
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has died aged 90, and world leaders are falling over themselves to praise him.
He has been succeeded by his half-brother Prince Salman, 79, who will now rule a country where women are banned from driving, political bloggers are publicly flogged, homosexuality is punishable by death, and public beheadings are regularly carried out.
Prince Charles is set to attend the funeral of Abdullah - a man he counted as a personal friend - in Riyadh later today, while flags above Buckingham Palace flew at half-mast out of respect for the dead king.
Here are some of the international responses to Abdullah's death:
Very saddened by his death, I had met him several times and he's going to leave a big legacy but a big loss as well.
He was a great leader implemented lots of reforms at home and in a very discreet way he was a strong advocate of women, it was very gradual, appropriately so probably for the country.
But I discussed that issued with him several times and he was a strong believer.
- Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund
On the back of what Ms Lagarde said, Abdullah did, in 2011, declare women could stand - and vote - in local elections due to take place this year. But they will not be able to drive to the polling station.