we should be looking up. yousef: coming up, despite nervous anticipation, index rallies. are investors finally accepting the reality of the fed ra

and more into the downstream in to saudi arabia. how aggressive are you going to go with your budget for that kind of expansion? are you setting aside a lot of cash for that? ahmad: i wouldn't say a lot, because if we decide to go into the united states, we have to party with a local u.s. company, as this will be our first international project, especially in the u.s. we have offices in europe and asia, but nothing in hard assets. i would think it is not going to be significant to the point where we have to go and borrow more money. we would set aside facilities at from some of the existing cash perhaps some facilities at that time. yousef: the board is proposing half a share. in terms of dividends for 2017. some of the ceo's have talked about potential rationalization, the high dividends of the past are not necessarily sustainable going forward. is that a conversation you will be having in the coming months as well? dividends slightly lower? ahmad: i think we had that discussion a year ago in sipchem, and we had it six months ago.

shale has saudi arabia considering its first foreign venture.ar from the ceo of a petrochemical company. this is bloomberg. ♪ retail. under pressure like never before. and its connected technology that's moving companies forward fast. e-commerce. real time inventory. virtual changing rooms. that's why retailers rely on comcast business to deliver consistent network speed across multiple locations. every corporate office, warehouse and store near or far covered. leaving every competitor, threat and challenge outmaneuvered. comcast business outmaneuver. yousef: welcome back to "best of bloomberg markets: middle east." a ceo told bloomberg that he is considering investing in petrochemical production in the united states, based on shale gas. it would be their first foreign venture, as the firm faces costs -- higher costs. ahmad al ohali. ahmad: i think it is going to be sustainable, at least for the first half of the year. the expectation is the growth is continuing between 3% and 4%. with the shortage of supply in methanol in china, with the closur

w know that yemen is important for saudi arabia and we never want to stab saudi arabia in the back.t'destroyed building there. >>shen elephants fight, it' the grass that suffers there's been over a million ecasualties in the middleast over the last decade. they've been syrian.e they'vbeen iraqi. they've been yemeni. >> where did the missile hit? >> iranian and saudi citizens aren't the ones that are suffering. >> narrator: next time, a dangerous rivalry and its tragic consequences. >> gto pbs.org/frontline to learn more about the making of "bitter rals". >> what brings you here today? >> read the interview with ambassador ryan crocker and others about the rivalry between iran and saudi arabia. >> abdullah, in particular, felt that we were actively working against saudi national security interests. >> to destabilize the onighborhood... >> connect to the ine community on facebook and twitter, and if stories like this matter to you, then sign up for our newsletter at pbs.org/frontline. >> frontline is made possible by contributions to your pbsio stfrom viewers like you. thank you. major

have to be made by saudi arabia and the u.a.e. and this is why they're coming first they're coming first in order to make sure that they agree to holding a dialogue which is something they haven't agreed to until now while the emir of qatar his highness will be coming at the end of this to kind of sum up what will happen at the at the dialogue their state department apparently they're trying to dilute the issue saying that even if there was a summit held in camp david the crisis will not be the only issue on the table so even if they couldn't succeed in breaking a deal of brokering a deal at that time they did say that we had a discussion about. iran about the other issues and the region and kind of let that crisis issue unfold as it goes however i'm still very skeptical that such a summit can happen within the current climate shift what kind of pressure do you believe the u.s. could apply on leaders of gulf countries to make this happen. it's very possible that the pressure. a combination of. pulls on so many things there are so

what else are you going to do and saudi arabia?hat ther to economies are interlinked, the uae and the saudi economy, and they are co-related a certain extent. they add value to each other. if you need to have a country that is prosperous, you need a sound financial sector. bank will be in saudi arabia trying to add value to the saudi markets, as well as the saudi market will add value to the uae markets. we want to make sure both economies are doing well. yousef: international expansion has been an important component of uae bank strategy the last couple of years. where seeing the emirates looking at assets in turkey. are you considering acquisitions to spearhead opportunities? >> the bank is focusing on what we have. the bank is present in 19 countries. are internationalizing are present, refocusing our customer base, so going forward the bank has ae uae and the west lot of value. we are just now in a position to capture those values. yousef: acquisitions are not current -- >> not currently. yousef: the pressures have moderated fr

to the into the into the arena in a much bigger way as well and that in turn has brought saudi arabia and other like minded arab countries closer to israel and where the potential for a peace agreement is sadly is all schools we also need to bring in the americans tromp the trumpet it particular is very close it's how daily via he it's a it's a deal it's a wedding you know that they are very much the matchmakers of you know they are very much close to the saudi arabia's and we know that tom's first visit to the middle east was into you know he's a leader he made it to saudi arabia so there's this old dunce with the legs that raise that up so for him that's that's a clear message you know he was sending a clear message of thompson clear message of how he sees saudi arabia's as a close partner and that whole also of course means that he supports israeli and i mean we know many things are we assume anything is happening backstage we don't know a lot of what is happening but it's clear that the american support for this is quite vital in order to make it happen so let me just sorry for in

what about the saudi arabia and rushial situation as well.hat over the last two years has dramatically improved. >> thank you for that, hadley. speaking of the middle east there say trust in the new iraq, that according to the new iraqi prime minister speaking on the sideline of the munich conference. he said he has been seeing signs in the early stages of the country's reconstruction hadley is still with us in muni munich hadley, what did the prime minister of the iraq tell you? >> reporter: we got to talk about quite a bit of politics but we also got to talk about all of that money pledged in cue bait, $4 billion coming from turkey, $3 billion coming from the u.s. and of course, a significant investment potentially from saudi arabia as well as well, of course, with all of this money, what are the strings attached to it he seemed to be saying to me, j joumanna, he's going to be diplomatic where he puts the money. >> we have to see where the sanctions go we always have to ask for more and of course, i'm happy with it for the simple reason, th

and they can irritate saudi arabia. they can keep sort of a sharp stick in their side in yemen without much cost. so it's not clear that they fomented the houthi rebellion but it's clear they are supporting them for some degree. for very little cost they can have support -- something that is holding saudi arabia down, distracting them from everies in ir efforts in iraq or syria. at this point the iranians have had a winning strategy for some time now. they have problems at home. they have unemployment. food prices. about the expenditures in the new budget for this year that show how much money is going to the islamic revolutionary guard corps for foreign adventures as they would say. >> martin, you did get a rare look inside yemen. why do you think the saudis decided to draw a line in the sand there? why did they go into yemen with such force and are now bogged down? >> there's a changing of the guard, if you will, in riyadh. the young 32-year-old now crown prince isonso cdating his power. it was his judgement that alig

the relationship has not been the same for example have used to visit saudi arabia more often and you know saudi officials used to visit beirut so the first time a saudi official delegation arrived was on monday and now how in saudi arabia sources saying that they hope to open a new phase in the relationship the timing is quite interesting just a few months before parliamentary elections in may saudi arabia lost a lot there man in lebanon and if they want to maintain influence in this country they're going to need him because he is the most popular sunni leader in lebanon we have to remember this is a sectarian. system of government is based on sectarianism so saudi arabia miscalculated in the past maybe trying to you know trying to reverse the losses following this resignation and the whole affair around a bit it is still too early to say whether the relationship is back on track. classes or resume for the first time at a florida. high school says a shooting that left seventeen people dead earlier this month students will be attending a half day to the school until further notice tha

three months after his visit to side arabia led to a political crisis back home lebanon's prime minister is back in riyadh. and more than two million cars are recalled in australia and the latest development in the scandal of unsafe air bags. russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov has blamed syrian rebels for blocking access into the area of eastern good to russia's pause in fighting is in effect for a second day the first attempt on tuesday failed to stop the onslaught with at least thirteen killed in fighting love rove says russia and its syrian allies have established humanitarian. it was for people to flee but gribble shelling is blocking the path out the u.n. says the chief says five hour window is too short to evacuate people send in a to some a binge of aid is in the take he should have gazan top near the syrian border and i'm wondering what you're hearing about today if people are moving out if they're being most successful in getting aid in. we've been speaking to people on the ground jane in eastern guta and they've been telling us that there is some rest bite people have been

would say saudi arabia i.e. m.b.'s they are overstretching themselves in various areas of conflict not specifically war type conflict but broader abrasive relationships across the region and there does come a point surely when the crown prince has to realize that he has to stop bleeding into these conflicts something you either win or you withdraw. well i would assume that on the other hand one has to keep in mind that in effect the crown prince has changed the government structure of saudi arabia if this was in the past a ruling family that ruled by consensus it is now a one man rule now there is no doubt that there are critics within the family and within the power structure and i would also have no doubt that there were knives on the table but as long as he can keep an absolute grip on power he is relatively secure when you talk about his relative security does that mean we're likely to see more changes or not i think that we're going to see changes in personnel both within the military as well as the civilia

one side is backed by saudi arabia. the other by iran. holly williams got rare access to the front line. >> reporter: the saudi arabian government invited us to yemen to show us their version of the war there. these fighters are take us to the front line. which is at the top of the mountain range. for nearly three years, saudi arabia has been backing these yemeni government soldiers fighting a brutal war against rebels who have seized swaths of land. they killed this houthi gunman two month as go they told us. yemeni general, told us saudi abe strikes are helping him win back the barren hills. and the saudis are supported in this war, by the u.s. >> houthi positions are less than a mile away. have you lost family members, friends? >> too many. >> both side in this fight are accused of war crimes. but with weapons supplied by the u.s., saudi arabia is capable of much greater damage. the saudi led coaliton has hit weddings, markets and schools with air strikes, according to a u.n. report. and aid groups say a saudi blockade, contributed to

i'm jane dutton this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up the shake up inside the arabia is the kingdom replaces its military chief and other senior defense official says. prosecutors in south korea push for a tough sentence for us of president park geun hye is accused of corruption. and from russia with love dances are spreading a message of kindness around the world. after ten days of intense bombardment on syria's eastern because of the fighting was supposed to have stopped at least temporarily but russia's military is reporting heavy mortar fire and laying the blame on the rebels on monday russia ordered the daily five polls in the rebel held district to than five hundred fifty people been killed in the past in ten days on sunday opposition doctors reported a suspected poison gas attack russia says evacuation colorados will be set up to allow civilians to leave the area more than four hundred thousand people are trapped in eastern goods and it's unclear where they will go now the district's been under siege since twenty thirty and so the daily pools could offer some response

everyone says saudi arabia, a have done too much too quickly. i do not believe that is the case.hey have made some minor reforms and terms of subsidy reform, in terms of overhauling the economy, making them less reliant on oil, i don't think we have seen that. >> meanwhile, we had an update on saudi arabia, the inclusion into the emerging market, they said 32 of the nations companies could make it. $24 billion,n on that would make it the third-largest member of the south african area. dominated byostly real estate. there is a lot of cheap banks out there. there is a turnaround story. you look at exclusivity, that could unlock a lot of cash or shares. insurance, they will probably be increasing. there is a lot of value in this. in egypt it is all about recovery, that is happening. investors are willing to pay earnings two years out. if we overweight the banks in egypt, leicester was all about higher margins for the banks, this year is about recovery. lower interest rates, investment picking up. is one year out. looking one year out, people are digits to pay single going forward. t

jane darkness is al jazeera live from doha also coming up a shakeup in saudi arabia as the kingdom replaces its military chief and other senior defense officials. u.n. resolution taken a many run for fueling the war in yemen fails. prosecutors in south korea push for tougher sentence for asked of president park going to hate you is accused of corruption. after ten days of intense bombardment on syria's eastern go to the fighting is supposed to stop at least temporarily russia has ordered a pause in the fighting which is now in effect the five hour ceasefire in the rebel held district is said to last from nine am and two pm local time every day but activists say there was heavy shelling overnight more than five hundred fifty people have been killed in the past ten days on sunday opposition doctors reported a suspected poison gas attack russia says evacuation cordle's will be set up tell our civilians to leave the area more than four hundred thousand people are trapped in the eastern goods and it's unclear where they will go in other districts been under siege since twenty thirteen so the dai

but this is also sponsor why it is based on line about freedom of expression in saudi arabia aides said that free speech is more important than freedom to let women drive cars and then he uses the hash tag political dress day and then the veteran saudi journalist jamal khashoggi wrote did you get the message not a word or else now it's important to note that saudi arabia is attending the u.n. summit on human rights in geneva next month but a report by human rights watch points out that saudi arabia's new counter terrorism law is actually a vague and overly broad so much so that it does not restrict the definition of terrorism to violent acts and in some cases could actually result in the death penalty for example article thirty of the law says criticizing the king and crown prince in a way that brings religion or justice into deaths in disrepute is a terrorist act so let us know what you think of these latest developments in saudi arabia get in touch that's using the hashtag a.j. news good message me directly on that really mohammed ali. thank you very much to mexico now where the gover

serious after just two or moved relations with saudi arabia being it's his. war of hezbollah and that is not so you know alliance with hezbollah and. that's what wise or political wise also i really succeeded in convincing. me. not to be aligned with any. power so now and defeat us policy which was a condition also. to. come back to us i think. that the saudis know the saudis are to be examining he asked us in that position finding no other alternative to solve how do you see a strong sunni. country people of willing ok by united front or is by i mean many people say that saudi arabia miscalculated this resignation issue has really had lost any influence in lebanon as a result of the crisis. of course i mean you have. these big you. show this all washed out on the. ship and under my arm you know many warnings how to use allies. into leadership so we're now marsh fourteen which was the group being backed by saudi arabia's crown. once and our own tree is no longer one united front but. if i did it no longer school here and or. definitely. there is. no use our t

along jane doesn't this is al jazeera live from also coming up a shakeup in saudi arabia as the kingdom replaces its military chief and other senior defense officials a u.n. resolution taking aim at iran for fueling the war in yemen fails. and from russia with love how dancers are spreading a message of kindness around the world. after ten days of intense bombardment on syria's eastern go to the fighting is supposed to stop at least temporarily russia has ordered a pause in fighting which is due to begin about now the five a ceasefire will be observed in the rebel held district between nine am and two pm local time every day but activists say there was heavy shelling overnight more than five hundred fifty people have been killed. in the past ten days on sunday opposition forces reported a suspected poison gas attack russia says evacuation code rules will will be set up to allow civilians to leave the area within four hundred thousand people are tracked in eastern goods and it's unclear where they will go and the district's been under siege since two thousand and thirteen said the daily

i don't think they're used to saudi arabia moving boldly. our population is 70% under the achbling 30, they're young, they're probably the most connected in terms of social media in the world of any people. they know what's going on. several hundred thousand of them have studied all around the world from japan to the united states, both young men and young women. like i said earlier, they have hopes, dreams, and ambitions and they want it now. they don't want to expect 20 years or 30 years. they expect good government, they expect transparent government, efficient government. they expect the ability do what they set out do without much hindrance. and vow to open so you have to path and get out of the way. that's how our country will rise. you have to have a fundamental transform maftion your country. you have to open up areas that previously were not open, entertainment, recreation, open up the media smas and allow more public discussion and deal with corruption in a clear and strong manner. attract investments, come up with projects. for ex

you have iran over one horizon, saudi arabia over another, iraq to the north.and you actually host the american fleet in the base. give me your assessment of american foreign-policy right now in the gulf. do we have it right? could we use a a little advicen one side or another? >> we really look at american foreign-policy and our partnership with america -- [inaudible] >> we have been hacked. [laughing] >> not me. it wasn't me. it's the translation is on, sorry. go ahead. >> it's the translation is on. >> yes. >> it's not me. sorry. >> gives you time to think. >> exactly. [laughing] >> stalling tactic. >> what was the question again? [laughing] go ahead. america's presence, america's partnership with our region has been there for decades. those decades also saw some issues. 1973 there was a major issue of the 1973 war between egypt, syria and israel. at that time the gulf countries and especially bahrain having the presence there at the same time with the aerobics between america and israel was something of a stark difference. that did not derail that commitmen

people talk that saudi arabia, oman have done too much too quickly. do not believe that is the case. they have made some minor performs, but in terms of overhauling thes economies to make them less reliant on oil, i don't think we have seen that. yousef: meanwhile, we had an update on saudi arabia, the inclusion in the msci emerging markets index. msci said 32 of the nations companies could make it. $124 billion. it would make it the third-largest member after south africa and russia. from the head of research. >> dubai is mostly dominated by real estate and banks. there is a lot of cheap banks out there. there is a turnaround story. you look at emirates, the turkish acquisition could unlock a lot of value either in cash or shares. insurance, they will probably be increasing. there is a lot of value in dubai. egypt is all about recovery, that is happening. investors are willing to pay earnings two years out. we have been overweight in the banks in egypt. last year was all about higher margins for the banks. this year is about recovery. lower interest

saudi arabia and russia is only overtaking saudi arabia because saudi arabia is reining in production deliberately because of the quota that's. sitting that's going to be placed in there in opec production you know saudi arabia could easily. go ahead of us with action i think is it's right you now have a market it doesn't really matter who's on top by a few barrels so you have a market that's not that many of the three major players russia saudi arabia and the u.s. and what happens with these three the minute you use was so in the you have a leading impact on the market and it's all it's all quite a far cry from from what saudi arabia had been trying to do in the past which was to increase production in the hopes that that shale production in the u.s. would would be driven out of business by either the lower prices because it wouldn't be economically feasible or that strategy clearly hasn't worked as if that's a strategy i'm not convinced that the strategy might have been the case you know i think this prodigy whether it works what it what it was worked. because the market has to be b

also coming up in saudi arabia as the kingdom replaces its military chief and other senior defense officials. in another sign of ease tensions the two koreas hold more talks. and a victory for germany as the one to clean up. from the road. a cease fire in syria's eastern. russia or the daily pause in the fighting off the ten days of intense bombardment by government forces but both sides are accusing the other. in the rebel held district russia would be set up to allow civilians to leave and allow aid in well the world health organization says more than a thousand people need to be documented from the area. is in eastern from where he sent us this report. yes shelling is still ongoing in a very many villages and towns and even the city of duma you can hear the intensive bombardment of several areas battles are also taking place the host of a hair and front says the regime forces are trying to advance and storm east into russia yesterday announced a truce between nine am and two pm in addition to humanitarian corridors for civilians to leave the area but the civilians don't want to leave to a

and israel saudi arabia is maybe forming a part very rapidly israel be facing regime change also. who struggles to maintain its grip so things are crumbling really fast the us has no idea how to stay on top of these things and of course as you say everything had seems to make things worse yes i mean you know it's pushing these pushing for political outcomes there's an impatience going on right here i mean the united states in all this give my opinion is scared to death that peace could break out on the korean peninsula they're terrified of that they're terrified that peace could break out in syria because the very fact that they stayed there were nobody wants them to be there it makes it a political outcome a peaceful outcome impossible i mean why are they so afraid of peace go ahead ivan . well i think you're absolutely correct they seem to want to maintain overseas president presence in south korea and japan that's where our major forces are right now and that gives us. you know an anchor in east asia and i think they do feel that china is rising and you know just like when sadd

three months after his visit to saudi arabia led to a political crisis back home lebanon's prime minister is back in riyadh. and over two million cars are recalled in australia and the latest development in a scandal over unsafe bags. welcome to the program russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov has blamed syrian rebels for blocking access into the besieged area of eastern ghouta well russia's pause in fighting is in effect for a second day the first attempt on tuesday failed to stop the onslaught with at least thirteen killed in the fighting. says russia and its syrian allies have established humanitarian corridors for people to flee but rebel shelling is blocking the path out where the u.n. says the truce is five hour window is too short to evacuate people or send them made. the people of syria face a direct humanitarian crisis un security council resolution two four zero one has established a framework for all parties to agree upon conditions to elevate the plight of civilians throughout the country russia together with the syrian government have already announced the establishment of

embarking on major initiatives in terms of a neon futuristic city in the north west part of saudi arabia that will be a hub for technology artificial intelligence robotics. clean energy we are inviting other initiatives in terms of the red sea project we are working on initiatives in terms of recreation and entertainment and all of this is transforming became. a reason this is happening is because as we move in this direction we become stronger we become wealthier and we become less susceptible to the dangers and the crises around us in our reach. you heard a few minutes ago from the iranian foreign minister and i to be able to respond to some of the fiction that he was talking about the problems in the region began with the khomeini revolution in one thousand nine hundred eighty nine khamenei revolution unleashed sectarianism in the region the iranian constitution has been it's the principle of exporting the revolution the iranian constitution does not recognize citizenship. it believes that every shia but this business as it costs them belongs to iran this is outrageous is iran prepare

culminated in the big change that's happening now in saudi arabia. the film looks at the struggle of women to move ahead in the kingdom . my generation the generation before me and after me somebody somebody lost their reputation somebody lost an opportunity to have a good life because we had to get over again those rates that are given to children today. as well as the background to some of the obstacles faced by women there. however when i sit with the experts that are trying to create opportunities for women johns there's always this thing the job has to be suitable for women. the women interviewed have high hopes for the next generation. the shoes that is brilliant they're fantastic with us i mean i think they have the greatest future that could ever happen to the arab world the future is yours no one can stop the wheel of change. found in revolution is a sign of progress in a country where women's rights still have a very long way to go. and incidentally the sort of conclusion of the whole film is it's all about education one of the women that s

that in saudi arabia, women have almost no rights at all. but now comes this new crown prince who's promised a whole load of things, not just the right to drive. is that serious when you as human rights watch do the analysis, is it really going to happen, and is it really going to make a difference? the reforms we've seen so far have been the result of women themselves. the right to vote and stand for elections was two years ago. that was before the crown prince was in place. that happened after ten years of women fighting for that right. they still had a lot of chalnges. just as an example, for instance, less than two months after 38 women won as counselors. they were not allowed to sit in the same room as men. they had to sit in a separate room and go by webcam. now we have a crown prince who seems to be modern and he's advocating for changes, including for women's rights. but those changes are still very limited. so in april of this year we saw the -- april 2017, the king decreed that they would banish arbitrary restrictions on male garde

saudi arabia's military might on display. generals have been leading a coalition of forces attacking the peace in yemen for nearly three years running back rebels who pose the internationally recognized government didn't object rather do remain in control of large areas of the country and the saudi armed forces have been internationally criticized for killing thousands of yemenis widespread destruction and achieving little. can summon been abilities all sod has announced a reshuffle of the army's chief of staff and the heads of ground and air defense forces. the war in yemen there is a serious failure when it comes to the so the idea that is growing because cism from international community and there is a serious pressure that saudi arabia so to stop should stop what they are doing now and change course if it's needed i think so that it is trying now to open up to the international community by trying to open up airports and ports for support food or medical support so they can reduce the pressure on the so you have a governm

air arabia was one of the names on that note.iscussions ongoing or ideas as to whether mergers and acquisitions are a way to push forward? >> being a publicly listed company come up the have the public's money and we need to that we take advantage of an opportunity for investment. we should consider it. there are always discussions going on with multiple people, but 99% of those don't really work out because they don't necessarily meet our needs, the synergy that benefits our business. at present, nothing is going on. but if something comes up that wefeel matches our dna, then would be more than happy to look at it. yousef: the story around sentiment, you tell me the oil price was supporting consumer confidence. people want to travel more. there is the other side of the coin, which is the reality of higher cost of living, vat, dampening sentiment. are you seeing evidence of that, and what are you doing to offset some of that as governments roll out more taxes and reduce the money they spend? >> with the technology around us, ever