Fast Company, by Mike Elgan: Have you heard about China’s social credit system? It’s a technology-enabled, surveillance-based nationwide program designed to nudge citizens toward better behavior. The ultimate goal is to “allow the trustworthy to roam everywhere under heaven while…

Crux: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Pope Francis and the Catholic Church have a “central role” in promoting religious liberty. Pompeo was speaking to Vatican News—the official news service of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication—ahead of the first Ministerial…

The Japan Times, by Satoshi Sugiyama: In the aftermath of the largest typhoon to hit Japan in decades, the nation on Sunday was still assessing the scope of the damage caused by the massive storm. Hagibis, the 19th named storm…

CNSNews.com, by Susan Jones: “My life has been anchored around my faith, and in particular, the guiding principle for me has been Matthew 25,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) told the Black Church PAC’s Youth Leadership Conference in Atlanta on Saturday…

Bloomberg, by Kati Pohjanpalo and Frances Schqartzkopff Bloomberg: Ever since negative interest rates became a thing, banks have been too afraid to pass them on to retail depositors. That may be about to change. In Scandinavia, where sub-zero rates have…

CNBC, by Jennifer Elias: Google employees appear to have foreseen many of the company’s political challenges in the run-up to Donald Trump’s presidential election, according to an internal email discussion obtained by CNBC. In September and October 2016, a chain…

Pew Research Center, by Jeff Diamant: From national laws regulating religious dress to local laws banning public worship by Muslims, religious restrictions have in recent years become more common in Europe. Indeed, while the Middle East-North Africa region had the…

CNSNews.com, by Michael W. Chapman: During a talk before a group of Republicans in Florida recently, Fr. Michael Orsi, a Catholic priest, said that America’s founders were God-fearing men and women who understood that to have “a virtuous country, you…

Daily News and Analysis (DNA), by Santosh Kumar: PM Modi-led NDA [National Democratic Alliance] government [of India] is likely to bring an anti-conversion bill in the next Parliament session, according to sources. As per sources, the bill will prevent the…

Harvard Business Review, by Shelle Santana: Is the U.S. becoming a cashless society? As digital payments spread from coastal coffee shops to rural restaurants, business owners, lawmakers, and consumers across America are asking themselves this question. And depending on where…

AP News, by Martha Mendoza, Juliet Linderman, and Garance Burke: The visiting priests arrived discreetly, day and night. Stripped of their collars and cassocks, they went unnoticed in this tiny Midwestern town as they were escorted into a dingy warehouse…

Faithwire, by Will Maule: Thousands have marched right up to the doorstep of Northern Ireland’s government buildings in protest against a recently proposed change to the nation’s abortion laws. Friday’s “silent protest” was in response to British parliament legislation passed…