Pence to address Southern Baptist Convention, 2026 World Cup bid: 5 more things to know Wednesday

Pence to address Southern Baptists, but not all of them are happy about it

Vice President Mike Pence is slated to address the Southern Baptist Convention in Dallas on Wednesday. Pence's speech, which was announced Monday, has drawn opposition from some who say it gives the impression the protestant denomination is aligned with the Republican Party. A motion from the floor of the convention to have the speech replaced by a time of prayer failed. Pence's speech comes with the convention already in the spotlight following the firing of prominent Southern Baptist leader Paige Patterson from a Texas seminary over his treatment of women. Patterson had been slated to give the keynote address at the convention, but withdrew.

Fed likely to raise interest rates — but how many times?

The Federal Reserve is all but certain to raise interest rates at the conclusion of its two-day meeting Wednesday, so the real drama will center around whether the central bank will keep its forecast for a total of three hikes this year or bump it up. In May, the Fed stood pat on rates, keeping its benchmark short-term interest rate at a range of 1½% to 1¾%, but it reiterated that it plans to continue to raise rates gradually. Higher interest rates raise the cost of borrowing for consumers and businesses, which can dampen economic activity and coax investors to shift money from stocks to less-risky bonds.

Will U.S., Mexico, Canada win bid to host 2026 FIFA World Cup?

Soccer's governing body will gather Wednesday to decide who will host the 2026 FIFA World Cup. A U.S.-Canada-Mexico bid is seen as rock-solid, with a forceful, persuasive arsenal that guarantees state-of-the-art stadiums and flawless infrastructure for soccer's biggest extravaganza. What should make North American fans nervous, and which gives the only other bidder — Morocco — a chance of success, is thatthings within soccer's global political jungle are never as they seem. Follow USA TODAY Sports for live coverage of the FIFA Congress.

One year after Otto Warmbier's return to the U.S. from North Korea

June 13 marks one year after 22-year-old American college student Otto Warmbier  — whose death served as the impetus for Tuesday's nuclear summit in Singapore between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un, according to Trump —  returned from North Korea after being held prisoner there for more than a year after he was convicted of stealing a political poster from a hotel. Warmbier, a University of Virginia student from Ohio,  died six days later on June 19, 2017. His family is suing the North Korean government over his death. The Kim-Trump summit marked a historic first between the two nations. Trump said the meeting may have never happened if not for Warmbier and that he "did not die in vain."

#BookmarkThis: Ask Join Sarah Jessica Parker questions on Facebook Live

USA TODAY will host Sarah Jessica Parker and author Fatima Farheen Mirza for a live chat Wednesday about Mirza's new novel, "A Place for Us." The novel tells the story of an Indian Muslim family in California and delves into the generational conflict between tradition and modernity. Parker, the star of the HBO series "Divorce" and a book lover, is editorial director of the new publishing imprint, SJP for Hogarth (a division of Penguin Random House), and "A Place for Us" is her first acquisition. Join us for the Facebook Live chat at 11 a.m. ET/8 a.m. PT.

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