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August 24, 2023

Inspired by the Old Testament prophet Elijah, a group of Christians in Central Texas are praying for rain amid a severe drought.

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, much of Central Texas is experiencing “exceptional drought,” the most severe degree on the scale, marked by “exceptional and widespread crop loss” and “extreme sensitivity to fire danger” while “most wildlife species health and population are suffering.”

A pastor from Hays County, Jimmy Darnell, led a group of believers in prayer Monday and told KXAN-TV they will be praying daily over the next week.

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“We got farmers, ranchers, all kinds of folks here, and were just asking the Lord to send us rain,” he told the local news station. “Our aquifers are at historic lows. Our rivers are drying up. So weve got to have some divine help from heaven.”

The motivation behind the week-long prayer effort, the pastor explained, comes from 1 Kings 18:41-46, where it’s written the prophet Elijah prayed seven days in a row for the Lord to bring rain to the land: And Elijah said to Ahab, Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain.So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees.

Go and look toward the sea, he told his servant. And he went up and looked.

There is nothing there, he said.

Seven times, Elijah said, Go back.

The seventh timethe servant reported, A cloudas small as a mans hand is rising from the sea.

So Elijah said, Go and tell Ahab, Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.

Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rainstarted falling and Ahab rode off to Jezreel.The powerof theLordcame on Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt,he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel. (NLT)

King Ahab, misguided by his wife, trusted in false gods to provide for his needs. Elijah much to the king’s chagrin confronted him repeatedly with his disobedience to the one true God. Because the prophet trusted in the Lord’s promises, his faith was rewarded: the rain came.

Darnell said he is seeking God with the same kind of trust.

Hays County saw light rainfall Tuesday. While encouraging, the pastor said he and his fellow community members are praying for a lot more.

“Were praying for drought-busting rains,” said Darnell. “By New Years Eve, wed like to have 40 inches of rain.”

The county was met with a similar drought in 2009, when Darnell and other Christians petitioned the Lord in the same way. At that time, they saw 39 inches of rain by year’s end. The pastor is confident they’ll see it happen again.

“When you see different churches and people who dont even go to church coming out here to pray because they know the need,” he said. “Theres a sense of unity thats really beautiful.”

***As the number of voices facing big-tech censorship continues to grow, please sign up forFaithwires daily newsletterand download theCBN News app, developed by our parent company, to stay up-to-date with the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.***

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Sports

Stockton fuels comeback as UGA topples Ole Miss

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Stockton fuels comeback as UGA topples Ole Miss

Gunner Stockton passed for 289 yards and four touchdowns, including three to tight end Lawson Luckie, and No. 9 Georgia overcame Trinidad Chambliss and No. 5 Mississippi’s powerful offense to rally for a 43-35 win over the Rebels on Saturday.

Georgia (6-1, 4-1 Southeastern Conference) rallied after trailing 35-26 at the start of the fourth quarter. Stockton’s 7-yard touchdown pass to Luckie with 7:29 remaining gave Georgia a 40-35 lead.

Ole Miss (6-1, 3-1) was denied its first road win over a top 10 team under coach Lane Kiffin even though the Rebels scored touchdowns on their first five possessions.

Stockton completed 26 of 31 passes and added a 22-yard scoring run in the crucial SEC showdown.

“It was a great day,” Stockton said. “We just played for each other and that’s the best part of our team.”

Stockton and the Bulldogs had no turnovers.

In previewing the game, Kiffin said winning at Georgia would mean the Rebels have taken “another step” in their move up the SEC. That looked likely when they scored touchdowns on each of their first five possessions, taking a nine-point lead in the third quarter.

Suddenly, the Ole Miss offense lost its magic as Georgia did not give up another first down.

Following the first punt of the game by either team with 12:44 remaining, Stockton led a nine-play, 67-yard drive capped by the 7-yard scoring pass to Luckie that gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the second half.

Following another stop by Georgia’s defense, Stockton led a 10-play drive to set up Peyton Woodring‘s third field goal of the game, a 42-yarder, to stretch the lead to eight points with 2:06 remaining.

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World

Hamas hands over bodies of two more hostages, Israel confirms

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Hamas hands over bodies of two more hostages, Israel confirms

Israel has received the bodies of two more hostages from the Red Cross, the Israeli prime minister’s office has confirmed.

Shortly after 10pm UK time on Saturday, Israel’s military said Hamas handed over “two coffins of deceased hostages”.

There has been no identification of the bodies yet.

The news came as tensions were beginning to rise over the closure of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt.

Benjamin Netanyahu‘s office had said earlier on Saturday evening that it would stay closed “until further notice” – as the deadline for Hamas to return the bodies of the hostages had passed with no confirmation.

Mr Netanyahu had warned that its reopening would depend on how Hamas fulfilled its role in returning the remains of all 28 dead hostages.

The handover brings the count of returned bodies to 12 hostages, up from 10, according to Israel’s tally. Another 16 deceased hostages would then still have to be returned.

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All 28 were supposed to have been handed over by last Monday.

The handover of remains is among key points – along with aid deliveries into Gaza and the devastated territory’s future – in the ceasefire process meant to end two years of war.

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Rafah crossing to remain closed

Israel’s foreign ministry had originally said the Rafah crossing would likely reopen on Sunday – another step in the fragile ceasefire. This has now been revised to being closed “until further notice”.

A satellite image shows the back-up of aid trucks at the border from the air. Pic: ©2025 Vantor/Reuters
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A satellite image shows the back-up of aid trucks at the border from the air. Pic: ©2025 Vantor/Reuters

A fully reopened crossing would make it easier for Gazans to seek medical treatment, travel internationally or visit family in Egypt, which is home to tens of thousands of Palestinians.

It is unclear who will operate the crossing’s heavily damaged Gaza side once the war ends.

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Meanwhile, Gaza’s ruins were being scoured for the dead, over a week into a ceasefire. Newly recovered bodies brought the Palestinian toll above 68,000, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

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The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count. But the ministry maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by UN agencies and independent experts.

Famine declared

Israel has disputed them without providing its own toll.

Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 people in the attack on southern Israel that sparked the war on October 7 2023.

Gaza’s more than two million people are hoping the ceasefire will bring relief from the humanitarian disaster caused by Israel’s offensive. Throughout the war, Israel restricted aid entry to Gaza – sometimes halting it altogether.

Famine was declared in Gaza City, and the UN says it has verified more than 400 people who died of malnutrition-related causes, including more than 100 children.

Officials in Israel say they have let in enough food, accusing Hamas of stealing much of it. The UN and other aid agencies deny this claim.

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Technology

Close to half of Kalshi user base experienced glitches, delays during Saturday college football games

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Close to half of Kalshi user base experienced glitches, delays during Saturday college football games

The Kalshi logo arranged on a laptop in New York, US, on Monday, Feb. 10, 2025.

Gabby Jones | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Close to half of Kalshi’s user base experienced glitches and delays on Saturday during college football games, a major source of trades, as some said they were temporarily unable to process orders.

In a message sent to a user obtained by CNBC, the predictions market service’s website apologized for any inconvenience and said it was “looking into” the issues traders were experiencing. 

“The Exchange is experiencing temporary delays,” the message read. “Balances and positions may not be accurately reflected at this time.” 

One user shared a screen recording and screenshots with CNBC that showed they were unable to see their balance or bets while the issues persisted.

A number of users on X reported the website was down when they were trying to place bets on college football games, with some saying they had open orders that wouldn’t process. When CNBC visited the website, it wouldn’t load, showing only a green K with a spinning circle around it for more than 20 minutes. The platform later loaded.

“Earlier today, Kalshi experienced minor glitches that temporarily affected some user experiences. No exchange outage occurred, no funds were affected, and the issues are now resolved,” the company said in a statement.

Earlier, a spokesperson denied there was an outage and said the exchange “never stopped functioning properly.” He added that there has been no impact on clearing, advanced trading, or institutional trading.

“There were some glitches and delays on our web and app product, which affected less than half of our user base,” the spokesperson said. 

A little over a week ago, Kalshi announced a $300 million Series D funding round that valued the company at $5 billion, more than double its $2 billion valuation in June after its Series C round. 

The round was co-led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Sequoia Capital, with participation from Paradigm. Additional backers included Coinbase Ventures, General Catalyst, Spark Capital and CapitalG. 

The company, founded in 2018, rose to prominence by offering bettors the ability to trade on a wide range of real-world events, from football games to who President Donald Trump could pardon this year.

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