1. According to The Washington Post, Gardner C. Taylor, known as “the dean of American preaching” and a close friend and confidant to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., died Easter Sunday. He was 96. His death was confirmed by Carroll Baltimore, a past president of the Progressive National Baptist Convention, who said Taylor was a significant figure in the civil rights movement and had a major impact on seminary students. Baltimore said, “He was such a legendary figure for us. We refer to him as the ‘prince of preachers.’ His influence is felt in pulpits.” Taylor served as pastor of the Concord Baptist Church of Christ in Brooklyn for 42 years before he retired in 1990. He helped to found the Progressive National Baptist Convention with Dr. King, providing an important base of support for King’s civil rights work.
2. According to Fox News, President Obama appealed to lawmakers to reconsider contentious legislation giving Congress a say on an Iran nuclear deal, as the co-author of the bill vowed to hold a key vote next week. In an interview published Sunday, Obama said the newly agreed framework of a nuclear deal with Iran represented a “once in a lifetime opportunity” to prevent Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and move toward stabilizing the Middle East. Obama told New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, “I’ve been very clear that Iran will not get a nuclear weapon on my watch, and I think they should understand that we mean it. But I say that hoping that we can conclude this diplomatic arrangement — and that it ushers a new era in U.S.-Iranian relations – and, just as importantly, over time, a new era in Iranian relations with its neighbors.”
3. According to the AP, Authorities say several people were injured when the roof of a northern New Jersey church collapsed during an Easter Sunday service. Congregants were reportedly singing at the Korean Union United Methodist Church in Rahway when they heard a cracking sound from above and debris began falling down on them. One person was seriously injured; about a dozen others had minor injuries. The injured people reportedly were members of a separate congregation that rents out space at the church. None of the injuries were considered life-threatening. It’s not yet known what caused the collapse Sunday afternoon. Everyone was able to quickly exit the church.
4. According to the AP, In an Easter peace wish, Pope Francis on Sunday praised the framework nuclear agreement with Iran as an opportunity to make the world safer, while expressing deep worry about bloodshed in Libya, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Nigeria and elsewhere in Africa. Cautious hope ran through Francis’ Easter message, a kind of papal commentary on the state of the world’s affairs, which he delivered from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Square. Francis made his first public comments about the recent framework for an accord, reached in Switzerland, and aimed at ensuring Iran doesn’t develop a nuclear weapon. He also prayed that the “roar of arms may cease” in Syria and Iraq, and that peace would come in Africa for Nigeria, South Sudan, Sudan and Congo.
5. According to The New York Times, Rolling Stone magazine retracted its article about a brutal gang rape at a University of Virginia fraternity after the release of a report on Sunday that concluded the widely discredited piece was the result of failures at every stage of the process. The report, published by the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and commissioned by Rolling Stone, said the magazine failed to engage in “basic, even routine journalistic practice” to verify details of the ordeal that the magazine’s source, identified only as Jackie, described to the article’s author, Sabrina Rubin Erdely. On Sunday, Ms. Erdely, in her first extensive comments since the article was cast into doubt, apologized to Rolling Stone’s readers, her colleagues and “any victims of sexual assault who may feel fearful as a result of my article.”
6. According to USA Today, As families and friends of the Garissa University attack victims lined-up at the Nyayo National Stadium to provide details of their loved ones, pressure mounted on the government to fight terrorists who have pledged further attacks on the country. Lawmaker Chris Wamalwa visiting families at the Stadium said, “We’ll not (stand for) continuing losing our children in cold blood because the government has failed to protect them.” He blamed anti-terrorist police unit for failing to prevent the attack and urged the president to disband the unit and form another tasked fighting terrorism. Lawmakers also called for increased cross-border surveillance – the terrorists are believed to be of Somali origin.
7. According to the AP, Lexington Police say 31 people have been arrested near the University of Kentucky campus following the Wildcats’ 71-64 Final Four loss to the Wisconsin Badgers. Police spokeswoman Sherelle Roberts says those arrested will face charges including public intoxication and disorderly conduct, and will be arraigned as early as Monday. Roberts says police are “thankful no one was seriously injured and that there was no major destruction of property.”
8. According to MyFOXAtlanta, The Southern Christian Leadership Conference Wednesday suspended the president of its Georgia chapter, Sam Mosteller, the day after he urged blacks to exercise their Second Amendment right to bear arms in response to recent police shootings of unarmed blacks. SCLC National President and CEO Dr. Charles Steele made the announcement at a news conference. In a statement, Dr. Steele said, “We have found that his comments do not represent, not reflect the principles and position of this organization.” As a result, the national organization announced the indefinite suspension of Rev. Mosteller, ordered an internal investigation, and ordered him to undergo an internal training program.
9. According to BBC, Kenyan fighter jets have bombed positions of militant Islamist group al-Shabab in neighbouring Somalia. The warplanes had targeted two camps in the Gedo region, used by al-Shabab to cross into Kenya. This is Kenya’s first response to an al-Shabab assault which left 148 people dead at Garissa University last week. President Uhuru Kenyatta had vowed to respond to the attack “in the severest way possible”.
10. According to Fox News, Al Qaeda’s Yemen affiliate is expanding its footprint amid the chaos in the country and even providing guidance to the Somalia terror group that claimed responsibility for last week’s deadly terror attack at a university, an intelligence source told Fox News. The warning underscores the growing threat posed by Al Qaeda in Yemen at a time when the advance of Shiite rebels has effectively created a power vacuum in the country, with the unrest stalling what had been a robust U.S. counterterrorism operation there. The source said the affiliate is providing guidance to Somalia’s al-Shabaab on how major plots can support their regional ambitions.
As you go throughout this day, keep this word in mind: 1 John 3:16 says, “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”
Maltbie Davenport Babcock said, “To have failed is to have striven, to have striven is to have grown.”
