Xtreme Peace. Eight Palestinians and Israelis completed an Antarctic expedition called "Breaking the Ice" to prove that "our peoples can and deserve to live together in peace and friendship," according to their statement. Two of the Palestinians had served time in an Israeli prison. Two of the Israelis were former members of a commando unit.
Riot Report. Obdulio Villanueva - a former Guatemalan military officer serving a 30-year sentence for the 1998 assassination of Catholic Bishop Juan Gerardi, a human rights leader - was killed in February during a prison riot in Guatemala City, according to Reuters.
Spotlight. South African Quaker, anti-apartheid activist, and theoretical cosmologist George F.R. Ellis won the 2004 Templeton Prize for advances in religion and science. Ellis is splitting the $1.4 million award between his retirement trust and a number of small South African nonprofit agencies.