Bad news from Afghanistan:

Afghanistan’s upper house of parliament has issued a statement backing a death sentence for a journalist for blasphemy in northern Afghanistan.
Pervez Kambakhsh, 23, was convicted last week of downloading and distributing an article insulting Islam. He has denied the charge.

Kambakhsh is a university student and journalist. He was not represented by a lawyer during his trial. In a champion understatement, his brother reports that the young man is “very concerned about his future.”