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World News Once a Week |
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| Published Thursday, August 23, 2007 |
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| Reuters/Mariana Bazo: Earthquake survivors outside Pisco, Peru |
Issue 62
Guilty — though not necessarily as charged — was the verdict for suspected terrorist Jose Padilla. The constitutional mess that was his case is far from mopped up, though; its complexity left a patent mark in the history
books. Documents of record take a different form in this week's Q&A. We talked to Brian Steidle, the subject of a hard-hitting documentary and author of a new book, about his shocking photographs
of the genocide in Darfur.
When George Bush met with his North American compatriots this week, the summit was heavy on protests, but short on real policymaking. Ruling parties also promised more of the same in Kazakhstan and Thailand, as votes in those countries came to a wobbly close. If 21st-century politics are giving you a headache, though, you're not
alone — Americans have been swallowing painkillers at an astonishing rate. And in science news, engineers provide solid proof that high-tech materials can be built practically out of thin air.
- Catherine New |
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 A Note on
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| The Activate Q&A |
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Bearing witness to the devil
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| Brian Steidle |
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The photographs are beyond horrific: A burnt body, still shackled, with its ears cut off. Rotting corpses littering the dusty
landscape. Images like these are at the heart of former US Marine Captain Brian Steidle's mission to bring international attention
to the genocide in Sudan's Darfur region. Three years ago, the world was largely ignorant that at least 250,000 Sudanese had
been killed and millions more displaced. Steidle's photographs of the brutality, first published in the New York Times, changed that.
In 2004, Steidle spent six months as an unarmed military observer with the African Union to monitor the ceasefire of Sudan's
decades-long civil war. But as the war between north and south cooled, the Arab-run government launched an ethnic-cleansing
program, backing attacks on African blacks in Darfur by nomadic Arab militiamen known as the janjaweed. The regional politics
are a complex mix of racial rivalries and resource grabs, but more perplexing, Steidle says, is the world's inaction. Today,
that appears to be changing, and Darfur readies itself for a new joint peacekeeping mission by the AU and the United Nations.
Meanwhile, a documentary about the Darfur conflict as seen through Steidle's lens, The Devil Came on Horseback, is now playing in US theaters.
Activate: This is one of the thousands of you took (above). What is the story behind this image?
Brian Steidle: The military had moved in on the village and the villagers defended themselves against the janjaweed. The villagers who got
away gathered near a water hole. The king called the people together to defend it. A lot of the villagers wanted to go to
the water hole; this is one of those gentlemen who was trying to get there and he was injured on his way. In this picture,
he is waiting to be treated in the hospital.
Keep reading the Q&A »
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Gavel drops on Jose Padilla case
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Jose Padilla, a US citizen arrested in 2002 on suspicion of Al-Qaeda ties, was convicted by a Miami criminal court last Thursday.
The case set a precedent for the legal handling of terrorism suspects. Under the protection of habeas corpus, US citizens
must be charged within days of their arrest. However, Padilla, classified as an enemy combatant, was held for more than three years without being charged — during which time he claims he suffered psychological torture.
When Padilla faced a jury after a judge ordered that he be tried or released, he was convicted of conspiring to murder, maim, and kidnap people in a foreign country, charges
for which the prosecution needed relatively little evidence. Padilla likely faces life imprisonment. (BH)
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New but not-so-improved Thai constitution
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Thai voters have narrowly approved a new constitution and will have a national election in December. In theory, the new charter
brings the nation closer to a democratically elected government and the end of military rule. But critics say the military-backed
referendum, passed on Sunday, hinders the possibility of a true democracy by appointing nearly half of the available senate
positions. The move will likely prevent a strong majority from being elected, and instead create a weak coalition government.
The new constitution was drafted in response to deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted last September after a coup. Opposition to the new constitution was strong in the impoverished northeast,
where Thaksin still receives support. (CN)
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Kazakh rulers still firmly in charge
In reformed but still-flawed Kazakh parliamentary elections, President Nursultan Nazarbayev's party grabbed every seat because no minority party hit the 7% threshold required for representation. Despite the sweep,
the peaceful conduct of the vote encouraged some outside observers. (BH)
| Voice of America | TIME |
Familiar issues at N. American summit
At a North American summit held in Quebec, the US, Canada, and Mexico focused on Canadian claims to Arctic territories, American immigration policy, and trade. Mexican president Felipe Calderón left early as Hurricane Dean slammed his country's Yucatán Peninsula. (BH)
| CNN | Globe & Mail |
Hospitals foot the bill for screw ups
Under a new rule, Medicare will no longer cover certain preventable medical errors that occur at hospitals. Consumer advocates hope this will encourage hospitals to be more careful; infections contracted
by inpatients rack up a $27 billion tab every year. (BH)
| ABC News | MedPage Today |
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Virgin Group readies for public trading
Modeling itself after a private-equity firm, the Virgin Group intends to float its various businesses, such as Virgin Mobile, by selling them publicly on the stock markets. The move allows the company to diversify its holdings while still controlling
the brand. (CN)
| Portfolio | Times, UK |
Rapper's delight gone south
Gangstas and bling aren't selling records like they used to. Rap-music sales charts continue to post massive declines — down 44% since
2000. Some industry critics say artists focus too much on branding and endorsements rather than music. (CN)
| TIME | Seattle Times |
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Routine reboot hobbles Skype
Internet-telephony company Skype crashed hard last Thursday after millions of users rebooted their computers for a routine software update. The glut of people
simultaneously logging into Skype triggered a two-day network failure, raising questions about the stability of the company's
VoIP technology. (AB)
| PC World | BBC |
Forget dry ice, here comes frozen smoke
Engineers are finding practical uses for aerogels — incredibly lightweight, manmade solids created when water is removed from
a gel and replaced with a gas such as carbon dioxide. So diaphanous it's sometimes called "frozen smoke," aerogel may insulate
space suits, protect against bomb blasts, and soak up pollutants. (AB)
| Times, UK | Scientific American |
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| The Week in Pictures |
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Click to see the full-size image and caption.
 Hiroshi Adachi
 David Gray
 Luke MacGregor
 Sergio Moraes
 Mark Blinch
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*Unless otherwise noted, all photos are courtesy of Reuters.
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American pill-popping has doubled
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Sales of US painkillers, such as Vicodin and OxyContin, have exploded — up 90% between 1997 and 2005. Analysts say an aging population, aggressive pharmaceutical marketing, and less-tolerant attitudes toward pain explain the boom. (CN)
| USA Today | Sydney Morning Herald |
German mob attacks Indians
German police denied that a mob attack on eight Indian men in Saxony was racially motivated. Other sources say the mob chanted
"foreigners out" and that police failed to prevent the violence. The attack highlights the region's growing neo-Nazi presence. (CN)
| Der Spiegel | Deutsche Welle |
Immigrant mother banished from US
Illegal immigrant and activist Elvira Arellano was arrested and sent to her native Mexico this week. She became a figurehead
for US immigration-policy reform after defying deportation to stay near her American-born son. She had been hiding at a Chicago church for the past year. (BH)
| Los Angeles Times | San Francisco Chronicle |
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Editors
Anna Balkrishna
Melody Caraballo
Benjamin Hart
Doug Levy
Catherine New
Contributors
Eli Dvorkin
Mark Mangan
Production
Anjuli Ayer
Morgan Croney
Andrew Steinmetz
Design
Nicholas Feldman
Jessica Bauer-Greene
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A Note on Our Sources
A login may be required to view some of the news stories we link to. We try to keep
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should also be noted that we don't expressly endorse the views of any of the publications or websites that we link to. We
try to
provide as many varied and quality sources as we can in order to present you with the full story.
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About Us
Activate is an independent-thinking weekly news round-up produced by Flavorpill, a digital publishing company that filters cultural stimuli of all
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