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InterNations
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Extra! King Abdullah Of Saudi Arabia Dies

"The Good King leaves, Salman becomes Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques," Asharq Al-Awsat writes on its front page after King of Saudi Arabia Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud died early Friday at age 90, three weeks after being hospitalized for pneumonia.

One of the many sons of Ibn Saud, the founder of modern Saudi Arabia, Abdullah ascended to the throne on Aug. 1, 2005. A "cautious reformer who succeeded in securing broader freedoms in the conservative kingdom but fell short in gaining greater independence for women," is how CNN remembered Abdullah.

Abdullah is succeeded by his 79-year-old half-brother Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, whose 2012 nomination as Crown Prince was described by Reuters as a sign that Abdullah's cautious reforms were likely to continue.

ABOUT THE SOURCE: Launched in London in 1978, and owned by a member of the Saudi royal family, Asharq Al-Awsat is one of the leading pan-Arab daily newspapers, printed in 14 locations internationally.

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Society

Iran's War On Abortion Rights, A Toxic Mix Of Theocracy And Demographic Panic

Ending a pregnancy has become a major complication, and a crime, for Iranian women who cannot or will not have children in a country wracked by socio-economic woes and a leadership.

photo of a young child surrounded by women in chadors

Iran's government wants to boost the birth rate at all costs

Office of Supreme Leader/ZUMA
Firoozeh Nordstrom

Keen to boost the population, Iran's Islamic regime has reversed its half-hearted family planning policies of earlier years and is curbing birth control with measures that include banning abortion.

Its (2021) Law to Support the Family and Rejuvenate the Population (Qanun-e hemayat az khanevadeh va javani-e jam'iyat) threatens to fine the women who want to abort, and fine, imprison, and dismiss the performing physician, if the pregnancy is not deemed to be life-threatening. The law also bans contraceptives.

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The measures are in line with the dictates of Iran's Supreme leader, Ali Khamenei. He was already denouncing birth control policies by 2018-19, though conservative elements among Iran's rulers have always dismissed birth control as a piece of Western corruption.

Today, measures to boost families include land and credit incentives for young couples, but it is difficult to say how far they will counter a marked reluctance among Iranians to marry and procreate. Kayhan-London had an online conversation with individuals affected by the new rules in Iran.

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