Not The BBC News: 11 November 2014

A possible major embarrassment for the United Nations is brewing in Kenya over anti-tetanus vaccines. The vaccines are being offered by two United Nations funded organisations, the World Health Organisation and UNICEF; the jabs are (allegedly) to prevent neo-natal tetanus, and so are only offered to women of childbearing age. They also require five inoculations rather than the usual three. Because of these unusual features, a Nairobi clinic sent six samples of the vaccine to laboratories in South Africa, and were told that all six samples included HCG, a drug that induces miscarriages. Kenya’s bishops have accused the UN of carrying out a covert mass sterilisation programme and advised their congregations not to have the injections. However, the Kenyan government has said the vaccine is safe and have referred to women who had the injections and became pregnant within six months.

Dr Myles Munroe, head of the Pentecostal Bahamian Faith Ministries International, has been killed in a private plane crash along with his wife and daughter, and three other leaders from the ministry. The plane apparently clipped a crane near the docks. Munroe’s ministry was especially well known in Africa.

The Pope has effectively demoted a Catholic cardinal who was the strongest English-speaking supporter of pro-life issues in the College of Cardinals. Raymond Burke, an American, was especially known for his insistence on the doctrine that Mass should be denied to supporters of abortion and same-sex marriage, which was at odds with the Pope’s recent attempts to promote a less confrontational dialogue on those subjects. Burke has been moved to a largely ceremonial position in Malta, and has been replaced by a French cardinal.

In 2003, the Scottish government was considering legalising prostitution, and it commissioned a study of other countries where such moves have been made. The study looked at Victoria, Australia, where prostitution had recently been legalised; Ireland, where selling sex was illegal but buying it was (in most circumstances) not; Sweden, where buying sex was illegal but selling it was not; and the Netherlands. The study found that the only country where there had been any success in reducing prostitution, and also the associated evils of people trafficking and organised crime, was Sweden. The key to Sweden’s success seemed to be that the legislation had been passed as part of a package of preventing-violence-against-women legislation, and that significant funds had been made available to educate the public (and the police) in seeing prostitution as a sex crime perpetrated by men. Funds were also provided to assist prostitutes who wanted to leave the industry. In the Netherlands, the study found, assistance funds had often been promised but never materialised, and almost 80% of prostitutes said they wanted to leave the industry; in Victoria, the legalisation of prostitution caused  a huge increase in people trafficking and organised crime.

A new film is coming out early next year that follows Martin Luther King’s campaign and march for equal voting rights. “Selma” stars David Oyelowo, Carmen Ejogo and Oprah Winfrey.

In the USA, TV producers Roma Downey and Mark Burnett has produced a new TV series which aims to highlight the role of women in the Bible. The series is called  “The Red Tent”; it stars Minnie Driver as Dinah, the daughter of Leah and Jacob. The series will open next month with a special program called “Women of the Bible”, which will include stories of Eve, Sara, Rahab, Mary Magdalene and Mary as well as interviews with today's women leaders of faith, including Christine Caine and Priscilla Shirer (Going Beyond Ministries); Eva Rodriguez (Latino Evangelical Women's Association); Joyce Meyer;  Kay Warren (Saddleback Church); and Victoria Osteen (Lakewood Church).

In technology news, a Dutch Bitcoin entrepreneur has experimented with the ultimate portable wallet – he has had computer chips implanted in his skin. The Near Field Communication chips can be read using a smartphone. He has programmed his alarm clock so that it will only turn off if he places both of his chips near it, and he plans to install keyless access to his house – but he decided that even these chips are not a secure place to store Bitcoins, because the technology is not yet secure enough for him to store his private Bitcoin encryption key on the chips.

And finally, on the 100^th anniversary of the end of World War 1, and just after the 25^th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, I wish all my readers a chance to enjoy the freedom that has been won for them, and the wisdom to use it well.