20/12/2010

Available for over a year

AVICHAY STOLAR A campaign group in Israel is releasing a book of testimonies from former members of the Israeli Defence Force. The group called "Breaking the Silence" aims to increase access to information about day-to-day life in the occupied Palestinian territories. They published a similar book last year but all the testimonies were anonymous. This led the IDF to question whether the evidence was genuine. Matthew talks to one of them who has now chosed to be named and photographed: 27-year-old Avichay Stolar. HATIAN STUDENTS When Haiti suffered its most devastating earthquake in 200 years, offers of help came from all over the world. Amongst the affluent western countries, one developing nation stood out. Senegal, which has its own problems with poverty, offered scholarships to 163 students from Haiti who could no longer complete their education at home. The BBC's Maud Jullien met two of them as they were beginning to settle in the Senegalese capital, Dakar. CHILD BEAUTY PAGEANTS Outlook's Alfonso Daniels has been to the rural town of Hickory, North Carolina in America where he was given rare access to meet child contestants and their families at the state beauty pageant. It is one of the most important child beauty events in the US where the youngest contestants are just four years old.