Officials in Houston, Texas, say three people have been injured in a shootout on a college campus. Two men drew arms in an argument, wounding each other and a passerby. This is the fifth school shooting to date in the US since the beginning of 2013.
Lone Star College's North Harris campus has been on lockdown Tuesday after a gunfight broke out between two individuals, both of whom have been apprehended by police.
Authorities were alerted by a 911 call at 12:31 pm local time and descended on the school, detaining one suspect, reported by police to be a student. The other person of interest, a black male estimated to be between 18 and 20 years old, was seen fleeing the area before eventually being apprehended.
Obviously fearing another campus massacre like the one claiming 26 lives just over a month ago at a Connecticut elementary school, the school affiliated with the North Harris campus ordered students to be locked up in the classrooms or wherever they were at the time.
As a precaution, other schools in the area have also been locked down.
Sheriff's Office of the Harris County has issued a statement in which it identified one of the two suspects as Carlton Berry, who has been charged with aggravated assault. Berry remains in hospital with wounds suffered in the shooting.
The identity of the other man has not been disclosed.
Local news reports that two of those shot suffered “multiple gunshot wounds” and are in a serious condition at a local hospital. A maintenance man was also wounded after being caught in the crossfire.
Additionally, the network reports that agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have arrived on the scene to assist the local authorities.
Jed Young, executive director of a school affiliated with the campus, told CNN that two suspects are thought to have fired shots at one another, catching a passing maintenance man in the crossfire. Witness reports vary, claiming between six and nine shots were fired.
"We know that shots have been fired and we are in a shelter-in-place situation on the campus," said Vicki Cassidy, manager of media relations for Lone Star College System, tells the Houston Chronicle. "It's a pretty chaotic scene at this point in time."


TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) -- Feeding Florida's newest initiative provides affordable and accessible fresh local produce to low income families.
The Frenchtown Farmers Market is the first in Tallahassee to provide "Fresh Access Bucks" to the community. For KaShauna Davis, a SNAP recipient, every dollar she spends on local produce is matched.
She says, "Instead of going to the grocery store, to get food for the kids, when I come here I can also use my SNAP benefits and they give me an additional amount of money."
The money that is spent can be doubled up to $40, which is used to buy healthy food.
"When you go to the grocery store, you really don't know where the food is coming from. But here, you know where the food is coming from. It's local, you're helping the community, it's just great," states Davis.
That win-win situation is what Robin Safley from Feeding Florida says the company strives for, "Community is important, especially in today's world. Feeling connected, but also incubating those smaller growers and having a place for them to aggregate their products and sell it is just a positive thing."
Those selling their products, like Farmer Henry Gwynn, are happy to see others benefit from the initiative.
"I think it's really helped families develop a routine of preparing fresh vegetables for their kids and for the rest of their families," says Gwynn.
Families, like the Davises, feel supported.
"They like to look out for me, they like to encourage me. It's really special, I like it," Davis said.
Davis wants others to know, that every dollar spent, helps provide food access to all, "So, when you come here, being a part of this, it's something really special because it's helping to uplift the community."
The program is currently in 57 markets, but Feeding Florida is hoping to expand the initiative to other communities.


This combination of pictures created on Nov. 12, 2018 shows North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un during the Inter-Korean summit in the Peace House building on the southern side of the truce village of Panmunjom on April 27, 2018, and President Donald Trump during a post-election press conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC on Nov. 7, 2018.
The White House announced on Friday that Trump would meet Kim in late February, following a 90-minute meeting between the president and Kim Yong Chol, one of the North Korean leader’s top aides. The pair discussed denuclearization and a second summit, the White House said at the time. Kim Yong Chol also met Friday with Secretary of State Michael Pompeo.
Trump and Kim held their first meeting in Singapore in June.
The February summit is likely to take place in Hanoi, the capital, but Danang, site of the 2017 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting, and Ho Chi Minh City in the country’s south have also been discussed as possible venues.
Neither the administration nor the North Koreans offered much else after Friday’s meetings about what they’d agreed to and what would be gained from the planned summit.
That only raised more questions because so little progress has been made toward the U.S.’s ultimate goal — getting North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons — since the first meeting between Trump and Kim.
The prospect of another meeting with Kim, the enigmatic leader with whom Trump’s struck an unlikely rapport, offered him a departure from the partisan stalemate over the U.S. government shutdown and the continued drip of investigations into his Russia dealings.
The president basked in the aftermath of the first summit, when he declared North Korea that was no longer a nuclear threat.
Still, more than seven months later, North Korea has made no commitments to allow weapons inspections or dismantle its growing arsenal of warheads and intercontinental ballistic missiles. The announcement about the second summit suggested that the U.S. was softening its refusal to relax sanctions against North Korea because Kim had earlier this month threatened to walk away from talks if Trump didn’t compromise.


Benjamin Netanyahu’s former chief of staff is reportedly in negotiations to become a state witness – which would make him the second prominent figure to do so – in a series of police investigations into the Israeli prime minister and his inner circle.
According to widespread reports in the Hebrew media, Ari Harow, for years one of Netanyahu’s closest political associates, is in talks with police to give evidence, allegedly in exchange for a lesser sentence over accusations of wrongdoing in the sale of his consulting company.
Last week Mickey Ganor, a businessman and key player in an allegedly corrupt deal to buy submarines from Germany, struck a deal with authorities to become a state witness.
Netanyahu has strenuously denied wrongdoing in relation to any of the cases, and is not a suspect in the submarine case. However, a series of high-profile investigations have in recent months inched ever nearer to his closest circles, touching on everything from allegations of corruption in arms purchases, to the prime minister’s attempts to control the Israeli media, and on gifts to him and his family from wealthy benefactors.
David Shimron, Netanyahu’s lawyer and cousin, has also been questioned over the submarine deal. Shimron has denied any wrongdoing.
Three investigations into Netanyahu and his close circle – known as cases 1000, 2000 and 3000 – have gripped the Israeli public, prompting almost weekly revelations in domestic media and regular demonstrations outside the home of the country’s attorney general, who is accused of acting slowly in his handling of the cases.
In political terms the investigations have shown the Netanyahu administration in a deeply unflattering light. A procession of confidants, as well as the prime minister and his wife, Sara, have been questioned by police.
Among a roll call of wealthy Netanyahu backers who have spoken to police are the billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, Adelson’s wife, Miriam, and the Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan.
Police have also been seeking unsuccessfully to interview the Australian businessman James Packer, who, like Milchan, has given gifts to the Netanyahu family.
Any cooperation between Harow and the state could potentially hit Netanyahu particularly close to home in Case 2000, which is examining whether the prime minister behaved inappropriately when he allegedly offered the publisher of Israel’s biggest-selling daily, Yedioth Ahronoth, his help in reducing the readership of the paper’s pro-Netanyahu rival, Israel Hayom, in exchange for more favourable coverage.
At the centre of that case are recordings made of discussions between Netanyahu and Yedioth’s publisher, Noni Mozes, that were found on Harow’s phone.
According to reports in the Israeli media, Harow has indicated to police that he is willing to provide testimony in an investigation into gifts given to the Netanyahus and the investigation into the sale of his consulting business.
The use of plea bargains and the deployment of suspects as state witnesses is a common feature of the Israeli legal landscape. For instance, the former prime minister Ehud Olmert’s bureau chief Shula Zaken turned state witness in the corruption investigation against him.
The swirl of speculation around Harow came as an Israeli court issued a gag order on reports relating to evidence being offered by Ganor, who acted as an agent for the German ThyssenKrupp shipyard in a $2bn (£1.5bn) deal to buy submarines and naval patrol craft. He denies any wrongdoing in relation to the deal.


The worst political blunder of all time, according to scientist Freeman Dyson, was the decision of the emperor of China in 1433 to cut off his country from the outside world. In the wake of that decision, China lost its position in the forefront of human achievements and fell behind, over the centuries, to become a Third World country.
Before the end of this month, the United States of America may break that record for the worst political blunder of all time. Professor Dyson attributed the Chinese emperor's blunder to "powerful people pursuing partisan squabbles and neglecting the long-range interests of the empire." That can be our path to disaster as well.
After the results of "Super Tuesday," we find ourselves with front-runners in their respective parties who each could, as President of the United States, take the decline of America under the Obama administration, even further down, to a point of no return.
As Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton was in charge of the foreign policy that destroyed governments in Egypt and Libya that were no threat to America's interests or allies, and plunged both countries into a turmoil from which only Egypt managed to rescue itself, while Libya has become another hotbed of terrorist activity.
Yet Secretary Clinton is running on her "experience" -- even though it is an experience of unmitigated disasters for America, around the world. Her e-mail scandals and lies are important mainly as symptoms of her utter disregard of anything other than her own financial and political interests.
While Hillary Clinton seems, for all practical purposes, to be unstoppable in her quest for the Democrats' nomination, Donald Trump is by no means inevitable on the Republican side. But he may become unstoppable after the next round of primaries, especially if he wins in winner-take-all states.
Most of Trump's wins in various state primaries have been achieved without winning a majority of the votes. Yet these wins can create an impression of great victories, even when most Republican voters voted against Trump. The fracturing of the majority vote among numerous other candidates is the key.
What prevents the anti-Trump majority from coming together in support of one candidate who can defeat Trump? Only the kinds of narrow political squabbles that ruined China.
Senator Ted Cruz has the best track record against Trump, having beaten him in three states, even with the majority vote split among several candidates. But the Republican establishment would prefer Senator Marco Rubio, who has won only one state and is trailing in the polls in his home state of Florida.
Perhaps most important of all, there are signs that -- if push comes to shove -- the Republican establishment would prefer Trump himself to Ted Cruz.
Why? Because, despite Trump's reckless rhetoric and shallow reasoning, he is a deal-maker who will not let principles stand in the way of anything that promotes the ego of Donald Trump.
Senator Cruz, on the other hand, has repeatedly defied the Republican leadership in the Senate. Whatever the merits or lack of merits of his actions in particular cases, he has clearly shown himself not to be one of those who go along to get along.
Former president Jimmy Carter has criticized Senator Cruz for not being "malleable." No one was more "malleable" in the face of America's enemies than Jimmy Carter, both when he was president and after he left office, and cozied up to Communist dictators in Cuba and North Korea. We don't need that kind of malleability in a President of the United States.
Even if we accept the criticism of Senator Cruz's political enemies and critics that he is "opportunistic," that charge loses some of its sting if he becomes President of the United States. What greater opportunity is there for him at that point? Becoming a great president, which is certainly what this country needs.
Perhaps a political near-death experience thus far will sober up both Cruz and his opponents into a realization that their cooperation is the only thing that makes sense for the country.
But politicians do not always do things that make sense for the country, whether in 15th century China or 21st century America. But we will know the answer to that question by the end of this month. And generations yet unborn may have to live with the consequences of that answer.


Lavaman Triathlon Ocean Safety Crew members found the 52-year-old man floating unconscious in the water, brought him to shore with a waverunner. The man had no pulse, was not breathing and was being treated by medics on the beach when county crews arrived. The triathlete was revived and transported to North Hawaii Community Hospital in critical condition.


Illustrator Adam Ellis says he’s being haunted by a child ghost. Twitter is lapping it up.
Since the inception of Twitter, the microblogging platform has mainly been used for instantaneous coverage of current events and pithy commentary that relies on punch ahead of depth. That’s not to say more expansive uses for the format haven’t been deployed, but up until recently, its potential for deep, longform narrative writing hasn’t been its killer selling point. In the past week, however, a particularly ingenious ghost story has shown some of what Twitter could be capable of as a storytelling media.
It all began when Adam Ellis began telling the story of Dear David, a stirring and occasionally heart-stopping tale, in a series of tweeted plotpoints spanning the past three weeks. Like all gripping yarns, it’s best read in its uncut form – with some judiciously selected mood lighting perhaps – but for the unitiated, a précis runs as follows.
Ellis awakes one morning to tweet a description of a recurring dream he’s been having featuring “the ghost of a dead child”. An able cartoonist, he provides a picture of said infant wraith, an angry looking tyke sporting a rather gigantic dent in his head. He is then visited by another person in his dreams, who makes it known that this antagonist is a ghost known as Dear David, who only appears at midnight and is so-called because all questions to him must be addressed “Dear David”.
All of this is on the strictest proviso that – and at this juncture you can just about hear the straining of necks around the campfire – you must only ever ask him two questions. Should you ask three, it is surmised, your death shall be at his hands. Unfortunately, when Ellis gets a chance to interrogate his oneiric interloper, he inadvertently asks him a third question without reply. Has he now been marked for death? Well, at this juncture, things start to get a whole lot more interesting.
Dear David: is the bone-chilling online horror true or fake?
Rather than continuing with the same textual format for his nifty little night terror, Ellis mixes things up, focusing on the effects that Dear David appears to be having on his environment. Ellis’s cats are filmed staring at his door with creepy fascination; he takes Polaroids of the doorframe, which refuse to develop; he records weird bumps in the night as a particularly spirited green chair appears to move by itself; and he displays a bizarre litany of missed calls to which he has been subjected.
Dripping with queasy chills and framed with artful restraint, Ellis’s cataloguing of his mental state is nimble stuff, and even incorporates interactive elements as he takes on board his readers’ suggestions: burning sage, spreading salt, and taking ever more photos, as he attempts to cleanse his home of its unclean spirit.
Dear David is not exactly a gut-rending new benchmark in modern horror but, in a month in which audiences clamour to see It’s big-screen return, Ellis’s slowburn pacing and disarmingly matter-of-fact execution are redolent of Stephen King’s own knack for unleashing all the dark dread one might find within the domestic, whether a funfair clown peaking out of a suburban storm drain, or the slight, subtle rocking of that damned green chair Adam seems intent on leaving in his home like a bloody lunatic.
The series is still ongoing and resolutely unresolved – having begun on August 7th, he hasn’t made an update since August 29th – but one feels Ellis’ self-mocking Twitter handle @moby_dickhead hides a real flair for longform story-craft. With Dear David, he may not be constructing the great American novel, but this distinctly diverting micro-novella shows some familiar old thrills may yet find a new home on Twitter.


"Over-reliance on reservoirs increases vulnerability, and therefore increases the potential damage caused by droughts," researchers wrote in their paper.
Nov. 14 (UPI) -- Dams and reservoirs are supposed to solve the problem of water shortages, but new research suggests their unintended effects can worsen water crises in the long run.
In a new paper published in the journal Nature Sustainability, scientists describe two phenomena, or effects, can undermine the benefits of dam and reservoir construction and expansion: the supply-demand cycle and the reservoir effect.
The first phenomena is a principle of environmental economics, whereby supply begets demand. As the water supply is increased, demand rises, putting new pressures on a finite resource. Often, water shortages motivate the expansion of reservoirs, allowing for an even larger water supply and further increased demand.
The supply-demand cycle ensures water crises get worse and worse over time, as pressure on the region's natural water supply yields increasing levels of environmental degradation.
According to the new research, the vicious cycle can "quickly offset the initial benefits of reservoirs."
The reservoir effect describes an over-reliance on a reservoir. Because an increased water supply offered by a reservoir can mask the effects of drought and water shortages, communities and governments over-reliant on reservoirs are less likely to adopt more sustainable water usage policies.
According to the researchers, the reservoir effect works similarly to Gilbert White's levee effect.
"The paradox is that levees, which reduce the frequency of flooding, can increase social vulnerability to floods in two ways: by creating a sense of complacency, which can act to reduce preparedness, and by creating incentives for more human settlements in areas prone to flooding," Giuliano Di Baldassarre, researcher at the University of Uppsala, wrote in commentary accompanying the paper.
Di Baldassarre thinks the reservoir effect is even worse.
Both the supply-demand cycle and reservoir effect describe the same basic problem. Dams and reservoirs tend to encourage increased water usage, when the problem calls for the opposite solution.
Scientists hope their paper will inspire new studies into the impacts of reservoirs and dams around the world.
"In the paper we show a number of cases of the proposed supply-demand cycle and reservoir effect happening around the world, from the Maja's to Las Vegas and from Athens in Greece to Melbourne, Australia," Sally Rangecroft, from the University of Birmingham, said in a news release. "These examples reveal that a social perspective of dealing with water shortage is crucial and research on feedbacks between water and society is paramount."
In addition to more research into the interplay between hydrology, society and water infrastructure, Di Baldassarre and his colleagues call for policies that reduce water consumption.
"We suggest less reliance on large water infrastructure, such as dams and reservoirs, and more efforts in water conservation measures," Di Baldassarre wrote.


American International Group Inc., which was bailed out by an $85 billion government loan last week, not only has posted billions of dollars in losses in its financial services operations but its more traditional insurance operations are not as profitable as they were a year ago.
Most problematic has been its financial services division, where operating losses topped $14 billion during the first half of the year. That steep decline was centered in its capital markets unit, which insures mortgage-backed securities and other risky debt against default.
Overall, AIG posted an operating loss of $20.02 billion from January to June. It earned $12.5 billion during the same six months a year ago.
General Insurance: Profits of $2.16 billion in the first half of 2008, compared with $6.07 billion a year ago.
Life Insurance and Retirement: Loss of $4.23 billion in the first half of 2008, compared with a profit of $4.9 billion a year ago.
Financial Services: Loss of $14.68 billion in the first half of 2008, compared with a profit of $339 million a year ago.
Asset Management: Loss of $1.56 billion in the first half of 2008, compared with a profit of $1.68 billion a year ago.
Despite the mounting losses, AIG reported that its shareholder equity totaled more than $78 billion at the end of June. That’s the difference between its $1.05 trillion in assets and $971.7 billion in liabilities listed on its June 30 balance sheet.
While those figures indicate that its assets could easily cover all its outstanding liabilities if the government were to completely liquidate AIG, turmoil in credit markets over the summer could have knocked down asset values dramatically. The company has yet to release its third-quarter results.


Here’s another one attempting to launch Tinashe’s eternally delayed Joyride album. It is so delayed, in fact, that the singer-songwriter dropped an album (or mixtape or... whatever it is) called Nightride in November containing many tracks originally announced for Joyride. (To Rolling Stone, Tinashe described Nightride and Joyride as “two things that are equally the same.” Well sure, except one has actually seen the light of day.) The strange release of Nightride and Tinashe’s pattern over the last two years of throwing singles against the wall to see if one sticks is endemic of the state of the music industry. It seems like a documentary on Tinashe’s plight would make for a great time-capsule. Someone should get on that—Tinashe has been plenty honest about her frustrations.
Anyway, “Flame.” It sounds like a cross between Ellie Goulding’s “Burn” and Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space.” My body wanted to reject it, but by mid-song it had accepted its catchiness. It’s utterly safe, something that wouldn’t disrupt anyone in a doctor’s waiting room, and while that may be disappointing coming from an artist who’s clearly invested in pushing the sonic envelope in R&B, it’s an understandable move. Tinashe’s bonkers singles “Party Favors” and “Company” proved that making avant pop (at sort of a midpoint between FKA twigs’ aesthetic and what’s considered accessible in the mainstream) got her precisely nowhere. And so she’s here.
Tinashe Drops Tracks, Is Maybe Dating Calvin Harris. What Now, New World?


In the 2016 press release, Scott announced that the Cape Canaveral-based company was consolidating its operations in Virginia to Florida and expanding its headquarters at its Space Coast office. The move was supposed to create 150 new jobs and result in the investment of $4.5 million in the local community.
"With the EDC’s assistance, CHSI chose a location and we are customizing a facility that will continue to meet our ongoing business expansion needs,'' said Gary Palmer, president and chief executive officer of Comprehensive Health Services Inc., at the time.
According to the Department of Economic Opportunity, the state awarded the company $600,000 in incentive money from the Qualified Target Industry Tax Refund program. The contract, completed in July 2017, requires the company to receive tax refunds for every job it creates with a salary of $66,000 or more. It gives the company until December 2021 to create the jobs. DEO spokeswoman Tiffany Vause said Tuesday that the company had not received any tax-refund money yet but would be eligible to do so for the first time this year.
Five months before the contract was complete, in February 2017, Comprehensive Health Services agreed to pay $3.9 million to settle allegations it violated the False Claims Act by double-billing the IRS for electrocardiograms and vision tests. Comprehensive Health Services did not respond to a request for comment.
Scott, the Republican governor who is running for U.S. Senate, distanced himself from the Trump administration on Monday regarding the immigration policy.
"Let me be clear — I do not favor separating families," the governor said in a statement. "Washington is to blame for this by being all talk and no action, and the solution is to secure the border."


How Do We Find The Young People Who Are Going To Change The World?
Yoxi.TV is an innovative media platform that helps discover and develop Social Innovation Rockstars (SIR)’s with a goal of building partnerships to create shared value and bring about real change. We recently had an opportunity to speak with Sharon Chang, the company’s founder, to learn more about Yoxi.TV’s mission and the growing social good movement.
Tell us a bit about Yoxi.TV and the larger company mission.
Yoxi is a media organization that discovers and elevates social entrepreneurs by leveraging their expertise for shared value business opportunities. We support and create “Social Innovation Rockstars” (SIRs) by developing compelling content that connects key stakeholders to drive social change, while generating broad appeal and deep engagement to define the pop culture of social innovation.


A heroic World War II Bomber Command pilot is to be honoured thanks to a fundraising campaign to give him a fitting send off.
War veteran Stan Franks completed a staggering 31 missions over Germany by the time he was 19 in the midst of the Second World War.
But the 88-year-old decorated war hero was found dead at his home in Fobbing, Essex, where he lived alone, in October after locals became concerned for his welfare.
He had been due to have a pauper's funeral before fund-raisers stepped in to raise thousands of pounds for a fitting funeral for the veteran.
Jim Gooding, president of Thurrock Royal Air Force Association (RAFA), said: "We are all overwhelmed by the community's support for Stan and for digging so deep into their pockets to ensure he has a fitting funeral.
"I would like to express the thanks from friends of Stan and his colleagues.
"Stan's death happened in sad circumstances but that sadness has been lifted by the generosity and kindness of so many people who will ensure Stan has the send-off he deserves."
The funeral will take place on 13 December at 2.40pm at Pitsea crematorium.
A Spitfire fly-past is also expected to pay tribute to Mr Frank's crucial wartime efforts.
Local people are set to line the root to the cemetery which will leave from his local pub, the Five Bells, at 2.20pm before passing through Pitsea town centre.
Stephanie Dwyer, 61, who has worked at the Five Bells pub for 27 years, spoke fondly of Mr Franks and revealed his sad passing was only discovered when he failed to appear for his daily lunchtime visit.
She said: "I phoned a neighbour and said go and knock on Stan's door as nobody had seen him since the Saturday and this was the Tuesday.
"The police were called and the backdoor was open and they found him.
"The air ambulance was called and landed in the pub car park before rushing him to the hospital."
Sadly, Mr Frank's last flight was in vain and he was declared dead at the hospital on October 31.
Ms Dwyer added: "We think he died from a heart attack.
"He had been coming here for years and years, he was well loved and he liked to have an opinion.
"He was a funny man and always ready to have a friendly chat. He would chat to soldiers about his experiences in the war but he didn't dwell on the past and he was proud of what he had done.
"He was a well-loved character and we are all going to miss him."
Mr Franks flew 31 missions over Germany in 1944 and 1945, serving in Lancaster Bombers of 15 Squadron from RAF Mildenhall.
In 2010, he was one of a small group of airmen who travelled to RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire to be reunited with a Lancaster bomber and be honoured by current day aircrew.


In his first Autumn Statement as chancellor, Philip Hammond announced plans to help British technology start-up companies by investing an initial £400million into venture capital funds.
Supporting entrepreneurs, engineers and inventors is something we put a lot of emphasis on in Peterborough and I am delighted by this week’s unveiling of The Innovation Lab.
This new resource at the Allia Future Business Centre in Peterborough will help turn ideas into realities, in particular for those entrepreneurs who want to make a positive, sustainable impact on the world.
We are lucky to now have access to the state-of- the-art design and rapid prototyping equipment, including a range of 3D printers, housed at The Innovation Lab as these types of facilities are normally located in very large cities or prominent academic institutions.
The Innovation Lab has been supported by Opportunity Peterborough and Peterborough City Council through the Future Peterborough smart city programme. The programme was funded by Innovate UK to catalyse growth, innovation and sustainability in the city.
The Innovation Lab will further the appeal of the Allia Future Business Centre based at the Peterborough United stadium. It’s already home to a number of top performing businesses including ABAX, a company recently named as Europe’s fastest growing telematics business.
Peterborough has an enviable track record for new business start-ups; 2,071 new companies were started in Peterborough in the past 12 months and the city performs well in national leagues tables for patent registration too.
So how are we celebrating and sharing our success to help attract future investment? Peterborough was named “World Smart City 2015” and we recently were able to talk about our emerging entrepreneurial community on the global stage at the World Expo in Barcelona before the baton is passed to the 2016 smart champion.
To continue on the potential of business in Peterborough I was again delighted by the success stories celebrated at the Peterborough Telegraph Business Awards last week.
The winners and nominees encapsulated the broad spectrum of business in the city and an entertaining evening was a worthy way of giving these companies a chance in the limelight.
I was asked to present the award for Businessperson of the Year, which I was pleased to hand to Peterborough-born Andrew Killingsworth, founder and managing director of Yours Clothing. Andrew has come a long way since his days selling cracked eggs to Women’s Institute members - he now has more than 100 shops across the UK, including here on Bridge Street.
This is just one example of the many successful businesses operating in our city - I heard many more at last week’s awards.
And with Lord Sugar whittling down the candidates in the latest series of The Apprentice to find his eventual winner, Peterborough, of course, has had two Apprentice stars in recent years.
Last year’s winner Joseph Valente has gone from strength to strength and this month hired his own 16-year- old apprentice, Billy Robinson, to allow the teenager to learn the plumbing and heating trade. Nurun Ahmed, who appeared on the 2014 show, has also recently been back in the Peterborough news by opening her new shop Fusion Flair in the smart looking Westgate Arcade.
I wish Joseph, Nurun and all of Peterborough’s budding entrepreneurs a successful future.


Leading active stocks in Dubai Financial Market (DFM) bounced up at the end of yesterday’s session, pushing the index to close in the positive area after sharp fluctuations.
The DFM index added 9.40 points, or 0.60 per cent, and closed at 1565.48 points after going down to 1540 points during intraday trading. The index continued to track movements in bellwether Emaar Properties, which fluctuated between Dh2.84 and Dh2.97 before ending the session at Dh2.95, registering a gain of 1.72 per cent.
Arabtec moved in a relatively wide range – between Dh2.07 and Dh2.17 – before ending the session up by 3.35 per cent at Dh2.16. The DFM stock also added 2.76 per cent to close at Dh1.49. Union Properties remained the top active stock for the second session amid continued selling pressures due to worries about the company’s financial position. The stock was also the top loser in the market and fell 5.56 per cent to close at Dh0.51. It hit an all-time low of Dh0.49 during intraday trading.
However, the negative impact of the UPP stock on leading real state stocks was broken yesterday compared to trading on Monday. Emaar was able to bounce up from its intraday lows and closed in the positive area even after UPP had cast a negative outlook for real estate stocks. Emaar also bounced amid increasing rumours in the market that the company might release its 2009 results during the weekend.
Despite the bounce, turnover continued to decline, with 209.3 million shares worth Dh242.2m changing hands. UPP was the top active stock while Emaar, Arabtec, DFM and DSI stocks attracted good turnover.
Rashad also highlighted the negative impact of foreign investors on the market sentiment. “There is continuous concentration on the movements of foreign investments in the market. Foreign investors are moving according to their own strategies, which should not affect investment decisions of other investors. Foreign investors represent a small section of DFM compared to local, Arab and GCC investors. There is a deep, unhealthy trend of tracking foreign investors’ movements. This trend should end and the market participants need to set up their own investment strategies,” he said.
Shiv Prakash, Equity Investment Analyst at MAC Capital Advisors, said DFM has been under continuous selling pressure for the past few days with some bounce seen in between, followed by selling pressure again from higher levels, which wiped off the gains and caused the market to close on new lows.
The DIC stock advanced 3.49 per cent yesterday to close at Dh0.89. The company announced net profits of Dh963 million in 2009, a 39.2 per cent drop compared with the Dh1.583 billion reported in 2008. Earning per share reached Dh0.27.
The company’s revenues also declined to Dh3.672bn last year compared with Dh4.357bn in 2008. However, assets of Dubai Investments surged to Dh15.145bn last year against Dh14.237bn in 2008.


We’ve known for a while that carriers have been itching for a chance to ditch smartphone subsidies, but Verizon CFO Fran Shammo now expects that smartphone subsidies will decrease naturally over the next two to three years with no added cost to consumers. FierceWireless reports that Shammo on Monday told the the Deutsche Bank 2013 Media, Internet & Telecom Conference that emerging smartphone platforms such as Windows Phone and BlackBerry 10 will lead to increased competition in the market and bring lower priced phones, which will in turn lead to reduced subsidy costs for carriers. “I’m a believer that over the next two to three years subsidies will start to decrease just because of the ecosystems,” he said. Shammo added that when Verizon moves to Voice over LTE technology later this year, the company will begin to offer phones without CDMA chipsets, which should also reduce the overall costs of devices.


Thou shalt not talk. Thou shalt not clap in the wrong places. Thou shalt not unwrap cough drops in crinkly paper during the music. Thou shalt not use thy cellphone.
You can find the prohibitions, in various forms, printed in the back pages of concert playbills around the country, often under rubrics such as “The Ten Commandments of Concertgoing.” They’re supposed to be funny, but they’re also supposed to be followed. Disguised as humor, they are actually propagating a widespread and pernicious idea: that the performing arts in general, and classical music in particular, require specialized knowledge and a particular code of behavior — a code in which, if you don’t know it, those who do will be all too happy to instruct you.
And thus the future of our field rides in disproportionate part on questions of etiquette.
Etiquette dominates the public discourse about classical music — because music-lovers, veterans and newcomers alike, are too often unsure what else they should say about it. The rules, and the conventions, provide a kind of handrail for insiders, who clutch it as they move through sometimes uncertain terrain; but form, all too often, is a barrier to those on the outside. The rules and conventions are the most visible mark of insider knowledge. Many people who might feel uncertain talking about chord modulations, a singer’s passaggio, or the relative merits of seating the second violins on the conductor’s right will jump in with the self-righteous vehemence of certainty when it comes to questions of how to behave when listening to all of this. The whole experience of concertgoing too often seems to be focused on debates about knowing when to clap.
Get rid of the conventions? I’m not sure that’s the answer. In principle, true, I’m all for democratization. Let people come to concerts dressed any way they like; let people bring drinks into the concert hall (as they do at the Wolf Trap Barns), or eat meals during the music in a nightclub setting; let them clap when they like what they hear. Let’s be looser about following the rules, and remember that in 19th-century Italy, going to the opera felt much like going to a baseball game — with people hawking food and drink, comings and goings between boxes, conversations in the seats, and vociferous responses to the onstage action. And let’s remember that a loud “SHHH!” or even a disapproving glare can be far more disturbing to more people than one person’s quiet infraction — to say nothing of the man who, years ago, whacked a talkative friend of mine over the head with a rolled-up program.
I am allergic to self-righteousness. I’d like concert halls to be open to a generation of people who don’t mind texting, or snapping photos, during the performance — who see in this an expression of enthusiastic participation rather than a threatening specter of The Downfall of Civilization. I’d like people to feel that the music is something that belongs to them, something that’s theirs to consume, listen to and debate rather than representing some kind of privileged, sacrosanct territory.
In short: I talk a good line. In practice, though, I have a double standard. I have been guilty of turning around to give a significant look to someone who wouldn’t shut up after the music had started; I have been guilty of wincing in visceral annoyance when applause broke out between movements of a symphony when I was using the pause to process what had gone before and clear the head for what was still to come. And it is a truth almost universally acknowledged among serious concertgoers that the experience of being deeply immersed in a quiet, ethereal passage of music, only to be ripped from the moment by the sound of someone’s cellphone — that muted bubbly electronic jingle, which momentarily grows louder as the embarrassed owner yanks it from pocket or pocketbook in order to silence it — can give rise to a brief flash of pure, murderous rage.
Concert halls represent the intersection of art and society. In this space, this silent hall in which we are supposedly united in a mutual contemplation of high art, the social compact is exposed and tested at every turn, as 2,000 people explore the mores of coexistence. Here are debates about human rights: whether your right to blow your nose impinges on my right to hear music unimpeded and germ-free; whether my right not to smell your clouds of perfume takes precedence over your right to want to deck yourself out in your finest going-out accoutrements, especially when you’ve spent $300 for the ticket that I, as a critic, got free.
Clearly, we need guidelines, of some sort. Yet the Ten Commandments of Concertgoing aren’t it. That’s because those Commandments, like much of the classical music experience, are tacitly predicated on the idea that our music, our art form, and therefore our way of thinking, is superior to yours. In looking for a way to prevent those cellphone interruptions, we tend to lapse into a rhetoric that comes off as at once defensive and bossy: There is a “right” way and a “wrong” way to hear this music.
Concert-hall rules are born of a well-meaning, even poignant hope: that someone else can have the same reaction that we do to something we love. It’s a hope that’s eternally doomed to disappointment, since each person’s experience is by definition individual, personal, indescribable and unrepeatable. And in trying to realize the hope, people often forget the basic human truth that if you’re trying to win someone over to something you love, it helps to approach her not as a child, but as an equal.
The conventions of concert behavior are bound to evolve in the coming years. It would be great to juxtapose the formality of orchestra presentation with some concerts that are less formal; it would be great to work out a way to include and contain the smartphone, perhaps by setting aside designated areas for its use, like the score-reading seats, with their illuminated music stands, that are a feature of many great old concert halls. But one rule should be writ large atop all guidelines for concert-hall behavior. It’s a basic principle, in fact, of any form of etiquette: Thou shalt not impose thy beliefs on someone else.
- Sietsema: Hoping to have a good dinner? Be a good diner.
- Pressley: Turn off your phone at the theater. And ignore the prostitute.


Europe's Ariane 5 rocket has completed its 100th mission.
Tuesday's flight saw it lift two big satellites into orbit from its operating base in French Guiana.
Conceived originally to launch a European space shuttle, the rocket was adapted instead to put up the heaviest telecommunications spacecraft - a market it dominated for many years.
But the emergence of cheaper US rockets means the Ariane 5 must soon give way to a more competitive successor.
To be called, predictably, Ariane 6 - this vehicle should make its debut in mid-2020.
A backorder of Ariane 5s ensures the old workhorse will continue to fly for some time yet, however.
Two of its remaining missions include sending Europe's BepiColombo probe to Mercury next month, and putting up the $10bn James Webb Space Telescope - the follow-on to Hubble - in 2021.
"Ariane 5 has been a great success, and it's not over; we still have four or five years left with this product," said Alain Charmeau, who runs the rocket manufacturer ArianeGroup.
"And even though this is the 100th flight, we continue to improve the product. We continue to grab a few extra kilos in payload performance we can offer to our customers," he told BBC News.
Tuesday's telecoms "passengers" tipped the scales at a combined weight of 10 tonnes. Ariane placed them on a path that will eventually take them up to a position some 36,000km above the Earth.
From this vantage point, the Horizons 3e spacecraft will be able to deliver connectivity services across the Asia-Pacific region, and the Azerspace-2/Intelsat 38 platform will be able to do the same over Africa, Europe and Central Asia.
What is the record of the Ariane 5?
The Ariane 5 had a false start to its career when it broke up 37 seconds after leaving the Kourou launch pad on its debut flight in June 1996. The failure was put down to an error in control software.
There was one further outright failure of an Ariane 5, in 2003, but since then the rockets have earned great respect for their reliability and precision.
For a long period, the European workhorse would launch at least half of all the major telecoms satellites in any one year.
The more than 200 payloads launched over 22 years include the comet mission Rosetta, space telescopes, weather satellites, Galileo sat-nav platforms - as well as the many telecoms spacecraft.
Where's the competition coming from?
Europe's past dominance is being eroded by SpaceX, the California manufacturer, which can build and sell its Falcon vehicles on the commercial market at a price that substantially undercuts Ariane.
And SpaceX promises to drop its costs still further as it routinely flies rockets that are reusable. Each Ariane rocket is expendable; a new one is needed for every mission.
Jeff Bezos, the boss of online retail giant Amazon, is planning a similar approach with a forthcoming vehicle he calls New Glenn.
At the same time, a lot of spacecraft are getting smaller. Many are now shoebox-sized.
A swathe of start-ups are developing more modest rockets to try to match this shift in scale.
What is the future for Ariane?
Ariane's response is the introduction of a launcher that is simpler to build and operate, and which maximises the use of next-generation fabrication techniques, such as 3D printing.
This Ariane 6 rocket is well along its development path, with all its engines currently being tested.
It will still be a one-flight-only, expendable rocket; it will not be reusable. But the European Space Agency, which has overseen the design process, hopes the 40-50% reduction in unit cost will keep Ariane in a competitive position.
"We are in a very particular time when there is a lot of uncertainty," observed Jacques Breton, senior vice president at Arianespace, the company that markets and operates Ariane vehicles.
"Is the future small satellites; is it big satellites; is it constellations of satellites? Nobody really knows. But with Ariane 6 we will have a launcher which is versatile, that can adapt itself to any of these solutions. And it will be as reliable as Ariane 5 because it is the same European industry that is developing it."
The market for rockets is complex. It is skewed by geopolitical considerations. There are national security missions, for example, that are only ever likely to be launched on a home rocket.
ArianeGroup is looking for firmer guarantees from European governments that they will use Ariane 6 for all their institutional payloads.
This would help close the business case for Ariane 6, said Mr Charmeau.
"It's good to have many people supporting Ariane 6, but there is a nuance between 'support' and 'commitment'; they are not the same. And if I can get the commitment, I would be extremely happy."


MUMBAI: Good looking and versatile actor Jim Sarbh who has been a delight to watch on big screen in movies such as Sanju, Neerja and Padmavat is soon going to make his debut on television with Discovery Channel’s new series ‘Planet Healers’. Jim Sarbh will host the thought provoking, first of its kind series featuring 8 start-ups who are working tirelessly to find innovative solutions to environmental hazards that we face today.
Jim Sarbh will give the audience a deep dive into how these start-ups are focusing on complex and the same time extremely important issues like unplanned urbanization, electronic waste management, air pollution, fuel recycling et al. He will also be seen playing an integral role in educating viewers about the current environmental concerns and will give a reality check on how these hazards are impacting our planet.
“I don’t believe in the separation between mankind and nature. Mankind is nature. It is only natural, that nature would find a way to heal itself, through mankind. I am excited by this Discovery’s new series “Planet Healers” and the startups on it. Hope more people stretch their imaginations in the direction of conservation and preservation of our large, wonderful, home.” said host Jim Sarbh.


SAN FRANCISCO & NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Otsuka America, Inc., and Click Therapeutics, Inc., announce today that the companies have signed a collaboration agreement to develop and commercialize a prescription digital therapeutic for treatment of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), with the intent to address unmet medical needs among this patient population and to improve outcomes.
This collaboration will leverage Click’s demonstrated ability to discover and validate a software application and deploy it commercially, with Otsuka’s expertise in developing approved prescription therapies for patients with serious mental illnesses, including Otsuka’s established development and commercialization capabilities. The companies believe digital therapeutics align naturally with psychiatry and have significant potential to transform mental healthcare. Together, the companies aim to bring to market a new offering that will provide a novel treatment for patients with MDD.
Otsuka has agreed to commit capital to fully fund development of Click’s novel mobile application ‘CT-152’ for MDD, and to commercialize this application world-wide upon achievement of regulatory approvals. Otsuka will pay Click up to $10 million in upfront and regulatory milestone payments, along with an estimated $20 million in development funding. An additional $272 million in commercial milestone payments are contingent upon regulatory approvals. In addition, Click will receive tiered, double-digit royalties on global sales of the software and the digital therapeutic applications that result.
According to the World Health Organization, depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide, and is a major contributor to the overall global burden of disease.1 Otsuka and Click believe that new approaches are needed to address this condition, including pioneering ways to use technology and data in support of better patient outcomes.
CT-152 is a software application (app) that will leverage evidence-based cognitive therapy principles and Click’s patient engagement platform to treat patients either independently or in conjunction with prescribed pharmacotherapies.
The intent is that the app will be classified as Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) and will fall under the FDA regulatory framework that supports innovation and commercialization of digital tools while protecting patient health.
Otsuka Pharmaceutical is a global healthcare company with the corporate philosophy: “Otsuka-people creating new products for better health worldwide.” Otsuka researches, develops, manufactures and markets innovative products, with a focus on pharmaceutical products for the treatment of diseases and nutraceutical products for the maintenance of everyday health.
In pharmaceuticals, Otsuka is a leader in the challenging area of mental health and has research programs on several under-addressed diseases including tuberculosis, a significant global public health issue. These commitments illustrate how Otsuka is a “big venture” company at heart, applying a youthful spirit of creativity in everything it does.
Otsuka America, Inc. is a subsidiary of Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Both are part of Otsuka Holdings Co., Ltd. The Otsuka group of companies employed 46,000 people worldwide and had consolidated sales of approximately USD 11.1 billion in 2017.
All Otsuka stories start by taking the road less travelled. Learn more about Otsuka Pharmaceutical Company on its global website at https://www.otsuka.co.jp/en. Learn more about Otsuka in the U.S. at www.otsuka-us.com. Connect with us in the U.S. on Twitter at @OtsukaUS.
Click Therapeutics, Inc. develops and commercializes software as prescription medical treatments for people with unmet medical needs. Through cognitive and neurobehavioral mechanisms, Click’s Digital Therapeutics™ enable change within individuals, and are designed to be used independently or in conjunction with biomedical treatments. The Clickometrics® adaptive data science platform continuously personalizes user experience to optimize engagement and outcomes. Following a groundbreaking clinical trial, Click’s industry-leading smoking cessation program is available nationwide in the U.S. through a wide variety of payers, providers, and employers. Click’s lead prescription program is entering into a multi-center, randomized, controlled, parallel-group, phase III FDA registration trial for the treatment of Major Depressive Disorder in adults. For more information, visit ClickTherapeutics.com.


PORT JERVIS — City police charged three people with felony drug possession following search warrants served at their homes on Front Street.
Port Jervis police said they executed the search warrants along with the Orange County Sheriff’s Special Operation Group late Monday evening at 155 and 159 Front St. Police said they recovered 23 grams of crack cocaine packaged for sale, cash and digital scales at the homes.
Police charged Eulises Rosado, 49, with multiple counts of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a felony. They charged Chaelese Brown, 28, with third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. They and Anthony Parraway, 26, are each charged with fourth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a felony. Brown's and Rosado’s charges include intent to sell the drugs.
All three were arraigned and sent to Orange County Jail to await court dates. Bail was set at $7,500 for Parraway and at $15,000 for Brown. Rosado was jailed without bail.
Port Jervis police were aided by deputies and by state police, Deerpark police, the Hudson Valley Safe Streets Task Force and the Pike County Pa. Drug Task Force.


A customer says she found this in her kale salad ordered from a Guy & Gallard store. Photo courtesy Robin Sandusky.
A woman says she found the head of what appeared to be a small reptile in her salad when she ordered lunch from a restaurant food chain in Manhattan Tuesday.
Robin Sandusky, a theatrical coordinator, said she ordered a kale salad from a Guy & Gallard store in Chelsea for delivery to her workplace. She began eating the salad when she spotted what she thought was a pea.
"I turned it over, and I could see its eye," she told NBC 4 New York.
Sandusky called the store and asked for a refund. She said she declined the store's offer for a replacement salad.
The delivery worker retrieved the salad and refunded the money back to Sandusky, the store manager at the Seventh Avenue location confirmed.
The manager, who only gave his last name as Alan, said he apologized but couldn't confirm that a dead animal part was in the food.
"She told me, but I didn't check it," said Alan. "When the salad came back, I wasn't here."
He said he told Sandusky, "I'm really so sorry. If you need something -- she said, 'No, we are fine, just a refund.'"
Jason Jeffries, a managing partner at Guy and Gallard, said it's the company's policy to issue a refund when a customer requests one.
"We didn't see any proof of that," he said of Sandusky's allegation of the reptile found in the salad, but added that if a customer has any complaint, "we'll happily issue a refund."
"We have an upstanding reputation in the neighborhood, and all of our stores have excellent health grades," he said.
The restaurant got an "A" during its most recent health inspection last year.
Jeffries said the company will investigate Sandusky's allegation.
Last December, a customer found a dead frog in her salad from another sandwich chain in midtown.


PELLA, Iowa – With just weeks before the first contests of the 2016 campaign, Dr. Ben Carson’s wife, Candy Carson, is coming into the spotlight, doing high profile interviews to promote her new book, “A Doctor in the House.” And speaking to a packed room full of voters here, the candidate showed enthusiasm for his wife’s media stops.
“She’s as you can see terrific, very bubbly, everyone just loves my wife – she should be the candidate,” Carson said in Panora, Iowa.
Candy Carson has remained largely behind the scenes, though she travels with the campaign and has appeared in ads. Her new book humanizes the Republican candidate, testifying to her husband’s character and faith – a key selling point for the neurosurgeon. And not surprisingly, Carson’s rags-to-riches story, stressed often throughout his campaign (and even turned into a made-for-television movie starting Cuba Gooding Jr.) is a focal point in the book.
RELATED: Can Carson be 2016’s comeback story?
1. Being the wife of a renowned neurosurgeon is not easy: she used to bring him dinner at 2 a.m. during his residency, moved to Australia while five months pregnant so Ben could start another job, and jokes that she often has to say things three times to make sure he’s listening.
2. Candy recounts being alone so much that the Church she attended wondered if she was making her husband up (and the pastor actually went to check that Dr. Carson existed to make sure she wasn’t unstable.) She and her children, who she interviews for the book, write about being often alone, but cherishing the time they spent with Carson.
4. Ben was passionate about community service; when accepting new jobs, he negotiated to ensure he had time to continue speaking at schools. To combine family time and those speaking events, the whole family joined in on these trips.
5. A lifelong musician, Candy and her kids formed a quartet – the Carson 4 – that performed often as the kids were growing up. Her Christmas album is available to fans at campaign events.
6. Australia has some very big, scary spiders. Candy includes a lengthy passage about a terrifying encounter with one spider in 1983.
7. Snakes aren’t much better: Candy and her three sons all tried to make each other take care of a garden snake that appeared in the kitchen, before Dr. Carson came home and removed it.
8. According to Candy, Dr. Carson’s favorite car – a Jaguar – was nearly stolen at a gas station in Baltimore, but the car-jackers stopped and returned the car to Carson when they realized who they were stealing from, instead opting to simply shake his hand.
9. She gave birth to her son in a bathroom, clipping the placenta with a hair clip; while Carson recounts this birthing story as taking place in their bed in his 2009 book, “Gifted Hands,” he too notes the use of a hair clip.


At 92, the sum total of Gloria Vanderbilt’s life thus far, were it a biopic, would have it all: gossip, history, money, class issues, fame, love, drama. But she’s not a character, which means that an exploration of it makes you wonder, quite frankly, how she has not only survived, but flourished as well.
Nothing Left Unsaid, the new documentary about Vanderbilt’s life directed by Liz Garbus and executive produced by/starring her son Anderson Cooper, explores her fascinating life, and seeks to explain how she’s made it through. For decades, outsider fascination with her stems from the vast amount of suffering she’s experienced, both despite and because of her wealth, and that fascination doesn’t stop with this film. The personal highlights begin with her birth into the famous Vanderbilt family, and her father dying when she was barely more than a year old. She was raised almost entirely by her nanny when her mother whisked them off to live in Paris, which led to her becoming the subject of a highly contentious custody battle dubbed “The Trial of the Century” between her aunt and her absent mother.
Vanderbilt was first married at the age of 17 to a man over a decade older than she was who was abusive; after their divorce in her early 20s, she married famous conductor Leopold Stokowski, who was in his early 60s, after knowing him for a month. With Stokowski, she had two children, before they divorced and she married director Sidney Lumet; with her fourth and final husband, Wyatt Cooper, she had two more. It goes on: the lengthy custody battles, the mysterious estrangements (barely touched in the film), the deaths of both Wyatt Cooper and, even more tragically, their eldest son Carter in a suicide she witnessed; and, throughout, glamorous relationships with Errol Flynn, Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando, Howard Hughes and many, many other famous men.
Coupled with Vanderbilt’s professional highlights—she has been an actress, a model, a painter, a writer, and an incredibly successful designer of blue jeans—Nothing Left Unsaid makes other people’s lives pale in comparison. (Cooper said he wanted to make the film because “she’s the last person in my family alive”; he and his mother have written a book of letters as well.) The film is at times overly sentimental and certainly not very critical of Vanderbilt as a typical doc would be, but that’s a natural development given that it’s told from the perspective of Cooper investigating her life. And you can hardly blame him. It is a pure testament to what we’re here to do—keep living.
“Sometimes you have to live in a world where there isn’t any ‘why,’” Cooper says in the film, reflecting on his own losses, and what he’s learned from them. His mother spent years without a firm bottom to rest on, eventually coming to the stuff even a thousand therapy sessions can’t force you to find: a full knowledge and acceptance of who she is as a person, which is a more permanent bedrock than even home or family.
“I have inside me the image of a rock-hard diamond that nothing can get at, and nothing can crack, and I’ve always known that about myself,” she says. At 92, she’s sharing that wealth.


Those who attend CatVideoFest 2019 on March 31 at Classic Cinemas Charlestowne 18 in St. Charles will be supporting the efforts of Anderson Animal Shelter. A portion of every ticket sold will support the work of the South Elgin-based no-kill shelter, which also has adoption centers in North Aurora and Bloomingdale.
ST. CHARLES – Those who have ever owned a cat know they can provide hours of entertainment.
And for those who attend CatVideoFest 2019 on March 31 at Classic Cinemas Charlestowne 18 in St. Charles, they not only will be entertained, but also will be supporting the efforts of Anderson Animal Shelter.
A portion of every ticket sold will support the work of the South Elgin-based no-kill shelter, which also has adoption centers in North Aurora and Bloomingdale. The screening begins at 2 p.m. and tickets are $6, available through Classic Cinemas website, classiccinemas.com, under special events. Classic Cinemas Charlestowne 18 is located at 3740 E. Main St. in the former Charlestowne Mall, now known as The Quad.
Bringing CatVideoFest to Classic Cinemas Charlestowne 18 are the organizers of the AfterImage Film Festival, which will be held Sept. 26 to 29 at Classic Cinemas Charlestowne 18 and the Geneva Park District's Playhouse 38, located at 321 Stevens St., Suite P, Geneva.
Geneva resident Andrew Carlin, executive director of the AfterImage Film Festival, promises those who attend CatVideoFest will not be disappointed. Carlin also is director of theatrical distribution at Oscilloscope Laboratories, which has a partnership with CatVideoFest.
"It's been a total phenomenon working on it on a national level," Carlin said. "It's really astounded us. We sold out 500 and 700 seat venues in Chicago, Seattle, Cleveland, Detroit, all over the country."
CatVideoFest recently screened at Chicago’s Music Box Theatre, where it drew more than 1,500 cat lovers over three days. A percentage of the proceeds from each event go to local animal shelters and/or animal welfare organizations.
"Anderson Animal Shelter is a Fox Valley institution when it comes to animal rescue," Carlin said. "One of the key elements of CatVideoFest is making sure that a portion of the proceeds go toward helping cats in the local community."
The first edition of the AfterImage Film Festival will include a wide range of programming that includes both feature length and shorts, narratives and documentaries, American independents and foreign language titles.
"Everybody really believes that the Fox Valley has a really wonderful, bustling creative community," he said. "However, we're also woefully underserved when it comes to independent film. If you look at the most recent Oscars ceremony, very few of the foreign language and documentary nominees actually screened out here. You'd have to drive all the way to Chicago to have that experience. So in that sense, we feel like there's a great opportunity to host an event that would fill that need."
It is his hope that at least one film screened at the AfterImage Film Festival in September goes on to be an Oscar nominee in 2020.
"I want to be ahead of the curve, where we are able to see films that nobody else in the Chicagoland area has seen yet," Carlin said. "I think that would be really cool and I think it is a very attainable goal."
Festival organizers also want to spotlight the work of local filmmakers and is currently accepting submissions for its first event in September. The festival is run by a nonprofit organization.
Although anyone from the Chicago area can submit a film, there are no entry fees for residents of Batavia, Geneva or St. Charles. Carlin said he hopes the festival will help create more opportunities for independent filmmakers.
"We definitely want to encourage local filmmakers to submit their films," he said. "We want to make sure that not only are we bringing in films that have had big premieres at Sundance and Cannes, we also want to make sure that local filmmakers are represented too. Because that's really important, to make sure that people from the area have a showcase for their work."
More information is available by going to AfterImage Film Festival's website at afterimagefilmfestival.com.


This is a large detached bungalow with three double bedrooms, spacious sitting room plus a dining room opening onto the kitchen. The property is set on a wide plot and does require refurbishment. In our opinion there is potential to develop the property in a variety of ways. The bungalow enjoys ample off road parking to the front and has a large enclosed car port attached to the side of the bungalow. There is a large area of garden to the other side with lawn and kitchen garden. Further area of garden to the rear with two block work sheds.
The bungalow has an arched entrance porch with quarry tiled floor. Front door to entrance hall with laminate flooring. Hatch to roof void. Airing cupboard with insulated hot water cylinder. The sitting room has a stone fireplace and hearth plus a bay window. The dining room opens on to the kitchen which has an aspect of the rear garden. Each of the three bedrooms are good doubles and there is a bathroom and separate wc. Gas fired central heating.
Colehill offers a variety of amenities including shops, post office, First and Middle Schools together with a parish church and village hall. Wimborne town centre is approximately 2 miles away.


West Ham striker Andy Carroll is facing up to six weeks out of action with a hamstring injury.
The 27-year-old was substituted after just 15 minutes in the Hammers' 3-1 win at Bournemouth.
Carroll had scored two goals in West Ham's past four games after returning to action in September 2015, following seven months out for knee surgery.
"He's a positive lad, but of course he is gutted for several reasons," said Hammers boss Slaven Bilic.
"He felt he was back and enjoying his football.
"It's not the end of the world, though. If everything goes well he will be back very soon so there is no reason to be negative.
"If it goes as we expect, then he will be back for a significant part of the season, the last 10-15 games, with enough time to make a huge impact on our season."
Carroll has won nine England caps and scored twice but has not played for the national team since a World Cup qualifier against San Marino in October 2012.
West Ham are fifth in the Premier League, just a point behind fourth-placed Tottenham with 17 games remaining.


The boy’s mother briefly spoke to the pope as she tried to pull the child away, saying that he was mute. Pope Francis told her to let him carry on playing.
A young boy upstaged Pope Francis on Wednesday, escaping from his mother and running onto the papal podium at a general audience, tugging on the hand of a Swiss guardsman and playing behind the pontiff’s chair.
“This child cannot speak. He is mute. But he can communicate,” the pope told hundreds of pilgrims. “And he has something that got me thinking: he is free. Unruly ... but he is free,” he added to laughter.


The U.S. Supreme Court is discussing partisan gerrymandering in North Carolina today.
The high court is taking up League of Women Voters of North Carolina v. Rucho and Rucho v. Common Cause in conference, a gerrymandering case in which a federal court has twice found North Carolina’s 2016 congressional redistricting plan to be unconstitutional. Justices will discuss the case and decide whether to schedule it for arguments this term, with an announcement possible as early as Monday morning.
The court has taken up partisan gerrymandering cases before, but it never has established a standard to outlaw the issue. North Carolina voting rights advocates think League of Women Voters and Common Cause could be the cases to change that (both cases were tried and decided together).
Plaintiffs in both cases have asked the high court to affirm the lower court’s second opinion striking the 2016 congressional map as an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander.
Read more about the two cases here and here.


About us AJB Waste Services, based in Lichfield.
With over 20 years of experience within the trade, we have built up our reputation for being trustworthy and reliable.
Please call us for your free quote, or for any further information.


TRENT ALEXANDER-ARNOLD felt he was targeted by Manchester City during their Champions League clash Tuesday night.
The 19-year-old feels he was singled out by City due to his relative inexperience, but believes he showed that Pep Guardiola's was unsuccessful.
Liverpool conceded in the third minute but scored twice through Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino to prevail 5-1 on aggregate.
Having made his Reds debut in October 2016, Alexander-Arnold has flourished and now racked up 38 appearances.
"I guess Man City looked at it and [felt] I'm the weak link," Alexander-Arnold said following Tuesday's 2-1 win at the Etihad.
"Maybe that gave me that underdog mentality and [I] tried to prove them wrong.
"That's what I went out to try and do - to go and prove them wrong and show them I'm not the weak link in the team.
LIVERPOOL are in the Champions League semi-finals after a 2-1 win away at Manchester City tonight saw them triumph 5-1 on aggregate - here are our player ratings for the Reds.
"I think over the two legs I tried my best and did my best to win my personal battles and help us win the tie."
Sane has been one of the stars of City's phenomenal campaign, but Alexander-Arnold feels he more than held his own and helped neutralise the Germany international.
"You look forward to playing these types of games, these types of opponents and testing yourself when you can," Alexander-Arnold said.
"I got the opportunity to do that over the two legs and I tried to do the right things.
"Hopefully I came out on top and I hope everyone sees it that way as well."
Liverpool are back in Premier League action on Saturday when they welcome Bournemouth to Anfield (5.30pm).


PRESSURE is mounting on Theresa May to increase the nation’s military budget before it is ‘left behind’ following a demand from a top Tory minister today.
Defence minister Tobias Ellwood has said Britain needs to spend billions more on defence or risk ‘losing its place’ at the top table of international powers.
The retired army Captain was responding to a report by Britain’s defence committee which urged the government to spend at least three per cent of GDP on defence, more than the two it currently invests.
He is the latest Tory MP to back the defence secretary, Gavin Williamson, in his on-going quest to get the chancellor, Philip Hammond, and Mrs May to stump up the cash desperately needed to fill a ‘black hole’ worth billions in the military’s budget.
Speaking to the committee during a hearing in the Commons, Mr Ellwood said the campaign had become ‘undignified’ and that a more ‘reasoned, convincing and cost-effect argument’ was needed that ‘united’ opinion.
He said: ‘We need to persuade all MPs, not just 20, that a failure to invest would lead to a demise in our capabilities at the very time our world is getting more dangerous.
‘We need to persuade the treasury that the world is getting more dangerous and, with a post-Brexit economy, evermore reliant on the security and access to international markets.
He said it was important to ‘underline’ that defence posture ‘does matter’.
It, he said, allowed Britain to sit ‘with authority at the international top table’, helping the UK to ‘shape global events’.
He added: ‘We have to decide who we are in this changing and dangerous world. We need to make sure that we are a force for good as global rules are challenged.
‘I do believe we can only achieve this if we see an increase in defence spending of at least 2.5 per cent.
Dr Julian Lewis, chairman of the cross-party group of MPs, welcomed Mr Ellwood’s stance on defence funding.
He added the additional half a per cent would equate to an extra £10bn going into the defence each year, of which £8bn would go to the MoD.
The news comes a week after reports the PM asked Mr Williamson to ‘justify’ Britain remaining a tier-one military power.
The status is a confirmation of Britain’s ability to act as a top-level warfighting nation.


Me doing the 7-Minute Workout in Business Insider's office.
When I first heard about an app that promises the benefits of a sweaty bike ride or trip to the gym in seven minutes, I assumed it was all hype.
Designed by exercise physiologist Chris Jordan, the Johnson & Johnson Official 7 Minute Workout gets your heart pumping and helps build muscle.
The app is a great introduction to a trendy type of fitness routine called interval training, and it's ideal for weekends or days when I can't make it to my regular yoga class.
Since it first debuted five years ago, the app has soared in popularity, something Jordan told Business Insider he didn't see coming.
"To be honest I don't think we realized the popularity that this app would have," he said. "We've been incredibly pleasantly surprised that this has worked for so many."
Here's what the latest version of the app is like.
The entire workout really takes just seven minutes. I was initially skeptical about whether I could accomplish this much in such a narrow time frame.
The program consists of 72 exercises like jumping jacks, sit-ups, and push-ups. Ten require nothing but your body, and for others, you just need a chair that can support your weight. The latest version of the app lets you do each exercise along with Jordan.
To do my workout, I set up a yoga mat on the hardwood floor of my office and used a stool.
The first four exercises I did — 30 seconds each of jumping jacks, wall sits, push-ups, and crunches, with 10 seconds of rest in between — were easy.
But by the time I got to planks, I was starting to feel a bit winded. At this point, I'd also done step-ups onto a chair, squats, and tricep dips. Four more exercises to go.
Next came running in place while lifting my knees as high as I could, lunges, alternating push-ups and rotations (raising one arm in the air while balancing on the other), and side planks (aligning your body sideways and balancing on one hand and the side of one foot).
Full set of 12 exercises complete!
In the end, the workout was actually a workout. But I wasn't totally wiped, so I did a second set.
Instead of doing what I did and repeating the workout, you can also adjust the difficulty by tweaking your intensity level, which I've found to be incredibly useful as I've improved my performance over time.
The concept behind the workout is called interval training — a term that refers to short, intense periods of exercise broken up by brief periods of rest. Jordan, who envisioned the regimen, told Business Insider that he based the workout on his experience as a fitness consultant for the US Air Force in Europe.
Studies suggest interval training may be more beneficial for building muscle and protecting the heart than some other forms of exercise. "High-intensity interval training can provide similar or greater benefits in less time than traditional longer, moderate-intensity workouts," Jordan said.
I'm satisfied overall with the 7-Minute Workout, and I've been doing it as an addition to my regular yoga routine every so often. But don't take my word for it — it doesn't take long to try it out yourself.


Ade Adewolu lives and works in London, UK and is a member of the Champions For Nigeria organization.
Alan Gleeson is the managing director of Palo Alto Ltd, the UK division of Palo Alto Software.
Yuval Atsmon is a senior partner in McKinsey’s London office.


About 100 children and 30 adults lived in the seven-story building, which was run by a humanitarian association that helps needy people. One resident described being awakened by cries from children and adults.
A fire raced through an overcrowded Paris apartment building housing African immigrants early Friday, trapping some residents in their sleep and killing 17, up to half of them children, local government officials said.
Firefighters said that 30 other people were injured, two seriously. Many of the victims were from the west African nation of Mali. Others were from Senegal, Ghana and Tunisia, according to building residents.
"It's an extremely heavy toll," said Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy who visited the scene of the blaze in southeast Paris. "We just saw the bodies of seven children who were asphyxiated. It's an abominable spectacle."
Officials did not immediately release the exact number of children who were killed.
The district Mayor, Serge Blisko, said the dead had "visibly, died in their sleep, asphyxiated and not burned."
One resident of the seven-story building, situated on the corner of a major boulevard, described being awakened by cries from children and adults, then rushing to his window on the building's second floor.
People "jumped out the windows. They didn't care about dying," said 71-year-old Oumar Cisse, originally from Mali.
The fire broke out shortly after midnight in the stairwell of the building, said Capt. Jacques Dauvergne, spokesman for the firefighters. About 210 firefighters worked for an hour and a half to bring the blaze under control. It was extinguished after burning through the upper floors of the building for some three hours, Dauvergne said.
Police were investigating the cause, taking samples from the building for laboratory analysis, Dauvergne said.
Portions of the facade of the large white building on a corner of a major boulevard in the city's 13th district were scorched from the smoke, but the building was intact. Window boxes with flowers abloom that fell from balconies were strewn on the sidewalk below.
About 100 children and 30 adults lived in the building, which was run by a humanitarian association that helps needy people, according to Cisse who has lived in the building for 15 years.
He said the building was in a decrepit state, infested with rats and mice. Walls were cracked and lead was in the paint that covered them, he claimed. Electricity bills were "exorbitant" for some residents, he added, suggesting that the wiring could be faulty.
Blisko, the district Mayor, said the building was "overcrowded," particularly with children.
"There was so much smoke in the stairwell, but we were still able to get out," said Cassama, who said his wife was hospitalised with smoke inhalation.
The state-owned building was run by the humanitarian organisation Emmaus and was under the direct care of a linked association France-Euro Habitat, according to local officials and building residents.
"We have enormous difficulty housing the disadvantaged," Blisko, the Mayor, said.
It was the second major Paris fire this year.
In April, 24 people were killed in a hotel blaze in the French capital - many of them children. Most were African immigrants and other people without means who were lodged there by authorities.
In that fire, officials said a night watchman's girlfriend may have accidentally triggered the blaze by placing candles on the floor to set the scene for a romantic tryst but then leaving in a rage because he was drunk.


Motorola Moto G7 review: Is the standard model the one to buy?
The Moto G7 is a great budget phone that improves over its predecessor. Its problem is the G7 Plus which is £30 more and delivers faster charging, optical stabilisation for its better cameras, and a minor bump in processor - making it the phone to buy (after all, they both have the same design and screen sizes).
Prior to penning this Moto G7 review we'd spent a full week living with the Moto G7 Plus. And having switched between one phone and the next, well, we've been struggling to tell the difference between the two.
After all, the Moto G7 is the same size as the Plus, it has the same screen, same battery capacity, a very similar processor (it's marginally less powerful, at 1.8GHz rather than 2.2GHz). So what's the point in both phones? The 'normal' G7 ditches the optical image stabilisation system, goes for lower-resolution cameras and saves you £30 in the process.
There's more to consider too, as the 2019 G series line-up has four phone options, with the cheaper and greater battery capacity of the G7 Power arguably being the one to go for. In this four-piece line-up does the classic G7 feel too squeezed from all sides to make sense, or is it the perfect balance of features to price?
The G7's form is no different to the G7 Plus, with only the colour options available differing. That means you get the same easy-to-hold device and finish, complete with 3.5mm headphones jack, fingerprint scanner and water-repellent coating to help avoid accidents.
The SIM try of our G7 does offer dual SIM plus microSD, whereas our G7 Plus was single SIM and microSD. Either way, there's the option to expand the on-board storage if you want to load the device with lots of media.
Looking at the G7 under a 2019 lens is wildly different to the way in which this series started. It was only a number of years ago that this range was small, plasticky and really cheap. Today it's double the price of the first-gen device, but it's come a long way, baby, and the current design puts it in contention with other, pricier phones.
Even the progression from 2018 to 2019 devices is considerable: the G6 was good, sure, but the G7 trims the bezel around the screen, elongates the screen form factor and moves the fingerprint scanner to the rear compared to before. It fixes most of the minor quibbles we had with last year's device. Can't say better than that.
As we said up top, the G7 has the same screen as the G7 Plus. And while the 6.2-inch screen size might sound massive, its elongated aspect ratio ensures that it's not unwieldy in the hand. Gone are the days of hard-to-handle iPhone 8 Plus-style thicknesses, which makes the G7 feel perfectly at home in the hand - and smaller than last year's G6 by a couple of millimetres.
Moving with the times and trimming the screen bezels compared to its predecessor means the G7 introduces a notch. But it's not a massive one, rather a 'dewdrop' or 'teardrop', which, as its name suggests, looks like a droplet. We prefer the former name, as the latter makes it sound as though we want to cry about this notch - when, actually, its presence isn't that much of a bother. It opens the door for full-screen apps, some of which will block out that part of the screen to keep things neater.
Resolution-wise, the G7 is Full HD (1080p) in terms of vertical lines. Think of it like the telly in your living room compressed into 6.2in form with some extra height thanks to the long form factor (unless you're lucky enough to have a 4K TV, of course, in which case you probably won't be buying a budget phone like this!). It's not as sharp as some flagships, but it's perfectly fine, including in terms of colour and brightness.
But there's one problem: by default auto-brightness is active and it's hypersensitive to say the least. Move into a slightly dimmer area and the screen reduces brightness to save battery - but a little bit too much. Far too often this screen dips to being excessively dim, which needs a swipe down to manually boost it to acceptable levels. It's a bit annoying and one of the phone's biggest shortcomings (which goes to show how good the rest of it is).
The Qualcomm SD632 chipset at the G7's heart is only marginally different to the SD636 in the G7 Plus. So does that feel like a massive downgrade?
No, is the short answer. We've been using the G7 just as we did the G7 Plus and haven't noticed anything really different in terms of operation. Our games have fared the same, as have day-to-day app uses.
There are some differences though. As we found with the G7 Power, the G7 seems slow to connect to 4G after being on Wi-Fi - and we've found more signal outage with this device than we did with the G7 Plus (this latter model posing no such issues at all).
Some over-the-air downloads have seemed rather slow too - when side-by-siding a game update of around 300MB, the G7 was about three times slower than a Huawei Mate 20 Pro connected to the same Wi-Fi network. It's these little blips that you have to expect when buying into a non-flagship device. Especially when some affordable flagships, like the Honor Play, are available for roughly the same asking price.
Sure, top-spec games aren't going to run at best possible graphics and frame-rates might have to be held back, but from our playing of South Park: Phone Destroyer on a daily basis we've not found that to be an issue. No latency problems, no stuttering due to excess characters/sprites showing on screen, with decent sound output thanks to stereo speakers and Dolby Audio. Just because the Snapdragon chip here isn't the fastest going doesn't mean the G7 performs badly. It handles daily tasks well and hasn't felt like a chore in use - whereas some budget phone from years gone by were barely usable. That's a sign of the times.
Longevity is fairly good too, on par with the G7 Plus. The use of a 3000mAh battery is the same as the G6 from last year, doing a decent job overall. We've been using the phone daily as our own for a long weekend, where even 90 minutes of gaming thrown in among a full day's tasks sees the battery drop to around 30 per cent remaining after 14 hours of use. It's no G7 Power, so won't do two days, but it won't have you worried that battery power will be on its last legs by dinner time.
In the box the G7 has a 15W charger. It's not as quick with fast-charging as the G7 Plus (which has a 27W charger included), which is another down-step in the G7's spec. And another reason why we'd buy the Plus for that extra 30 smackers.
It's also worth putting in a word about software. Moto uses Google's Android Pie (9.0) operating system, making for a clean and clutter-free experience. The only additional app you'll find is the Moto one, a hub where Moto Voice, Moto Display and Moto Actions can be accessed - used to control the Google Assistant-based voice app, the 'peek notifications', and physical actions, respectively. It's clean, neat, tidy and easy to use - unlike many of its Chinese competitors - which goes a long way in usability.
On the cameras front the G7 is ample, but lacks the extra polish of the G7 Plus. Having used both side-by-side, we much prefer the optical image stabilisation (OIS) available in the Plus, which lacks in this 'standard' G7.
It's more than just that though: while the G7 offers the same shooting modes from its dual lens offering - including Portrait mode with blurred background (that's what the second 5MP camera is for on the back) - we've found the real-time live view in the camera app is less smooth. Perhaps that's the lower-powered chipset rearing its head.
The lower-resolution of the G7 compared to the Plus model isn't a major impact to quality though. The 12-megapixel sensor is paired with an f/1.8 aperture lens, so shooting in dim conditions is possible - but the lack of OIS is felt here.
In good light there's a lot of detail in images, which is where the G7 is happiest. Don't expect miracles in low-light situations, as details begin to lack, as we found in a dim lit bar one evening.
Overall, while the G7 is capable enough, but the Plus really sells itself a step ahead with more detail and better quality overall. In that regard, seeing as it's about the only major difference between the two handsets, we're surprised that both exist - the Plus model should simply be the G7 and make no need for this model on review.
The Moto G7 represents just how far this affordable series has come. If you're looking for something that won't break the bank, but which looks great and functions well, it's a great phone with few compromises.
But there's a problem: the Plus model is the better phone at £30 more, while the longer-lasting Power is far cheaper and leaves a question mark hanging over the 'standard' model. That's the thing about the standard G7 - it's hard to criticise, but as one of four handsets in the line-up it struggles to assert its place quite convincingly. And with the Honor Play available with a lot more power for around the same price, there's obvious competition hot on its heels too.
If you're looking for an affordable phone that doesn't cost the earth then the Moto G7 is well worthy of your consideration. In the same breath, we can't quite recommend it in the shadow of the G7 Plus.
This review was first published as a preview on 7 February 2019 and has been updated with relevant information as a full review.
For an extra thirty quid you get the same size phone, with a marginally faster processor. The big extra is the optical image stabilisation setup and better cameras, plus faster charging. Really the 'Plus' should just be the standard G7 model - having both available is just confusing and unnecessary.
Ok, so it's officially £40 more than the G7 - but that price has come down since release - but the Honor Play is a lot, lot more powerful, to the point you'll feel it in everyday use.


Drug experts have backed a Liberal Democrat vote on decriminalising narcotics set to take place next week.
The UK Drugs Policy Commission raised some concerns about the motion but said it supported the broad thrust of the motion.
The commission, which includes former Medical Research Council chief executive Professor Colin Blakemore, was particularly critical of criminal records, which make it much harder for former addicts to get a job and therefore encourages them back towards drugs.
The Liberal Democrat motion would scrap criminal penalties for personal possession, create a heavily regulated market in cannabis and provide clinics for persistent heroin users.
The move would likely prompt friction with the Lib Dems' Conservative coalition partners, whose rank-and-file membership are strongly opposed to any change to drug laws.
David Cameron's record as a backbencher was distinctly liberal when it came to drug reform. He called for heroin 'shooting rooms' and a public health approach to drug use before taking the leadership.
Drug liberalisation views are surprisingly popular in Westminster circles, but it has been considered politically impossible for several years, mostly due to fear of the tabloid reaction and the views of 'middle-England' voters.
Former defence secretary Bob Ainsworth quickly came out against the "disaster" of drug regulation after leaving his front bench position.
Nick Clegg is understood to be distinctly relaxed about the motion, however, suggesting the Lib Dem leadership will not back down in the event of a yes vote.
There is "increasing evidence that the UK's drugs policy is not only ineffective and not cost-effective but actually harmful, impacting particularly severely on the poor and marginalised", the motion reads.
"Individuals, especially young people, can be damaged both by the imposition of criminal records and by a drug habit, and... the priority for those addicted to all substances must be healthcare, education and rehabilitation, not punishment.
"One of the key barriers to developing better drugs policy has been the previous Labour government's persistent refusal to take on board scientific advice, and the absence of an overall evaluative framework of the UK's drugs strategy."
The demand comes amid unparalleled change internationally on drug laws, with several highly-respected figures and institutions calling for a more liberal policy on narcotics.
The Global Commission on Drugs Police, headed by former UN secretary general Kofi Annan recently called for world governments to consider regulating the drug trade.