"At the same time the authorities try to minimise discussion of economic problems. Three young Saudi film-makers were arrested in October for making a short film about poverty in the kingdom and posting it online. Some news organisations were banned from reporting the recent case of a Saudi man attempting to sell his son on Facebook to raise money for the rest of his family. The authorities like to point out that incomes are rising. According to the Brookings Institution’s annual MetroMonitor report, the Washington-based think-tank’s ranking of global cities by economic performance, the only city worldwide to outperform the kingdom’s two largest last year was Shanghai. Riyadh recorded a 7.8% rise in incomes.
But not all problems are economic. Public anger is mounting at the religious police poking their noses into private lives. Activists for women’s rights are calling loudly for better treatment and internet scribes are testing the limits of free speech." (thanks Mohammad)
