For all those who think that women’s emancipation in Islamic countries is an unattainable goal, think again. Nicholas Schmidle using the example of Effat College, an all girls school in Jeddah, explains how slowly but surely Saudi Arabia is going through a social transition—especially with regard to women’s rights. At Effat school, girls play sports and do not cover their heads, in fact some even shake hands with male guests! Interestingly, the present Saudi establishment also wants cordial relations between Jews and Muslims.

Situation Terminal, The New Yorker

Only a traveller himself can understand the significance of a well-designed airport. In the last few years, however, with an increasing number of travellers, airports in the US and UK are becoming passenger ‘unfriendly’, writes Paul Goldberger. The callous attitude of architects, airport authorities and airlines towards the comfort and convenience of travellers is responsible for this situation. Norman Foster, the man responsible for designing terminal 3 of Beijing airport has got it right, though. He has seen to it that the terminal has a train station connected to downtown Beijing, that there are luxury shops of every kind, that the aesthetic appeal of the terminal is of the highest standard and most importantly, the design of the terminal is such that no passenger can get lost.

BLOG: Overbreadth

Overbreadth is a political satire blog. The funniest post this week is ‘The Annotated Bush: Climate Change’ by Cameron Fredman. The post lampoons US President, George W Bush’s policies on climate change, by comparing what the President said in his Rose Garden Address on Climate change with what he has actually done.