Saudi police raid Halloween party, arrest 17

Saudi police have arrested 17 women from the Phillippines in the capital, Riyadh, for taking part in a Halloween party, the Philippines foreign ministry said on Monday.

The ministry said the women were detained on Friday evening after police raided the party in a compound following a complaint by neighbours.

It warned Filipino workers in the conservative kingdom "to respect the laws and traditions of their host countries... Saudi laws strictly prohibit unattached males and females from being seen together in public."

A Riyadh police spokesman told local media they were concerned by "disorderly conduct" and "the use of masks and strange costumes" at the party.

Images of the party showing people dressed in Halloween costumes have been widely shared on social media.

A recent social reform drive, which has seen cinemas reopened, music concerts organised with mixed-gender audiences permitted, and women allowed into sports stadiums, has been undermined by the kingdom's continued jailing of women activists and silencing of critics - as most recently shown by the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.