World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said Tuesday that the track and field's governing body has approved the introduction of cheek swabs and dry blood-spot tests for female athletes in order to maintain "the integrity of competition." The planned changes include reinstating a version of chromosome testing that was discontinued in the 1990s, requiring athletes who compete in the female category to submit to a cheek swab or dry blood-spot test for the presence of a gene that indicates whether the athlete has a "Y" chromosome present in males. (Associated Press, ESPN)
Read MorePlaying off a secular dance trend, as the first riffs from “Not Like Us” begin, Workman changes from green Ordinary Time vestments to purple Lenten ones. The deacon from the Diocese of Beaumont, Texas, copies Lamar’s walking dance steps with his daughter backing him up in altar server surplice. After the video posted to Lexy’s TikTok account received over 34 million views and 5 million likes, the Catholic priests got on board. Dancing to the diss track became a trend to hype up congregants and social media users for Lent. (Hertzler-McCain, Religion News)
Read MoreMen have outpaced women in church attendance the past three years, reversing a longstanding trend of more women in the pews that narrowed in 2016, Barna said in its 2025 State of the Church release, created in partnership with Gloo. Women had outpaced men in attendance since 2000, then at 47 percent to 38 percent, before men began outpacing women in 2022, at 35 percent to 30 percent. In 2024, 30 percent of men were attending weekly, compared to 27 percent of women. (Chandler, Baptist Press)
Read MoreAfter opening with a massive 24.3 million views in its first four days, “Adolescence” was the most watched title on Netflix during the week of March 17-23 with another 42 million views, taking the show to 66.3 million views total thus far — more than any other Netflix limited series has achieved within a two-week period, and the U.K. crime story managed that within just 11 days. (Hailu, Variety)
Read MoreA controversial South Korean church with powerful political connections faces dissolution in Japan after a Tokyo court ordered a revokation of its legal status after the government accused it of manipulative fundraising and recruitment tactics that sowed fear among followers and harmed their families. (Yamaguchi, AP News)
Read MoreUntil recently, churches were considered "sensitive locations" and immigration officers were restricted from taking action there. But on his first full day in office, President Trump rescinded these restrictions, making churches and other houses of worship susceptible to immigration enforcement. (Davis, King & Ventre, NPR)
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