medical marijuana can save lives - isn't it time to make it legal?

In a ward at London’s Chelsea and Westminster Hospital Billy Caldwell’s life hangs in the balance. Billy is 12 years old, autistic and severely epileptic. His illness has become a life-and-death stand-off between Charlotte Caldwell, his mother, and the Home Office: last Monday, she flew into Heathrow from Canada with supply of cannabis oil in her bag which was confiscated at customs. Caldwell insists it is the only treatment that has ever brought her son’s frightening condition under control and without it he will surely die.

Billy was rushed into hospital in the early hours of Saturday morning after suffering a severe fit following the withdrawal of his medicine. "It is beyond cruelty.



Colorado Politics comments on the study and it’s amazing findings. Researchers found that in the nine states where medical cannabis is legal, painkiller prescriptions, anti-anxiety medication and antidepressant use dropped remarkably. Anti-nausea medication prescriptions fell by 17%, anti depressants by 13% and anti- seizure and psychosis medicines dropped by 12%

Bizarre moment it rains OCTOPUS as freakish storm sucks creatures out of sea

Drivers were left stunned as octopuses and starfish began raining down onto their cars during a freakish storm.

The creatures - along with mollusks and shellfish - were sucked out of the sea and dumped along with heavy rain and hail.

Photos posted on social media show the marine life stuck to car windscreens after violent weather battered the Chinese coastal city of Qingdao.

The phrase "seafood rain" became a trending topic online as the photos went viral in the aftermath of a storm that left a trail of destruction.

Eid truce between Afghan army and Taliban marred by deadly blast

A blast at a ceasefire meeting of Taliban fighters in the country's east has killed up to 20 even as the war-weary country celebrated an unprecedented holiday truce in the long-running conflict.

The explosion hit a meeting in Nangarhar province as fighters met to mark the Taliban's three-day ceasefire to mark the religious festival of Eid al-Fitr.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the explosion. At least one hardline Taliban splinter faction had previously said it would not abide by the truce, while the area is also known as a stronghold of the Islamic State group.


Ghulam Sanayee Stanikzai, provincial police chief, said the attack in Rodat district came as dozens of fighters had gathered to celebrate the truce and most of the dead were Taliban.

Russian conductor Gennady Rozhdestvensky dies at 87

Prominent Russian conductor Gennady Rozhdestvensky has died aged 87.

Born in Moscow into a well-known musical family, Rozhdestvensky made his debut by conducting a Tchaikovsky ballet at the Bolshoi, aged just 20.

He made his name by popularising music by composers who were all but banned by the Communist authorities in the USSR, including Poulenc and Hindemith.

The cause of death was not immediately known, but local media reports say he had heart problems.

In 1971, Rozhdestvensky brought his Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra to London to the BBC Proms.

Uruguay win it in the 89th #worldcuprussia

Heartbreak for Egypt 

Uruguay win it in the 89th minute with a stunning header from Gimenez!

"Egypt were hard done by - they really contributed to that game" -

#EGY⁠ ⁠ 0-1  

#EGYURU #3m360worldcup

The 2018 FIFA World Cup officially kicked off

The 2018 FIFA World Cup officially kicked off on Thursday with host nation Russia beating Saudi Arabiafive goals to none.

The first World Cup on Russian soil will be played in 12 stadiums located across 11 cities. 

With a maximum capacity of 80,000 spectators, the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow was the site of the opening ceremony and will also be the grounds for the final game, scheduled for July 15. 

The Police Command in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has arrested two suspected killers of Charity Aiyedogbon who got missing since May 2016.

Mysterious death unravels after 2 years of disappearance.

The Police Command in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has arrested two suspected killers of Charity Aiyedogbon who got missing since May 2016.

The suspects are Chukwujekwu Ezeugo, 27, principal suspect, from Enugu state and Emmanuel Adogah, 28 from Edo.

The Commissioner of Police in the FCT, Mr Sadiq Bello made the disclosure while briefing newsmen on the arrest by operatives of the command on Thursday in Abuja.

Bello said that the principal suspect, Ezeugo was arrested in Benin while the second principal suspect, Adogah was arrested in Abuja on June 11 by operatives of the command.

Australian organ donor helps 5 Chinese

Australian organ donor helps 5 Chinese

Phillip Hancock may no longer be with us, but his love and selfless contribution will be remembered by Chinese people.

On May 9, after the 26-year-old Australian passed away in a Chongqing hospital. His liver, two kidneys and a pair of corneas were transplanted, in keeping with his wishes, helping five Chinese patients.

On Monday, the Red Cross Society of China's Chongqing Branch announced that all the transplantations were successful. The liver recipient has been moved from an intensive care unit to a general ward and has remained in stable condition. Both kidney recipients have recovered well and can walk by themselves in the wards. The two cornea recipients have been discharged from the hospital and their eyesight has returned to normal.

Why Africa needs to start focusing on the neglected issue of mental health

Mental health has historically been neglected on Africa’s health and development policy agenda. Faced with many challenges, including intractable poverty, infectious diseases, maternal and child mortality, as well as conflict, African political leaders and international development agencies frequently overlook the importance of mental health.

This trend is often compounded by three factors: ignorance about the extent of mental health problems, stigma against those living with mental illness and mistaken beliefs that mental illnesses cannot be treated.

Absence of treatment is the norm rather than the exception across the continent. The “treatment gap” – the proportion of people with mental illness who don’t get treatment – ranges from 75% in South Africa to more than 90% in Ethiopia and Nigeria.

LeBron's 51 points in vain as Cavaliers blow late chances against Warriors

Overtime. A controversial reversed call. A fight that led to an ejection. Fifty-one points from an all-time great who still lost. And we thought round four of the Warriors-Cavaliers finals dynasty was going to be boring.

The Golden State Warriors topped the Cleveland Cavaliers 124-114 in overtime in Game 1 at Oracle Arena in Oakland, setting the stage for what looks to be an intense series.

'You have a secret son with a porn star' - Pusha T attacks Drake in new diss track

The war between G.O.O.D Music rapper, Pusha-T and Canadian rapper, Drake just got messier.

Last week, Pusha T released his much awaited Daytona album and seemingly left a message on one of the tracks for Drake. On the track titled Infrared, Pusha-T took shots at Drake with the line “It was written like Nas but it came from Quentin” alluding to Drake’s alleged ghostwriter Quentin Miller.

Without wasting time, Drake dropped an instant diss track titled 'Duppy Freestyle' where he ripped apart Pusha T and Kanye West. It was hard and social media loved it believing that Pusha T had no comeback for it.

China is secretly imprisoning close to 1 million people — but they've left 2 big pieces of evidence

Hundreds of thousands, and potentially more than one million, people have been caught up in China's "re-education camps" over the last year.
The camps, which operate outside the courts, are designed to indoctrinate ethnic minority Uighurs and force them to reject their religious beliefs.
Bids for constructing or renovating these centers, as well as staff job ads, provide clear evidence of the purpose and scale of these re-education programs.
Uighurs face constant surveillance in Xinjiang, which experts consider a testing ground for the a wider surveillance state.

In the northwest Chinese region of Xinjiang, many locals read endlessly, write often, and sing loudly.

But not by choice.

In extrajudicial indoctrination camps around Xinjiang, ethnic Uighur men and women are forced to study Chinese history, write personal reflections, and sing songs like "Without the Communist Party, there is no New China." Many are beaten, tortured, and are unable to go home.

Mum, 58, killed herself after operations failed to relieve pain - including one where ovaries were removed without consent

A mother killed herself after suffering years of pain from a vaginal mesh inserted to help with a bowel disorder.

An inquest also heard how a doctor removed 58-year-old Lucinda Methuen-Campbell's ovaries without her consent during one operation.

It was told how she went in for surgery to mend a bowel disorder - but came out without her ovaries.

The inquest also heard the surgeon told her afterwards that her ovaries were taken out "because they were in the way".

Mrs Methuen-Campbell chose the surgery at a private hospital performed by pioneering surgeon Tony Dixon in September 2016 after suffering years of pain from having vaginal mesh inserted to help with a bowel disorder.

But the mother-of-one was later found hanged after telling her ex-partner: "There didn't seem to be a way out of the pain."

Mr Dixon has built up an international reputation for using mesh to fix bowel problems - but is currently suspended from two hospitals in Bristol.

He is under investigation by the NHS which has referred him to the General Medical Council over the procedures.

Mrs Methuen-Campbell's ex-partner Philip Chatfield, a sculptor, said: "The pain continued to get worse and nobody seemed able to solve the problem.

"Mr Dixon performed the operation in 2016 with the mesh but it was unsuccessful and caused her to be in agony.

Alan Bean, former Apollo 12 astronaut and fourth person to walk on moon, dies

Former Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Bean, who was the fourth man to walk on the moon and later turned to painting to chronicle the moon landings on canvas, has died. He was 86.

Bean was the lunar module pilot for the second moon landing mission in November 1969. He spent 31 hours on the moon during two moonwalks, deploying surface experiments with commander Charles Conrad and collecting 75 pounds of rocks and lunar soil for study back on Earth.

Bean died on Saturday in Houston, Texas, following a short illness, a Nasa statement said.

Nicaragua unrest: Thousands join renewed anti-government rallies

Thousands of protesters have marched in the Nicaraguan capital Managua and other cities to demand the resignation of President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice-President Rosario Murillo.

Demonstrators blocked main roads, waving placards and chanting slogans.

Weeks of anti-government protests have seen at least 76 people killed in clashes with security forces.

The latest rallies took place after peace talks mediated by the Catholic Church broke down on Wednesday.

Four people were killed in clashes on Saturday, police and witnesses say.

"They want to take us off the streets at the point of bullets," said protest leader Francisca Ramírez, who led a rally in the north-west city of Leon.