Not The BBC News: 15 November 2014

A Texas oil magnate has died at the age of 88. Nelson Hunt was a lifelong Christian, and used some of his vast wealth to fund Christian projects. He funded the making of the “Jesus” film, and described it as his best ever investment: “it cost $22 million to make and over 200 million people have accepted Jesus after seeing it, so it cost me 11 cents a soul.” His other passions included horse breeding and racing; he founded the Breeder’s Cup specifically to provide a way for older horses to continue making money from racing.

Chinese authorities are not only demolishing church buildings but also arresting pastors, with the official Three Self state church being increasingly targeted. Zhang Shaojie, pastor of a church in Nanle County, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for “gathering a crowd to disrupt public order” and “committing fraud.” He appealed but his sentence was upheld – at a hearing that his lawyers were not told about. Now his daughter has been arrested and, according to a frantic text message, is being held at a hotel, possibly to prevent her from attending the Asia Pacific Economic Summit where Barack Obama will be present.

The spread of Ebola in Nigeria was stopped and the country is now Ebola-free, with churches playing a major role in the prevention campaign. The virus entered the country when an infected Liberian man arrived by air into the capital Lagos, and spread to 19 people, seven of whom died. But the Government swiftly ran a public education campaign about how to stop the spread of Ebola, using materials provided by Christian charity Tearfund and with church pastors helping to spread the message.

A new online resource for sex education in  the UK has been widely criticised because it says sex between 13 year olds is “healthy”. The “traffic light” resource also gives a green light to “interest in erotica/pornography” and “sexually explicit conversations with peers.” The charity that produced the resource also offer a sexually explicit book whose author argues (on their website): “Adult shame stops frank lessons.”

A man whose love for art drove him to rebel against his businessman father and became a soldier and then a (dreadlocked and heavily tattooed) tattoo artist has rediscovered his childhood Catholic faith and found a way to use his love of art – as a monk. He has been made curator of the Oregon abbey’s art collection. “People have been bequeathing items to the abbey since the 19^th century,” he said. “Much of it is unmarked, and it’s like a garden; if you don’t weed it, you get some crazy plants.” He collaborates with art museums and has taken a course in iconography. He has shaved his hair, but still has his tattoos.

In sport, the international football federation FIFA have completed an internal investigation into allegations of bias and bribery when the next two World Cups were awarded to Russia and Qatar. A summary of the report was released – it cleared Russia and Qatar of wrongdoing, but accused the failed English bid of attempted bribery. However, the summary was immediately criticised by the author of the full report, who said it contained “misleading and erroneous statements of fact”, and appealed for the full report to be released. FIFA’s credibility has now sunk so low that one newspaper ran a spoof article suggesting that the next World Cup will be held in Hell, as FIFA don’t think that very hot temperatures and a poor human rights record are a good reason to avoid it.

Also in sport, last night’s European Championship qualifiers saw Scotland beat the Republic of Ireland 1-0 – both teams are in joint second place in their group, alongside Germany and behind Poland. Northern Ireland suffered their first defeat of the campaign, 2-0 away to group-topping Romania. And Greece lost 1-0 at home to the Faroe Islands; the last time the Faroes beat a “Western” European team in a qualifying match was 2002 when they beat Luxembourg.

And finally, many people complain about the price of petrol, but in Iran an age-old solution to the problem is being used – donkey transport. The government of Iran cut petrol subsidies causing price rises of up to 75%, and a rapid increase in donkey traffic has since been seen, especially in the mountainous north west of the country, but also in some cities. This is considered good news for the donkeys who would often die in the wild during the winter after being released to avoid the costs of winter feeding.