A group of nearly 1,400 Catholic middle school students from Northern Virginia spent a recent Saturday strengthening their faith, making new friends and enjoying fellowship — with the event's organizers believing the students are building a critical foundation for lifelong involvement in the church. The 20th-annual "BASH" is the Diocese of Arlington's largest gathering for middle school-aged children. It was held on May 4, 2024, at Bishop O'Connell High School in Arlington. The event has grown considerably from its beginnings at a parish hall in 2003 — and this year,...

In recognizing Children's Mental Health Week, the Wisconsin Office of Children's Mental Health has recommendations and resources inspired by the state's high school students. Young people came together April 12 at the Mental Wellness Student Leadership Summit hosted by the Office of Children's Mental Health, to discuss their mental health needs.

Richard “Dick” Pickup, an Orange County philanthropist who made a fortune as a securities trader and investor, died of a stroke on April 25. He was 90 years old. Pickup’s family said the Newport Beach resident spent his last day working in his office trading stocks and eyeing his next investment deal. Passionate about golf, cars and giving his money away, just five months ago Pickup and his family gave $50 million to Hoag Hospital. Calling it “the best money I ever spent,” the Whittier College grad was investing once...

But that wasn’t what brought him to Boston last week. He was here to spend three days with troubled young men who have been where he has been: behind bars or facing a future of incarceration. He is decades into a storied career in corporate America that has included running the Portland Trail Blazers and many years as a Nike executive overseeing the most successful sneaker brand in the history of the world, Air Jordans. Larry Miller — a soft-spoken, self-assured man in his 70s — doesn’t seem like someone...

Just under half of South Africa's young voters are likely to cast a ballot in the general election this month, owing mainly to corruption, high unemployment and gender-based violence, a study showed Tuesday. Some 49 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds "say they are likely to vote later this month, while 16 percent say they won’t and another 35 percent haven't yet decided", according to the survey by the Johannesburg-based Ichikowitz Family Foundation. South Africans vote in parliamentary elections on May 29, in what is set to be the tightest vote...

Planes are pictured at Salt Lake City International Airport in Salt Lake City on Saturday, May 4, 2024. Utah has remained the top state overall in the nation, according to the latest U.S. News and World Report ranking. As one of the fastest-growing states in the country, Utah has proven year after year that it can sustain its increasing population. According to the latest U.S. News and World Report ranking, the Beehive State has remained at the top. The study focused on over 70 metrics and thousands of data points...

More than 4 in 10 adolescents worldwide question whether they’re worthy of love, although they deeply value person-to-person contact and relationships with family and friends, who are still the resources they most rely upon. That’s the finding of the first report from The Relate Project, by the nonprofit, nondenominational Christian organization Young Life, which surveyed more than 7,200 youths and young adults in eight countries to get a sense of what’s happening to Generation Z and the younger Generation Alpha beyond headlines about their social media use and high levels...

Rates of people seeking permanent contraception spiked after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, new research shows. Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and Boston University looked at rates of tubal ligations and vasectomies among 18- to 30-year-olds between 2019 and 2022 using the TriNetX platform and compared them with 2022 to 2023 rates. That platform largely gathers data from academic medical centers and related clinics across the country. The findings were published Friday in a JAMA Health Forward research letter.