Woman cleared of blasphemy

PAKISTAN’S top court has acquitted a Christian woman who was sentenced to death in 2010 on blasphemy charges, a landmark ruling that could ignite mass protests by hardline Islamists.

Asia Bibi, 47, is now expected to leave the country. The case arose after she went to get water for her and fellow farm workers on a hot day in 2009.

Two Muslim women refused to drink from a container used by a Christian, and a few days later, a mob accused her of blasphemy. She was convicted and sentenced to death.