The weekend 28th-29th November is the date set for a mass circumcision ceremony for the Kikuyu people in Kenya. As of Thursday 974 boys had enrolled and the total is expected to pass the 1,000 mark. It's not just a quick snip, the program involves group counselling and talks on cultural history. To read more click here. Thanks to RS for the news.

In October 2013, the Parliamentary Assemply of the Council of Europe (PACE) Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development Committee approved a resolution by German rapporteur Marlene Rupperecht stating that ritual circumcision violates children's right to protect their physical integrity, and calling on member states to ban religious circumcision. PACE motions are not binding on member countries, but they are taken seriously. This led two two years of intense lobbying from both Jewish and Muslim deputies, which bore fruit on October 1st when a motion supporting freedom of religion was passed with a 73 to 6 majority.

The wide-ranging motion covered many aspects of religious freedom, but the right to circumcise was specifically endorsed. The council recommended that states require circumcisions to be performed by people trained to do so, in appropriate medical and health conditions, and that parents be informed of any medical risk to their child. Read more at the Jerusalem Post . Thanks to Brian Morris for this information.

Since January 1st, all of Norway's state-run hospitals have become legally obliged to offer circumcision of newborn baby boys. The program has, however hit opposition from doctors. In the first few weeks only a small proportion of hospitals were complying. Since the law had all-party support in Parliament it seems likely that sense will prevail. The aim was to save the children of Norway's large immigrant population from local unqualified circumcisers, but it is not restricted to religious circumcision. Read more at the NewsinEnglish.no Thanks to András Jóvágásúfiú for this information.

The Xhosa people practice circumcision (see below) but many other South Africans do not. Because of the AIDS crisis the government is keen to promote circumcision, but a conventional program launched in the Western Cape region in 2010 had very little success. A new, fun program called "Clever Dick" has had much more success, with a 300% increase in the uptake of circumcision. It will now be rolled out nationwide. Read more at the South African Times

The recipient of the world's first penis transplant (see below) will soon be a father! He obviously didn't waste any time since the surgery took place only 6 months ago. Sydney Morning Herald, June 14th.

Lomborg is commonly thought of as a global warming denier. He maintains that this is not the case but he feels that the money spent on combating warming is not working and would be better spent elsewhere. So where exactly? He has a list of 40 projects which he sees as giving best return for money, and one of them is circumcision for preventing the spread of AIDS. On his figures, every dollar spent on circumcision will deliver $28 in returns.

Source: Good Weekend Magazine, May 23rd

A long-running battle over the circumcision of a 4-year-old has taken a few new turns. The parents, who are not married and separated before the child was born, were given equal custody of the child. In a parenting agreement filed in court, the two initially agreed to the boy's circumcision. However three months ago the mother changed her mind and fled with the boy. The courts have all agreeed with the father and the mother is in jail for breach of custody agreements and failure to appear in court. While the mother was on the run her lawyer sougt to take the case to the Supreme Court on the grounds the circumcision was unconstitutional. This was withdrawn with no explanation on Wednesday. Then the mother apparently agreed to the circumcision in a deal which would see her released from jail. However, on Friday she was still behind bars.
Read more ...