Saudi King Abdullah has overturned a court ruling sentencing a Saudi woman to be lashed 10 times for defying the kingdom's ban on female drivers, a government official said today. The official declined to elaborate on the monarch's decision. A Saudi court yesterday found Shaima Jastaina guilty of violating the driving ban, and sentenced her to 10 lashes. The verdict took Saudi women by surprise, coming just after King Abdullah promised to protect women's rights and decreed that women would be allowed to participate in municipal elections in 2015. (More Saudi Arabia stories.)