The Colorado Civil Rights Commission announced Tuesday it will abandon its latest effort to force baker Jack Phillips to make custom cakes in violation of his religious beliefs. The U.S. Supreme Court previously ruled that the state commission showed hostility toward religion in its earlier prosecution of Phillips for declining to make a cake for a same-sex wedding.

Gospel for Asia agreed last week to a $37 million settlement with donors over accusations that the nonprofit mission group mismanaged funds. The agreement brings to a close a three-year legal battle, in which donors said the organization misused funds it promised would go directly to mission work in South Asia.

Independent investigators found that the accusations of inappropriate conduct by Willow Creek Community Church founder and pastor Bill Hybels were credible and would have warranted discipline had he not resigned last year, according to a report released Thursday by the church.

R. Kelly pleaded not guilty Monday to multiple charges of sexual abuse of a woman and three underage girls. Kelly, 52, one of the best-selling music artists of all time, spent the weekend in jail in Chicago after his arrest Friday. A judge has set bail at $1 million and said he must not have any contact with females younger than 18 if released. Prosecutors claim they have evidence that Kelly had sex with a girl as young as 14.

The 91st Academy Awards honored a diverse slate of winners Sunday night, with the best picture Oscar going to Green Book, a film based on the real-life story of African-American concert pianist Don Shirley on tour with a white chauffeur in the 1960s South. A few years after the #OscarsSoWhite controversy about white dominance of the awards, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences took steps toward recognizing the achievement of African-American and female filmmakers and actors.

President Donald Trump announced Friday that he is nominating Kelly Craft, U.S. ambassador to Canada, for the role of U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Trump tweeted that Craft “has done an outstanding job representing our Nation” and he has “no doubt that, under her leadership, our Country will be represented at the highest level.” Craft, a Kentucky native, was a member of the U.S. delegation to the UN General Assembly under President George W. Bush. As U.S.

First liberals said the racist, anti-gay attack on Empire actor Jussie Smollett, which turned out to be a hoax, proved that hatred and cruelty fuels supporters of President Donald Trump. When police revealed that Smollett, who is African-American and openly homosexual, planned the attack himself to get publicity, conservatives hit back, accusing liberals of groupthink and hysteria in their rush to believe the worst about Trump supporters.