KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The shattered port city of Mariupol appeared on the brink of falling to the Russians on Sunday in what would give Moscow its biggest victory of the war yet and free up troops to take part in a potentially climactic battle for control of Ukraine’s industrial east.

The letters LGI are boldly displayed on the copula of the city of Locust Grove municipal building. A nearby marker explains the building once housed the Locust Grove Institute (1894-1929. It was one of more than 40 private Baptist high schools scattered across Georgia and one of hundreds across the South.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli police on Sunday entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City to secure the way for Jewish visitors to the flashpoint holy site, fueling clashes that left 17 Palestinians wounded, according to Palestinian medical workers.

HAMPTON, S.C. (AP) — Authorities in South Carolina say they are investigating shooting at a club in Hampton County early Sunday that left at least nine people injured. It was the third mass shooting in the U.S. over the Easter holiday weekend.

Millions of Americans wait until the last minute to file their taxes, and this year is no exception. Monday is Tax Day — the federal deadline for individual tax filing and payments. The IRS will receive tens of millions of last-minute filings electronically and through paper forms. Nina Tross at the National Society of Tax Professionals says if people haven’t filed their taxes by now, “they’re better off filing an extension.” But she says many people don’t realize that filing an extension “has zero effect,” so long as people are paid up on their income taxes by Tax Day. She adds that people are “better off extending than amending.”

BOSTON (AP) — Jacky Hunt-Broersma runs like a woman possessed. And in a way, she is: The amputee athlete is trying to run at least 102 marathons in 102 days. Last month, a little more than two-thirds toward her goal of setting a new world record for back-to-back marathons, the South Africa native posted something on Twitter that got people talking.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina prisoner scheduled to be the first man executed in the state in more than a decade has decided to die by firing squad rather than in the electric chair later this month, according to court documents filed Friday.

MONROE, Ga. – The Walnut Grove cluster of schools is heaping praise on Pastor Tommy Fountain Sr., his wife, Dianne, and 1025 Church for their ministry to children.

MUTARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — A bus carrying worshippers traveling to an Easter pilgrimage in mountainous eastern Zimbabwe plunged into a gorge, killing 35 people in the early hours of Friday.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet, a guided-missile cruiser that became a potent target of Ukrainian defiance in the opening days of the war, sank Thursday after it was heavily damaged in the latest setback for Moscow's invasion.

FORT WORTH, Texas (BP) – Kenneth S. Hemphill, seventh president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, has been appointed distinguished fellow of the Hemphill Center for Church Revitalization and senior professor of church revitalization in the Roy J. Fish School of Evangelism and Missions, President Adam W. Greenway announced Thursday.

ANAHEIM, Calif. (BP) – The submission portal for 2022 SBC resolutions will open on Friday. In accordance with SBC Bylaw 20, proposed resolutions may be submitted as early as April 15 but no later than 15 days prior to the SBC Annual Meeting, giving the Resolutions Committee a two-week period in which to consider submissions.

ATLANTA – Georgia’s unemployment rate fell to an all-time low of 3.1% last month, creating a tight labor market that drove up wages.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The coronavirus pandemic ushered in what may be the most rapid rise in homeschooling the U.S. has ever seen. Two years later, even after schools reopened and vaccines became widely available, many parents have chosen to continue directing their children’s educations themselves.

ANAHEIM, Calif. (BP) – Southern Baptist Convention President Ed Litton has announced his appointments to the 2022 Committee on Committees. Litton, pastor of Redemption Church in Saraland, Ala., announced the chair and vice chair for the committee last fall, naming Jeremy Freeman, pastor of First Baptist Church, Newcastle, Okla., as chair, and Amanda Stanton, member of Calvary Church, Clearwater, Fla., as vice chair.

MESQUITE, Texas (BP) – A Texas youth pastor is being held on a $2.5 million bond after being arrested on three counts of sexual abuse related to a minor. Conner Jesse Penny, 32, was arrested April 5 and charged with one count of Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child, one count of Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child, and one count of Indecency with a Child.

Here we have a gripping and gruesome tale in which God’s chosen deliverer assassinated the Moabite king and then led a successful fight for freedom which established peace in Israel for eighty years.  The emphasis on Eglon’s extreme size and how the dagger/sword disappeared into his abundant abdomen conjures up an image of Jabba the Hutt from Star Wars.   In the face of the such a striking story many a reader asks:  Did God send Ehud to assassinate King Eglon and did Ehud lie when he said he had a message from God, but then stabbed the king to death?

THOMASVILLE, Ga. – The number of new Christians in Georgia grew by another 19 in revival services over the past four days at Pineland Baptist Church in Thomasville in the state’s southwest region. The new converts join hundreds of other Georgians who have made professions of faith in recent weeks in what denominational leaders hope is the beginning of a widespread spiritual awakening.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine said Thursday its forces sank the flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet in a missile attack, but Moscow said the vessel was merely damaged, making no mention of an assault.

As Easter approaches, I’ve been thinking about Mary. When she and Joseph took Jesus to the temple to present Him to the Lord (Luke 2:22), was the stable delivery still fresh in their minds? 

Delta Air Lines lost $940 million in the first quarter, hurt by a rise in fuel prices, but bookings surged in recent weeks, setting up a breakout summer as Americans try to put the pandemic behind them.

Firefighters scouted the drought-stricken mountainsides around a New Mexico village on Wednesday as they looked for opportunities to slow a wind-driven wildfire that a day earlier had burned at least 150 homes and other structures while displacing thousands of residents and forcing the evacuation of two schools.

LVIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine's detention of fugitive Ukrainian oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk, the former leader of a pro-Russian opposition party and a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been met with enthusiasm in Kyiv and irritation in Moscow.

SALADO, Texas (AP) — Nearly two dozen people were injured when tornadoes swept through central Texas as part of a storm system that was expected to spawn more twisters and damaging winds Wednesday.

MOUNT VERNON, Ga. — Brewton-Parker College has completed its 5th Annual Southern Classic Golf Tournament presented by Metter Ford at the Willow Lake Golf Club in Metter, Georgia.