Christ

Tennessee is set to carry out its first execution of a woman in roughly two centuries, with Christa Pike at the center of the case. Pike was convicted of a murder committed in the 1990s, and the planned execution has drawn widespread attention across the United States and internationally, renewing debate over the death penalty and the treatment of women on death row.

Christa Pike, the youngest woman sentenced to death in the United States, is reportedly close to execution and says she is not afraid to die. The case, dating back to a 1995 murder in Tennessee, is drawing renewed international attention as her execution date approaches and legal appeals continue.

A personal finance question is being discussed in a Financial Post advice column: whether a retiree named Christopher should defer his Quebec Pension Plan benefits in addition to delaying Old Age Security, and whether to gift real estate to family while still alive. Deferring these pensions increases monthly payouts, while gifting property before death can affect capital gains taxes and probate exposure.

A commentary in the Salt Lake Tribune looks at the history of temples in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, noting that while temples have existed since the church's founding, they no longer host dances as they once did. The piece reflects on how the purposes and uses of these sacred buildings have changed over time.

A church on Wyoming's Wind River Reservation is at the center of a controversy over its sermons, and it has drawn the support of a Christian legal group providing representation. The case has raised questions about religious freedom and the church's right to preach as it does, drawing regional attention in Wyoming.

A podcast favorable to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints may have inadvertently complicated the church's position in its dispute with 'Mormon Stories', a prominent podcast critical of the faith. The Salt Lake Tribune reports the development, though details of what was said and how it affects the case are not yet clear.

A new study finds that the retention rate for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has fallen to 54%, meaning fewer than half of those raised in the faith remain active members as adults. The figure reflects a broader trend of declining religious retention across many denominations in the United States, and is likely to prompt discussion about how the church engages and keeps younger generations.