News

Menachem Wecker 8-08-2017

Madrid Museo Nacional del Prado's Goya galleries, including "The Second of May" and "The Third of May." Courtesy of the Prado.

More than 50 years later, California still lists lethal gas as a legal execution means. So do five other states: Arizona, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Wyoming, although Mississippi and Oklahoma, which use nitrogen hypoxia, don’t use that term. (More on that below). I learned this as I searched on my phone standing in front of John Singer Sargent’s monumental 1919 painting “Gassed,” which is on display in the New-York Historical Society’s exhibition “W​orld War I Beyond the Trenches” (through Sept. 3).

Author Jen Hatmaker. Photo by Amy Melsa Photography

 

Of Mess and Moxie: Wrangling Delight Out of This Wild and Glorious Life will be released on Aug. 8. Hatmaker spoke with RNS about both mess and moxie, banned books and maintaining a healthy outlook on life. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Pope Francis meets President Trump during a private audience at the Vatican on May 24, 2017. Photo courtesy of Reuters/Evan Vucci/Pool

President Trump’s evangelical Christian advisers are requesting a meeting with Pope Francis after a Vatican-approved magazine published a piece condemning the way some American evangelicals and Roman Catholics mix religion and politics.

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton speaks to media in St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S. on July 20, 2011. REUTERS/Eric Miller/File Photo

Mohamed Omar, the mosque's executive director, previously said a member of the congregation saw a pickup truck speeding away from the building's parking lot just after the blast.

Image via Reuters/Shannon Stapleton

The Republican senators also called for an end to “catch and release” practices by law enforcement, which allow illegal immigrants to be released while waiting for a hearing. The legislation would focus on criminals and “repeat immigration violators.”

“Today we’re sending the message that we will defend our borders and we will deter illegal immigration,” said Barrasso.

the Web Editors 8-04-2017

1. He Went to ICE to Tell Agents He Had Gotten into College. Now He and His Brother Have Been Deported.

The brothers have no criminal records and would not have been a priority for deportation by the Obama administration, said Matthew Bourke, a spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

ChameleonsEye / Shutterstock.com

Muslim-American women are more afraid, less assimilated, and dislike President Donald Trump’s policies more than Muslim-American men, in large part because they are more easily identified as Muslim, according to a recent Pew Research Center study.

Mark I. Pinsky 8-03-2017

Image via AP Photo/John Raoux

The megachurch pastor who tried to lead the nation’s evangelicals toward moderate, center-right positions on issues like climate change and immigration is stepping down, declining to comment on the circumstances of his departure.

A still image captured from police body camera video. July 19, 2017. Courtesy Baltimore Police Department/Handout via REUTERS

"I do know it's not healthy to jump to a conclusion that officers did something criminal just because their camera was off," Davis said, adding that he would wait until an internal investigation was complete before making a judgment.

U.S. Capitol is seen prior to an all night round of health care votes on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., July 27, 2017. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein

Many on both sides of the aisle decried the Senate Republicans’ lack of transparency in drafting Obamacare replacement proposals — a move that could’ve passed without a single Democrat since it was included in the budget reconciliation process. Now, Republicans — including President Donald Trump — are blaming the loss on that very process.

the Web Editors 8-02-2017

President Donald Trump speaks during an announcement on immigration reform accompanied by Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) (L) and David Perdue (R-Ga.), at the White House. Aug. 2, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria
 

President Donald Trump and Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and David Perdue (R-Ga.) on Wednesday unveiled a plan at the White House to overhaul the rules for legal immigrants, a proposal that would slash numbers overall and focus on skilled immigrants, the White House said.

Rosalie Chan 8-02-2017

Image via RNS/AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, Stephen Savoia

Musk urged a group of governors to proactively regulate AI, which he views as a “fundamental risk to the existence of human civilization.”

“Until people see robots going down the street killing people, they don’t know how to react because it seems so ethereal,” Musk said.

Zuckerberg shot back, saying fearmongering about AI is “irresponsible.”

Jera Brown 8-01-2017

Many grew up being told over and over that their virginity was the most important thing they could give their spouse on their wedding night, only to reach that point and realize that having saved themselves didn’t magically create sexual compatibility or solve their marital issues. Many soon divorced. Still others sat silently in their church groups, wondering what virginity could possibly mean for them as people who had been victims of incest or abuse or who felt attracted to the same gender.

Jessica Estepa 8-01-2017

Image via RNS/AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

“It’s the best Bible study that I’ve ever taught in my life,” Ralph Drollinger of Capitol ministries told CBN News. “They are so teachable, they’re so noble, they’re so learned.”

According to Capitol Ministries’ website, the sponsors of the White House ministry includes the regular attendees, as well as Vice President Pence, House and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt.

Image via Reuters.

When Muslim refugees arrive on this Greek island, it is more common for them to take selfies than to drop to their knees and pray. But what the refugees do sometimes find are Christian groups that come to proselytize.

Bobby Ross Jr. 7-31-2017

Image via RNS/Keaton Ross

“It’s hard to really put into words,” said Marita Rother, a nun and younger sister of the priest who was shot to death on July 28, 1981, while serving as a Catholic missionary during Guatemala’s bloody civil war.

“I think the whole thing is beyond what any of us would expect to be happening,” she added.

Tom Heneghan 7-31-2017

Image via RNS/Hans Bernard/Creative Commons

“We’ve added definition to the picture of evolution that has deepened and enriched our understanding of biological processes,” Donovan Schaefer, an Oxford lecturer in science and religion who co-organized the conference, told the opening session of the July 19-22 meeting.

But he added: “It would be naive to imagine that the grander questions about biology, religion, the humanities, and evolutionary theory generally have been put to death.”

 Reauthorizing current surveillance laws would invade the privacy of American citizens, libertarian Sen. Rand Paul and liberal Sen. Ron Wyden warned Thursday.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 Amendments Act of 2008 is set to lapse at the end of this year. Section 702 of the law allows, “The Intelligence Community to target communications of non-U.S. persons located outside the United States for foreign intelligence purposes,” according to the House Intelligence Committee.

Sharif's two previous stints in power were also cut short, including by a military coup in 1999, but he came back from exile to win a resounding victory in the 2013 general elections.

His ruling PML-N party, which has a majority in the parliament, is now expected to appoint a new prime minister.

Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) talks to reporters as she arrives for a Senate healthcare vote on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., July 27, 2017. Image via REUTERS/Yuri Gripas.

Collins and Murkowski both voted against more comprehensive Republican proposals to repeal and replace Obamacare this week. Trump has singled out Murkowski for criticism, saying on Twitter that she had let down the Republican Party and the country.