Taking a heavy toll on the people of somalia we have an exclusive report. Im brian thomas a very warm welcome to the show saudi arabia says it will begin allowing women to drive now its a big leap for the ultra conservative nation the only one to ban women from getting behind the wheel a royal decree announced on state t. V. Says the ban would be lifted in june and in the meantime a committee will be formed to work out how to implement this royal decree. The streets of saudi arabia have long been a battleground on one hand women wanting to drive on the other the religious conservatives who have called them too stupid their mobility a threat to society now it is the women who have won. King solomon has issued a decree giving them the right to apply for driving licenses and the freedom of the roads that will be implemented by june next year its a huge step for saudi arabia enough to warrant a special announcement at the United Nations you may be interested to know that a few minutes ago
Happens next also coming up a bit more freedom for women in saudi arabia the ultra conservative kingdom is finally going to let women drive activists have been fighting for that right for years. How the push to defeat just how this is taking a heavy toll on the people of somalia we have an exclusive report. Plus the long and winding road toward forming a government germanys general election last weekend means chancellor merkel has to persuade two other parties to join her conservatives could take months. Hello im terry martin good to have you with us Thailands Supreme Court has sentenced for Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to five years in jail she was found guilty of failing to stop corruption in a government rice subsidies scheme shinawatra was not present when the sentence was read out she fled the country in august when the verdict was originally due. Well for more on this story lets bring in our correspondent florian knows shes standing by for us in bangkok florian first of all
Sentenced to five years in jail but she fled into exile. And a woman to lead germanys opposition the social democrats select on they had knowledge of their left wing to head the group in parliament. Hello im terry martin good to have you with Us Saudi Arabia says its going to allow women to drive its a big leap forward for the ultra conservative nation the only one to bar women from getting behind the wheel a royal decree announced on state television said the ban would be lifted in june in the meantime a committee will be formed to work out how to implement that to create it came as something of a surprise well find out why its been issued at this time for us this report. The streets of saudi arabia have long been a battleground on one hand women wanting to drive on the other the religious conservatives who have called them too stupid their mobility a threat to society now it is the women who have won. King solomon has issued a decree giving them the right to apply for driving license
Finance minister both gun show could be out of his job as chancellor merkel seeks ways to sweeten the deal with potential Coalition Partners. I feel gail welcome to the program well get to those stories in just a moment well start though with some breaking news iraqi kurds have voted yes to an independent state and by an overwhelming majority according to the you Action Commission more than ninety two percent of voters cast their ballots in favor of independence the referendum took place in iraqs autonomous kurdistan region and disputed areas of Northern Iraq despite this the government in baghdad has refused to recognize the bout it. Now saudi arabia says it is going to allow women to drive this is a big leap forward for the ultra conservative nation the only one of the world with such a ban in place a royal decree says it will be lifted in june meaning that women will be able to apply for licenses without the permission of the male relatives the streets of saudi arabia have long been
Is this a sign of wider reform in this notoriously conservative take. On the European Commission office new proposals to fix the a used migration crisis the block is as divided as ever. Im phil gale welcome to the program an overwhelming majority of iraqi kurds have voted in favor of independence from iraq announcing the results of mondays referendum the Kurdish Election Commission said more than ninety two percent of voters i had elected to secede and have a year referendum took place in iraqs autonomous kurdistan region as well as disputed areas of Northern Iraq it was celebrations in the city of solo money as the results were announced Central Government in baghdad has opposed the referendum since its inception. More now from journalist a bigot svenson she joins us on the line from kirkuk one of the disputed parts of iraq where this fog was held welcome bigots so ninety two percent in favor of independence hows the result being seen where you are well the people are not ready surpri