Guardian story helped to draw attention to planned hanging of Goli Kouhkan over death of abusive husband

A child bride who was due to be executed this month in Iran over the death of her husband has had her life spared by his parents, who were paid the equivalent of £70,000 in exchange for their forgiveness.

Goli Kouhkan, 25, has been on death row in Gorgan central prison in northern Iran for the past seven years. At the age of 18 she was arrested over allegedly participating in the killing of her abusive husband, Alireza Abil, in May 2018, and sentenced to qisas – retribution-in-kind.

Despite the challenges of working in a healthcare system in crisis, Kudzai Kanyepi has resisted the temptation to move abroad

When Dr Kudzai Kanyepi qualified as Zimbabwe’s first female cardiothoracic surgeon four years ago, she was filled with pride and anticipation after succeeding in an area long dominated by men. She was only the 12th woman in Africa to qualify in the field – four more have joined her since.

Even now, with 100 operations under her belt, the reality of working in a role in which she confronts misogyny and discrimination daily has not dented Kanyepi’s love of the surgical theatre.

While fewer women than men are incarcerated, their numbers are rising faster and most often for non-violent offences

• Experts warn of ‘global crisis’ as number of women in prison nears one million

More than 733,000 women and girls are held in penal institutions globally, according to the Institute for Crime and Justice Policy Research, either as pre-trial detainees or remand prisoners, or having been convicted and sentenced. The actual total is thought to be much higher, as figures for five countries are not available and those for China are incomplete.

As casualties mount, recruitment is expanding. Three women talk about why they signed up for a brutal combat environment

Women have been involved in Ukraine’s drone operations since the early months of the full-scale invasion, but as shortages in the military increase their presence has grown, particularly in FPV (first-person-view) attack units.

Casualty figures are not disclosed but widely understood to be high, and Ukraine is becoming reliant on civilians to fill roles that once belonged to trained military personnel. A short but intensive 15-day course is given to a trainee operator for frontline deployment, a turnaround that reflects the urgent need.

Indoor and outdoor training courses set up for trainee pilots at a drone school

Women’s groups welcomed the announcement on the eve of the international leaders’ summit in Johannesburg

Hundreds of women gathered in cities across South Africa on Friday to protest against gender-based violence in the country before the G20 summit in Johannesburg this weekend.

Demonstrators turned out in 15 locations – including Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban – wearing black as a sign of “mourning and resistance”.