The World Council of Churches is deeply concerned about the rejection of an appeal against the blasphemy death sentence for Pakistani Christian woman Asia Bibi.

Lawyers for Mohammed Asghar, a British man with severe mental health problems sentenced to death in Pakistan on blasphemy charges, finally gained access to their client yesterday (28 January).

The Government must urgently act to protect an elderly, British man with severe mental health problems sentenced to death for blasphemy in Pakistan, says Reprieve.

Back in September, there were expressions across the world of what was dubbed 'Muslim rage' by the media, following the tawdry trailer for a film entitled 'Innocence of Muslims' ostensibly intended to defame the Muslim prophet Muhammad and insult the ummah of Islam worldwide. But Dr Harry Hagopian paints a much deeper and wider picture of Muslim discontents and provocations experienced throughout the Middle East and North Africa and elsewhere. Challenging simplistic 'clash of civilisations' theses, he says that what we need is not further disengagement between peoples and cultures, but rather further re-engagement.