Thousands of firefighters have continued to slow the advance of destructive wildfires in the Southwest. But they're bracing for the return of the same dangerous conditions Friday that sparked and spread the wind-fueled blazes a week ago. At least 166 residences have been destroyed in one rural county in northeast New Mexico since the biggest U.S. fire started racing through small towns northeast of Santa Fe last Friday. Winds gusting up to 50 mph are forecast Friday in the drought-stricken region. Fire behavior experts say it's a recipe for disaster where timber the size of a 4-by-4 piece of lumber has a fuel moisture drier than kiln-dried wood.

ATLANTA (AP) — Ronald Acuña Jr. was playing the “Call of Duty" video game when he got an unexpected FaceTime call at 1 a.m. Atlanta Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos wanted to know if Acuña was ready to play. Not another rehab game in Triple-A, mind you. Anthopoulos was talking about a return to the big leagues.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Heavy gunfire echoed Thursday in a once quiet neighborhood in Haiti’s capital that has become ground zero in a gang fight that has has killed at least 20 people, injured more than a dozen and forced thousands to flee their homes this week.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia pounded targets from practically one end of Ukraine to the other Thursday, including Kyiv, bombarding the city while the head of the United Nations was visiting in the boldest attack on the capital since Moscow's forces retreated weeks ago.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (BP) – Gary Hollingsworth, Southern Carolina Baptist Convention executive director-treasurer, has announced plans to retire on April 30, 2023. Hollingsworth shared his intentions at the state’s Executive Board meeting earlier this week.

MOULTRIE, Ga. – The pastor emeritus at one of the fastest growing churches in America pointed Georgia Baptists back to the basics of prayer and personal devotions, telling them that’s what’s necessary to remain spiritually energized for the demands of ministry.

It was a dumb move.  I was carrying too much coming in from the back porch.  A pillow was under one arm, coffee mug in one hand.  In the other hand I held my laptop.  It was updating as it shut down so I needed to keep it open. As I crossed the threshold into the kitchen, I bumped the screen door.  Quick as a wink, it slipped from my hand falling flat on the concrete from shoulder height.  I had never dropped it like that before but knew it was bad.

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Sirens blared across Israel early Thursday as the country came to a standstill in an annual ritual honoring the 6 million Jews murdered during the Holocaust.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency may have been double-billed for the funerals of hundreds of people who died of COVID-19, the Government Accountability Office said in a new report Wednesday.

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — Christians have focused energy on passing down “the faith that was delivered to the saints once for all” for centuries. Each time one generation passes on the baton to the next, new challenges surface. Rapid changes in technology and cultural shifts, however, have seemingly made the task more daunting.

DALLAS, Texas (BP) — It was broad daylight, but Sarah Taylor knew if the stranger managed to pull her into the car, she would likely die. She fought. “He had his hand locked in my …

ATLANTA (AP) — Peyton Manning has set up a scholarship at Georgia Tech honoring former teammate Demaryius Thomas. Thomas died in December from an apparent seizure at his suburban …

HEBRON, Ky. (BP) — One question puzzled Answers in Genesis researcher and biologist Nathaniel T. Jeanson for decades: What was going on in pre-Columbus America before Europeans arrived? In …

POKROVSK, Ukraine (AP) — Russia dramatically escalated its standoff with the West over the war in Ukraine on Wednesday, cutting natural gas off to NATO members Poland and Bulgaria and …

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX launched four astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA on Wednesday, less than two days after completing a flight chartered by millionaires. …

WASHINGTON (AP) — Russia and the United States carried out a dramatic prisoner exchange on Wednesday, trading a Marine veteran jailed in Moscow for a convicted Russian drug trafficker serving a long prison sentence in America, a senior U.S. official and the Russian foreign ministry said.

TORETSK, Ukraine (AP) — The U.S. pressed its allies Tuesday to move “heaven and earth” to keep Kyiv well-supplied with weapons as Russian forces rained fire on eastern and southern Ukraine amid growing new fears the war could spill over the country's borders.

ATLANTA – Gov. Brian Kemp signed the largest tax cut in Georgia history Tuesday, legislation he said when fully implemented will save a family of four with an annual household income of $60,000 …

GRAPEVINE, Texas (BP) – At least 15 Southern Baptist evangelists have died within the last 10 years. The list, according to the Southern Baptist Evangelists fellowship group, includes Roy …

A look at Southeastern Conference players who appear poised to have breakout seasons:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — In the current fast-paced, high-pressure American culture, pastors are stressed, and they know that needs to change. According to the latest release in Lifeway Research’s 2022 Greatest Needs of Pastors study, of all the mental challenges U.S. Protestant pastors face, stress stands out above the rest. Distractions and discouragement are also significant factors for pastors when it comes to mental challenges in ministry.

The death toll from two coal mine accidents last week in southern Poland has risen to 13 after another injured miner died. The man died Tuesday at a hospital where 20 other coal mining workers are still being treated for burns from methane gas blasts, a doctor said. His death means that seven miners and rescuers were killed by repeated blasts Wednesday and Thursday at the Pniowek mine. Search for seven others who are missing was suspended after Thursday's blasts hurt 10 rescuers. In the nearby Borynia-Zofiowka mine 13 teams of rescuers are searching for four miners gone missing after a tremor and methane gas discharge Saturday. Six miners died in that accident.

Hunger is soaring across conflict-ridden Burkina Faso, a result of increasing violence by jihadi rebels linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, which has killed thousands and displaced millions, preventing people from farming. According to the latest food security report by the government and U.N. agencies, some 3.5 million people in Burkina Faso are food insecure, with nearly 630,000 expected to be on the brink of starvation. This is an 82% increase from last year of people facing emergency hunger. Jihadi rebels are also expanding and pushing south and west into Burkina Faso’s breadbasket, stealing crops and livestock and chasing people from their rural farms and into cities.   

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has granted the first three pardons of his term, providing clemency to a Kennedy-era Secret Service agent convicted of federal bribery charges that he tried to sell a copy of an agency file and to two people who were convicted on drug-related charges but went on to become pillars in their communities.

NASHVILLE (BP) – Alabama pastor David Roach is the latest announced nominee for recording secretary at the upcoming SBC Annual Meeting in Anaheim, Calif.