Not The BBC News: 21 January 2014

The UK Government has launched a consultation on new guidelines for abortions. Current guidelines say that there is no requirement (although it is “good practice”) for doctors to meet the pregnant woman before authorising an abortion; the proposed new guidelines suggest that there should be no legal requirement (only an “expectation”) that doctors will give individual requests any active thought before approving them.  The document also suggests that nurses could perform abortions. Critics have called this a charter for abortion on demand, and a Conservative MP has said, “These guidelines remove the key safeguard from the Abortion Act 1967.” The consultation was launched before Christmas, without notifying any groups who were likely to be interested, and closes at the end of January.

The US Congress has allocated $1 million to set up a prison reform foundation, named after Charles Colson. Colson, who was a former US presidential advisor, jailbird (where he became a Christian) and prison reform campaigner, died last year.

Police in the Philippines have broken up a child sex abuse ring that streamed video of abuse live to 14 countries, including the UK, for payment. 15 children have been rescued; some had been prostituted by their own families for money. The investigation began last year after UK police paid a routine visit to the home of a registered sex offender and found indecent material including webcam recordings. Five other UK suspects have been arrested; two are dead; nine are still being investigated.

A US district judge has ruled that the state of Oklahoma’s ban on same sex marriages violates the U.S. Constitution’s equality clause. The ban was introduced in 2004 following a 76% vote in favour of it. The decision is to be appealed.

An Israeli newspaper has announced that archaeologists have located and excavated King David’s palace at Sha’arayim, which is mentioned in the Bible as belonging to the tribe of Simeon “until the reign of David.” The name of the town means “two gates”, and the excavated town does indeed have two gates. It also has a structure in the centre of town which is the largest structure from the 10th century BC found in the Kingdom of Judah.

In sport, Andy Murray has overcome the Australian heat to reach the quarter finals of the Australian Open, where he will play Roger Federer.

And finally, the Oscar nominations have been announced. There was a surprise nomination for a (very) low-budget Christian film called “Alone but not Alone”, which is based on a true story of two sisters captured by, and then escaping from, American Indians. The nomination is for Best Original Song for the title track. The song was sung in the film by Joni Eareckson Tada, who became a quadriplegic at the age of 17 and has since become a well-known Christian writer and broadcaster; her disability affects her lungs, so her husband actually had to push her diaphragm to help her reach the high notes in the song.