Los Angeles Times

Saudi women take the wheel as driving ban ends

Maha Aqeel joined 14 other women at a friend's place Saturday night in their hometown of Jeddah. A bit before midnight, they piled into five cars, waiting for the night to slide into Sunday. Once it did, Aqeel said, the women "were ready."

Switching drivers every five minutes or so, their convoy made its way through the city's crowded thoroughfares before heading to Jeddah's seaside boulevard. There they joined the crowds that had come to mark the lifting of the ban on women driving, a burdensome edict and long-standing public relations black eye for Saudi Arabia.

"I couldn't believe it finally happened, that

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