SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has warned he’s ready to use his nuclear weapons in potential military conflicts with the United States and South Korea. State media reported Kim made such a warning in a Wednesday speech marking the 69th anniversary of the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces launched missile strikes Thursday on the Kyiv area and the northern Chernihiv region for the first time in weeks, in what a Ukrainian official said was revenge for the fierce resistance the Kremlin has faced after it invaded its neighbor. The renewed strikes on the areas come a day after the leader of pro-Kremlin separatists in the east publicly called on the Russian forces to “liberate” a number of Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv and Chernihiv.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy shrank from April through June for a second straight quarter, contracting at a 0.9% annual pace. The decline in the gross domestic product — the broadest gauge of the economy — followed a 1.6% annual drop from January through March.

It was a scene I won’t soon forget. Last Friday evening was our Vacation Bible School pool party.  A 2-year-old boy was in the kiddie swimming pool.  I was standing with his mom at the edge.  She never took her eyes off her boy.  “Are you having a good time?” I had just asked him.  He smiled brightly and nodded his head.  Suddenly he tipped back and went under water.  His Mom instantly stepped down and pulled him from the pool.  His toddler body was pale and lifeless. 

JetBlue has agreed to buy Spirit Airlines in a $3.8 billion deal, a day after Spirit and Frontier Airlines agreed to abandon their merger proposal. JetBlue will acquire Spirit for $33.50 per share in cash, including a prepayment of $2.50 per share in cash payable once Spirit stockholders approve the transaction.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Alec Bohm hit a go-ahead single in a five-run fifth inning and added an RBI double in the sixth, helping the Philadelphia Phillies beat Atlanta 7-2 to take two of three from the Braves. Kyle Gibson allowed two runs and four hits in six innings.

NASHVILLE (BP) – Jason Lovins has shared his story of being spared from abortion with audiences across the country for years. But for the first time, the story is being told in video. The …

WASHINGTON (BP) – A newly proposed rule by the Biden administration would violate the freedom of conscience of health care providers by requiring participation in gender-transition procedures and abortions, a Southern Baptist ethicist and other opponents say.

BALTIMORE (AP) — Jackson Holliday slipped on a Baltimore Orioles jersey, jammed the team’s cap over his shaggy, sandy blond hair and grinned broadly as the cameramen clicked away. The 18-year-old high schooler and No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 amateur signed a contract with an $8.19 million signing bonus and a slot value of $8,846,900.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by a hefty three-quarters of a point for a second straight time in its most aggressive drive in three decades to tame high inflation. The Fed’s move will raise its key rate, which affects many consumer and business loans, to its highest level since 2018.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Union Pacific will spend more than $1 billion to upgrade 600 of its old diesel locomotives over the next three years and make them more efficient. The move will accelerate the pace of upgrades UP already planned to make and help the railroad cut roughly 210,000 tons of carbon emissions each year which is the equivalent of taking 45,000 cars off the road.

TOKYO (AP) — People in a southwestern Japanese city have come under attack from monkeys that are trying to snatch babies, biting and clawing at flesh, and sneaking into nursery schools. The attacks are getting so bad Yamaguchi city hall hired a special unit to hunt the animals with tranquilizer guns.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has passed a bill that's designed to encourage more semiconductor companies to build chip plants in the United States. The $280 billion measure, which awaits a House vote, includes federal grants and tax breaks for companies that construct their chip facilities in the U.S.

NASHVILLE (BP) – Early next month, Eddie Gilley will lead a group of 42 students from the University of Florida’s Baptist Collegiate Ministries on a leadership retreat in anticipation of the fall semester. Four days and three nights at Cocoa Beach will include fun in the surf, but also discipleship.

FAIRFIELD, Calif. (BP) – Longtime Southern Baptist leader Jeffrey Curtis, who served the past seven years as discipleship director at Mt. Calvary Baptist Church, died unexpectedly July 21 at his home in Fairfield, his son Courtney Curtis told Baptist Press. He was 59.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — When the FUGE Camps team at Lifeway Christian Resources heard about the tornado that devastated Bremen, Kentucky, they jumped in to help Wade Wilkins take students to his …

As Christians, we are called to be salt and light to the world. One way that Georgia Baptists accomplish that is by knowing how to have the greatest impact on shaping public policy in our state. With the constant attacks on our religious liberty (and now, the overturning of Roe) it’s important that church leaders know how to engage the government.  That’s the purpose of training sessions being held across the state by the Georgia Baptist Mission Board.

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s railway network has ground to a crawl after 40,000 staff walked off the job in a dispute over jobs, pay, and working conditions. Train companies say only about a fifth of services across the country are due to run on Wednesday. The 24-hour strike by cleaners, signalers, maintenance workers, and station staff comes a month after the country’s most disruptive rail walkout in three decades.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch farmers are protesting government plans to reduce nitrogen emissions. The farmers dumped manure and garbage on highways Wednesday and set fires alongside roads, creating traffic chaos on some roads in the central and eastern Netherlands. Fire services rushed to clear the debris as traffic built up. The latest demonstrations are part of a summer of discontent.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A strong earthquake has killed at least five people, injured dozens, and damaged buildings in the northern Philippines. Patients were briefly evacuated from two hospitals in the capital. Scientists say the 7-magnitude quake Wednesday morning was centered around Abra province in a mountainous area, where one person was killed and dozens of others injured.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The Ukrainian military has used a U.S.-supplied precision rocket system to deliver a morale-lifting knockout punch to a bridge Russia used to supply its forces in an occupied region of southern Ukraine. The deputy head of the Moscow-appointed administration in the Kherson region said Ukrainian artillery struck the Antonivskyi Bridge late Tuesday. He says previous Ukrainian attacks damaged the bridge last week but the span had to be closed to vehicles on Wednesday.

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A big pink diamond of 170 carats has been discovered in Angola and is claimed to be the largest such gemstone found in 300 years. Called the “Lulo Rose,” the diamond was found at the Lulo alluvial diamond mine. The mine’s owner, the Lucapa Diamond Company, announced the discovery of the large pink diamond on its website.

Boeing is reporting a $193 million second-quarter profit for shareholders, but the results are falling short of Wall Street expectations. Boeing's normally steady defense business is down from a year ago. Boeing said Wednesday that it generated more cash by delivering more airline jets than it has since the start of the pandemic. But the company is still unable to deliver any of its 787s, a plane that Boeing calls the Dreamliner, because of production problems.

REIDSVILLE, Ga. (AP) — A Georgia judge has been arrested on charges that he threatened a man who confronted the jurist about taking vegetables from his garden. Tattnall County Chief Magistrate Judge Eddie Anderson was released from jail on his own recognizance after being booked on felony charges of making a terroristic threat and violating his oath of office.

NEW YORK (AP) — A bidder has paid nearly $2.8 million at auction for a jacket worn by astronaut Buzz Aldrin on the historic first mission to the moon's surface in 1969. Sotheby's says the amount paid for the Apollo 11 Inflight Coverall Jacket is the highest for any American space-flown artifact sold at auction.