At Saudi's "Davos in desert', foreign women avoid abayas

Many foreign women at Saudi Arabia's Davos-style investment conference have donned an array of colourful tunics, happily avoiding the austere black "abaya", a garment until recently obligatory in the ultra-conservative country. Alongside Saudis in traditional dress and foreign men in ties and suits, women from the ranks of business and policy-making are visiting Saudi Arabia at a time when its young leader is introducing some striking reforms. "This year, I noticed that a lot of females are not wearing the abaya," said Claire Zheng, who was representing a Chinese company specialising in "green energy" technology.