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Nov 13, 2018

These news anchors are professional and efficient. They're also not human.

Nov 13, 2018

The new anchors at China’s state-run news agency have perfect hair and no pulse. Xinhua News just unveiled what it is calling the world’s first news anchors powered by artificial intelligence, at the World Internet Conference on Wednesday in China’s Zhejiang province. (Telford, The Washington Post)

Nov 13, 2018

Black Friday breakdown: Average shopper to spend $500 plus

Nov 13, 2018

The fascinating new statistic emerged in a new study examining the upcoming shopping holiday and found the average American thinks they’ll spend $520 this Black Friday. (Fox News)

Nov 13, 2018

Myanmar's spiritual assault on Kachin Christians

Nov 13, 2018

Kachin Christians in Myanmar are facing an "existential threat" and "will not be able to continue" in the next one or two generations amid an ongoing civil war between Kachin rebels and the Myanmar military, an activist has warned. (Smith, The Christian Post)

Nov 13, 2018

Nov 12, 2018

Southern Baptists continue slide in membership and baptisms

Nov 12, 2018

Long-standing patterns continued to dominate the 2017 Annual Church Profile report released in June. The number of congregations cooperating with the Southern Baptist Convention increased over 2016 totals, while reported membership and baptisms continued their year-over-year decline. (Baptist Press/LifeWay Research)

Nov 12, 2018

News Archive:

Featured

These news anchors are professional and efficient. They're also not human.

The fascinating new statistic emerged in a new study examining the upcoming shopping holiday and found the average American thinks they’ll spend $520 this Black Friday. (Fox News)

Federal regulators want to ban the sale of most flavored e-cigarettes at retail locations like gas stations and convenience stores and require anyone buying e-cigarettes online to verify their age. (Daley, NPR)

Black females are likely to experience three times the amount of sexual abuse compared to their counterparts in white churches. (Blair, The Christian Post)

The growing trend of 'rage rooms'

Have you ever wanted to smash something after a long day at work? There's a more grown-up way to throw a tantrum. (Pitofsky, USA Today)

The witches of Baltimore

The small but growing community points to the hundreds of young black women who are leaving Christianity in favor of their ancestors’ African spiritual traditions, and finding a sense of power in the process. (Samuel, The Los Angeles Times)

Catholic Church leaders in Los Angeles for years shuffled predator priests into non-English-speaking immigrant communities. That pattern was revealed in personnel documents released in a decades-old legal settlement between victims of child sex abuse by Catholic priests and the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles. (Schrank, NPR)

Judges and a 'biblical view' of justice

In a 2014 debate when he was running for the U.S. Senate, acting attorney general Matthew Whitaker said judges should have a Christian worldview, and that a judge with a “secular worldview” would be problematic, according to reports from that time. (Boorstein, The Washington Post)

Colorado voters have approved an amendment to their state's constitution that completely abolishes slavery — by stripping out language that still exists in the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which bans slavery and servitude "except as a punishment." (Chappell, NPR)

Abortion rights, marijuana use and legalized gambling drew mixed results on state ballots across the U.S. Nov. 6. (Chandler, Baptist Press)

Many of the pope's most vocal opponents are in the United States, attacking him in tweets, blogs and conservative media. (Poggioli, NPR)

Muslim women were elected to Congress for the first time. The number of non-religious elected officials expanded. And for the first time in memory an incumbent senator mentioned the upcoming Hindu holiday of Diwali in an acceptance speech. (Jenkins & Shimron, Religion News Service)

Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said he would do "everything humanly possible" to secure Bibi's safety in his country or in other European countries. (Gonzalez, NPR)

Archbishop Michael Jude Byrnes announced on Wednesday that the Archdiocese of Agana will file for bankruptcy to help settle nearly 200 clergy sex abuse claims by former altar boys. The Chapter 11 bankruptcy is expected to be filed by mid-December to mid-January. (Eugenio, USA Today)

The English-speaking world's growing concern for the environment and the ubiquity of disposable items that are used only once has pushed the word "single-use" to the top of Collins Dictionary's list of "Word of the Year." (Gonzalez, NPR)

The deep divisions that have defined American politics in the era of President Trump played out across the country in Tuesday’s midterm elections, as Democrats scored victories in key races in Republican-held suburban House districts but ran into a wall of opposition in red-state Senate contests. (Balz, The Washington Post)

Hate groups are recruiting video gamers

Experts say that while it's by no means common, online games — and the associated chat rooms, livestreams and other channels — have become one avenue for recruitment by right-wing extremist groups. (Kamenetz, NPR)

The Coptic bishop of this city south of Cairo, Anba Makarios, spent the weekend trying to comfort mourners after two buses carrying Coptic Christians were ambushed Friday (Nov. 2) as they left a monastery here, killing seven of the pilgrims and wounding 19. (Wirtschafter, Religion News Service)

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