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REUTERS: Rescue workers scrabbled through rubble as dawn broke on Wednesday, searching for dozens of children feared buried beneath a Mexico City school, among hundreds of buildings destroyed by the country’s most lethal earthquake in a generation. CNN: Hurricane Maria pummeled Puerto Rico on Wednesday morning, ripping trees out of the ground and hammering two-thirds of the island with hurricane-force winds. SBC THIS WEEK: An International Mission Board press release, following this week’s trustee meeting, has announced that IMB President David Platt will be voted on in the coming weeks to serve as teaching pastor at McLean Bible Church, a Southern Baptist Church in McLean, VA.

1. NYT - The most powerful earthquake to hit Mexico in 100 years struck off the nation’s Pacific Coast late Thursday night, rattling millions of residents in Mexico City with its violent tremors, claiming at least five lives and leveling some areas in the southern part of the country closest to where the quake occurred. 2. News and Advance - Thomas Road Baptist Church Pastor Jonathan Falwell and his wife are stranded in the Caribbean in the path of Hurricane Irma, a Category 5 storm, according to a Tuesday night TRBC Facebook post. 3. AP - A mid-September conference on historically black colleges and universities remains on track, the White House said Wednesday, despite reports that it has been postponed.

1. USA Today - Seattle-based online retailer Amazon.com announced Thursday that it is seeking a second North American headquarters with up to 50,000 jobs. 2. Business Insider - On Friday, tech billionaire Michael Dell broke his silence on what he plans to do for Houston, his home town that’s been devastated by catastrophic flooding from Hurricane Harvey. 3. ESPN - Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin received racist hate mail at his home this week, his wife said on Twitter. Charlene Sumlin tweeted a picture of the letter Thursday afternoon.

1. AP - Twelve years to the day after Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast, another deadly storm forced the rescue of hundreds of people from floodwaters in southwestern Louisiana and prompted New Orleans to shut down its schools and other key institutions as a precaution. 2. Entertainment Weekly - Beyoncé is sending more than her thoughts and prayers to Houston. The Lemonade superstar promised her support in aiding the victims of Hurricane Harvey through her charity initiative, BeyGOOD. 3. NYT - Uber chose Dara Khosrowshahi, who leads the online travel company Expedia, to be its chief executive on Sunday, two people with knowledge of the decision said.

1. Marketwatch - Televangelist Joel Osteen canceled Sunday services at his Houston megachurch but was reluctant to reopen its doors to Harvey victims — despite the fact that thousands of flooded-out residents are desperately seeking shelter. 2. NYT - President Trump landed in storm-brushed Corpus Christi on Tuesday morning to see for himself some of the damage caused by Tropical Storm Harvey and demonstrate his personal commitment to a region still in the grips of a historic natural disaster. 3. CP - A top aid for Pope Francis has admitted that the latest Islamic State video that targets Pope Francis is prompting concern but said the pope won’t be making any schedule adjustments.

1. The Louisiana Baptist Message - As Tropical Storm Harvey continues to slowly make its way up southeast Texas, Louisiana Baptist Disaster Relief State Director Gibbie McMillan is joining others around the country in urging prayers, donations and volunteers to help thousands of residents affected. 2. Seattle Times - After nine often rocky years at the helm of Mount Zion Baptist Church, the Rev. Aaron Williams is stepping down. 3. Reuters - Tropical storm Pakhar brought strong winds and heavy rain to Hong Kong and Macau on Sunday, just four days after one of the strongest typhoons on record, Hato, caused serious flooding and damage in the territories and killed at least 10 people in the gaming hub.

1. The Republic - A Grand Canyon University professor has been placed on administrative leave after saying during a school-sponsored forum that some members of Black Lives Matter “frankly should be hung.” 2. CP - Reflecting on his inevitable physical death, leader of the Nation of Islam, Louis Farrakhan, 84, declared in a controversial video recording Tuesday that Jesus will save him from the grip of death despite his organization’s creed that there is only “One God whose proper Name is Allah.” 3. National Catholic Reporter - Noting that an ad hoc committee is “the highest structural response possible” from the U.S. bishops, Bishop George Murry of Youngstown, Ohio, announced today that he will lead such a committee against racism, citing the need for “a concerted effort at this moment.”

1. ABC News - Though Hurricane Harvey weakened to a tropical storm by Saturday afternoon, southeast Texas — particularly the Houston area — continued to be hammered by the storm on Sunday morning. 2. AP - Donald Trump started as the most unpopular new president in the history of modern polling. 3. AP - Myanmar’s government and advocates for the country’s Muslim Rohingya ethnic minority traded charges Sunday of killing civilians, burning down buildings and planting land mines, as clashes that began last week when insurgents launched attacks against police posts continued.

1. BCNN1 - An active shooter and possible hostage situation is unfolding at a restaurant on King Street in Charleston, SC. 2. AP - Charlottesville officials met privately Thursday to discuss “personnel matters” in the wake of a deadly white nationalist rally, the city’s mayor said in a statement in which he also asserted he’d been largely shut out of security preparations for the event. 3. NPR - Former FBI Director James Comey is scheduled to deliver a convocation address at Howard University next month, part of a series of lectures he has been invited to give during the coming academic year at the historically black college.

1. Reuters - U.S. President Donald Trump revved up supporters on Tuesday with a defense of his response to a white supremacist-organized rally in Virginia and a promise to shut down the U.S. government if necessary to build a wall along the border with Mexico. 2. LU News Service - Dr. Ron Hawkins helped lead Liberty University through some of its darkest times to the higher education powerhouse it is today. 3. BP - Immediate past Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd has been appointed president of the National Day of Prayer Task Force, the organization announced today (Aug. 22).

1. CP - A day after announcing his official resignation from President Donald Trump’s Evangelical Advisory Board — citing a “deepening conflict in values” between himself and the administration — political kingmaker and leader of New York City’s largest church A.R. Bernard called the board a “photo op” and urged white evangelical leaders to hold the president “accountable to an agenda.” 2. CNN - Thirty-three people were injured when an incoming high-speed train struck an unoccupied train car inside an Upper Darby, PA, transit terminal early Tuesday morning, Upper Darby Mayor Thomas Micozzie. 3. AP - The stars came out in the middle of the day, zoo animals ran in agitated circles, crickets chirped, birds fell silent and a chilly darkness settled upon the land Monday as the U.S. witnessed its first full-blown, coast-to-coast solar eclipse since World War I.

1. The Hill - Former students at Liberty University are preparing to return their diplomas in a group protest of university president Jerry Falwell Jr.’s support for President Trump’s agenda. 2. KATV - According to Mark Deymaz, his daughter has been found safe. 3. PEOPLE - Civil rights activist and comedian Dick Gregory has died, his family has confirmed.

1. Tampa Bay Times - Bishop Melvin Jefferson and his wife, Brenda, have a busy travel schedule this year as they spread the word of their Tampa-based ministry. 2. ABC - Steve Bannon has broken his silence on last weekend’s white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, describing the participants as “a collection of clowns.” 3. Detroit Free Press - One month after claiming he tried to beat up his lawyer, ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is taking another shot at his attorney.

1. PNBC PR - The Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc. (PNBC) condemns the violence that took the life of Heather Heyer, and injured other anti-protestors who rallied against the “Unite the Right” march of the KKK, white supremacists, and white nationalists in Charlottesville, VA. 2. NYT - Two women injured during the right-wing extremist protest last weekend in Charlottesville, Va., filed a lawsuit on Tuesday seeking damages from the rally’s organizer and more than two dozen leaders, groups and websites affiliated with the self-proclaimed alt-right. 3. CP - A North Carolina pastor who is a descendant of Confederate General Robert E. Lee has said he believes his ancestor’s statues have become “a symbol of bigotry.”

1. BP - Trustees for GuideStone Financial Resources gathered July 31–Aug. 1 in regular session to hear reports from GuideStone executive officers and staff about the board’s performance in key lines of business. 2. AP - Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings calls for a task force to review the potential removal of Confederate statues. 3. LC - Sandra ‘Susan’ Merritt filed a Motion to Dismiss late yesterday asking the San Francisco Superior Court to dismiss the politically-motivated criminal complaints brought against her by the State of California because the Attorney General failed to timely file an amended complaint by the 10-day deadline regarding the dismissed Counts 1-14.

1. CBS DFW - The debate over Confederate monuments has captured the attention of many, including a former Dallas city council member. 2. CP - A group of conservative black pastors and intellectual leaders on Monday defended President Donald Trump amid criticism of his initial response to the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, last weekend. 3. NBC - One of President Donald Trump’s manufacturing advisers quit this weekend over the president’s response to the Charlottesville rally.

1. NPR - Three people died and about 35 were injured in a day of violence that began with clashes at a white nationalist rally on Saturday in Charlottesville, Va., Gov. Terry McAuliffe said. 2. AP - Kenyan police have fatally shot at least eleven people during violent protests over the disputed election victory of President Uhuru Kenyatta. 3. ABC - Pat Robertson, the founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network and a familiar face on its flagship program The 700 Club, has been hospitalized, CBN announced Friday.

1. CNN - Chinese President Xi Jinpi4ng called for restraint during a phone call Saturday with President Donald Trump, following a dramatic exchange of threats between the US President and North Korea. 2. NPR - A passenger train smashed into the back of another train outside the Egyptian city of Alexandria on Friday afternoon. 3. Daily Beast - Senator Cory Gardner, a Republican from Colorado, called out President Donald Trump over his statement about the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.

1. Daily Mail - A huge fallout has engulfed a conference for black journalists after a senior aide to President Trump was added to a panel. 2. UPI - An expressway accident in China Thursday killed at least 36 people and injured several others. 3. CP - After Hillary Clinton suffered a devastating loss in the 2016 presidential race to Donald Trump, her longtime pastor — who compared her loss to the death of Christ — says she now has her eyes set on a higher calling.

1. BBC - North Korea says a plan that could see it fire four missiles near the US territory of Guam will be ready in a matter of days. 2. AP - Five migrants are dead and more than 50 are missing after smugglers forced them from a boat off the coast of Yemen in the second such drowning in two days, the U.N. migration agency said Thursday. 3. WSMV - A Christian academy in Brentwood is being accused of a big cover-up. A lawsuit claims a 12-year-old boy was being raped by older boys at Brentwood Academy.