A blogger in Saudi Arabia is to receive 1,000 lashes as punishment for insulting Islam.
Raif Badawi failed in his Supreme Court appeal today to overturn the ruling handed down last year, Al Jazeera reports.
The judge also upheld the sentence of 10 years in prison.
Mr Badawi is an activist and creator of the website Free Saudi Liberals.
In January the blogger received 50 of his lashes, but ill health has meant the remaining 950 lashes of his punishment have been postponed.
The case has provoked international outrage, with the United Nations among the organisations calling for Mr Badawi to be pardoned.
Mr Badawi's wife, Ensaf Haidar, spoke to Amnesty International, who have been campaigning for the blogger's release. Ensaf said, "Raif told me he is in a lot of pain. He said that when he was being flogged he took the pain silently and rose above it, so that history will know that he did not react to their punishment.
"His health is poor and he cannot take another round of lashes," she added.
