War is the great distraction. Right or wrong, foolish or wise, it suspends all the usual political and economic rules. Suddenly a chancellor who has spent five and a half years telling us “there is no money” can find ready billions for warfare.

War, then. Another war. Still another war begun because the last guaranteed-conclusive war produced consequences that made one more shot in the dark inevitable. Intellectual and strategic failure is on a production line.

Award-winning Herald and Sunday Herald columnist Ian Bell has died at the age of 59.

THE Treasury has bombarded us all week with facts, figures and forecasts making the case for the UK to remain in the European Union. Its big report, on Monday, warned Brexit would tip the country into a year-long recession, resulting in up to 820,000 job losses within two years.

MSPS were really quite excited last week to be taking part in a largely symbolic vote with an entirely predictable outcome.

NICOLA Sturgeon was at her best during the new, extended First Minister's Questions on Thursday when she spoke about the sickening murder of Liam Fee.

THE warning is becoming louder. It was raised by the Leave team during Thursday's TV debate and, on the same day, by the Chancellor, George Osborne, and two former prime minsters, Sir John Major and Tony Blair. Brexit, they said, posed a serious threat to the Union.

RUTH Davidson, the Scottish Conservative leader, will take on Boris Johnson in the BBC's final EU debate, grandly entitled The Great Debate, which will be broadcast at 8pm tonight.

The accepted unit of measurement for long books is War and Peace. Library shelves bend and buckle under the weight of bigger doorstops, but it's Tolstoy's classic that has become the shorthand for a hefty tome.

EDINBURGH coach Richard Cockerill has explained that he played a part in Matt Scott’s move to Leicester Tigers after deciding he could not afford to keep the former Scotland centre.

By Deborah Anderson

Scotland will not adopt the Prime Minister's new coronavirus slogan which drops the 'stay at home' message, Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed.

LEARNING from the problems and delays over PPE and testing will be essential to getting the vaccine strategy right, experts say.

Wise words

SOMETIMES I appal myself. But I cannot deny that a small, reprehensible part of me will regret the lifting of the coronavirus lockdown.

IT could have been a warm welcome home for a conquering comedy hero when Billy Connolly appeared before an audience of Scottish school children at the BBC in Glasgow.

Source: www.washingtontimes.com - Saturday, May 09, 2020
BEIJING (AP) - Yao Ming, the former Houston Rockets star and now president of the Chinese Basketball Association, says the league has three options for resuming the season that has been on hold since Feb. 1 over the coronavirus pandemic. Yao said the league might play out the full schedule; ...

Source: www.reuters.com - Saturday, May 09, 2020
Malaysia's government extended the time frame for movement and business curbs by another four weeks to June 9, amid a gradual reopening of economic activity stunted by the coronavirus pandemic.

Source: www.justjared.com - Saturday, May 09, 2020
Kristen Wiig is the host of the season finale of Saturday Night Live ! The 46-year-old Wonder Woman 1984 actress hosted the Mother’s Day episode remotely from her home. During her monologue, Kristen took the opportunity to wish her mom a Happy Mother’s Day. “This is the Mother’s Day show and at SNL it’s a very special time to celebrate moms,” Kristen said. “Unfortunately, like a lot of you, I can’t be with my mom this Mother’s Day so I hope it’s okay I tell her I love her.” “You know I’ve been thinking lately, I don’t know if I truly appreciated my mom the first 45 years of my life, but this year I’m feeling especially grateful for all the things she taught me, preparing me to be a mom myself,” Kristen said before showing a plate of raw chicken breast. “Things like breastfeeding, babies love that chicken, she would always say that.” Kristen ended her monologue by thanking all the parents supporting their families during the pandemic. “So I do want to thank my mom and all the moms out there helping us get through this and have been there,” Kristen said. “We thank you so much, happy Mother’s Day. Thank you moms and thank you dads.” Find out when Wonder Woman 1984 will be out in theaters .

An OM worker in Bosnia shares how the enduring faith of two elderly women of God has inspired her to also persevere to the end.

Spending the weekend with friends, Mark and Beth quickly learn that their friends’ background does not necessarily mean they follow the practices of that religion.

God supplies the money needed for OM Bosnia’s firewood project quickly this year, enabling them to give 100 households firewood by the middle of November.

Thanks to the interest shown in his tattoos, OMer Rafael shares about Jesus during an impromptu soccer game with a few Roma boys in Bosnia.

A family in need receives free firewood and, for the first time, understands that God is bigger than their needs.

Jesus speaks to a Roma (gypsy) man in a dream one night, which leads to the man’s salvation.

A scholarship from OM Bosnia gives a young woman from a needy family the chance to go to school.

OM worker Jael shares about believers in North West Bosnia growing in faith and learning the joy of giving.

Providing disadvantaged children with backpacks brings the gospel into homes in remote Muslim villages of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Church planting in Europe takes steps forward in cooperation with Wales Evangelical School of Theology, where OM workers receive proper training for the work.

Logos Hope crew member Tom Critchley spent three months in Finland. He shares about contemporary Christian music in Finland, focusing on the metal band Terapia.

OM's work in Finland began 50 years ago in 1965. Since then, approximately 3,000 Finns have participated in OM’s work.

Teemu Laitinen (Finland) serves as the Bus4Life driver in Ukraine, Hungary, Moldova and Romania.

Bus4Life ministers in Central and Eastern Europe, bringing hope and Christian literature to the region's widespread towns and villages. During the spring and early summer of 2018, Bus4Life visited Hungary, Moldova, and Ukraine.

Over 2,000 people in San Salvador experienced Soyafest 2012, an event organised by a local church and OM El Salvador to entertain and share Christ.

A team from Guatemala, El Salvador and the US build a church for a new congregation and share the gospel in San Marcos, Honduras.

A pastor of a small community church was about to resign when God brought new hope through the work of OM El Salvador.

One couple's lives are changed when OM El Salvador visits their community to do medical examinations and share the good news.

In a nation filled with tribal tension, OM works toward reconciliation through youth conferences, relief outreaches and a bookshop filled with Bibles.

“Aren’t there enough churches in Italy?” Not to reach the 50,000 people in Pisa, says OM team, who plants La Torre.

OM Ministry Leader, Lenna Lidstone, discusses how to use Discovery Bible Studies to see vibrant communities of Jesus Followers among the least reached.

African women who never went to school were unable to read the Bible upon becoming Christ followers. A new opportunity is giving them access to God's Word firsthand.

Algeria could transform missions in the Middle East, with a new ministry seeking to send 1,000 Algerian missionaries by 2025.

Bahia Blanca, Argentina :: A missionary couple teaches church members about serving God as a family.

A single mother finds hope through a Self Help Group and is sharing the good news.

Ariela left Argentina to serve Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and ended up going on a journey she never could have imagined.

In 2019, OM Ireland hosted its largest St. Patrick's outreach.

How prayer shaped the history of OM and how important prayer still is today.

Santa Cruz, Bolivia :: God surprises a Logos Hope crewmember with birthday treats and new perspectives as she serves with a team on shore.

As OM Czech Republic team members reach out to sex workers by visiting a brothel regularly, they are able to establish friendships and talk about God and His care for the women there, and offer them Christmas gifts, which touch hearts.

In a nation filled with tribal tension, OM works toward reconciliation through youth conferences, relief outreaches and a bookshop filled with Bibles.