Not The BBC News: 17 March 2014

A Pakistani court has agreed to hear an appeal by a Christian woman against her death sentence for alleged blasphemy, four years after she was convicted and jailed. She was accused of defiling the name of Allah during an argument with Muslim co-workers. The case has a very high profile in Pakistan because Christians blame blasphemy laws for much of the persecution that they suffer. Two senior politicians who have called for changes to the blasphemy laws in the past four years have been murdered – one by his own guard.

Guinness has withdrawn sponsorship from the St. Patrick’s Day parade in New York because of a ban on gay rights groups carrying banners. The ban is longstanding, but several groups had hoped it might be overturned this year. Some LGBT groups plan to protest against the parade, while others planned to dump Guinness off the shelves of the Stonewall Inn, where the gay rights movement was founded; the latter threat has been abandoned now that Guinness has withdrawn support. New York’s mayor will not attend the parade in protest, but Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny will attend; he said, “The parade is about our Irishness, not about sexuality.”

Following the outcry over Iran’s mistreatment of an Iranian-American pastor, a family member who went to the prison to ask why the pastor was being denied medical care was told that the violent treatment he received in hospital was a “mistake.” The family member was allowed a short visit to the pastor in hospital; the pastor was not shackled but had received no medical treatment.

Another Christian-run bed and breakfast in the UK is to take their “married couples only” policy to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. The B&B owners in Llandrindod Wells, Wales received a letter from the Equalities and Human  Rights Commission telling them that their double-bedroom policy illegally discriminates against gay couples. The EHRC say they were forced to act after receiving a complaint, following the Supreme Court ruling regarding the similar policy applied by Christian (now ex-) B&B owners in Cornwall. The B&B owners have temporarily replaced all double beds with singles in their property, which means that they discriminate equally against all couples.

A film about to be released in South Korea depicts the sufferings of Christians in North Korea, in a fictional but realistic storyline. North Korea is acknowledged as the most hostile regime towards Christians in the entire world. The film “The Apostle: He Was Anointed By God” aims to depict all the ways that people cope with the regime in North Korea: those who just want to pay off the authorities; those who hide their faith; those who praise Kim Jong-Il in authorised “churches”; the young soldier who attends underground church services in uniform; and those who try to flee across the mountainous border with China.

Meanwhile, the film “Noah” starring Russell Crowe has been banned in several Gulf Arab states for offending Muslim sensibilities – notably by personifying God, which is not permitted in Islam.

In sport, Great Britain won a total of six medals at the Winter Paralympics, greatly exceeding the funding agency’s target of two. The individual star of the games was Brian McKeever of Canada, a visually impaired cross country skier who won three gold medals to take his total of Winter Paralympic medals to twelve – ten gold and two silver.

And finally, a 54-year-old cancer sufferer who was given days to live decided he wanted to watch his favourite football team, Bristol City, one last time – and he wanted them to win so badly that he negotiated access to the dressing room before the game. He told the players that he had supported City for 30 years; that they should remember how lucky they were; and that they owed it to the fans to fight. Several players could not hold back tears, and they eventually won 2-1.