PicoZ

U.S. Protestants can still be agitated about heresy. Three Wisconsin pastors have been tried for heretical views by the Northwest Synod of the United Lutheran Church in America (TIME, Aug. 8). Two of them, George Crist Jr. and Victor K. Wrigley, were convicted and suspended from their pastorates; the other, John H. Gerberding, was acquitted, but resigned. Pastor Wrigley’s congregation has refused to obey the suspension order. Gist of the charges against them: refusal to accept Biblical authority on essentials of Lutheran dogma, notably the virgin birth and doubting Christ’s physical resurrection and ascension.

The Dancehall sensation is set to dazzle listeners with the impending release of his anticipated debut album which has been heralded by the release of several hit singles with the latest being the Kukbeats-produced 'Kristy'. The Eyepatch-wearing star has won the hearts of listeners through his impressive fusion of Dancehall and Afrobeats variants. From effortlessly molding melodies to his impressive penmanship, and ability to deploy street slang, Ruger is simply a phenomenal artist.

Plastic contamination is rampant in bottled water. That was the unsettling conclusion of a study published last year in Frontiers in Chemistry that analyzed samples taken from 259 bottled waters sold in several countries and found that 93% of them contained “microplastic” synthetic polymer particles. Many of those particles weren’t all that small. “Some were definitely visible without a magnifying glass or microscope,” says Sherri Mason, author of the study and a sustainability researcher at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College.

The 51st Telluride Film Festival promises to be a star-studded affair, with several high-profile movies expected to debut at the top of awards season. As is customary, the full lineup, including screening schedules, isn’t announced until the day before the festival begins.

Test Pilot is a semiregular feature sharing my first impressions of the pilots for next fall’s shows. These aren’t reviews, since these pilots can be rewritten, recast and retooled before airing; I may see more episodes before the shows premiere; and what eventually gets on the air can prove much better or worse. But, premature opinions are why God invented the Internet, so let’s get on with… The Show: The Cleveland Show, Fox

Before and after Donald Trump’s historic indictment and arraignment, countless MAGA Republican provocateurs have been noting the Holy Week timing and blasphemously comparing Trump to Jesus. “As Christ was crucified, and then rose again on the 3rd day, so too will Donald Trump,”tweeted one right-wing lawyer known for representing Jan. 6 insurrectionists. Other influencers making the comparison include Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, TPUSA Faith founder Charlie Kirk, and even Trump’s own attorney.

In 2018, after Carribean-British rapper, Stefflon Don missed her flight, she watched Nigerian musician, Burna Boy perform at an event in Ghana, and they fall in love. Stefflon Don recalled in an interview from June 2019: “I met him in Ghana. I was in Africa for a show then I missed my flight, he had a show where he performed and I went to the show and the rest is history baby.

In the port of Alexandria last week, at piers sealed off from prying eyes, Egyptian longshoremen carefully uncrated a Trojan horse. It came from Czechoslovakia, but bore Moscow’s greeting card. The Trojan horse was not immediately recognizable as such. It took the shape of four shiploads of Soviet-bloc arms, but the speed of its arrival bespoke a long preparation by the Russians; about 15 Communist technicians were said to be already on hand, and more were on the way.

Nick Vallelonga grew up in a quintessential Italian family in a tight-knit, 1960s Bronx community — they went to church, his mother cooked, his father ate. But something differentiated him and his younger brother from the rest of the neighborhood boys: their father was best friends with a world-renowned black piano prodigy in a time and place where interracial friendships were uncommon. That friendship is the subject of the movie Green Book, which arrives in limited theaters Nov.