If modern lives were measured in unprecedented weather events, we would all be 200 years old. Defences against floods that were supposed to happen every other century are being overtopped in the space of a few winters. The victims surveying ruined homes and businesses are ageing fast.

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.

"Everyone hates politicians," the MSP observed. We were chatting about the EU referendum and she was explaining why the polls were showing a rise in support for a Leave vote.

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.

It didn't take long for the list of warnings about Brexit to start coming true.

Cairngorm National Park has moved online to give armchair visitors a flavour of a Highland spring, finds Sandra Dick

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.

What if the lockdown was lifted and nobody came? A lot of people seem quite happy with life under Covid, especially educated middle-class people on social media who are happily swapping Spotify playlists and recipes for sourdough bread.

The paths around Hoolet are hard trodden these days, as the village takes its daily gulp of fresh air. Along hedgerows, down tree-lined avenues, through the woods and by the stream, legions of boots have stomped, marking out time. With almost no rain for six weeks, the lanes are dusty and tracks that were made by tractors, horses and bikes in the February mud have solidified into treacherous ruts.

One size fits all? How wrong you are

Source: ftw.usatoday.com - Saturday, May 09, 2020
Justin Gaethje put on a show in front of zero fans Saturday night at UFC 249 in Jacksonville, Fla., winning the interim lightweight belt with a fifth-round TKO victory over the legendary Tony Ferguson after referee Herb Dean called the fight with just over a minute to go. But when it was time to get the belt from UFC boss Dana White, Gaethje wanted nothing to do with the impressive hardware as he quickly tossed it aside before talking to Joe Rogan in the Octagon. Why would he do that? Because interim belts in the UFC are pretty silly and Gaethje doesn’t want to waste his time celebrating an accomplishment that now sets him up to fight for the real lightweight belt against Khabib Nurmagomedov who still owns the belt and is one of the greatest fighters of all time. Look at how Gaethje treated his belt: Justin Gaethje tossed aside the interim lightweight title belt he won at #UFC249 "I'll wait for the real one." pic.twitter.com/GBxD1RUemj — ESPN (@espn) May 10, 2020 Seriously, he wanted nothing to do with that thing. He evenly let his coach leave Octagon with it: . @Justin_Gaethje truly wants no part of that interim belt. His head coach Trevor Wittman had to carry it out of the octagon. #UFC249 | More: https://t.co/N8mXceTwxO pic.twitter.com/MBDvMIHG1h — MMA Junkie (@MMAjunkie) May 10, 2020 Now that is one of the coolest things I’ve seen in the fight game for quite some time. Sure, we haven’t seen fighting in quite some time, eithe

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.aol.com - Saturday, May 09, 2020
Dr. Anthony Fauci , the nation’s top infectious disease expert and member of the White House coronavirus task force, says he’s going into a “modified quarantine” after coming into contact with an administration staff member who contracted COVID-19, CNN reported Saturday . Read more...

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.wellingtondailynews.com - Saturday, May 09, 2020
The Freewill Baptist Church will be giving away food and other items to people in the community, starting at 9 a.m. Saturday, May 16, but you have to make an appointment by calling the church office at 326-5521.Non-perishable food items and brand new items, such as fashion accessories, swimwear and home decor has been donated, Charlotte Brooks, church administrative assistant said. Shelter Insurance donated $1,000 worth of food.“Every donation is by the community [...]

Source: www.reuters.com - Sunday, May 10, 2020
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will set out a five-tier warning system for the coronavirus in England on Sunday when he outlines the government's plans to begin slowly easing lockdown measures, British media reported.

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 .

Source: www.justjared.com - Saturday, May 09, 2020
Alec Baldwin is back as President Trump on Saturday Night Live ! The actor once again impersonated the president on the sketch show’s season finale on Saturday (May 9). Alec as Trump made an appearance during the cold open, which featured a virtual graduation for college students. “I’m so honored to be your vale-dictator,” Alec as Trump said. “But today’s not about me. It’s about you. Although I should spend a little time on me first, because I’ve been treated very poorly, even worse than they treated Lincoln.” “You’re actually lucky to be graduating right now there are so many exciting new jobs out there, like grocery store bouncer, cam-girl, porch pirate, amateur nurse and coal,” he continued. “Don’t forget about coal. It’s in the ground, and you just dig down and grab it.” At the end of the cold open, Alec broke character, suggesting that this is his last time playing Trump . “And taped from my home, one last time,” Alec said, “it’s Saturday night.” Alec has been playing Trump for the past four years since the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Source: www.washingtontimes.com - Sunday, May 10, 2020
OAKLAND PARK, Fla. (AP) - There is nothing like a big smooch, gentle touch or a wet nose nuzzle with a happy dog. But social distancing rules, due to the impact of COVID-19, has created a barrier between those in need of canine therapy visits and those special pups that ...

Claudia, from Brazil, leads the ministry of OM in Bosnia. She shares her life and God’s love with the local people, bringing more to restoring faith in Christ—one cup of coffee at a time.

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.

Teens attending TeenStreet Europe in July will raise money for a project to bring reconciliation to the ethnically divided youth of Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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

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.

Daniel Ottoson (US), who serves as a site leader at an international congregation in Finland, enjoys seeing Finns and foreigners serving and loving Jesus together.

Bus4Life begins its sixth year serving churches and OM teams across Central and Eastern Europe.

In postmodern Finland, an international church in Helsinki preaches God’s Word as it is and challenges its congregation to ‘get into the Bible’ daily.

In an area of Tampere, Finland, seemingly shrouded in hopelessness, one teenager and her father reach out to un-churched youth struggling with alcoholism and depression.

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

OM strives to give 'church' a whole new meaning in the land of the Finns.

“I am more excited about God now,” says one young Swiss lady after three months working alongside OM Finland to reach youth in Tampere.

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.

Johanna went to TeenStreet for the first time when she was 14 years old, but the experience impacted her beyond the one-week duration of the event.

A group of 45 OM volunteers from El Salvador are safe after a bus accident in Nicaragua last Saturday.

A team of 38 from El Salvador and Guatemala visited the Salvadoran city of Perquín to spread the message of the Saviour.

A group of 32 Salvadorians recently crossed borders to share the gospel with people in Belize.

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.

God used a dangerous situation to change the life of a Salvadorian woman.

A woman confesses a need for her heart to be healed following a terrible experience.