A minute after you start reading this story, there will be a road accident in Saudi Arabia. Give it an hour and someone will have died.
That is the grim reality of driving in the Kingdom. When women get behind the wheel next year they will be entering one of the world’s most dangerous driving environments.
According to a Red Crescent report, there were 526,000 road accidents in Saudi Arabia last year and an average of 17 deaths a day.
Those figures give Saudi the second worst driving record in the Middle East, behind Libya, whose own drivers top not just the regional but the world rankings, with over 70 deaths per 100,000 of its population.
The number of people killed on Saudi roads, though, is double that of Libya, a reflection of the Kingdom's larger population. With around 9,000 lives lost in an average year, the US-based Centres for Disease Control has calculated that road injuries are the leading cause of death in Saudi Arabia.
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A Saudi driver is more likely to die in crash than from diabetes and heart disease and four times more at risk when driving than from cancer, says the CDC, which has worked with health authorities in the Kingdom for 20 years.
By contrast, the countries with the best road safety record in the world, Sweden and the United Kingdom, have less than two deaths per 100,000 of population. For the UAE it is just under 11, comparable with the United States.
There are many ways in which this daily human tragedy can be measured. According to a 2015 report in the Saudi Medical Journal: "The young and economically productive age groups are the most affected."
The journal estimated that in other industrialised countries, traffic accidents cost around one or two per cent of national income. For the KSA, it noted: “This loss has been estimated to be between 2.2 and 9 per cent.”
Ahmad Al Shaikha, the head of the Friends of the Red Crescent Committee, warned last year that the cost of road accidents was now approaching 21 billion Saudi Riyal, or Dh20.5 bn.
“We need to raise awareness about road accidents and be more socially responsible. It is truly a social issue. The government loses a lot of money as a result of these accidents,” he told the Saudi Gazette.
Earlier this month, a Saudi lawyer, Nawaf Al-Nabati, revealed that traffic related court cases had become a major burden on the country’s legal system, with nearly 16,000 lodged in the last two months alone. Many were from plaintiffs seeking compensation, or again insurance companies that had not paid out, he told the Arabic newspaper Al Watan.
Poor road conditions are blamed for the high level of accidents in some regions. One of the worst is said to be the highway to the popular beaches of Uqar on the Arabian Gulf.
“Seeing a traffic accident on the road has become a daily scene,” the Saudi Gazette reported earlier this month. The two lane road has no lighting and no central reservation, the newspaper found, adding: “There are no fences on either side of the road and stray camels can appear from nowhere in the middle of the road at any time.”
Saudi officials are well aware of the need to improve driving standards, even before the potential addition of several million women drivers. Two years ago, the authorities set a target of a reduction of 15 per cent in accidents without apparently specifying a date.
One worrying factor has been a number of motorists who deliberately drive recklessly on public roads. Police have been increasingly active in cracking down on young men who practice drifting on highways, often for enthusiastic audiences, and then posting their exploits on social media.
Perhaps the most notorious, styling himself 'King Al Nadheem', was given six years and 600 lashes in 2015 for endangering lives while drifting.
The court heard that he had caused the death of a passenger, with the then Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Nayef stating publicly that he had no prospect of parole.
As one website reporting the conviction noted at the time: “This is more likely the reason why women in Saudi Arabia don’t drive.”
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Notable salonnières of the Middle East through history
Al Khasan (Okaz, Saudi Arabia)
Tamadir bint Amr Al Harith, known simply as Al Khasan, was a poet from Najd famed for elegies, earning great renown for the eulogy of her brothers Mu’awiyah and Sakhr, both killed in tribal wars. Although not a salonnière, this prestigious 7th century poet fostered a culture of literary criticism and could be found standing in the souq of Okaz and reciting her poetry, publicly pronouncing her views and inviting others to join in the debate on scholarship. She later converted to Islam.
Maryana Marrash (Aleppo)
A poet and writer, Marrash helped revive the tradition of the salon and was an active part of the Nadha movement, or Arab Renaissance. Born to an established family in Aleppo in Ottoman Syria in 1848, Marrash was educated at missionary schools in Aleppo and Beirut at a time when many women did not receive an education. After touring Europe, she began to host salons where writers played chess and cards, competed in the art of poetry, and discussed literature and politics. An accomplished singer and canon player, music and dancing were a part of these evenings.
Princess Nazil Fadil (Cairo)
Princess Nazil Fadil gathered religious, literary and political elite together at her Cairo palace, although she stopped short of inviting women. The princess, a niece of Khedive Ismail, believed that Egypt’s situation could only be solved through education and she donated her own property to help fund the first modern Egyptian University in Cairo.
Mayy Ziyadah (Cairo)
Ziyadah was the first to entertain both men and women at her Cairo salon, founded in 1913. The writer, poet, public speaker and critic, her writing explored language, religious identity, language, nationalism and hierarchy. Born in Nazareth, Palestine, to a Lebanese father and Palestinian mother, her salon was open to different social classes and earned comparisons with souq of where Al Khansa herself once recited.
MATCH INFO
What: 2006 World Cup quarter-final
When: July 1
Where: Gelsenkirchen Stadium, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
Result:
England 0 Portugal 0
(Portugal win 3-1 on penalties)
The finalists
Player of the Century, 2001-2020: Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Ronaldinho
Coach of the Century, 2001-2020: Pep Guardiola (Manchester City), Jose Mourinho (Tottenham Hotspur), Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid), Sir Alex Ferguson
Club of the Century, 2001-2020: Al Ahly (Egypt), Bayern Munich (Germany), Barcelona (Spain), Real Madrid (Spain)
Player of the Year: Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
Club of the Year: Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Real Madrid
Coach of the Year: Gian Piero Gasperini (Atalanta), Hans-Dieter Flick (Bayern Munich), Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)
Agent of the Century, 2001-2020: Giovanni Branchini, Jorge Mendes, Mino Raiola
The Brutalist
Director: Brady Corbet
Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn
Rating: 3.5/5
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
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Jawan
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Sustainable Development Goals
1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation
10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its effects
14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development
FA CUP FINAL
Manchester City 6
(D Silva 26', Sterling 38', 81', 87', De Bruyne 61', Jesus 68')
Watford 0
Man of the match: Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)
The biog
Name: Fareed Lafta
Age: 40
From: Baghdad, Iraq
Mission: Promote world peace
Favourite poet: Al Mutanabbi
Role models: His parents
North Pole stats
Distance covered: 160km
Temperature: -40°C
Weight of equipment: 45kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 0
Terrain: Ice rock
South Pole stats
Distance covered: 130km
Temperature: -50°C
Weight of equipment: 50kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 3,300
Terrain: Flat ice
Fight Night
FIGHT NIGHT
Four title fights:
Amir Khan v Billy Dib - WBC International title
Hughie Fury v Samuel Peter - Heavyweight co-main event
Dave Penalosa v Lerato Dlamini - WBC Silver title
Prince Patel v Michell Banquiz - IBO World title
Six undercard bouts:
Michael Hennessy Jr v Abdul Julaidan Fatah
Amandeep Singh v Shakhobidin Zoirov
Zuhayr Al Qahtani v Farhad Hazratzada
Lolito Sonsona v Isack Junior
Rodrigo Caraballo v Sajid Abid
Ali Kiydin v Hemi Ahio