ATLANTA –The Georgia Department of Education’s Milestones test results for the last school year released Friday show improvement over the previous year’s results but are still mostly below pre-pandemic levels. The Milestones standardized tests assess student performance in core academic subjects. The results are used at the student, school, school district, and state levels to assess how Georgia students are learning.

ONTARIO, Calif. (BP) — Jeffrey Thomas Reed, professor of leadership formation at Gateway Seminary, died from complications due to kidney cancer on Wednesday. Reed, who went by J.T., also served Gateway as associate director of the doctor of ministry program.

ATLANTA (AP) — Two-time defending conference champion Alabama was predicted to win a third consecutive Southeastern Conference title in voting at this week’s SEC Media Days. Alabama beat Georgia in last year’s SEC championship game in Atlanta before losing to the Bulldogs in the national title game. Media picked a repeat matchup by selecting Alabama to win the SEC West and Georgia to win the East. Led by first-team quarterback Bryce Young, Alabama was the overwhelming pick to win the championship, receiving 158 votes. Georgia was second with 18 votes.

PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. – Folks in Shane Dixon’s life group at First Baptist Church in Peachtree City knew something was wrong because he and his wife, Jenny, weren’t showing up for their weekly get-togethers. Turned out their nearly 20-year-old car had broken down again, and his government disability check just wasn’t enough to purchase a new one.

ISTANBUL (AP) — Russian and Ukrainian officials have signed deals to end a standoff over grain exports brought on by the war in Ukraine. Ukraine is one of the world's key breadbaskets but a Russian blockade of its ports has threatened food security around the world. The two countries signed separate agreements Friday with Turkey and the United Nations so that Ukraine could export 22 million tons of grain and other agricultural products that have been stuck in its Black Sea ports by the war.

LONDON (AP) — Twitter is reporting a quarterly loss as revenue slipped even as user numbers climbed. The social media company’s latest quarterly earnings figures Friday offered a glimpse into how the social media business has performed during a months-long negotiation with billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk over whether he will take over the company.

ATLANTA – The Federal Highway Administration has designated two Georgia highways as “alternative fuel corridors” for the purpose of facilitating the construction of electric vehicle charging stations. U.S. 441 from Cornelia in Northeast Georgia south to Dublin and U.S. 82 from Brunswick west to Albany will add 25%, or approximately 330 miles, to the state’s EV charging network.

Midway Church in Villa Rica., Ga., recently celebrated its 175th anniversary. In those years, it has grown from 11 charter members to more than 3,000 members, and was recognized in 2021 as one of the Top 25 churches in Georgia in overall contributions to the Cooperative Program.

CAIRO (AP) — A powerful body headed by a militia leader accused of war crimes has been implicated in severe abuses against migrants in conflict-scarred Libya. Migrants say the government-funded Stability Support Authority detained them in abysmal conditions and tortured them. The accusations raise further questions over European support for Libyan authorities’ interception of migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean.

FARNBOROUGH, England (AP) — Movie fighter pilots are depicted as highly trained military aviators with the skills and experience to defeat adversaries in thrilling aerial dogfights. New technologies, though, are set to redefine what it means to be a “Top Gun." Algorithms, data, and machines are taking on a bigger role in the cockpit.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Officials say Ukrainian emergency workers have recovered three bodies from a school hit by a Russian strike in the east of the country, as attacks continued in several parts of the nation. The reported casualties follow a barrage Thursday on a densely populated area of Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, that killed at least three people and wounded 23 others.

DETROIT (AP) — The FBI says it found no evidence of missing Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa during a search of land under a New Jersey bridge. Hoffa has been missing since 1975 when he was last seen in suburban Detroit. The decades-long mystery turned last year to land next to a former landfill under the Pulaski Skyway in Jersey City.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The U.S. Marine Corps has halted water operations for its new amphibious combat vehicles while it investigates why two of the seafaring tanks ran into trouble off Southern California's coast this week amid high surf. No one was injured when one of the vehicles rolled onto its side in waves Tuesday that were unusually high because of a storm in the southern hemisphere.

KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) — The annual Hemingway Look-Alike Contest has begun in Key West on the 123rd anniversary of Ernest Hemingway’s July 21 birth. This year’s competition attracted 135 portly, bearded men, who are endeavoring to prove their likeness to the famed American author. The contest is a highlight of Key West’s annual Hemingway Days festivities, staged to celebrate the creative talent and colorful lifestyle of the man who lived and wrote on the island for most of the 1930s.

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Blame it on lingering effects of the pandemic, resentment over the lockout, or fears over the economy. Major League Baseball teams head into the final 2½ months of the regular season struggling to fill the stands now that they no longer have to worry about pandemic-related attendance restrictions.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A raid of Rio de Janeiro’s largest complex of favelas that left at least 18 people dead has sparked renewed complaints of excessive police violence and ignited debate over how to handle crime ahead of state and presidential elections. Rio authorities said 16 suspected criminals were killed in confrontations with police in Complexo do Alemao favela, or low-income community, along with a police officer and a woman.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, the Republican candidate for New York governor, was assaulted by a man who apparently tried to stab him at an upstate event. The head of the state Republican party chair said the congressman got a small scrape but wasn't seriously injured. Zeldin said in a statement he was able to grab the attacker's wrist and stop him for a few moments until others tackled him.

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — The owner of a large industrial site on the Georgia coast said Thursday that it has ended a longstanding agreement to sell the property to a county government whose officials worked for years on a plan to build a launch pad for commercial rockets there.

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. (BP) – Olha Soroka, 85, walks through the rooms of her home. She smells the roses from her garden and can hear the laughter from family dinners. She touches and kisses the …

ATLANTA – Georgia energy regulators voted Thursday to require Georgia Power to take a more aggressive approach toward developing renewable energy on several fronts. However, the state Public Service Commission also rejected, at least for now, a proposed expansion of Georgia Power’s rooftop solar program.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish officials say a deal on a U.N. plan to unblock the shipment of Ukrainian grain and allow Russia to export grain and fertilizers will be signed in Istanbul on Friday. The Turkish president’s office said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, and officials from Russia and Ukraine will oversee the signing ceremony.

NEW YORK (AP) — New York health officials are reporting the first U.S. case of polio in nearly a decade. Officials said the Rockland County resident is an unvaccinated adult, but they did not detail the person’s condition.

A new lunar rover is under development by Lockheed Martin and Goodyear as NASA gears up for a return to the moon. Unlike the rover first used during the Apollo 15 mission built to last only a few days, the new lunar vehicle is being built for extended use. And this time, it’s not just for NASA.

ATLANTA – Georgia’s unemployment rate dipped below 3% last month for the first time ever, the state Department of Labor reported Thursday. The rate of joblessness fell to 2.9% in June, well below the national unemployment rate of 3.6%.

CLAYTON, Ga. – June and July in Georgia mean hot days, cold sweet tea, and summer camps. Georgia Baptists saw the largest number of students in three years at their camps this year, resulting in more than 50 salvation decisions and nearly 70 teens called to ministry.