AP – For the first time, women in Saudi Arabia will not need a male guardian’s approval to run or vote in municipal elections in 2015, an official said. The official, Fahad al-Anzi, added that King Abdullah had already approved the advance in women’s rights. Mr. Anzi is a member of the Shura Council, an all-male consultative body with no legislative powers. The state-run newspaper Al-Watan announced the change on Wednesday. Even so, Saudi women cannot travel, work, study abroad, marry, divorce or gain admittance to a public hospital without permission from a man.