Undercover with paintbrush
Artist James Hart Dyke was given unprecedented access to Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, as MI6 celebrates its 100th anniversary. He spent a year shadowing spies and illustrating their activities. This week's episode of "The Revealer" takes us behind the pictures, and shows us how things are not always what they seem.
Hart Dyke's work looks pretty ordinary at first glance. If you walked in off the street, you might think his art portrayed everyday images. But this slideshow features some of the images he created during that time, along with the backstories on the illustrations.
The Revealer: Artist spies on Britain's MI6
For the first time ever, an artist has been invited into MI6, for an unprecedented behind-the-scenes look at Britain's Secret Intelligence Service. To mark MI6's 100th anniversary, James Hart Dyke spent a year shadowing spies and illustrating their activities. It was a top secret mission; he was required to sign the Official Secrets Act, and was allowed to tell only his wife and parents what he was doing.
His challenge was to capture the mystery, intrigue and excitement of the world of espionage, without letting any state secrets slip. MI6 gave him extraordinary access. But Hart Dyke's work was eventually censored; some drawings and paintings even have holes cut out of them.
Hart Dyke's work looks pretty ordinary at first glance. If you walked in off the street, you might think his art portrayed everyday images like a man in a hotel room, a woman standing on a street corner or a neighborhood in a third world country. But we reveal the "real life of a spy" - and show how, when it comes to the murky world of espionage, nothing is ever as it seems.
In this episode of "The Revealer", James Hart Dyke talks about how the project took over his life, and the biggest challenge he faced on the job.
Japan's Disaster in Words and Pictures
The magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11th is being blamed for more than 12,000 deaths. At this writing, more than 15,000 people are still missing and unaccounted for in the wake of the disaster.
In the days after the quake and tsunami struck, CNN crews fanned out across the disaster zone to bring the story to the world. One of the crews on the ground was reporter Gary Tuchman, producer Justine Redman and photojournalist Mark Biello. Mark recently returned to Atlanta from Japan and shared some his most powerful images and stories with BackStory.
Journey to Misrata: Inside the war-torn Libyan city
From Ann, Back|Story CNN
Join Fred Pleitgen, CNN Producer Jonathan Wald and CNN Photographer Scotty McWhinnie as they travel with international organizations delivering aid to the war-torn Libyan city of Misrata.
During an 18-hour boat trip from Malta, the team travels through treacherous waters, keeping an eye out for possible assaults from Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's forces.
When the team reaches shore, they hook up with rebel fighters who take them into the heart of the battle-weary city. At one point Fred and the team run and take cover from incoming fire. Fred also shows us what he calls "one of the worst humanitarian situations" he's seen in a long time. (And Fred has seen some pretty bad stuff during his years of reporting)
And finally, watch as Fred, Jonathan and Scotty travel back to Malta by boat in the dead of night, battling rough surf but still managing to do back-to-back live shots while on board.
A fascinating and informative journey.
Clue #2... can you guess what we'll be "Revealing"?
Second day of the week means second clue as to what this week's edition of "The Revealer" will focus on.
The photo above shows a little bit more of the subject... can you guess what it is?
Here's another hint: It was quite a secret when residents of the building outgrew their previous space and had to relocate to this spot.
Chew on that and check out the two visual clues we've posted, then go into the "Comments" section to the left and let us know what you think it might be! Remember, no penalties for wrong guesses - and we'll read the name of the first person to guess correctly on Thursday's show, when we debut the new "Revealer" segment!
"The Revealer" game: Here is our first clue
BackStory is launching a fascinating new series called “The Revealer” and we want you to be a part of the action. Every other week, we’ll launch a fresh episode that unveils a new side to a story you thought you already knew.
In the days ahead of the segment, we’ll post photographic clues on our website. These clues will give you a hint about the topic of that week’s Revealer segment.
Check the website daily and when you think you’ve figured out the subject, then post a comment and share your guess! The first correct answer will be announced on the show.
Here’s a look at the first clue for this week’s episode. Let us know what you think and don’t forget to tune in Thursday at 2200 GMT to see the big “Reveal.”
Allegations of rape in Libya: Getting Eman Al-Obeidy's story out
By Back|Story staff, CNN International and CNN's Reza Sayah in Libya
You'll remember she tried to tell her story to international journalists in a Tripoli hotel on March 26th. She said she'd been brutally gang-raped by 15 of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s troops.
Eman Al-Obeidy was taken away by Gadhafi loyalists. She hasn’t been seen since. A Libyan government spokesman says she's alive. He promised that female journalists would be allowed to interview her in the next couple of days.
Reza Sayah traveled many hours by car to visit the woman’s family and interview them to get their side of the story. Click on the above video to watch the full segment with Reza’s Back|Story. Reza just sent this note on the latest he has on the story:
“The mother says she still hasn’t heard from Eman. She’s aware of the regime’s promise to have two journalists interview her on Saturday. Her mother says she’s suspicious of the regime and worried that this is another plan by the regime to discredit her daughter and depict her in a bad light.”
Mumbai streets get rowdy during Cricket World Cup
World Sport’s Alex Thomas, Photographer Beau Molloy and Producer Chris Eldergill were in Mumbai for Wednesday’s Cricket World Cup semifinal win by India over Pakistan. The mood in the street was electric. Producer Chris sent us this note, describing what it was like to be there.
"Cricket is a religion in India. Just another cliché right? Whilst that may be so, the way the people of Mumbai celebrated Wednesday’s victory over Pakistan showed a level of faith rarely seen in the sporting arena. The three of us dashed across parts of the city in an attempt to consume this ‘religion’, and from the slums to the swanky bars, the Indian people united behind their ‘Cricket Gods’. We as a team have experienced many sporting arenas and fan cultures as journalists travelling the world, but this experience is left us all with goosebumps, and had us thinking, 'How on earth are the Indian people going to eclipse this come Saturday evening against Sri Lanka?!'"
Ahmad to Gadhafi: "If I were to see his face, I would strangle him"
TOBRUK, Libya (CNN) - Like everyone else, Aisha Ahmad watched the riveting drama unfold in a Tripoli hotel as a desperate woman burst into a dining room filled with journalists, sobbing, screaming, wanting the world to know she had been raped by 15 of Moammar Gadhafi's militia men.
The arresting images of how swiftly the woman, Eman al-Obeidy, 29, and the journalists were stifled stirred viewers around the world. But perhaps none more so than Ahmad. This was her daughter. And she was enraged. Just weeks before, Ahmad might have wept in silence. But now, with war engulfing Libya and its future hanging in the balance, Ahmad feared Gadhafi no more.
"If I were to see his face, I would strangle him," she told CNN in an interview at her modest home in the eastern coastal city of Tobruk.
CNN Phographer Khalil Abdallah was eating breakfast in the hotel, when Aisha Ahmad's daughter Eman al-Obeidy burst in on Saturday. What happened next was unexpected and violent. Khalil, the CNN Photographer, told his story to Michael Holmes on Tuesday.
Remembering a Fallen Colleague
Today, at least 56 people were killed and 98 others wounded, when a gang of men attacked an Iraqi government building in the northern city of Tikrit. Among those killed in the attack was Sabah al-Bazee, a freelance journalist who worked for a number of news organizations, including CNN.
CNN Producers Mohammed Tawfeeq, Yousuf Basil and Jomana Karadsheh wrote this blog entry, remembering our fallen colleague:
When people ask us what it’s like being a journalist in Iraq, the answer would probably be much more upbeat on any other day.
Whenever bombs go off in Iraq, we get on the phone to sources to get casualty figures and details. But when Mohammed confirmed the dozens killed and wounded in the horrific siege in Tikrit on Tuesday, he didn’t realize for an hour that one of those killed was someone he has known for years.
Today, we mourn a colleague and a friend— Sabah al-Bazee.
Sabah was one of the many brave Iraqi journalists whose courage and skills made him one of the best local reporters in the deadliest war for journalists since World War II. Sabah has been a freelance contributor for CNN in the northern province of Salaheddin since 2006. One of his first assignments for us was covering the bombing of al-Askari Shrine in his hometown of Samarra that year; an attack that unleashed the country’s vicious sectarian war.
He reported for us from Tikrit and Samarra at the height of the brutal war, the days when al-Qaeda controlled many cities, including his own. But it was not only al-Qaeda that targeted journalists. Many other groups were also hunting down the media.
But Sabah survived those days, and so did his sense of humor.
Sabah would always want to joke and make us laugh. Even when you would wait for him to pick up the phone, you would get a recorded joke.
He was one of the most outgoing and proactive stringers we had. Most of the time, Sabah would call and give us the news before we’d call him asking about it.
Sabah’s English was not great, but he tried. Sometimes he would try holding a conversation with us in English and recently he started trying to write us a news report in English.
Jomana remembers a trip to a U.S. military base in Tikrit in 2008, where she met up with Sabah.
Because this was in his province, Sabah displayed the renowned Iraqi hospitality.
After lunch, he grabbed some fruit and put it in Jomana’s bag. She did not find it until hours later, when she got back to Baghdad.Like most Iraqis we know and we work with, Sabah has hesitated for years about leaving Iraq to escape the threats and the violence - because he loved his country.
But a few weeks ago, Sabah asked Mohammed for his help and finally applied for asylum in the U.S., saying:
“I don’t want to live in Iraq ...at least not in the next five years... It is going to be very difficult.”
While Iraq today is not the Iraq of three or four years ago, it still is a place where hundreds are killed and wounded every month.
It is still a place where you can leave your home in the morning and never come back. Just like Sabah did today.
Today, we mourn a colleague and a friend— yet another one.
Sabah al-Bazee turned 30 one week ago today.
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.
