NEWS STORY
RNS-Palau-Obit: Luis Palau, globe-trotting evangelist, is dead at 86
(RNS) — Luis Palau, a Christian evangelist known for his smile and hearty laugh and described by some as “the Latino Billy Graham,” died Thursday (March 11) at his Portland, Oregon, home. He was 86. His evangelism was conducted in both English and Spanish. In 1980, his nine-day Festival of the Family Crusade, held at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, drew 52,000 to hear Palau preach in Spanish. By Mark I. Pinsky. 1,337 words. (category: a)
NEWS BRIEF
RNS-Pagans-Stonehenge: Intention can turn any lockdown walk into pilgrimage, urges British Pilgrimage Trust
(RNS) — Three British pagans have lost their High Court appeal to overturn their convictions for breaching protections at Stonehenge, the iconic stone monument aligned with the movements of the sun on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England. By Emily McFarlan Miller. 300 words. (category: a)
NEWS STORY
RNS-Vaccine-Church: A Los Angeles pilot program will vaccinate hundreds within 2-mile radius of a Catholic church
LOS ANGELES (RNS) — A pilot program aims to vaccinate 600 eligible people who live within a two-mile radius surrounding St. Brigid Catholic Church, a Black and Latino parish that has been hit hard by COVID-19 in South Los Angeles. By Alejandra Molina. 500 words. (category: a)
NEWS STORY
RNS-Islamophobia-Report: A new United Nations report raises alarm about rising Islamophobia
(RNS) — A new report from the United Nations notes with alarm a rise in Islamophobia around the world. The report acknowledges Islamophobia can take many forms in different regions of the world and manages to offer criticisms of government policies as diverse as U.S. immigration policies to Myanmar’s treatment of the Rohingya Muslim minority. By Joseph Hammond 750 words (category: a)
NEWS STORY
RNS-Kingdom-Come: Documentary probes symbiotic relationship between US evangelicals and Israelis
(RNS) — A new Israeli documentary, ‘Til Kingdom Come,’ focuses on the complex alliance between U.S. evangelicals, Israel’s political establishment, its largest charity and the religious Jewish settlers in the West Bank that have encouraged and nurtured the relationship. A Q&A with director Maya Zinshtein. By Yonat Shimron. 1,350 words. (category: a)
COMMENTARY
RNS-Shafran-Oped: New Haredi men’s magazine touts cars, whiskey for the Torah study set
(RNS) — The new periodical is for you if you “are enthralled by men’s luxury and higher end products,” focusing on “all fine goods in the consumption industries for Jewish men.” Something is rotten in the state of Orthodox-ish. Even in times of plenty and even for the financially fortunate, there is dignity in modesty. By Avi Shafran. 796 words. (category: k)
COMMENTARY
RNS-Velasquez-Oped: Why Congress needs to act on immigration: It’s our nation too
(RNS) — As a pastor, I see immigration as one of the great moral reckonings of our time. It’s cruel to separate families, wrong to profit from immigrant labor while letting the threat of deportation loom and unconscionable to dismantle the humanitarian programs that protect God’s most vulnerable children. By Luis Velasquez. 984 words. (category: k)
COMMENTARY
RNS-Singh-Oped: Why Hindu nationalists are attacking Sikhs in Australia
(RNS) — Unlike most hate crimes that target Sikhs in the West, the attackers were not white supremacists or white nationalists; they were right-wing Indian nationalists terrorizing Sikhs in response to the protests against India’s new farm laws. As the face of the protests, Punjabi Sikhs have become the marks of extremist hate. By Simran Jeet Singh. 669 words. (category: k)