The Nobel peace laureate Malala Yousafzai has made a tearful return to Pakistan in her first visit to her native country since she was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman in 2012 for advocating education for girls.

Yousafzai, travelling with her father and younger brother, met the prime minister, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, in the capital, Islamabad, before giving a brief speech on national television. “It’s the happiest day of my life. I still can’t believe it’s happening,” she said, wiping away tears. I don’t normally cry … I’m still 20 years old but I’ve seen so many things in life,” she added. Yousafzai spoke of the importance of education and about the efforts of her charitable foundation to help girls, often switching between English and the Pashto and Urdu languages. “Welcome home,” Abbasi told Yousafzai. “When she went away, she was a child of 12. She has returned as the most prominent citizen of Pakistan.”(Theguardian)…[+]