An Appeal Court in Sudan has overturned the death sentence of a woman who killed her husband after he allegedly raped her, her lawyer says.
Noura Hussein, 19, was instead sentenced to five years in jail, lawyer Abdelaha Mohamad said.
Her mother, Zainab Ahmed, told the BBC she was happy her daughter’s life had been spared.
International celebrities had backed an online campaign, #JusticeforNoura, to demand Ms. Hussein’s release.
Last month, an Islamic court had sentenced her to death by hanging, following her conviction for the premeditated murder of her husband, Abdulrahman Mohamed Hammad.
Ms. Hussein said her husband had recruited some of his own cousins who allegedly held her down as he raped her.
When he allegedly attempted to do the same the following day she lashed out at him with a knife and stabbed him to death.
Ms. Hussein was forced into the marriage at the age of 16.
Her husband, who was also her cousin, was 16 years older.
According to a 2017 report by the UN’s children’s fund UNICEF, one third of Sudanese girls are married before they turn 18.
In a statement, Charity Amnesty International called the decision “hugely welcome news,” but said the five years in prison was a “disproportionate punishment.”
It urged the country to reform its laws on marriage and marital rape “so that victims are not the ones who are penalized.”
Speaking to the BBC, Ms. Hussein’s mother said her daughter had “hated herself” after her husband first raped her.
“She had got a knife ready to take her own life if he touched her again,” Zainab Ahmed said.
After the husband’s death, Ms. Hussein ran to her family’s home to tell them what had happened.
Fearing revenge, her father took their whole family to the police station in a bid to protect them – where she was instead arrested.
Her jail sentence caused international outrage, with celebrities like Naomi Campbell and Emma Watson tweeting their support for Ms Hussein.
Deadly explosion at Texas hospital leaves one dead
One person has been killed and several others injured in an explosion at a hospital in the US state of Texas, officials say.
The blast occurred at about 14:30 local time (19:30 GMT) on Tuesday in an area under construction at the facility in the city of Gatesville.
One eyewitness said an electrical generator had blown up at the site.
The hospital and nearby nursing homes were evacuated and power was reportedly lost in some areas of Gatesville.
Images and footage of the incident shared on social media showed black smoke billowing from the grounds of Coryell Memorial Hospital.
Initial reports suggested that the blast occurred in an area on the hospital grounds where a new wing was being built.
Investigators are said to be looking at a boiler room that was under construction.
The Coryell County emergency management co-ordinator, Bob Harrell, said some of those injured had suffered severe burns and were taken to the Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, the Associated Press news agency reported.
Search dogs will examine the wreckage of the wing despite all workers being accounted for, Mr. Harrell added.
Migrant family separations: States sue Trump administration
Seventeen US states have sued the Trump administration over its “cruel and unlawful” break-up of migrant families.
Democratic attorneys general from states including Washington, New York and California launched the lawsuit.
The legal action objects to the policy of refusing entry to asylum seekers at the US-Mexico border.
Meanwhile, Vice-President Mike Pence has warned undocumented immigrants not to “risk the lives of your children” by trying to enter the US illegally.
At a news conference in Brazil, Mr. Pence said he had a message “straight from my heart” for those planning a journey to America: “If you can’t come legally, don’t come at all.”
“Don’t risk your lives or the lives of your children by trying to come to the United States on a road run by drug smugglers and human traffickers,” Mr. Pence added.
Massachusetts, Delaware, Iowa, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Virginia plus the District of Columbia are the other states suing President Donald Trump’s administration.
In legal action filed on Tuesday with the US District Court in Seattle, Washington, Mr. Trump’s 20 June order to keep migrant families together was also described as “illusory.”
It is the first legal challenge over family separation from the states, which argue that the Republican president’s executive order denies migrant families due process and the right to seek asylum.
Last week, Mr. Trump called for speedy deportations, just days after he issued the executive order.
States are now seeking a court order to reunite families and end the separation practice by declaring it “contrary to the Constitution.”
Tuesday’s lawsuit states that Mr. Trump’s order does not mandate the end of family separation and says nothing about reuniting families who have already been separated.
It also calls the policy “an affront” to the states’ interests in maintaining standards of care for children and preserving parent-child relationships.
“The policy and the administration’s related conduct, caused severe and immediate harm to the States and their residents.”
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UN: Saudi-led coalition behind most Yemen child casualties
A Saudi-led coaltion was responsible for more than half of child deaths and injuries in war-torn Yemen last year, according to a new United Nations report exclusively obtained by Al Jazeera.
The annual “Children and Armed Conflict” report, which shines the spotlight on child victims around the world, found that a total of 1,316 children were killed and maimed in the Arab world’s poorest country in 2017.
Saudi Arabia, together with several other Arab nations, launched a military campaign in 2015 in support of Yemen’s internationally recognised government, aiming to roll back advances made by Houthi rebels after they overran much of the country in 2014.
Most countries have since withdrawn their forces from the US-backed coalition, with only Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates conducting attacks in Yemen.
The UN report was compiled by the staff of Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and submitted to the Security Council on Monday night.
It verified that out of the 552 children killed (398 boys, 154 girls), the majority – 370 – were attributed to the coalition, which was also blamed for 300 child injuries.
The Houthis were responsible for 83 children killed and 241 wounded; the pro-government Popular Resistance group for 41 casualties; other international forces fighting for Yemen’s government for 19 casualties; al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) for 10 casualties; and the Yemeni Armed Forces, among other parties, for four casualties.
Fifty-one per cent of the total 1,316 casualties were caused by air strikes, the report said.
The second leading cause was ground fighting, including shelling and shooting (136 killed, 334 injured), followed by explosive remnants of war and mines (27 killed, 119 injured).
The report also accused both the Houthis and forces from the Saudi-Emirati coalition of recruiting 842 cases of child soldiers – some as young as 11 years old.
Most of the children were aged between 15 and 17, and nearly two thirds of them (534) were fighting in the ranks of the Houthi militia group.
Child soldiers were also used by the Yemeni armed forces (105) and the Security Belt Forces (142), a militia recruited by the UAE.