Saudi bars under-18s from cafes in capital

Saudi authorities have decided to ban persons under the age of 18 to go into coffee shops in the capital Riyadh and warned cafes which violated the decision could be shut down, a newspaper in the Gulf Kingdom reported on Sunday.

The Arabic language daily 'Al Watan' said authorities also said coffee shops would not have access to any satellite TV facilities except Arabsat.

“A government committee has issued a decision banning the transmission of Nilesat TV channels at cafes and restricting TV channels to Arabsat,” it said.

“The committee has also told cafes not to admit persons under 18 years of age and warned that cafes which violate the decision would be shut down permanently,” the paper added without mentioning reasons for such a move.

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