Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl shot in the head by the Taliban, spoke publicly for the first time today since she was attacked last October, saying in a video statement that she was recovering and thanked everyone for her "second life".
"It does not feel like I had a very big operation," she said in a short video statement, recorded yesterday just after her latest five-hour surgery to reconstruct her skull and restore her hearing at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.
In another message recorded before her surgery and released today, the 15-year-old said, "Today you can see that I am alive. I can speak, I can see you, I can see everyone and...I am getting better day by day. It's just because of the prayers of people."