Headline
Saudi May Allow Alcohol Sales To Non-Muslim Diplomats
Published
1 year agoon
By
Editor
Saudi Arabia may allow alcohol sales to non-Muslim diplomats for the first time, two sources familiar with the plan told AFP on Wednesday, modifying strict rules governing liquor in the conservative country.
Alcohol “will be sold to non-Muslim diplomats” who previously had to import alcohol via a diplomatic pouch, or sealed official package, one of the sources said.
Prohibition has been the law of the land in Saudi Arabia since 1952, shortly after one of King Abdulaziz’s sons got drunk and, in a rage, shot dead a British diplomat.
Rumours have swirled for years that alcohol would become available in the Gulf kingdom amid a wave of social reforms introduced as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 reform agenda, among them the introduction of cinemas and mixed-gender music festivals.
READ ALSO: Afenifere Scraps Positions Of Acting Leader, Deputy
A Saudi government statement on Wednesday said authorities were introducing “a new regulatory framework… to counter the illicit trade of alcohol goods and products received by diplomatic missions”.
The statement added: “The new process will focus on allocating specific quantities of alcohol goods when entering the Kingdom to put an end to the previous unregulated process that caused an uncontrolled exchange of such goods in the Kingdom.”
The policy “will continue to grant and ensure that all diplomats of non-Muslim embassies have access to these products in specified quotas.”
The statement indicated that not much would change immediately for the vast majority of Saudi Arabia’s 32 million people, who have few ways to imbibe unless they are willing to travel abroad.
Beyond attending diplomatic receptions in Riyadh’s Diplomatic Quarter, they can make homemade wine or turn to the black market, where bottles of whiskey can go for hundreds of dollars ahead of holidays like New Year’s Eve.
READ ALSO: Tinubu Urged To Relocate NNPCL, NIMASA To Niger Delta
– Sensitive subject –
Under Saudi law, penalties for consumption or possession of alcohol can include fines, jail time, public flogging and deportation for foreigners.
Last year, Saudi Arabia was granted hosting rights for Expo 2030 and the World Cup in 2034, further fuelling speculation that the alcohol ban might be lifted, or at least weakened with carve-outs in places like NEOM, a planned $500 billion futuristic megacity.
However given that alcohol is forbidden in Islam, the issue remains deeply sensitive in the country that is home to the religion’s holiest sites in the cities of Mecca and Medina.
Saudi officials had until Wednesday dismissed suggestions of any major policy change.
“The short answer is, we are going to continue with our current laws,” Deputy Tourism Minister, Princess Haifa Al Saud said when asked directly about the issue at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2022.
AFP
You may like
Headline
92-year-old Convicted For 1967 Killing In UK’s Oldest Cases
Published
17 hours agoon
June 30, 2025By
Editor
A 92-year-old British man was convicted on Monday for a rape and murder committed nearly 60 years ago, in one of the UK’s longest-running cold cases.
Ryland Headley was found guilty by a UK court for raping and killing 75-year-old Louisa Dunne after breaking into her house in Bristol, southwest England in June 1967, when he was 34 years old.
It is “one of the oldest cold cases to ever be solved in the UK”, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which brings criminal prosecutions, said.
Local police reopened the case in 2023 and matched DNA from the victim’s skirt and other items from the original probe to Headley, who had also served a prison sentence for raping two elderly women in 1977.
READ ALSO:UK GDP Records Fastest Growth In Q1 2025
He is due to be sentenced by a judge at Bristol Crown Court on Tuesday.
During the initial investigation, police had found a left-hand palm print from Dunne’s home, where she was found dead from strangulation.
The palm print was compared to 19,000 men to no avail.
At the time, Headley was a railway worker who lived just outside the area in which men and boys were asked to give prints.
READ ALSO:Police Detain 3 Nsukka Masqueraders For Allegedly Assaulting Residents
Reaching a dead-end, police sealed away forensic evidence for half a century. Both DNA testing and later Headley’s palm print resulted in matches.
When Headley was arrested at his home last November, he told detectives: “I don’t know what you are talking about. Very strange, very strange.”
“For 58 years, this appalling crime went unsolved and Ryland Headley, the man we now know is responsible, avoided justice,” said Charlotte Ream of the CPS.
Following the conviction, Dunne’s granddaughter Mary Dainton said her death had a “far-reaching impact throughout my family”.
READ ALSO:Family Of Five Killed In Iranian Missile Strike After Fleeing Ukraine For Safety In Israel
“I was just 20-years-old when my grandmother died and I’m now almost the same age as she was when she was killed,” Dainton said outside court.
Police said they were now looking into other possible cold cases Headley could be linked to.
“Ryland Headley has now been convicted of three rapes of elderly women within their own addresses, and in the case of Louisa Dunne, her murder as well,” Dave Marchant of Avon and Somerset Police told the PA news agency.
“I think there’s every possibility that there are other offences out there – over the 60s, 70s, however long a time period – which Mr Headley could be culpable for.”
Headline
Hope Dashed As Norwegian Company Apologizes For ‘Mistakenly Telling’ Thousands They Won Big On Lottery
Published
17 hours agoon
June 30, 2025By
Editor
A Norwegian lottery company on Monday apologised to 47,000 crestfallen gamblers who were mistakenly told they had won huge sums in a lottery, the firm blaming a currency conversion error.
State-owned gambling group Norsk Tipping said they had published incorrect prize amounts after a Eurojackpot draw on Friday because of an error converting from euro cents to Norwegian kroner.
The winnings had been multiplied by 100 instead of being divided by 100, the company said.
Among the disappointed was Ole Fredrik Sveen, who was on holiday in Greece when he received a message from Norsk Tipping that he had won 1.2 million kroner ($119,000).
READ ALSO:My Husband Starved Me, Beat, Left Me Stark Naked After Tearing My Clothes, Woman Tells Court
“I thought: ‘Wow, is it finally my turn? Could it be true?’ I go onto the Norsk Tipping website, and there it says in black and white: ‘Congratulations, you have won!’,” Sveen told public broadcaster NRK on Monday.
In reality, he had won 125 kroner ($12).
On Monday, Sveen and the 47,000 others received apologies by text message from Norsk Tipping for the snafu.
“The apology was a poor consolation. They should have sent it out after the mistake, not today,” he said.
The Lottery Authority said Monday it had launched a review to determine if gambling laws had been broken, and Culture Minister Lubna Jaffery called the error “totally unacceptable”.
READ ALSO:Nigerians React As Police Allegedly Seal PDP National Secretariat
The firm’s chief executive Tonje Sagstuen resigned on Saturday after the scandal, leaving acting chief executive Vegar Strand to apologise on Monday.
Strand said his company’s state ownership made the mistake particularly problematic, noting that the firm was “entirely dependent on the trust of the population”.
“We have deeply disappointed our customers and take full responsibility for rectifying the situation. Such errors are serious for a company that is supposed to manage the trust of Norwegians,” Strand said.
“The work to rebuild trust again has the highest priority going forward.”
AFP
Headline
Musk Renews Attack On Trump, Says ‘Big, Beautiful Bill Utterly Insane’
Published
18 hours agoon
June 30, 2025By
Editor
Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk has renewed his public criticism of United States President Donald Trump, taking aim at the administration’s controversial “Big, Beautiful Bill,” which recently cleared a critical hurdle in the Senate, TIMES reported.
In a post on X on Saturday, Musk denounced the 940-page legislative package as economically harmful, claiming it would severely damage emerging industries while supporting outdated sectors.
“The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country,” he wrote to his more than 220 million followers.
He further described the legislation as “utterly insane and destructive.”
READ ALSO:Elon Musk Unveils 29 Additional Starlink Satellites
The senate narrowly voted 51–49 to advance the bill on Saturday night, following extended negotiations among Republicans. Vice President J.D Vance was present to cast a tie-breaking vote, though it was ultimately not required.
Musk, who once served as head of the Department of Government Efficiency under Trump, left the administration after a high-profile fallout and has since emerged as one of the bill’s fiercest opponents.
He described the measure as “political suicide” for Republicans and warned that it would raise the national debt ceiling by $5 trillion — the largest such increase in US history. “America is in the fast lane to debt slavery,” he added.
Responding in an interview aired Sunday on Fox News Sunday Morning Futures, Trump attempted to defuse the tension. “I haven’t spoken to him much, but I think Elon is a wonderful guy,” he said. Trump also suggested Musk’s frustration stemmed from disagreements over recent changes to electric vehicle mandates.
READ ALSO:Elon Musk Unveils 29 Additional Starlink Satellites
Musk’s opposition to the bill is not new. Earlier in June, he urged Americans to contact their representatives, calling the legislation a “massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill.”
Despite the bill’s advancement in the Senate, it faces continued resistance. Senate Democrats have slowed proceedings by demanding the entire bill be read aloud in protest.
“If Senate Republicans won’t tell the American people what’s in this bill, then Democrats are going to force this chamber to read it from start to finish,” said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer
- OPINION: Col. Umar, Tinubu And Sycophants
- PHOTOS: Peace Restored In Delta Community As Council Boss, Takeme, Wades In
- JUST IN: Dangote Refinery Slashes Petrol Price
- Ondo Confirms Petitions Seeking Coroner’s Inquest Into Akeredolu’s Death
- FG Gives Overstaying Foreigners Ultimatum To Regularise Visa
- 92-year-old Convicted For 1967 Killing In UK’s Oldest Cases
- I’m Not Coming, Speed Darlington Defies NAPTIP Arrest Warrant
- Lawyer Asks Court To Void EFCC, NSCDC Acts
- Oyetola Unveils NPA Governing Board, Urges Reform, Unity
- Hope Dashed As Norwegian Company Apologizes For ‘Mistakenly Telling’ Thousands They Won Big On Lottery
About Us
Trending
- News4 days ago
Arson: Man To Pay N150m For Burning FRSC Patrol Vehicle In Bauchi
- Politics4 days ago
BREAKING: Confusion As APC Chair, Ganduje Resigns
- Politics4 days ago
‘Peace Has Returned To Rivers’ — Wike, Fubara Speak After Meeting Tinubu
- News2 days ago
Auchi Poly Mass Comm Class of 2006 Holds Maiden Reunion in Benin
- News5 days ago
Full List Of Schengen Countries Offering 5-yr Visa Programme
- News5 days ago
Senate Confirms Chairman, MD Of South-South Development Commission, Others
- News2 days ago
NSCDC, Immigration, Others: FG Postpones Recruitment, Changes Portal
- News5 days ago
Strike: NLC To Shutdown FCT After Tinubu’s Project Inaugurations Labour
- Sports4 days ago
Chelsea Set To Offload Jackson, Madueke, 8 Others [See list]
- Metro4 days ago
NAPTIP Declares Speed Darlington Wanted For Tape, Cyberbullying