News

(RNS) — 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.

NASHVILLE (BP) -- Abortion rights, marijuana use and legalized gambling drew mixed results on state ballots across the U.S. Nov. 6.

Most of the world’s children (93 percent) live in areas where air pollution levels exceed air quality guidelines, according to a recent World Health Organization report.

TORONTO (RNS) — Donald Trump isn’t at the Parliament of World Religions in Toronto, but his influence is widely felt here.

Speakers from around the world — and especially the U.S. — often refer to the situation in that country, expressing disappointment at the anger dividing Americans.

One hundred years ago this month, on November 7, 1918, William Franklin Graham Jr. was born in a farmhouse near Charlotte, N.C. Although he was on Gallup’s list of the most admired people in the world a record 61 times, he was known around the world as simply Billy Graham.

RICHMOND, Virginia—The International Mission Board trustees’ Presidential Search Committee announced Tuesday, Nov. 6, that the committee will recommend Dr. Paul Chitwood, 48, to be elected as the 173-year-old entity’s 13th president.

TORONTO (RNS) — With its theme of "The Promise of Inclusion, the Power of Love," and its focus on global understanding, the seventh Parliament of the World's Religions could hardly have picked a more inclusive spot than Toronto, Canada’s largest city. The more than 8,000 people expected from 80 countries in this weeklong gathering will hardly stand out in the polyglot crowds that coexist in Toronto's diverse neighborhoods.

CÚCUTA, Colombia (BP) -- When Nelson Martínez' father died this summer, Martínez inherited a piece of property half a day up the mountain from his hometown of Cúcuta, Colombia. The property sits at 10,000 feet at the top of a cold, often rainy mountain pass. Every day several hundred ill-prepared Venezuelans walk over it on their way to try to find food, work and medicine in a new land.

Some have died of hypothermia. All are desperate.

WASHINGTON (RNS) — A new survey shows a sharp racial and religious divide over whether the actions of President Trump are encouraging white supremacist organizations.

MILWAUKEE (RNS) — When Milwaukee’s Greater Galilee Missionary Baptist Church started a credit union in 1965, its predominantly African-American members were often denied loans, lines of credit and other basic financial services from banks.

More than 50 years later, in what is still one of the most racially segregated cities in the country, “not much has changed,” said Gloria Neff, a credit union board member and small-business owner.