Rev. Billy Clifford Brinson, Sr. age 66 of Swainsboro died at his home on Friday, June 28, 2024.

If you fly a lot, you know that much of what happens on your journey can appear senseless and frustrating. On one occasion I sat at the terminal gate for hours after loading a plane. Another trip taught me that being number 43 for takeoff means waiting for a few hours on the runway. More than once I’ve been rerouted away from my final destination to another city. I have circled Memphis in the air numerous times without getting permission to land.

BROWNSVILLE, Texas — According to church planter James Martinez, Brownsville, Texas, is a border town like no other. “It’s in the middle of nowhere, and it’s a world that’s neither Mexico nor the United States. It’s like its own country with its own culture,” he says.

JACKSON, Tenn. — Union University presented longtime Baptist medical missionary Rebekah Naylor with its M.E. Dodd Denominational Service Award during an alumni dinner June 11 at the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Indianapolis.

SHARPSBURG, Ga. (AP) — A man killed three people at a home near Atlanta before fatally shooting himself early Saturday, sheriff's officials in Georgia said.

ATLANTA (AP) — Adam Duvall's single in the 10th inning drove in Luke Williams from second base and the Atlanta Braves overcame a strong start by Pittsburgh rookie Paul Skenes to beat the Pirates 2-1 on Saturday.

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — In the months since Hamas’ surprise attack sent them scattering across fields or hiding in desert brush, thousands of survivors of a massacre at a trance festival in Israel have come together as a community to heal.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Texas Supreme Court upheld the state’s ban on gender transition treatments for transgender youths Friday.

Two NASA astronauts will stay longer at the International Space Station as engineers troubleshoot problems on Boeing’s new space capsule that cropped up on the trip there. NASA on Friday did not set a return date until testing on the ground was complete and said the astronauts were safe.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran will hold a runoff presidential election pitting a little-known reformist against a hard-line former nuclear negotiator after results released Saturday showed the lowest-ever poll turnout in the Islamic Republic’s history.

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — An attacker with a crossbow wounded a Serbian police officer guarding the Israeli Embassy in Belgrade on Saturday, Serbia’s interior ministry said. The officer responded by fatally shooting the assailant.

ATLANTA (AP) — Marcell Ozuna drove in three runs with a bases-loaded double in Atlanta's five-run third inning, Charlie Morton gave up only three hits to Pittsburgh, his former home, and the Braves beat the Pirates 6-1 on Friday night.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Tropical Storm Beryl chugged toward the southeast Caribbean on Saturday and could strengthen into the year's first hurricane before reaching Barbados late Sunday.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Supreme Court said Friday the state’s strict abortion law is legal, telling a lower court to dissolve a temporary block on the law and allowing Iowa to ban most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court decided on Friday that cities can enforce bans on homeless people sleeping outdoors, even in West Coast areas where shelter space is lacking. The case is the most significant to come before the high court in decades on the issue and comes as a rising number of people in the U.S. are without a permanent place to live.

LIMA, Peru (AP) — A magnitude 7.2 earthquake shook the southern coast of Peru early Friday. Authorities say there are no immediate reports of casualties.

Russia's Defense Minister ordered officials to prepare a “response” to U.S. drone flights over the Black Sea, the ministry said Friday, in an apparent warning that Moscow may take forceful action to ward off the American reconnaissance aircraft.

As they travel around Alaska on a long-planned vacation, Ike and Susan Riffel stop now and then to put up stickers directing people to “Live Riffully.” It's a way for the California couple to honor the memories of their sons, Melvin and Bennett, who died in 2019 when a Boeing 737 Max jetliner crashed in Ethiopia.

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Bolivian government officials said Friday they arrested four more people in connection with Wednesday's failed coup attempt against President Luis Arce, bringing the total detained to 21.

ATLANTA (AP) — Tim Weah threw an inexcusable punch, and the United States took a huge blow to its hopes of advancing at the Copa America. José Fajardo beat backup goalkeeper Ethan Horvath in the 83rd minute to give Panama a 2-1 victory on Thursday night over the shorthanded Americans, putting the host country in danger of elimination if it doesn't beat Uruguay in its first-round finale.

On a winter Sunday morning in February 1779, the sound of gunfire broke the silence along the marshy bottom at the juncture of two small creeks in Wilkes County, Georgia, as men engaged in a life and death struggle. The Battle of Kettle Creek, a pivotal battle and one of the few patriot victories in Georgia, had begun.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly 200 people have been charged in a sweeping nationwide crackdown on health care fraud schemes with false claims topping $2.7 billion, the Justice Department said on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court cleared the way Thursday for Idaho hospitals to provide emergency abortions, for now, in a procedural ruling that left key questions unanswered and could mean the issue ends up before the conservative-majority court again soon.

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Supporters of Bolivia's president rallied outside his palace on Thursday after a failed coup attempt a day earlier, giving some political breathing room to the embattled leader of this economically troubled country as they chanted pro-democracy slogans.

As 20-year-old Matthias “Matty” Ponce-de-Leon laid tied to a bed in a Mexican sanatorium screaming at the ceiling, you would have a hard time seeing him as a future pastor and founder of a ministry helping those struggling with addictions all across North Carolina.