50+ Olympians connected to Illinois to watch in Rio
The Tribune is tracking more than 50 Olympic athletes with Illinois connections competing in Rio. The great majority, 67%, are competing for Team USA, with Canada, Jamaica and Nigeria each represented by two athletes with local ties. Twenty of the athletes are competing in track and field events, eight in swimming, seven in basketball and five in gymnastics.
Religious accommodations at the Rio Olympics
At the Rio Olympics, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Judaism are each represented by four chaplains, while four Roman Catholic chaplains and four Protestant chaplains are present to serve the needs of Christian athletes. Each of the religions has their own worship space able to hold roughly 50 people at any time, with different spaces available for Muslim men and women, who frequently pray separately.
Pew: More sermons endorse Clinton
According to a new Pew Research survey, candidates come up most often in sermons at black churches, where 28% have heard their pastors praise Hillary Clinton and 20% have heard them oppose Donald Trump. Presidential talk was reported far less among white evangelical Protestants, 78% of whom say they’ll be voting for Trump in the fall. Just 2% of evangelicals heard a sermon endorsing him.
Human-animal chimera studies coming soon
The National Institutes of Health says that it will lift the ban that prevented researchers from creating human-animal chimeras with stem cells. It will put in place a review process that would require two types of chimera studies to get further review.
World Vision staffer accused of giving millions to Hamas
The manager of the Gaza branch of World Vision was charged by Israeli authorities with funneling millions of dollars to Hamas instead of to Palestinian children in need. Mohammad El Halabi, who has directed World Vision’s operations in the Gaza Strip since 2010, is accused of listing Hamas members as farmers with disabled children so they could receive assistance.
Sources: Chicago Tribune, Huffington Post, Christianity Today, Time, Christianity Today,
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