The following lists events in the year 2018 in Saudi Arabia.
Incumbents Monarch: Salman Crown Prince: Mohammad bin Salman
Events January 1 January – Saudi Arabia introduces a 5% value-added tax (VAT) for the first time, with exemptions for basic necessities, medical, cultural, educational products, and financial services. 12 January – Women were allowed to gather at a football game for the first time due to easing of the strict gender separation rules. 24 January – Dozens of camels were disqualified from a beauty pageant near the capital of Riyadh following reports about injections of botox to make camels more attractive. Several men are arrested after a video allegedly showing a gay wedding circulated online. Columnist Salah al-Shehi is arrested and later sentenced to five years in prison for alleging corruption in the royal court.
February 26 February – Saudi Arabia appears before the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women to defend its record; the committee urged reforms including abolishing male guardianship and adopting a unified family code.
March 26 March – The Houthis launch a barrage of rockets at Saudi Arabia, killing an Egyptian man and leaving two others wounded in Riyadh.
April 30 April – VOX Cinemas opens Saudi Arabia's first multiplex cinema following the lifting of a 35-year cinema ban.
May 15 May – Authorities launch arrests of prominent women's rights activists, including Loujain al-Hathloul and Aziza al-Yousef, as part of a crackdown on the women's rights movement. 27 May – The Red Sea tourism project is incorporated as a closed joint-stock company.
June 24 June – The ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia is lifted, allowing women to legally drive across the Kingdom. Historian and women's rights advocate Hatoon al-Fassi is arrested after commenting on Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's reforms in the New York Times.
July Activists Samar Badawi and Nassima al-Sadah are arrested for opposing male guardianship laws.
August Saudi Arabia withdraws its ambassador from Canada, restricts trade and travel, and repatriates Saudis following Canadian calls for release of detained human rights activists.
September 17 September – The Red Sea Development forms a 12-member advisory board. Prosecutors formally request the death penalty for prominent dissident clerics Salman al-Awdah and Awad al-Qarni.
October 2 October – Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi enters the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and is murdered. Turkish intelligence records and later releases the details implicating Saudi officials. 23 October – The Future Investment Initiative (FII) summit in Riyadh sees the signing of deals worth over $50 billion in energy and infrastructure sectors.
Deaths
23 January – Mohammed Al-Mfarah, actor (b. 1945). 2 October – Jamal Khashoggi, journalist (b. 1958) 27 November – Sultan Al-Bargan, football player (b. 1983). 22 December – Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Prince (b. 1931).
References