Saudi women will from today drive to their freedom

 

Daniah al-Ghalbi, a newly-licensed Saudi woman driver, during a test-drive in the Red Sea resort of Jeddah, a day before the lifting of a ban on women driving in the conservative Arab kingdom. Saudi Arabia will allow women to drive from today, ending the world's only ban on female motorists. [AFP] 

Women in Saudi Arabia will today take to the steering wheel for the first time as the ultra-conservative kingdom starts sweeping economic and social reforms, overturning longstanding restrictions rooted in a rigid interpretation of Islam.