Saudi release of prominent activist comes amid effort to rebrand for Biden era

BEIRUT — Saudi Arabia released Loujain al-Hathloul, one of the country's most prominent women's rights activists, from prison on Wednesday in the clearest sign yet that the kingdom's leaders were taking steps to assuage President Biden's complaints about human rights violations.

Hathloul, 31, has been among the most visible faces of an unrelenting Saudi crackdown on human rights advocates, dissidents and civil society activists. Her imprisonment, which lasted 1,001 days, and her allegations that she had been tortured, sparked an international outcry.