A POPULAR Saudi newsreader has pardoned her husband for beating her almost to death, allowing his release from prison after less than three months. In a case that has broken Saudi taboos and prompted a tightening of laws to protect women, Rania al-Baz, a presenter with Saudi Television’s Channel One, withdrew her right for monetary compensation. She also waived the right under Sharia (Islamic law) to inflict a beating of equal severity on her husband, Mohammed al-Fallatta, and requested his release. The television presenter was savagely beaten on April 4 because she kept answering the phone at the family home....