Taliban gunmen in Pakistan shot and seriously wounded a 14-year-old schoolgirl who rose to fame for speaking out against the militants.
Malala Yousufzai was shot in the head and neck when gunmen fired on her school bus in the Swat valley, north-west of the capital, Islamabad. Two other girls were also wounded.
Ms Yousufzai spoke out against the Pakistani Taliban at a time when even the Government seemed to be appeasing the hardliners.
The Government agreed to a ceasefire with the Taliban in Swat in early 2009, effectively recognising insurgent control of the valley whose lakes and mountains had long been a tourist attraction.
The Taliban set up courts, executed residents and closed girls' schools, including the one Ms Yousufzai attended.
A documentary team filmed her crying as she explained her ambition to be a doctor. She said: "My friend came to me and said, 'Answer me honestly, is our school going to be attacked by the Taliban?'."
Ms Yousufzai, then 11, wrote in a blog: "During the morning assembly we were told not to wear colourful clothes as the Taliban would object."
The army retook control of Swat that year, and Ms Yousufzai received the country's highest civilian award.
Doctors were struggling to save Yousufzai, said Lal Noor, a doctor at the Saidu Sharif Teaching Hospital.
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