Happening Today: Gifted Students, ConEd, R. Kelly, Pope

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Parents Hold Rally to Save Gifted Student Programs in NYC

Before New York City school students return to class this semester, some of their parents will hold a rally on Wednesday to try to save the highly-debated gifted student programs. Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis says she'll join parents outside of the Brooklyn School of Inquiry to fight back against the mayor diversity task force's recommendation to halt the program. However, Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza said Tuesday that no changes will be made anytime soon.

City Council Meets With Con Edison Over Summer's Massive Outages

The New York City Council is expected to put Con Edison in the hot seat on Wednesday as lawmakers question utility officials why power outages plunged neighborhoods into the dark in July. On Tuesday, state lawmakers grilled Con Edison over its monopoly and questioned why the city shouldn't create its own public power company.

Status Hearing Set in R. Kelly's Federal Case in Chicago

R. Kelly is expected to appear at a status hearing a day after jail personnel moved him into the general inmate population following a complaint from his his attorneys that he was being held in solitary in a restrictive section of a federal jail in Chicago. Questions about the singer's jail conditions could still come up at Wednesday's hearing in a Chicago federal court. But prosecutors say the issue is moot given Kelly's transfer Tuesday out of the restrictive unit.

Pope Makes Strategic Visit to Mozambique After Peace Deal

Pope Francis is opening a three-nation pilgrimage to southern Africa with a strategic visit to Mozambique, just weeks after the country's ruling party and armed opposition signed a new peace deal and weeks before national elections. Thirty years after St. John Paul II begged Mozambicans to end their civil war, Francis is expected to endorse the new Aug. 1 accord and urge its full implementation when he meets with government authorities on Thursday, his first full day in the region. He arrives Wednesday evening but has no public events scheduled after his brief airport welcome ceremony.

Photo Credit: Andrew Lichtenstein / Corbis via Getty Images file

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