ATLANTA – Georgia teachers stocking up on supplies for the new school year will get some help from the state.  Gov. Brian Kemp announced Friday that every full-time public school teacher in Georgia will receive a $125 supplement to help them get their students back to in-person learning coming out of the pandemic.

NASHVILLE (BP) – The North American Mission Board’s GenSend program gets college students out of their comfort zones and into hurting, broken communities. Students spend their summer in a major city, where ministry might look like serving the homeless, playing at the park, or having a conversation over coffee.

DECATUR, Ga. (AP) — The parents of a 28-year-old Georgia woman who died after she fell from a moving patrol car following her arrest fought back tears Friday as they demanded answers about their daughter’s death. Brianna Grier suffered significant injuries on July 15 and died from those injuries on July 21 at an Atlanta hospital.

HAZARD, Ky. (BP) – Tim Reynolds, the pastor of First Baptist Church in Hazard, said the flood waters barely lapped up onto his parking lot. “It didn’t get in here,” he …

NASHVILLE (BP) – Mac Brunson’s dad had an eighth-grade education. But every night, he’d stop by his son’s room to make sure young Mac had read his Bible that night. It was important to read Scripture, but his father wanted Brunson to be a reader, period.

DALLAS (BP) – While the Commerce Department reported a decline in the gross domestic product for a second quarter in a row on July 28, one financial expert does not believe a potential recession should be the primary focus of market observers. David Spika, chief investment officer for Guidestone, says the real key is how consumers are faring during times of financial turbulence.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. -- Flat Creek Baptist Church is inviting women to participate in a special community outreach event on Aug. 27. Morning of Missions will include breakfast, guest speaker Georgia WMU President Lauren Sullens, and an opportunity to participate in one of the three mission activities offered.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — China has responded in kind to a top U.S. Navy official who criticized Beijing’s increasingly aggressive actions in the South China Sea. China says it's America’s military deployments in the disputed waters, which it called “navigation bullying,” that can spark confrontations. The Chinese Embassy in Manila said Friday that U.S. Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro’s remarks were unfounded, "maliciously smeared China” and inflated the “China threat.”

The U.S. Navy is working to develop drone ships as it faces a growing threat from China. The Navy envisions robotic vessels keeping an electronic eye on enemy forces across the vast Pacific Ocean, extending the reach of firepower and keeping sailors out of harm’s way.

WESTFIELD, Ind. (AP) — Matt Ryan has seen and done just about everything other than winning a Super Bowl in his 14-year NFL career. He's been the league MVP. He's won a conference title. He's steadily climbed the league's career passing charts. But now, for the first time since his rookie season, Ryan is settling into a whole new world.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of shelling a prison in a separatist region of eastern Ukraine. Separatist authorities in the Donetsk region said an attack on Friday killed at least 53 Ukrainian prisoners of war who were captured after the fall of Mariupol in May. The Russian Defense Ministry said Ukraine’s military used U.S.-supplied multiple rocket launchers to strike the prison in Olenivka, a settlement controlled by the Moscow-backed Donetsk People’s Republic.

BEIJING (AP) — China’s leaders have effectively acknowledged the struggling economy won’t hit its official 5.5% growth target this year. They said they will try to prop up sagging consumer demand but will stick to strict anti-COVID-19 tactics that have disrupted manufacturing and trade.

ODESA, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has visited a Black Sea port as crews prepare terminals to export grain trapped by Russia’s five-month-old war. Zelenskyy said Friday that the first ship was loaded since the war but that others that have been stuck with their cargos of grain would be the first to leave.

JACKSON, Ky. (AP) — Search and rescue teams backed by the National Guard searched Friday for people missing in record floods that wiped out entire communities in some of the poorest places in America. Kentucky’s governor said 15 people have died, a toll he expected to grow as the rain keeps falling.

ONTARIO, Calif. (BP) – Single foster mom Alicia Wong developed a heart for adoption after learning of China’s one-child policy. Had her parents not moved to the U.S. after the birth of her older brother, Wong’s birth would have been deemed criminal. Decades later and having remained single, she began pondering whether God really wanted her to adopt, receiving an answer in 2016. Instead of adopting, she would become a foster mom.

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A Georgia county has filed a lawsuit that seeks to force a company to sell it 4,000 acres on which the county has long planned to build a launch pad for commercial rockets. Coastal Camden County took legal action just days after Union Carbide Corp. said it no longer intends to sell the land, citing a March referendum in which county residents voted to kill the deal.

DALLAS (AP) — Southwest Airlines is reporting higher profit and record revenue, but its shares are down because of concern over rising costs. Southwest said Thursday that second-quarter profit more than doubled to $760 million. Revenue jumped by about two-thirds, as passengers packed planes to take summer vacations.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Federal officials announced plans Thursday to spend $401 million in grants and loans to expand the reach and improve the speed of internet for rural residents, tribes and businesses in 11 West and Central U.S. states. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters that farmers, store owners, schoolchildren and people seeking telehealth medical checkups will benefit from the ReConnect and Telecommunications Infrastructure Loan and Loan Guarantee programs.

TIFTON, Ga. – Over 1,000 Georgia Baptist churches have given more through the Cooperative Program in the past seven months than during the same period last year, an encouraging sign for what has been described as the greatest evangelistic initiative of the past century. The Cooperative Program is the means by which 1.4 million Georgia Baptists in 3,600 churches support the work of the International Mission Board, the North American Mission Board and the Georgia Baptist Mission Board.

DULUTH, Ga. – Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief crews are awaiting the nod to head to the Kentucky mountains to assist residents with what’s being described as some of the worst flooding the region has ever experienced. Heavy rains triggered flash flooding that inundated homes, sweeping some from the foundations, as first responders rescued people stranded on rooftops.

JACKSON, Ky. (AP) — Heavy rains have caused flash flooding and mudslides as storms pound parts of central Appalachia. Gov. Andy Beshear said Thursday at least eight people have died from flooding in Kentucky. He says property damage has been massive, with hundreds losing their homes.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke for more than two hours on Thursday amid rising tensions between their two nations. The call began at 8:33 a.m. and ended at 10:50 a.m. It's the fifth talk of their presidencies and the first since March, shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Norfolk Southern continued to struggle with the delivery delays that have plagued freight railroads this year and reported flat second-quarter profit as the number of shipments it delivered slipped 3%. The Atlanta-based railroad still beat Wall Street expectations as rate increases and higher fuel surcharges helped it generate $819 million profit, or $3.45 per share.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fewer Americans applied for jobless benefits last week, but the previous week’s number was revised upward significantly, with claims breaching the 250,000 level in back-to-back weeks for the first time in more than eight months. Applications for jobless aid for the week ending July 23 declined by 5,000 to 256,000 from the previous week’s 261,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

A study reported by The Washington Post notes people with the highest level of optimism live between 11 and 15 percent longer than those with a less optimistic perspective. Eating a healthy diet, staying physically active, refusing to smoke cigarettes, and learning to manage stress in a healthy manner contribute to longer lifespans.