Saudi Arabia says it will allow cinemas

Saudi Arabia said on Monday that it would allow cinemas to operate in the strictly conservative kingdom for the first time in decades, in the latest sign of a broader government push to relax social restrictions, provide popular entertainment for young Saudis and diversify the economy. In a statement, the Saudi Ministry of Culture and Information said the process of licensing commercial cinemas, which had been banned in the country since the early 1980s, was underway and that the first cinemas would open early next year. As part of a social and economic reform program led Saudi Arabia’s 32-year old Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, officials have recently announced they would end a ban on women driving, allowed public music concerts and curbed the authority of “religious police” tasked with enforcing the country’s conservative social norms. Under Prince Mohammed, Saudi Arabia has also arrested hundreds of businessmen, princes and former government officials as part of an anti-corruption drive that also appeared aimed at consolidating the crown prince’s authority as well as boosting the state’s coffers. While the changes have been broadly welcomed by young people as long overdue, they have risked angering ultraconservatives, including clerics. The changes have not included any broadening of political freedoms in Saudi Arabia, an absolute monarchy, and arrests over the last few months have included influential clerics as well as government opponents.