The I Files

Did you know the World Health Organization deemed homosexuality...

Fri, 17 May 2013 20:30:10 -0400

Did you know the World Health Organization deemed homosexuality a disease up until 23 years ago?

On International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia, or IDAHO, our editors take a look at LGBT rights around the world.

More: http://ow.ly/l9seU #IDAHO

World Information Society Day highlights technology's challenges

Fri, 17 May 2013 08:23:00 -0400

World Information Society Day highlights technology's challenges:

After a week in which AP’s phone lines were bugged and Google glasses capable of recording our every move are tested, it seems only fitting to mark World Information Society Day.

Yet another head of military harassment prevention program arrested

Thu, 16 May 2013 20:00:48 -0400

Yet another head of military harassment prevention program arrested:

centerforinvestigativereporting:

The manager of the sexual assault response program at Fort Campbell, Ky., was arrested in a domestic dispute and relieved of his post, authorities said Thursday.

This marks the third time in recent weeks that an official in charge of preventing sexual assault in the military has been accused of sexual harassement.

(On Tuesday, the Army’s prevention coordinator at Ford Hood, Texas was arrested for allegations of sexual misconduct – including promoting prostitution. Last week, the chief of the Air Force’s prevention program was accused of groping a woman in a Northern Virginia parking lot.)

This comes just a week after a new report revealed a 35% rise in sexual assault instances since 2010.

A separate survey also found that last year, servicemen and women reported 3,374 instances of sexual assault to the military chain of command – 238 of those cases led to a conviction.

As the debate around the longstanding issue heats up, critics say seeking justice comes down to the culture that governs the military: reporting to your superior.

For more on how this breaks down, you should really check out The Invisible War. The filmmakers do an excellent job following the backlash of what happens when service members speak out. Watch a clip —> here.

"The sooner the better.” – President Barack Obama on when Syria’s Bashar al-Assad should..."

Thu, 16 May 2013 14:33:00 -0400

“The sooner the better.” – President Barack Obama on when Syria’s Bashar al-Assad should go.”

- Back in Syria, those opposed to the Assad regime show no signs of faltering. What drives them? Al Jazeera English goes behind rebel lines to find out.

globalpost: Palestinians marked the 65th anniversary of the...

Wed, 15 May 2013 16:52:00 -0400

globalpost:

Palestinians marked the 65th anniversary of the “Nakba” or the Day of Catastrophe, which marks their displacement after the creation of the state of Israel.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians protested Wednesday on the 65th anniversary of the “Nakba” or the Day of Catastrophe, which marks their displacement after the creation of the state of Israel.

May 15 is the day Palestinians choose to commemorate the displacement of hundreds of thousands of their kinsman in the aftermath of the Arab-Israeli conflict in 1948.

Protesters chanted, “The right of return will not die.”

Palestinians mark Nakba (Day of Catastrophe) with protests

Photos by AFP/Getty Images

For background, our editors put together a playlist highlighting some of the best reporting about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Former Guatemalan dictator Efrain Rios Montt has just been...

Fri, 10 May 2013 19:54:00 -0400

Former Guatemalan dictator Efrain Rios Montt has just been convicted on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, and sentenced to 80 years in prison.

The 86-year-old is the first former Latin American leader to be found guilty of such charges.

“Granito” is the follow-up to Pamela Yates’ 1983 film, “When the Mountains Tremble,” which became a key piece of evidence against the ex-military leader. Watch an excerpt.

From TIME.com: Many powerful photographs have been made in the...

Wed, 08 May 2013 08:15:00 -0400

From TIME.com: Many powerful photographs have been made in the aftermath of the devastating collapse of a garment factory on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh. But one photo, by Bangladeshi photographer Taslima Akhter, has emerged as the most heart wrenching, capturing an entire country’s grief in a single image.

More than 1000 have now perished as a result the tragedy – shining a light on the safety standards and other corners cut by Bangladeshi garment factories to keep costs down.

Using concealed cameras, one BBC reporter goes undercover to reveal the abuses in Bangladesh factories. Watch the investigation on I Files.

Imagine you’re a pot reporter. Pot as in weed, kush, purp,...

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 19:23:13 -0400

Imagine you’re a pot reporter. Pot as in weed, kush, purp, grapes, marijuana, bud. What could possibly go wrong when you cover a drug that is legally contentious but widely tolerated?

Center for Investigative Reporting reporter Michael Montgomery finds out the hard way. His story: http://ow.ly/kqgVg.

theatlantic: In Focus: Memorials and Tributes for Boston While...

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 20:44:00 -0400

theatlantic:

In Focus: Memorials and Tributes for Boston

While investigators work to discover who placed the bombs near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, people in Boston and around the world are paying tribute to the victims. Mourners have come together for candlelight vigils, running groups have staged memorial runs, and individuals have spent time in prayer or reflection. Collected here are images of some of these memorials, from Boston to Belgrade to Beijing.

See more. [Images: Reuters, AP, Getty]

vicemag: Ground Zero: Mali Back in February, the only way to...

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 20:42:43 -0400

vicemag:

Ground Zero: Mali

Back in February, the only way to reach the city of Gao in northern Mali was to hitch a ride with the French convoys that rolled through the desert every few days. Along the way, a VICE production crew made friends with some French soldiers and chatted with them about what they thought about this grueling campaign as well as the greatest threat they face: homemade bombs, aka IEDs.

Watch the video

VICE also claims to have shot the first legitimate combat footage to come out of the war there. Watch as Malian soliders fight insurgents – some of whom were children.

newshour: The photo above is a drawing by a child Syrian...

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 20:26:51 -0400

newshour:

The photo above is a drawing by a child Syrian refugee.

The number of Syrian refugees escaping to neighboring Jordan has surpassed 400,000 with thousands more arriving each day. Many of the refugees are children, who normally would be in school but instead are hunkering down in refugee camps.

International aid agencies including Save the Children are racing to create enough tent classrooms to accommodate them all. One program, geared particularly for young children, lets the refugees express their feelings about the violence they witnessed through art. Learn more about the program here.

Thousands of Syrians flee to Jordan’s Zataari refugee camp to escape violence at home. But now, Channel 4 News reports, women and children live in fear of kidnap, rape and sham marriages in the very camp meant to keep them safe.

"My name is Ben Hooks. I knew Dr. King personally and intimately. I loved him as I would have loved a..."

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 18:04:00 -0400

“My name is Ben Hooks. I knew Dr. King personally and intimately. I loved him as I would have loved a brother. So I call on all of our friends here in Memphis to stay in your homes tonight and rather than break windows or shoot or hate, go on your knees and pray to God that we might live for the things for which Martin Luther King Jr. died.”

- Dr. Benjamin Hooks, NAACP, in the hours following King’s assassination

Today marks the 45th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King.

povdocs: Check out POV’s upcoming 2013 season on...

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 15:50:58 -0400

povdocs:

Check out POV’s upcoming 2013 season on PBS!

Homegoings, June 24
Special Flight, July 1
Herman’s House, July 8
Only the Young, July 15
High Tech, Low Life, July 22
Neurotypical, July 29
The Law in These Parts, August 19
5 Broken Cameras, August 26
Ping Pong, September 9
The World Before Her, September 16
Best Kept Secret, September 23
Brooklyn Castle, TBD
56 Up, TBD
American Promise, TBD
StoryCorps Special, TBD

I Files ♥s POV docs

mothernaturenetwork: Photo of the day: Sacred rivers not immune...

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 13:59:00 -0400

mothernaturenetwork:

Photo of the day: Sacred rivers not immune to pollution

Indian men search for coins and gold on April 2 in the polluted waters of the Ganges river near the Triveni Sangam in Allahabad, India following the Kumbh Mela festival. Drawing massive crowds of devotees, ascetics and foreign tourists, the two-month-long Kumbh Mela festival is celebrated every 12 years at the confluence of sacred Ganges and Yamuna rivers. Although the custom for Kumbh Mela is to bathe in these holy waters, about 426 million liters of domestic sewage pollution from the Ganges and its upstream tributaries are pumped into the Sangam every day.

Further north, concerns about the safety of China’s drinking water were raised this month after more than 16,000 dead pigs were found floating in rivers around Beijing. Channel 4 News goes inside one of the most polluted cities on earth.

"As an openly gay man, it causes a significant amount of personal pain for me when the church that I..."

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 20:19:06 -0400

““As an openly gay man, it causes a significant amount of personal pain for me when the church that I love says that homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.””

- Prof. Randall Miller, Pacific School of Religion in “A Church Divided: Christians Debate Homosexuality.”

theatlantic: In Focus: North Korea Puts Its War Machine on...

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 21:48:26 -0400

theatlantic:

In Focus: North Korea Puts Its War Machine on Display

Despite massive international pressure, North Korea has been moving ahead with its long-range missile and nuclear ambitions, launching a rocket in December and conducting a nuclear test in February. International sanctions tightened in response, and even China, a longtime ally, stepped up inspections of North Korea-bound freight. Responding to the crackdown, North Korea’s government has been issuing new threats of war nearly every day over the past month, cutting ties to South Korea and ordering military units to prepare for attack at any moment. Over the past month, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), North Korea’s official media division, has been issuing a stream of images of military exercises, soldiers in training, and, of course, supreme leader Kim Jong Un inspecting and inspiring the troops. (At least one of these images appears to be digitally manipulated). Gathered here are recent KCNA photographs of North Korea’s war machine, as the country wishes the world to see it. The photos were distributed by Reuters, AFP, and AP as a service, and cannot be independently verified or authenticated.

See more. [Images: Reuters/AP/Getty]

For a rare and irreverent glimpse into a country most Americans have never seen, watch Vice’s “Inside North Korea” (originally broadcast in 2008). Vice co-founder and correspondent Shane Smith is careful to point out that the entire trip was painstakingly orchestrated by his North Korean minders and that he and his crew could film only what their government guides and bodyguards allowed. But even watching the process of the stage-managed media tour is illustrative, as Smith dines alone in vast banquet halls devoid of any other tourists and attempts to engage in his own form of off-key karaoke diplomacy. In the end, the film says quite a bit about how North Koreans view themselves and the image they hope to show the world. It’s hilarious, bizarre and heartbreaking, given what you know is occurring just off camera.

This week, as the Supreme Court heard arguments on whether...

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 20:33:16 -0400

This week, as the Supreme Court heard arguments on whether same-sex marriages in the U.S. are constitutional, both secular and religious advocates continue their clash in the cultural and political war over gay rights.

“A Church Divided” takes an intimate look at a group within the United Methodist Church that is challenging the church’s definition of homosexuality as “incompatible with Christian teaching.”

centerforinvestigativereporting: Who is getting caught with...

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 18:50:17 -0400