NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are opening gingerly higher on Wall Street Friday at the end of a brutal week. Stocks suffered several massive drops this week as markets get accustomed to the bitter medicine of higher interest rates that the Federal Reserve and other central banks are using in their battle against inflation.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has signed a bill that will give around-the-clock security protection to the families of Supreme Court justices. The new law, which passed the House this week and the Senate last month, comes one day after a federal grand jury indicted a Simi Valley, California, man on one count of attempting to murder a Justice of the United States.

BELLE PLAINE, Kan. (AP) — Industry officials say thousands of cattle in feedlots in southwestern Kansas have died of heat stress due to soaring temperatures, high humidity and little wind in recent days. The final toll remains unclear, but as of Thursday at least 2,000 heat-related deaths had been reported to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, the state agency that assists in disposing of carcasses.

BEIJING (AP) — China has launched its third aircraft carrier, the first such ship to be designed and built entirely within the country. State media reports said the Type 003 new-generation aircraft carrier christened Fujian left its drydock at a shipyard in Shanghai on Friday morning.

BORETTO, Italy (AP) — Water is so low in large stretches of Italy’s largest river that local residents are walking through the middle of the expanse of sand and shipwrecks are resurfacing, but authorities fear there’ll be far greater consequences for farmers and local populations.

LONDON (AP) — The British government has approved the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States to face spying charges. WikiLeaks said it would appeal.

LYSYCHANSK, Ukraine (AP) — The European Union’s executive arm has recommended putting Ukraine on a path to membership. That's a symbolic boost for the embattled country but one that did not slow a Russian onslaught in the east that is taking civilian lives and flattening cities.

VESTAVIA HILLS, Ala. (AP) — Police say a lone suspect fired on a small group meeting at a church near one of Alabama’s major cities, fatally wounding two people and injuring a third victim. Police say the suspect is in custody after the shooting attack Thursday evening at Saint Stephen’s Episcopal Church in the Birmingham suburb of Vestavia Hills.

First Samuel 17 tells a gigantic true story of a young man who fully trusted God. While every other soldier was shaking in his sandals, David knew he could defeat the giant Goliath who was over 9 feet tall.  He believed in God.  He trusted God.  And he remembered what God had already helped him through. 

RED LODGE, Mont. (AP) — Businesses in some of the gateway towns leading to Yellowstone National Park are worried about the coming weeks and months after severe flooding closed the park. Officials say the park’s southern part, which features Old Faithful, could reopen as soon as next week. But the north end, which includes Tower Fall and the bears and wolves of Lamar Valley, could stay closed much longer, perhaps the rest of the summer.

BROOKLINE, Mass. (AP) — Adam Hadwin wasn’t officially in the U.S. Open until eight days ago. And then he walked off The Country Club with his best score ever in a major for a one-shot lead.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Abortion providers in some places where the procedure could be banned if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade are preparing for a ruling by halting scheduling …

WASHINGTON (AP) — Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates made their biggest one-week jump in 35 years, one day after the Federal Reserve raised its key rate by three-quarters of a point in bid to tame high inflation. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the 30-year rate climbed from 5.23% last week to 5.78% this week, the highest its been since November of 2008 during the housing crisis.

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street tumbled Thursday as worries roared back to the fore that the world’s fragile economy may buckle under higher interest rates. The S&P 500 fell 3.3% to more than reverse its brief rally from a day before. Analysts had warned of more big swings given deep uncertainties about whether other central banks can tiptoe the narrow path of hiking interest rates enough to get inflation under control but not so much that they cause a recession.

ATLANTA – Car traffic in Georgia is at an all-time high despite rising prices at the pump, state Commissioner of Transportation Russell McMurry said Thursday. The cost of gasoline has soared across the state to an average of $4.48 per gallon, up from $2.87 a gallon in June of last year, McMurry told members of the State Transportation Board.

BOSTON (AP) — The Golden State Warriors are NBA champions once again, topping the Boston Celtics 103-90 for their fourth title in the last eight seasons. Stephen Curry scored 34 points for the Warriors, who claimed the franchise’s seventh championship overall. And this one completed a journey like none other, after a run of five consecutive finals, then a plummet to the bottom of the NBA, and now a return to greatness just two seasons after having the league’s worst record.

NEW YORK (AP) — Atlanta, Houston, Miami, Philadelphia and Seattle and Kansas City, Missouri, were the newcomers among the 11 U.S. sites picked to host games at the 2026 World Cup, while Baltimore, Cincinnati, Denver, Nashville, Tennessee, and Orlando, Florida, were left out.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has approved a sweeping expansion of health care and disability benefits for veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan in response to concerns about their exposure to toxic burn pits. Passage of the bill Thursday caps years of advocacy work by veterans groups and others who liken burn pits to the Agent Orange herbicide that Vietnam-era veterans were exposed to.

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Southern Baptists around the world were able to tune into this year’s annual meeting via ACTS2 TV, a creation of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board. Some 5,000 people have signed up for the streaming service, and over the two days of the annual meeting, an average of 2,000 of them were watching the proceeding at any one time.

In an unusual move for what’s been an unusual takeover bid for Twitter by the world’s richest man, Tesla CEO Elon Musk addressed the social platform’s employees Thursday, even though his $44 billion offer has not yet been completed.

ATLANTA – Georgia’s unemployment rate fell to an all-time low of 3.1% last month, well below the national jobless rate of 3.6%, the state Department of Labor reported Thursday. At the same time, the number of jobs rose to a record high of nearly 4.8 million in May, up more than 18,000 from April.

NEW YORK (AP) — Revlon, a cosmetics maker that broke racial barriers and dictated beauty trends for much of the last century, is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company has been a mainstay on store shelves since its founding 90 years ago in New York City as it oversaw a stable of household names, from Almay to Elizabeth Arden.

Seattle Storm star and five-time Olympic gold medalist Sue Bird says the 2022 season will be her last playing in the WNBA. The announcement by the 41-year-old ended any speculation about her future. She acknowledged in February when she re-signed with Seattle that this would likely be her final season.

HAVANA (AP) — Cuba has produced only about half the sugar it had projected this season and authorities acknowledge that while they will cover internal demand they will not be able to meet their international commitments. An official at the government agency that regulates sugar production said Wednesday: “It’s not a secret, the sector is in crisis.”

ALONG BAYOU POINTE-AU-CHIEN, La. (AP) — As another hurricane season gets started, many Native American residents in southeast Louisiana are still struggling to recover from last year’s Hurricane Ida. Native Americans have lived in the bayous of southeast Louisiana for hundreds of years and have strong connections to the land and waterways.