WASHINGTON (AP) — Kyle Wright tied for the major league lead with his 11th victory and the Atlanta Braves beat the Washington Nationals 5-4 in the opener of a four-game series. Michael Harris II, Matt Olson and Dansby Swanson homered for Atlanta, which has won five of seven and eight of 11.

Worldwide, 115 people die every minute. That’s 6,928 per hour, 166,279 per day, 5 million per month, and 60 million-plus per year. Sadly, most of them are dying without Christ.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (KT) – Bill Mackey, who faithfully served as the executive director-treasurer of the Kentucky Baptist Convention for more than a dozen years, is being remembered as a true servant of God and the “epitome of a Christian gentleman.” Mackey died Thursday morning after a year and a half battle with cancer. He was 81.

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland (AP) — The one major Tiger Woods just couldn't miss started with a grind. The 15-time major champion dropped six strokes in his first seven holes at St. Andrews and wound up shooting 6-over 78 in the first round of the British Open.

NEW YORK (AP) — Freddie Freeman’s former agent and his company have sued a radio host for libel, alleging Doug Gottlieb falsely claimed Casey Close never informed the first baseman of the Atlanta Braves’ last contract offer. Close and Excel Sports Management filed the suit in U.S. District Court, accusing Gottlieb of “false, disparaging and derogatory” comments in a tweet they claimed were made “in a grossly irresponsible manner."

JJ Washington will serve the Southern Baptist Convention well as the new national director of personal evangelism at the North American Mission Board. A fiery preacher, Washington has led the Georgia Baptist Mission Board’s state-level evangelism efforts for the past year. He absolutely shined in that role, especially in leading the annual evangelism conference that drew the largest crowd in years.

When my Vietnamese friend heard I was sick, she called to give me advice.  My voice squeaked when I answered but she knew it was me.  “Swirl honey around in your mouth and it will help the blisters,” she instructed.  Great.  I HATE honey.  Of course, it would be honey.

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks closed lower on Wall Street Thursday and banks were among the biggest weights on the market following weak earnings and a warning from JPMorgan Chase. The S&P 500 fell 0.3% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.5%. The Nasdaq ended little changed. JPMorgan Chase reported a sharp drop in earnings for its latest quarter, falling short of forecasts.

ROME (AP) — Italy's president has rebuffed Premier Mario Draghi's offer to resign after a key ally refused to back the government in a Senate vote. The presidential office said Thursday evening that President Sergio Mattarella “didn't accept the resignation and invited the premier to go to Parliament” to test support for his national unity government.

NEW YORK (AP) — The Trump family says the former president's first wife, Ivana Trump, has died in New York City. Trump posted on social media Thursday that “I am very saddened to inform all of those that loved her, of which there are many, that Ivana Trump has passed away."

I had an enjoyable evening recently in Athens visiting with a group of retired missionaries who had devoted much of their lives to delivering the gospel to Uruguay. So successful were they and their predecessors that the International Mission Board was able to pull most missionaries out of Uruguay two decades ago when the churches they started had grown strong enough to stand on their own.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – For some 40 years, Georgians have been listening to the preaching of Tony Evans on the radio. In November, they’ll be able to hear him in person. Evans, the familiar voice on the Urban Alternative radio program that’s carried on more than 1,400 stations, will be among the speakers at the Georgia Baptist Convention’s annual meeting November 13-15 at the Marriott Convention Center in Augusta.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress is giving its ultimate salute to Hershel W. “Woody” Williams, the last remaining Medal of Honor recipient from World War II, who died at age 98. Williams is lying honor at the U.S. Capitol, a tribute reserved for the nation’s most distinguished citizens. As a young Marine corporal fighting in the Battle of Iwo Jima, Williams went ahead of his unit and eliminated a series of Japanese machine gun positions.

PHOENIX (AP) — Long lines are back at outside food banks around the U.S. as working Americans overwhelmed by inflation increasingly seek handouts to feed their families. Many people are coming for the first time amid the skyrocketing grocery and gas prices. The food banks struggle to help even as federal programs provide less food, grocery store donations wane and cash gifts don't go nearly as far while U.S. inflation hits a 40-year high.

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland (AP) — Phil Mickelson walked out onto the first tee at the Old Course with only a few hundred fans watching nearby and several boisterous seagulls cackling above. His golf week was about to begin a few days later than normal for a British Open champion at St. Andrews. The 2013 Open winner says he didn’t attend the champions’ dinner on Tuesday because the R&A told him the club didn’t “think it’s a great idea you go.”

ATLANTA (AP) — A former Georgia mayor will serve nearly five years in federal prison after stealing nearly $925,000 in COVID-19 relief funds that his city handed out. U.S. District Judge Thomas W. Thrash sentenced Stonecrest ex-mayor Jason Lary to 57 months in federal prison and ordered him to pay nearly $120,000 in restitution.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Inflation at the wholesale level climbed 11.3% in June compared with a year earlier, the latest painful reminder that inflation is running hot through the American economy. The U.S. producer price index — which measures inflation before it hits consumers — rose at the fastest pace since hitting a record 11.6% in March.

LONDON (AP) — A previously unknown self-portrait of Vincent Van Gogh has been discovered behind another of the artist’s paintings. The National Galleries of Scotland said Thursday it was discovered on the back of Van Gogh’s “Head of a Peasant Woman” when experts took an X-ray of the canvas ahead of an upcoming exhibition.

Did you catch the supermoon? There was a full moon Wednesday night, and at the same time, the moon was closer to Earth than usual. That combo is called a supermoon. The close proximity to Earth can make the moon appear slightly bigger and brighter, if the skies are clear. One name for July's full moon is the “Buck moon." The name is a reference to the time of year when new antlers are growing on male deer, or bucks. The full moon last month was also considered a supermoon.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — New omicron variants are again driving hospital admissions and deaths higher in recent weeks, causing states and cities to rethink their responses to COVID-19 and the White House to step up efforts to alert the public. Some experts say the warnings are too little, too late.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lankan protesters have begun to retreat from government buildings they had seized and military troops reinforced security at the Parliament on Thursday. A tenuous calm reigned in a country in both economic meltdown and political limbo. Embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled Wednesday under pressure from protesters furious over the island nation’s economic collapse.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian officials say Russian missiles that struck a city in central Ukraine killed at least 20 people and wounded about 90. Ukraine’s national police said three missiles hit an office building and damaged residential buildings in Vinnytsia on Thursday. The city is 167 miles southwest of the capital, Kyiv.

BEIJING (AP) — Global stocks and Wall Street futures have fallen after higher U.S. inflation stoked expectations of more rate hikes that investors worry will chill economic growth. London and Frankfurt opened lower.

JERUSALEM (AP) — President Joe Biden says the United States is “not going to wait forever” for Iran to rejoin the dormant nuclear deal, a day after saying he’d be willing to use force against Tehran if necessary. Biden made the comments at a joint news conference Thursday in Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid.

GRUNDY, Va. (AP) — Authorities in a remote corner of southwest Virginia have located all but three of the 44 people who were reported unaccounted for after devastating flooding washed out roadways and damaged more than 100 homes. Buchanan County Sheriff John McClanahan said Thursday that crews from state and local agencies worked throughout the night to locate and reunite residents with their loved ones.