A Dublin Leaving Cert student has said she doesn't believe the Irish education system has the ability to predict grades fairly after it was announced yesterday that the State exams have been cancelled due to public health concerns.

Fraud squad detectives have seized a number of electronic devices and documentation as part of a massive international probe into a €1m invoice redirect fraud.

The executives of the country's two second-level teacher unions met last night to consider the implications of a newly-devised 'calculated grades' system that will replace this year's cancelled summer Leaving Certificate exams.

The news that a French patient tested positive for Covid-19 in December means countries will have to go back and test old samples to try to pin down when the outbreak really began on their shores, experts have told RTÉ News.

The Teachers Union of Ireland has said that it will cooperate with the newly-devised 'calculated grades' system that will replace this year's Leaving Cert exams. It said it will engage with the Department of Education to ensure that it is "fair and equitable for every student".

It is almost ten weeks since the coronavirus emergency erupted here, following confirmation of the first case of Covid-19 in Ireland. Our world has changed in the most unexpected ways.

Since the beginning of the outbreak, chess websites worldwide report a 50% increase in activity and amount of games being played online.

A study by doctors at China's Shangqiu Municipal Hospital of 38 men hospitalized with the disease found that six of them, or 16%, tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in their semen.

The charges came after police were called December 3 and told that she was damaging a Jewish neighbors apartment and defacing it with antisemitic symbols and graffiti.

Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus since 1994, has called fears over the coronavirus a "psychosis" and variously suggested drinking vodka, visiting saunas or playing ice hockey to beat the disease.

Economy Minister Silvio Schembri downplays Joseph Muscat's role in drawing up Malta's post-COVID strategy, insisting the government is consulting with several parties

Commercial Court rules that St Philip's Hospital owner Frank Portelli cannot decide the hospital's fate on his own as HSBC Bank seeks repayment of €11.5 million in loans, appoints two provisional administrators

Opposition leader Adrian Delia meets PBS top officials

Says Bennett trying to take credit as leaves

'Many mistakes showed that this regime is nothing but a propaganda machine and oppression machine.'

A weekly selection of opinions and analyses from the Arab media around the world.

Maher Obeid, member of the Hamas 'political bureau,' said that any prisoner swap must include 'all the symbols, from Marwan Barghouti to Ahmad Sa’adat.'

Health protocols relating to the coronavirus pandemic will be put in place to deal with he new traffic.

This signals an increase in pressure on Jordan to extradite Ahlam Al-Tamimi, who facilitated the bombing of a Jerusalem Sbarro restaurant that killed 15 people, including two Americans, in 2001.

Sarasadat Khademalsharieh, also known as Sara Khadem, who had announced her retirement from Iran national chess team, has returned to the national team. On January 12, Khadem had published a photo on her Instagram account and said she has retired from national team.

In the lead-up to the Truth Matters conference in October, we will be focusing our attention on the sufficiency, authority, and clarity of Scripture. Of our previous blog series, none better embodies that emphasis than Frequently Abused Verses. The following entry from that series originally appeared on September 30, 2015. -ed.

We live in an age that demands short bursts of rapid-fire information. The day is fast approaching—perhaps it’s already here—when the number of Twitter followers will hold the preeminent place on a pastor’s resume. Sermon lengths are going the way of our shrinking attention spans. Modern pastors are tempted to replace exegesis and exposition with sound bite sermons and slogan theology.

But Bible verses are not slogans or sound bites. They are eternal truths that find their meaning within the overall story God is telling. Uprooting a verse, or even a biblical phrase, from its native habitat can lead to all kinds of mayhem. That is especially the case when, independent of their proper context, verses are enlisted as the supporting cast for someone’s opinion or agenda. Romans 2:4 is one verse that is regularly misused that way—carelessly sprinkled into sermons, interviews, and social media.

For example, in January 2013, Rick Warren explained to his legions of Facebook followers how the verse factored in his evangelistic methods:

In that particular case, Warren was quoting Romans 2:4 (actually only about half of it) as justification for downplaying sin and soft-peddling the threat of judgment. But is that what Romans 2:4 is really all about? Was Paul telling his Roman readers to jettison the parts of gospel preaching that lack curb appeal?

Joel Osteen is even more explicit in his use of Romans 2:4 to defend his feel-good messages:

Listen, don’t dangle people over the fires of hell. . . . Listen, that doesn’t draw people to God. They know what kind of life they live. They know how bad they’ve lived. What you’ve got to do is talk about the goodness of God. Listen, it's the goodness of God that brings people to repentance. ^[1] Joel Osteen, "What the Resurrection Means to Us as Believers" (Sermon) cited in Philip Sinitiere, Salvation with a Smile: Joel Osteen, Lakewood Church, and American Christianity (New York: New York University Press, 2015) 223.

Joel Osteen may think that people know they are sinners and that we therefore don’t need to warn them or preach about it, but does Romans 2:4 really back up his point?

Moreover, is his point biblical at all? Just as prisons are full of convicts who will proclaim their innocence, Scripture is clear that sinners reject the guilt of their sin. As Solomon explained, “Every man’s way is right in his own eyes” (Proverbs 21:2). And even those who do acknowledge their sin have little grasp of the depth of their wretchedness, or the eternal cost of their transgressions.

In fact, it’s ironic that Osteen and Warren would use Romans 2:4 to excuse themselves from discussing sin and the need for repentance, since that verse is plucked from Scripture’s most profound discourse on man’s depravity.

Romans 1–3 is undeniable proof that Paul began his exposition of the gospel by first addressing the universality of sin and the justness of God’s wrath against sin. John MacArthur points this out:

The biblical order in any gospel presentation is always first the warning of danger and then the way of escape, first the judgment on sin and then the means of pardon, first the message of condemnation and then the offer of forgiveness, first the bad news of guilt and then the good news of grace. The whole message and purpose of the loving, redeeming grace of God offering eternal life through Jesus Christ rests upon the reality of man’s universal guilt of abandoning God and thereby being under His sentence of eternal condemnation and death. Consistent with that approach, the main body of Romans begins with 1:18, a clear affirmation of God’s wrath “against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.” ^[2] John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Romans 1-8 (Chicago: Moody Press, 1991) 74.

It is actually our guilt and the justness of God’s wrath that provide the all-important context for Romans 2:4:

And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. (Romans 2:2-5)

Now you can see why Romans 2:4 is so frequently divorced from its context, and why it’s usually paraphrased instead of quoted. In the full context of Paul’s writing we see clearly what he means by God’s goodness—it is “the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience.” And Romans 2:2-3 explains how God demonstrates that tolerance and patience—by withholding the wrath we deserve. God’s goodness is the reality that we have not yet experienced His judgment. MacArthur adds:

Forbearance [tolerance] comes from anochē, which means “to hold back,” as of judgment. It was sometimes used to designate a truce, which involves cessation of hostilities between warring parties. God’s forbearance with mankind is a kind of temporary divine truce He has graciously proclaimed. Patience translates makrothumia, which was sometimes used of a powerful ruler who voluntarily withheld vengeance on an enemy or punishment of a criminal. Until the inevitable moment of judgment, God’s kindness and forbearance and patience are extended to all mankind. ^[3] The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Romans 1-8, 119.

It is impossible to preach the goodness of God without talking about sin and judgment because its very meaning is bound up in those terms. When we see our sinfulness and rebellion against God, and when we see our hypocrisy in condemning others for committing the same wrath-deserving sins, then we can also marvel at God’s goodness in patiently and tolerantly withholding the wrath that we deserve.

That is what leads us to repentance. And it is entirely consistent with what Paul taught elsewhere in Scripture:

I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death. (2 Corinthians 7:9-10)

In the lead-up to the Truth Matters conference in October, we will be focusing our attention on the sufficiency, authority, and clarity of Scripture. Of our previous blog series, none better embodies that emphasis than Frequently Abused Verses. The following entry from that series originally appeared on April 10, 2017. -ed.

False teaching thrives in environments where it is unlikely to be questioned. Charlatans and heretics prey on uncritical minds, and work tirelessly to protect and preserve that gullibility. Their success depends on dismantling every challenge to their authority and accuracy.

John MacArthur describes why that problem is rampant in the modern church:

In a time like this of tolerance, listen, false teaching will always cry intolerance; it will always say you’re being divisive, you’re being unloving, you’re being ungracious, because it can only survive when it doesn’t get scrutinized. And so it cries against any intolerance. It cries against any examination, any scrutiny.

In recent decades, some of the most notorious charismatic church leaders have been doing just that. They continually warn their critics to back off or face the imminent danger of divine judgment. Claiming God’s stamp of approval, they wield Psalm 105:15 like a loaded gun: “Touch not [the Lord’s] anointed” (KJV).

And lest you think such a description to be hyperbole, the following clip from Benny Hinn is a spectacular example. 

Hinn’s handling of Psalm 105:15, as well as the story of Saul and David, is hopelessly wrong on too many levels to address in one blog post.

For example we could discuss how Hinn utterly fails to understand Judas’s role in God’s sovereign plan for the crucifixion, while woefully underestimating the deity of Christ. We could invalidate Hinn’s warnings against criticism by pointing out the time Paul rebuked Peter—or when Hinn has publicly rebuked Joel Osteen, among others. Then there’s the problem of Hinn basing his threats upon the extra-biblical revelation of another false teacher (Kenneth Copeland).

 What does it mean to “touch”?

But there is one simple, glaring error that explains all the other problems and exposes Hinn as the incompetent and unqualified Bible teacher that he is. When David says, “I will not stretch out my hand against [Saul], for he is the Lord’s anointed” (1 Samuel 24:10), he is explaining why he didn’t kill Saul, not why he didn’t criticize Saul. In fact, David was openly critical of Saul on numerous occasions. Moreover, 1 Samuel 24:10 is part of a larger discourse where David rebukes Saul face-to-face over his murderous scheming: “I have not sinned against you, though you are lying in wait for my life to take it. May the Lord judge between you and me, and may the Lord avenge me on you; but my hand shall not be against you” (1 Samuel 24:11–13). Even if Benny Hinn was “the Lord’s anointed”—he’s not—none of his critics are attempting to “touch” him in the sense described in 1 Samuel 24:10 (or Psalm 105:15; or 1 Chronicles 16:22).

Who are the anointed?

There is another fatal flaw in Hinn’s interpretation. He—and all those who follow this teaching—assume that only certain persons are “anointed.” They claim that pastors and self-appointed prophets and apostles have a unique anointing from God that immunizes them from criticism. But such a concept is foreign to Scripture. In short, the Bible teaches that all believers have an anointing from God.

In his first epistle, the apostle John explained what it means to be anointed as a New Testament believer. After warning his readers about antichrists who were coming to deceive them, John reminded them of their security because of Christ’s anointing:

These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him. (1 John 2:26–27)

The anointing John refers to is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit—a reality for all true Christians. John MacArthur explains the context and meaning of “anointing” as it appears in 1 John:

The false teachers who threatened John’s readers employed the terms for knowledge and anointing to describe their religious experience. They arrogantly saw themselves as possessing an elevated and esoteric form of divine knowledge, and as the recipients of a special, secret, transcendent anointing. That led them to believe they were privy to truth that the uninitiated lacked. John’s response, which was both a rebuttal to the antichrists and a reassurance to the believers, was to assert that, in reality, all true Christians have an anointing from the Holy One.

Because believers have received that anointing, they have the true understanding of God that comes exclusively through Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6), “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3). They do not need any secret, special, or transcendent understanding or esoteric insight. Anointing (chrisma) literally means “ointment” or “oil” (cf. Hebrews 1:9). In this text it refers figuratively to the Holy Spirit (cf. 2 Corinthians 1:21–22), who has taken up residency in believers at the behest of Jesus Christ, the Holy One (cf. Luke 4:34; Acts 3:14), and reveals through Scripture all they need to know (John 14:26; 16:13; 1 Corinthians 2:9–10). ^[1] John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: 1–3 John (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 2007), 102.

The anointing we have as believers reveals the truth and therefore exposes the lies of false teachers. How ironic that the “anointing” Benny Hinn evokes to extort and manipulate churchgoers is actually our warning system to expose the self-serving deception of wolves like him.   

Many professing believers in the church today won’t read anything other than the Bible, and refuse to listen to someone else interpret and preach the Word. Some even argue that the doctrine of biblical sufficiency vindicates their hermit-like Christian existence. But does the sufficiency of Scripture nullify the value of Christian scholarship or the need for Christian fellowship?

How to approach Christmas with a Christ-honoring attitude is a vexing question for many believers. Should we embrace the various traditions or be antagonistic toward them? Should we vigorously participate or cautiously hesitate?

Kylie Moore-Gilbert is among the many foreigners held in Iran's notorious Evin prison on espionage charges.

The Donald Trump administration stepped up its criticism of Russia’s role in Libya’s civil war on Thursday.

The nation must be ready to cope with a possible resurgence in Covid-19 cases if lockdown measures are eased, as expected, starting on May 17, the government's pandemic advisory committee warned on Friday.

FAISALABAD: Despite the lockdown, the GDP of Faisalabad is expected to grow from 1.3 to 2.2 per cent. This was said by National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs Chairman Faizullah Kamoka. He was addressing a virtual discussion on Local Economic Development of...

MANSEHRA: Two persons were killed and three others sustained injuries when a pickup vehicle plunged into a ravine in Shahshi Gigal area of Lower Kohistan on Friday.The vehicle was on way to Kokai from Gijal when it met to accident while negotiating a sharp turn.The local rushed to scene and...

PESHAWAR: Street criminals shot dead guard of a filling station during a robbery in Chamkani on Friday. An official said two unknown people came to Mir CNG, Nasir Pur in a car and made an attempt to snatch the cash from filler. On resistance, the official said, they shot watchman Hazrat Hussain...

MANSEHRA: The Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl leader Mufti Kifayatullah, who received a warm welcome by his party workers on his release, has reiterated his earlier stance of a ‘respectable’ burial of patients died of Covid-19.“I am not afraid of jails and would never allow police and...

NOWSHERA: The Prime Minister’s Corona Relief Tiger Force was made operational in the Nowshera district on Friday like other parts of the country.A total of 6,670 members of the force have been registered in the district who would work under the administration and other government...

Taiwan will gradually ease restrictions on travel and sporting activities, with the island’s health minister saying efforts to control the coronavirus were paying off.The island – home to 23 million people – had reported just 440 cases and six deaths from Covid-19 as of Thursday, with no local transmission for close to a month.Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said that with very few new cases among people returning to the island from elsewhere, the authorities would allow Taiwanese stranded in…

The European Union remains central to the global fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, but the rivalry between China and the United States is doing little to help, the EU’s envoy to China said on Thursday.“We are seeing high levels of tensions – strategic, economic, political – growing day after day. It is our opinion that these tensions are not conducive to the cooperative spirit we need today,” ambassador Nicolas Chapuis told an online press briefing.“I am convinced that the EU voice is today…

Beijing has kicked off a campaign to help graduates entering the labour market as the country faces growing pressure to reboot the sagging economy and tackle unemployment.Ten initiatives were announced to find jobs for this year’s 8.74 million new graduates in an online launch on Wednesday by officials from the labour, education, human resources, and industry and information technology ministries.The “100-day” campaign – highlighting the urgency for young people to find work – includes more…

Covid-19 cases in France can be dated back to as early as November 16, nearly 10 weeks before the country’s first confirmed cases of the disease were thought to have occurred, according to a French hospital.The November case was identified by the hospital’s medical imaging department after carrying out a retrospective study on about 2,500 chest scans performed between November 1 and April 30.The findings came as the World Health Organisation (WHO) called on countries to investigate pneumonia…

The Covid-19 pandemic has increased the importance of implementing China’s agreement to buy US$200 billion of US goods – a key aspect of the interim trade deal between the two sides, sources familiar with the talks have said.US President Donald Trump has threatened to withdraw from the agreement if China fails to live up to its commitment over the next two years.In a phone conversation between the lead negotiators on Friday, Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He and US Trade Representative Robert…

China and Russia must fulfil their duties as recognised world leaders and work together to defeat Covid-19, Chinese President Xi Jinping told Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Friday, in the latest show of solidarity between the long-term allies.Likening the global health crisis to the second world war, which in China is often referred to as a war against fascism, Xi said that Beijing would continue to provide support to Moscow as it battled the deadly disease.“Being among the main victor powers…

Top Chinese and US trade negotiators will speak as soon as next week on progress in implementing a phase one deal after US President Donald Trump threatened to “terminate” the agreement if Beijing was not adhering to the terms.Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He will be on the call, according to people familiar with the matter. The US will be represented by US Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer, one of the people said.The planned phone call will be the first time Liu and Lighthizer speak…

There is a long way to go before the Covid-19 crisis ends. Hong Kong and a few other places seem to have suppressed community transmission. But in much of the world, the virus still claims new victims every day.Some experts believe the global pandemic could continue for another two years before it is brought under control with testing, contact tracing, therapy and perhaps a vaccine.It is hard to see international travel and trade returning to normal anytime this year. Worldwide, unemployment…

The daily death toll from Covid-19 in the United States could have been more than halved if authorities had acted more swiftly in recommending self-isolation and the wearing of face masks, according to a new study.Several US states began issuing stay-at-home orders in late March, while federal health authorities began recommending the use of face masks for all in early April. However, had such measures been implemented just four days earlier, the roughly 2,000 Covid-19 deaths currently being…

US President Donald Trump called on Thursday for involving China in new arms control talks with Russia, telling Russian leader Vladimir Putin that they need to avoid a “costly arms race,” the White House said.“President Trump reaffirmed that the United States is committed to effective arms control that includes not only Russia, but also China, and looks forward to future discussions to avoid a costly arms race,” a statement said.Trump and Putin spoke by phone, also discussing the coronavirus…

These days, as Wilson Mak drifts off to sleep after another 14-hour day at a New York funeral home, images of Covid-19 victims flash through his mind.“When I close my eyes, I still see those ugly sights,” says Mak, manager of Ng Fook Funeral Services in New York City. “It’s unbearable.”Ng Fook’s four funeral homes in the city’s various Chinese communities are a microcosm of an overwhelmed industry as corpses pile up in hallways, trucks and makeshift morgues across hotspots of the disease in the…

Congressional Republicans continued their assault on Beijing on Thursday, launching a campaign to change the address of its embassy in Washington in honour of the late coronavirus whistle-blower doctor Li Wenliang, and announcing the establishment of a party-led “China task force” in the House of Representatives.Under new bills introduced in both the Senate and House, the official address of the Chinese embassy in Washington’s leafy northwest would be changed from 3505 International Place to 1…

Top trade negotiators from the United States and China spoke by phone on Friday and vowed to continue to support the phase one trade deal, Chinese state media reported, in their first contact since the agreement was signed in January.On the call, China’s Vice-Premier Liu He, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer “vowed to implement their trade deal and boost cooperation on public health”, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.The officials said…

Former US Senate aide Tara Reade said on Thursday that presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden should acknowledge her claim that he sexually assaulted her is true and quit the 2020 presidential race.“You and I were there, Joe Biden. Please step forward and be held accountable. You should not be running on character for the president of the United States,” Reade said during her first on-camera interview since Biden appeared on MSNBC last week and denied her accusation for the first…

This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Myah Ward on politico.com on May 7, 2020.Melinda Gates on Thursday gave the Trump administration low marks for its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, adding that more money is needed for testing and vaccine development in the United States and across the world.Gates – co-chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has donated billions of dollars to health research – gave the…

Zoom Video Communications pushed forward on Thursday in its effort to revamp its security, striking a deal with the New York attorney general’s office to protect users’ privacy and purchasing secure messaging start-up Keybase.The company, which has faced backlash for failing to disclose that its service was not fully end-to-end encrypted said it planned to develop tools that will give more controls to meeting hosts and allow users to securely join a meeting and submit them to external review…

The African Union (AU) said it has held discussions with officials from Madagascar to find out more about a herbal drink recently touted by the island nation’s president as a possible treatment for Covid-19.According to a statement issued on Tuesday, AU Commissioner for Social Affairs Amira El Fadil held a meeting with the chargé d’affaires of Madagascar’s embassy in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on April 30, at which it was agreed that more information would be provided about the…

The bombastic military parade through Moscow’s Red Square on Saturday was slated to be the spectacle of the year on the Kremlin’s calendar.Standing with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron, President Vladimir Putin would have overseen a 90-minute procession of Russia’s military might, showcasing 15,000 troops and the latest hardware.But that was before the coronavirus pandemic.Now, military jets will roar over an eerily quiet Moscow, streaming red, white and blue…