A 97-year-old Russian World War II veteran has been inspired by the fund-raising efforts of Captain Tom Moore. She says she can't walk around a garden to gather donations like the 100-year-old British veteran did, but she is posting war stories online every day to raise money for the families of Russian medics who have died fighting COVID-19.

The global death toll from the coronavirus is more than 275,000 with almost 4 million infections confirmed, causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness.

The Serbian government has protested to the European Union after one of the bloc's educational websites described inventor and electricity trailblazer Nikola Tesla as a "famous Croatian."

Thousands of people came out on May 9 to watch soldiers, military vehicles, and aircraft on display in central Minsk as part of celebrations marking the defeat of Nazi Germany 75 years ago. The televised event took place despite concerns about the coronavirus. While most other former Soviet republics, including Russia, canceled their Victory Day parades due to spiking infection and death rates, Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has downplayed the pandemic as a "psychosis." In a speech during the event, he said the country “had no other choice” but to go ahead with the celebrations as thousands of war victims were watching, adding that none of today’s hardships can compare to the horrors the country endured during the war.

Close contacts of Covid-infected people are now being checked on every day to ensure compliance and see if they have developed any symptoms, Health Minister David Clark says.But an app to complement contact-tracing work was still...

More than 220,000 Somalis have been internally displaced due to armed conflict and natural disasters while facing deadly coronavirus since the start of 2020, the UN Refugee Agency said Friday. “UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, fears these multiple, compounding emergencies will lead to devastating consequences unless there is a strong and coordinated response from the […]

The post Conflict, flood left thousands displaced in Somalia: UN appeared first on Horseed Media • Somali News.

Un des meilleurs joueurs du championnat...

The African football legends provided inspiration for many during their playing days ......

New: 85 confirmed cases (reported from 9 Lusaka, 76 Nakonde); 3 deaths (reported from 2 Lusaka, 1...

The twelve apostles included "Simon, who is called Peter" (Matt. 10:2).

God can use your natural abilities as a basis for your spiritual service.

Peter is a good illustration of how God builds a spiritual leader. He begins with a person's natural traits and works from there. Natural traits alone don't make a spiritual leader—the person must also be gifted and called by the Holy Spirit to lead in the church and be a model of spiritual virtue. But often God endows future leaders with natural abilities that constitute the raw materials from which He builds spiritual ministries. That was certainly the case with Peter, who demonstrated the leadership qualities of inquisitiveness, initiative, and involvement.

Peter was always asking questions. In fact, the gospel records show he asked more questions than all the other disciples combined! People who aren't inquisitive don't make good leaders because they're not concerned about problems and solutions.

Initiative was another indicator of Peter's leadership potential. He not only asked questions, but also was often the first to respond when Jesus asked the questions (e.g., Matt. 16:15-16; Luke 8:45).

Also, Peter loved to be in the middle of the action, even when it got him into trouble. For example, we might criticize his lack of faith when he sank after walking on water, but remember, the rest of the disciples never even got out of the boat.

Peter was inquisitive, showed initiative, and sought to be involved. How about you? Are you inquisitive about God's truth? Do you take the initiative to learn about Him? Do you want to be involved in what He is doing? If so, you have the raw material for spiritual leadership. Continue to cultivate those qualities, allowing the Spirit to use you for God's glory.

Suggestions for Prayer

• Pray for your spiritual leaders.
• Ask God for opportunities to lead others in the way of righteousness. Use every opportunity to its fullest.

For Further Study

Read the following verses, noting the kinds of questions Peter asked: Matthew 15:15; 18:21; 19:27; Mark 13:2-4; John 21:20-22.

From Drawing Near by John MacArthur Copyright © 1993. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.com.

• The Study Bible (mobile app)
• Grace to You Sermons (mobile app)
• John MacArthur’s complete sermon archive
• The MacArthur Study Bible
• The complete MacArthur New Testament Commentary series

Sandy Jensen's customer-service job at a Sam's Club in Fullerton, California, normally involves checking member ID cards at the door and answering questions. But the coronavirus has turned her into a kind of store sheriff.

As the outbreak of the latest coronavirus spreads across the globe, the consequences for commercial transactions are evolving. From what was initially a shorter term focus on immediate impact, all of us in business are now in the position of plannin...

Pensions Regulator publishes details of first enforcement action for auto-enrolment non-compliance The Pensions Regulator has published its first section 89 report relating to breaches of the aut...

At the end of July, the US and the EU escalated their respective sanctions regimes against Russia following the Kremlin’s intervention in the Crimea/Ukraine crisis, as well as recent issues pertaining to access to the MH17 crash site. By annou...

The German Federal Cartel Office (“Bundeskartellamt”, BKartA) has issued a decision stating that attempts by Germany’s largest supermarket, EDEKA, to force suppliers to grant it so called “wedding rebates”, in the form ...

Cyber risk is the risk of financial loss, disruption, or damage to reputation as a result of  breaches of data security, including unauthorised disclosure of data, and compromise or failures of IT systems.  Specific examples include: ...

“To keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me” (2 Corinthians 12:7).

God sometimes uses trials to humble believers.

Professional athletics, as a whole, makes up one of the least humble sectors in modern American society. Players with multi-million dollar salaries and extravagant benefits have replaced those who played because they loved their sport and had great community loyalty.

One such noble model from the past was Lou Gehrig, the Hall of Fame first baseman with the New York Yankees, whose career ended in 1939 after he was stricken with a rare and always fatal neuromuscular disease. Throughout his ordeal, Gehrig conducted himself with dignity and humility, all of which culminated on July 4, 1939, before a capacity crowd at Yankee Stadium, with millions more listening on the radio. He concluded his special remarks on “Lou Gehrig Day” with this amazing statement: “Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.” He died approximately two years later.

Shouldn’t those who seek to serve and glorify God react in similar fashion if confronted by the same kind of trial? They will if they remember that He sometimes sends trials to humble His children and remind them they are not to be overconfident in their own spiritual strength (Rom. 12:3).

Today’s verse tells us God allowed Paul to be plagued by some sort of chronic, painful problem, “a messenger of Satan.” This likely refers to a man who led the opposition to Paul at the church in Corinth. When we are greatly blessed spiritually—Paul saw the risen Christ several times and was even taken up into the third heaven—the Lord sometimes allows “a thorn in the flesh” to afflict us, that we might remain humble. Whenever we are besieged by such trials and come to the point where all strength seems gone, God’s Word reminds us, as it did Paul, “‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I [Paul] will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me” (2 Cor. 12:9).

Suggestions for Prayer

Ask the Lord to remind you throughout the day of your humble dependence on Him, whether or not you are going through a trial.

For Further Study

Read James 4:6-10 and 1 Peter 5:5-7. What do these passages say is the key to genuine humility?

From Strength for Today by John MacArthur Copyright © 1997. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.com.

• The Study Bible (mobile app)
• Grace to You Sermons (mobile app)
• John MacArthur’s complete sermon archive
• The MacArthur Study Bible
• The complete MacArthur New Testament Commentary series

“Considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt . . .” (Hebrews 11:26).

Trials can show that material things are inadequate to meet our deepest needs.

We rely every day on material possessions—cars, computers, pagers, telephones, microwaves, radios, and TVs. These familiar conveniences make us feel as though it’s quite a hardship to cope without them. Therefore it’s difficult to avoid the pitfall Jesus warned about in Matthew 6:24, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon [riches].”

Materialism can exert such a powerful influence on us as believers that the Lord will sometimes subject us to trials just so He can remove us from the grip of the world’s devices and riches. Various trials and sufferings will almost invariably reveal how inadequate our possessions are to meet our deepest needs or provide genuine relief from the pains and stresses of life. And this realization ought to become more and more true of you as you grow in the Christian life. I have observed that mature believers, as time goes by, become less and less attached to the temporal items they’ve accumulated. Such stuff, along with life’s fleeting experiences, simply fades in importance as you draw closer to the Lord.

Moses is a wonderful example of someone who learned through trials these important lessons about materialism (Heb. 11:24-26). He spent forty years in Pharaoh’s household and was brought up to be an Egyptian prince. But he was willing to leave a position of prestige and power so he could experience something of the sufferings of his fellow Israelites, who were living as slaves in Egypt. God in effect made Moses a participant in Israel’s trials, content to rely on Him, not on the comforts and advantages of materialism: “By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing Him who is unseen” (Heb. 11:27).

The Lord might need to get our attention in similar fashion, so that we learn one of the key lessons from life’s trials: to rely on His unlimited spiritual wealth, not on our finite and fading material possessions.

Suggestions for Prayer

Ask the Lord to make you more willing to rely on His strength and less willing to lean on material things.

For Further Study

Read 1 Timothy 6:6-11. According to Paul, what does contentment involve?

From Strength for Today by John MacArthur Copyright © 1997. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.com.

• The Study Bible (mobile app)
• Grace to You Sermons (mobile app)
• John MacArthur’s complete sermon archive
• The MacArthur Study Bible
• The complete MacArthur New Testament Commentary series

Benefiting from John's daily devotional?
Help others benefit from Grace to You.

“‘For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me’” (Genesis 22:12).

Trials from the Lord will reveal to believers what they love and appreciate the most.

A big part of the reason for the Lord’s testing Abraham at Moriah was to show him what he valued most in life. The question God wanted Abraham to answer was, “Do you love Isaac more than Me, or do you love Me more than Isaac?” And the Lord was prepared for the drastic test of taking Abraham’s son’s life if that’s what was necessary for Abraham to give God first place in everything.

God also tries the sincerity of those today who claim to love Him (see Deut. 13:3; Matt. 22:36-37). Jesus was so concerned that we have our priorities right that He made this radical statement: “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26). Christians must love Christ so much that by comparison they will seem to hate their families and themselves. In order to test this first love, God might in some dramatic fashion ask us to renounce the many tugs and appeals from family and place His will and affections first in our life.

That kind of radical obedience, which is what Abraham had, always leads to God’s blessings. Jesus Himself was a perfect example of this principle. Because He was fully human as well as fully God, our Lord did not escape ordinary pain and hardship while on earth. As the Suffering Servant (Isa. 53), He learned completely what it means to obey through pain and adversity, all the way to His crucifixion (Heb. 5:7-9). As a result, the Son was exalted by the Father (Phil. 2:8-9).

God sometimes makes our path of obedience go through the experiences of trials and sufferings. But if we are faithful to His Word and will, those difficulties will teach us to value and appreciate God’s many blessings.

Suggestions for Prayer

Pray that your priorities each day would stay in line with God’s.

For Further Study

Read Deuteronomy 6:1-9. What must be the top priority for all believers?

From Strength for Today by John MacArthur Copyright © 1997. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.com.

• The Study Bible (mobile app)
• Grace to You Sermons (mobile app)
• John MacArthur’s complete sermon archive
• The MacArthur Study Bible
• The complete MacArthur New Testament Commentary series

“To obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:4).

We can rejoice after enduring a trial because our hope in Heaven will be renewed.

The joy a Christian experiences as a result of trials can be the best kind he will ever know. But so often we allow the everyday stress and strain of financial difficulties, health problems, unrealized goals, and many other trials to rob us of our joy in Christ. True joy stems from spiritual realities that are much greater than temporal circumstances.

In today’s verse Peter gives us one strong reason for rejoicing—the confident hope that as Christians we have inherited a place in Heaven. This confidence can be so powerful that Peter, who was writing to believers suffering persecution, describes it as a truth we ought to “greatly rejoice” in (v. 6). This expressive, intense word is always used in the New Testament in relation to the joy of knowing God, never of shallow, temporal relationships.

Jesus’ disciples had a difficult time seeing that trials could be related to the certainty of going to Heaven. In teaching them about His upcoming death, Christ told the Twelve, “Therefore you, too, now have sorrow; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one takes your joy away from you” (John 16:22). And that is exactly what happened when they saw the risen Savior and understood the impact of His work.

We can have two responses to trials, just like passengers riding a train through the mountains. We can look to the left and see the dark mountainside and be depressed. Or we can look to the right and be uplifted by the beautiful view of natural scenery stretching into the distance. Some believers even compound their sadness by continuing to look to the mountain shadows of their trial after life’s train has moved away from the threatening peaks. But they would not forfeit their joy if they simply looked ahead to the brightness and certainty of their eternal inheritance.

Nothing in life can take away the wonderful promise of Heaven’s glory: it was reserved by God, bought by Christ, and guaranteed by the Spirit (see Eph. 1:11-13).

Suggestions for Prayer

Ask the Lord to help you meditate today on the glories promised for you in the future.

For Further Study

Read Revelation 21 and note the primary living conditions that will be true of Heaven.

From Strength for Today by John MacArthur Copyright © 1997. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.com.

• The Study Bible (mobile app)
• Grace to You Sermons (mobile app)
• John MacArthur’s complete sermon archive
• The MacArthur Study Bible
• The complete MacArthur New Testament Commentary series

“And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace . . . will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you” (1 Peter 5:10).

Successful endurance of present trials leads to greater focus on glorifying God in the future.

Sufferings and trials teach us patience. However, in Heaven we won’t need to have patience, and therefore it is not the major long-term lesson God wants us to learn from trials. He is far more pleased if we grasp the truth that what we suffer now is directly related to our ability to glorify Him in eternity. Worshiping God will be our role in Heaven (Rev. 4—5), and Paul reminds us that “if we endure, we shall also reign with Him” (2 Tim. 2:12). In other words, if we learn to endure trials and tribulations now, we can expect to receive great reward in eternity. I believe that reward is primarily the capacity to glorify God; and therefore the greater our present endurance, the greater will be our capability to glorify Him in the future.

At one point during Jesus’ ministry with the disciples, two of them—brothers James and John—desired that He appoint them to the two positions of greatest prestige in His kingdom—seats at His right and left hands (see Matt. 20:20-23). James and John recognized the concept of eternal rewards, but they did not understand how it works. Thus Jesus asked them if they were ready to endure the cup of suffering and death (as He was) prior to occupying such powerful positions in His kingdom (v. 22). This implies again that endurance in trials and advancement in future glory are correlated. (Jesus endured the greatest suffering on the cross, and He was raised to the highest position, at the Father’s right hand.)

The application for us from all this is clear: the Lord wants us to realize that the end of every trial contains much satisfaction and joy because we are building up our future capacity to glorify Him. At the same time, we are comprehending more and more about the value of persevering through all sorts of pain and tribulation (see Rev. 2:10).

Suggestions for Prayer

Ask God to give you the desire to see the benefits of trials from an eternal perspective.

For Further Study

Read Revelation 4—5. What attributes of God do you see, directly or indirectly, that are worthy of eternal praise?

From Strength for Today by John MacArthur Copyright © 1997. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.com.

• The Study Bible (mobile app)
• Grace to You Sermons (mobile app)
• John MacArthur’s complete sermon archive
• The MacArthur Study Bible
• The complete MacArthur New Testament Commentary series

Documents had detailed advice from nation's top disease control experts for reopening communities during coronavirus pandemic

President Peter Mutharika, whose win in last year's vote was challenged, had appealed the re-run, which is now to be held July 2

The Rules Governing the Securities on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the “Listing Rules”) impose certain disclosure obligations on listed issuers when they engage in different types of corporate transactions. However, it has be...

On 1 April 2020, the President of the Russian Federation signed Federal Law No. 98-FZ On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation on Disaster Management and Emergency Response, which introduces a number of measures in differe...

On 10 April 2020, a Government Decree was issued that prescribes the application of different company law rules as part of the government’s Economic Protection Action Plan. This adds new opportunities for corporate decision-making to mitigate ...

Part 2 of 4 (a) For Users/Consumers Simply put, OTT services are low or free of charge services. Its known that online video traffic is on the growth due to simple accessibility and cheapness. Consumers’ hopes are also evolving as they are exp...

Last Thursday, July 11, 2019, the French Parliament definitively enacted the so-called "GAFA tax” initiated by the French government in early March 2019, making France one of the first countries to tax the turnover of digital giants. Context D...

  Throughout 2019, we saw a growing promulgation of guidance, consultations and new laws across the world. In light of such a regulatory landscape beginning to form, there is growing debate as to whether or not Artificial Intelligence (“A...

On Thursday, 9 April 2020, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the extension of the nationwide lockdown for an additional 2 weeks, until 30 April 2020. The Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) advised that all companies providing es...

Local Government Pension Scheme liabilities on academy conversionsBackground The treatment of Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) liabilities on academy conversions has been presenting significant difficulties for some time, with pension liabilit...

On 1 July 2013, following its consultation Judicial Review: proposals for reform, the Government introduced significant changes to the judicial review process.  The stated aim was to balance the need to ensure lawful public administration with ...

In R (on the application of Diocese of Menevia and others) v Swansea City and County Council1 (“the Council”), the Administrative Court was required to consider whether a change in policy made by the Council in respect of school transpor...

Introduction The Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Bill 2015 (“the Bill”) is currently before Parliament. The Bill is relatively short and deals with two areas in particular: i) the powers of charities to make social investmen...

Closing a loophole? One of the key features, and one of the most contentious provisions, of the Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Bill 2015 (“the Bill”) is the new power it will grant the Charity Commission (“the Commission”) to issue of...

On 31 March 2015, the German Federal Cartel Office (“Bundeskartellamt”, BKartA) announced that it has blocked the proposed takeover of approximately 450 Kaiser’s Tengelmann supermarket branches by EDEKA, the leading German food ret...

Selective Distribution – Some recent developments in the adidas case: when can sales via online platforms be restricted? On 18 November 2015, the Autorité de la concurrence (the “French Competition Authority” or “...

On 26 July 2017, the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) published an opinion issued by Advocate General Nils Wahl (the “AG’s Opinion”) indicating that luxury brands may prevent retailers from selling via online marketpla...

The EU single aviation market is the ...

In our pre-referendum briefin...

Background - The 2018 Periodic Review The Office of Rail and Road (“ORR”) has recently published its conclusions (the “Conclusions”) following its initial consultation in relation to the creation of the 2018 Periodic Review ...

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a multi-trillion Chinese led initiative to strengthen trade routes and related infrastructure across over 150 countries worldwide. The initiative covers over 60% of the world’s population in terms of ...

Background Periodic reviews are one of the principal mechanisms by which the Office of Rail and Road (“ORR”) holds Network Rail to account, and secures value for money for users and funders of the railway. The ORR’s periodic review...

Following close consultation with IFI's including the IFC, World Bank and EBRD, Tunisia has launched a review process to aid with the structuring and implementation of new PPP projects. Eversheds Sutherland was privileged to have been spec...

We report on Romania’s recently introduced data protection law, focussing on the provisions relating to the processing of national identification numbers and the rules on the use of CCTV and monitoring in an employment context. In July 2018, R...

On 17 May 2019, the European Council established a framework and implemented a new sanctions regime which now allows the EU to impose targeted sanctions to “deter and respond to cyber-attacks which constitute an external threat to the EU and i...

The operational resilience of retail banks operating in the United Kingdom has come under increased scrutiny following a number of high-profile IT failures and cyber-attacks. Regulators have shown a willingness to impose significant penalties for IT...

The Central Bank of Malaysia or Bank Negara Malaysia (‘BNM’) on 18 July 2019 issued another policy document which sets out its requirements to the nation’s Financial Institutions (‘FIs’) management of technology risk. W...

The Court in AA v Persons Unknown [2019] EWHC 3556 (Comm) (17 January 2020) ordered injunctive relief against unknown persons accused of extorting ransom payments in the form of Bitcoin worth $950,000 from an insurance company, following a cyber-att...