>Also on the way out she had to remove her shoes but they didn't check her laptop. On the way back they checked her laptop but not her shoes.

Laptops always go through x-ray, and that's pretty much the only rule that's the same everywhere :). The other rule, about non-western names, is left to the discretion of the lady who issues the boarding pass, who will generally mark anyone with such a name with a S on the pass, which means "Search". That's why I go for e-ticket and pick it from a machine whenever I can - it's somehow assumed that if I passed my card through it, I'm not a suspect anymore.

I once travelled (back in 1999) with a guy who set the metal detector off by his body. The stick wouldn't buzz, but the door frame did, each time. Not even his doctor had any clue as to what would cause this.