Steve Jobs Waxwork goes on show at Madame Tussauds

An eerily lifelike wax model of the late great Steve Jobs creator of the iPhone and Apple goes on show at Madame Tussauds. It's in Hong Kong to start but is due to go on a world tour. CLICK text to read more at AllVoices.

Morning After Pill Given Out To Children Without Parents Consent

NEW YORK CITY Schools give out Plan B morning after pill to teenage pupils some as young as 14 without telling parents.

Gays Drug Use Seven Times Higher Than Heterosexuals - AllVoices

A new report from the Lesbian and Gay Foundation (LGF) and the University of Central Lancashire, finds that drug use amongst the lesbian and gay community is much higher than in the rest of the popoulation of the UK. 4,000 people were surveyed as part of the research and one in five of the gay community showed signs of drug or alcohol dependency.

Overall drug use in the LGBT was seven times higher than in the rest of the population. The reasons for this seem complex. Dealing with homophobia in a still disrminatory society and the party lifestyle associated with the LGBT community could be factors.

Green On Blue

They call it 'green on blue'. A soldier from a nation state allied to NATO troops turns their gun on on them. 
In Afghanistan it's happening more and more. So much so that the allied troops stop training local men to enter the Afghan security forces. What trust there was between Afghan forces and Nato forces is rapidly breaking down. The aim is to hand over the security of Afghanistan to its own forces by 2014 and withdraw all allied troops. Some, from both sides, say leave now.


checking back
back over his shoulder
autumn grass

Paul Conneally

More on Green on Blue Attacks at Allvoices

A Cut Too Far - Amish Hate Crime Trial

Sam Mullet Snr. and fifteen of his followers are accused of hate crimes. 

They attack and cut off the hair and beards of fellow Amish that they believe have broken God's laws. Amish laws.

Mullet claims that it's his right to punish those that insult God by their behaviour.
Wearing the wrong clothes, watching a movie, using the telephone.

All sixteen are now on trial in Ohio. Guilty verdicts will bring jail sentences. Long ones.

thinking of home
the autumn wind
through her hair

Paul Conneally

Words of Peace - The Pope in Lebanon

Pope Benedict meets up with leaders of Muslim communities in Lebanon.

The meeting, which was arranged months ago, comes at a time when US and other western governments' diplomatic buildings are under attack across the Middle East and beyond.  

Even as the Pontiff speaks in another part of Beirut Western businesses are under attack.

words of peace
a dove with an olive branch
in a cat's mouth

Paul Conneally
2012

Full Story at AllVoices

Winter Shoots

As tensions rise between Iran and the West with sanctions against Iran's oil industry being put in place by the US and European countries, UN nuclear inspectors arrive in Tehran. Their task to check out claims that Iran's nuclear programme is not purely to make energy but nuclear weapons too.

These inspectors, from The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), expect full and open access to Iran's nuclear facilities and lead scientists. They need to confirm Iran's claims that the programme does not include the production of nuclear weapons.


Iranian's appear welcoming of the visit, feel that it will stop once and for all 'rumours' spread by the West and in particular by the US, that its nuclear programme is not only a civilian operation.
Iran's ambassador to the IAEA, Ali Asgar Soltaniyeh, calls these rumours "enemy plots".

winter shoots
the power of nature
over words

Paul Conneally

Snow Blind

A teenage girl watches in horror as her mother collapses and dies in a ski slope chair lift. Jade Ramsden and her mother, Cheryl Fairbrother, are going up Monetier’s L’Yret at Serre Chevalier, when Cheryl suddenly becomes ill.

Emergency services try to resuscitate the stricken skier but to no avail and she dies before reaching hospital. Cheryl was visiting her daughter Jade working in the French ski resort of Serre Chevalier when the tragedy occurs.

snow blind
nothing but sadness
on this mountain

Paul Conneally

Bone and Blood

Ex boxing champion turned promoter, Ricky Hatton, tells boxer Amir Khan to avoid Floyd Mayweather. Hatton says Khan should put off all thoughts of meeting Mayweather for the foreseeable future.

Hatton believes that Mayweather would be just too good for Khan at present. Khan has made it known that he would like to fight Mayweather as soon as possible. Khan recently caused uproar in the boxing world when he accused the ringside judges of skullduggery after his controversial loss to Lamont Peterson last month.

bone and blood
the boxer looks anxiously
at his towel

Paul Conneally

Vitamin D Could Save Elderly Eyes

Vitamin D supplements could help combat many eye diseases of the elderly according to new research undertaken in the UK. Taking a simple vitamin D supplement was shown to lead to improvements in the sight of mice as quickly as six weeks into treatment.

The vitamin, which also prevents rickets, can combat such diseases as macular degeneration of the eye. Scientists believe that the vitamin could have similar effects on the human eye as it does on the eyes of mice.

Vitamin D deficiency causes a problem with blood flow and scientists believe that this effects the blood flow to the retina at the back of the eye. Better circulation could result in less eye problems.

READ FULL STORY ON ALLVOICES