photo: Steve Chao/ Al Jazeera At the 60th anniversary of the first Everest ascent, a leading cause of death for climbers: traffic jams with other climbers that lead to hours of delays.  Here, a woman returns from offering prayers at Boudha Stupa in Kathmandu. Tibetans believe mountaineers must seek blessings before they climb. More photos on Al Jazeera program 101 East. p.s. We will be highlighting other Al Jazeera shows on this Tumblr along with our Fault Lines content and other news we find interesting and relevant from everywhere.  You can ask us things. 
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photo: Steve Chao/ Al Jazeera

At the 60th anniversary of the first Everest ascent, a leading cause of death for climbers: traffic jams with other climbers that lead to hours of delays. 

Here, a woman returns from offering prayers at Boudha Stupa in Kathmandu. Tibetans believe mountaineers must seek blessings before they climb.

More photos on Al Jazeera program 101 East.

p.s. We will be highlighting other Al Jazeera shows on this Tumblr along with our Fault Lines content and other news we find interesting and relevant from everywhere. 

You can ask us things. 

joshrushing: Hombres Jovenes Members of the Torres family in the hamlet of La Morena in Tiearra Caliente region of the state of Guerrero, Mexico. The area is a hotbed of marijuana and poppy growth, as well as pockets of leftist guerrillas. We filmed an episode of Fault Lines in the area earlier this year. Torres family members told us they feel trapped between the local drug kingpin Rogaciano Alba and the military, who they claim are in collusion. Members of the Torres family have been arrested by the military and others killed by both the military and local drug forces. (Photo by Josh Rushing)
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joshrushing:

Hombres Jovenes

Members of the Torres family in the hamlet of La Morena in Tiearra Caliente region of the state of Guerrero, Mexico. The area is a hotbed of marijuana and poppy growth, as well as pockets of leftist guerrillas. We filmed an episode of Fault Lines in the area earlier this year. Torres family members told us they feel trapped between the local drug kingpin Rogaciano Alba and the military, who they claim are in collusion. Members of the Torres family have been arrested by the military and others killed by both the military and local drug forces. (Photo by Josh Rushing)

joshrushing:

I was in Santiago in October filming an episode of Fault Lines about the student movement there. At one of the demonstrations the marchers passed by a tall apartment complex where someone on top of the building was throwing buckets of water over the edge. The students loved it. Check out the show here.

joshrushing:

Sectarian violence looms over US pullout from Iraq…



I traveled to northern Iraq last year to film an episode of Fault Lines about the coming Iraqi elections, but instead found a story about deep divisions between Kurds and Sunni Arabs along a line from Kirkuk to Mosul known as the trigger line. Yesterday’s Washington Post ran a front-page story about a report that predicts violence along this rift if the US military pulls out this year. From my experience, which you can watch in the clip above, I concur. 



Here are a few pix from the trip:



Inside a detention cell in a Kirkuki jail. Arabs say Kirkuk police are mostly Kurdish and that they unfairly and disproportionately target Arabs as part of a plan for Kurds to pull Kirkuk—and its oil—into Kurdistan. Arabs also claim to be the target of a kidnapping campaign by the Kurdish secret police, Asayish, in which Arabs are disappeared into prisons inside Kurdistan. Kurdish officials deny this.



At a meeting in an Arab village south of Kirkuk. Arabs here are suspicious of the Kurds and their presumed backers, Americans.



A Kurdish guard keeps watch in a Kirkuki jail.

joshrushing:

What “life” in prison really means…

The Washington Post has a front page (at least on their iPad version) review of a new documentary called “Serving Life” that airs tonight on the Oprah Winfrey Network. From the trailer, it looks really good. It’s such a tough, but important issue. I filmed a similar story last year (above) called “Dying Inside” with producer, Jeremy Young, and cinematographer, Snorre Wik. We gained access to eight prisons in three states: Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and New York. We interviewed one prisoner who was 100 years old (he has since passed away); gained exclusive access to an entire wing dedicated to inmates with Alzheimers; and witnessed sincere and surprising acts of compassion. Here are a few photos from the journey:

Inmate staring out of his cell at the Dick Conner Correctional Facility, Oklahoma.

Inmate staring out of his cell at the Dick Conner Correctional Facility, Oklahoma.

Convicted child molester at James Crabtree Correctional Facility, Oklahoma.

Elderly Inmates are often victimized by younger, stronger prisoners. Inmates inside Dick Conner Correctional Facility, Oklahoma.

Inmates at Dick Conner Correctional Facility, Oklahoma.

Mary Rowe: convicted murderer, one-time prison escapee, grandmother and published poet. Mabel Bassett Correctional Facility, Oklahoma. 

Inmate, Joseph Harp Correctional Facility.

Stroke victim and inmate, Bobby Moore. Dick Conner Correctional Facility, Oklahoma.

Inmate with Alzheimer’s in Fishkill Correctional Facility, New York. Often when I take a photo of someone I will show them their image on the screen on the back of my camera. The first inmate I did that with in the Alzheimer’s wing got very upset because he didn’t recognize himself. I believe it was partially because of the disease, but also because there are no mirrors allowed in the facility, so he hadn’t seen his reflection in nearly thirty years and didn’t realize how the decades had effected his appearance. 

Willie Prenell. Convicted of first degree murder in 1977. He’s spent most of his life in prison for killing his friend Kieth Thompson in Oklahoma City.

Inmate watching the sunset from the yard at James Crabtree Correctional Facility, Oklahoma.