Actor Christian Bale, CNN crew roughed up trying to visit Chinese activist
In China, after he finished shooting his new movie "Flowers of War", actor Christian Bale traveled with a CNN crew to visit Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng. The "Batman" actor said he admired and wanted to meet Chen, a blind self-taught lawyer who has spoken out against China's One Child policy and forced sterilizations. Chen and his family have been under house arrest in their Shandong Province village for some time now, but as recently as last week, the government had apparently eased restrictions on the Chen family allowing them to receive a delivery of medicine, and permitting his 70-year-old mother to go out and get groceries.
When Bale and the CNN crew tried to enter Chen's village, a group of unidentified men stopped them and forced them to leave. See a full report on the altercation HERE.
John Vause spoke with Christian Bale about his experience. (See that above)
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Iraq as the War Ends
CNN's Michael Holmes gives us a look, through his camera lens, at some of what he has been working on while in Iraq. The U.S. says it will end the war in Iraq by the end of 2011.
Afghanistan blast witness shares story
Photographer John Wendle was recording in Kabul the moment a suicide blast happened. He shares his video and experience above.
See the full report from Nick Paton Walsh here:
Afghan President Hamid Karzai visits the wounded:
Comparing the Good and the Bad: Living in the Favela Rocinha
CNN's Shasta Darlington reports from Rio de Janeiro on a recent "pacification" of the favela Rocinha.
For their participation in these reports, Paul Sneed and the Back|Story team would like to thank religious leader Pai Almir who lives in the favela Rocinha. Also a big thank you to Viviana Rodrigues who is a teacher in Rocinha and co-founder of 2bros.org. A big thank you, as well, to Sergi Navarro-Rivero, a Harvard PhD student who is working in Rio de Janeiro and filmed the Rocinha resident interviews for this segment; and finally, thank you to Marcos Burgos, an American community activist and CUNY PhD student living in Rocinha who helped with logistics. Thank you to everyone for coming together to make this segment happen.
Myanmar enters a new era
After five decades in the dark, a new era seems to be dawning in Myanmar – one of the most isolated and repressive nations in the world. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton just wrapped up a visit to Yangon. She’s the first senior American official to stop in Myanmar in half a century.
The nation’s new “civilian” government is led by an ex-member of the military regime. But President Thein Sein is making changes. For one thing, he’s released some political prisoners and started a dialogue with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. But democracy is hardly right around the corner. Here’s Paula Hancocks with a postcard from Myanmar.
Mars Rover Launch
On Saturday, a NASA rocket carrying a rover dubbed "Curiosity" started its eight-and-a-half-month journey to Mars.
The rover is scheduled to land on August 6, 2012.
Once it arrives, the rover will collect rocks and soil to see if there are signs of life on the Red Planet.
Our John Zarrella was at Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the launch and sent us this BackStory.
Peru: Allegations of Forced Sterilizations on Women
Imagine being sterilized against your will by the state. Human rights groups say that’s exactly what happened to more than 2,000 women in Peru under the government of President Alberto Fujimori. They say the government launched the campaign to reduce poverty by lowering the birth rate. The actual number of forced sterilizations could be much higher.
We wanted to learn more about the alleged victims of this program and how it was carried out. So we called on Alejandra Cardenas, legal adviser for Latin America and the Caribbean at the Center for Reproductive Rights in New York. You can watch Fionnuala Sweeney’s interview above.
Here, Rafael Romo reports from Peru and speaks with a women involved:
Read more about this story here
Reports of Mexican Military Drug Cartel Killings
CNN's Rafael Romo talks to Back|Story about the Mexico military's reported extrajudicial cartel killings.
About The Revealer
A new Back|Story series that unearths fascinating new secrets about places and stories you thought you knew. Every other Thursday on Back|Story“The Revealer” Game
Join the action on our new series, “The Revealer.” Use the photo clues to figure out what the subject of this week’s episode will be. Click on the picture to the left for more.
