Inside

Elite international ice sculptors race against time and the weather to create ice slides and ice sculptures of every description for the world's premiere winter wonderland festival in Harbin, China.

Inside Afghan Marine Base Tensions mount in the face of increased IED attacks. In spite of this everyday Marines carry out their missions. What they dont know is that this will be one of the deadliest months yet for US forces in the Afghan War. This is the war as seen through their eyes.

For those sworn to serve and protect, a shootout is a last resort against criminals bent on doing harm...but sometimes they can't be avoided. In Lethal Action, we'll go inside three high-profile shootouts to see how split second decisions and twists of fate determined who lived, and who died. From a bank heist in Hollywood, to a Taliban revolt in an Afghan fort, and raging drug war in Colombia -- meet the key players involved and find out how the dramatic events unfolded.

NGC takes viewers to the streets of South Central Los Angeles as it charts the rise of two of the most notorious gangs in America: the Bloods and the Crips. Follow along as an emerging cocaine trade fuels staggering levels of bloodshed and the streets of Los Angeles begin to resemble a war zone. Exclusive interviews include Bloods founder T Rodgers; original Crip Angelo "Barefoot Pookie" White; former LAPD chief Darryl Gates; and LAPD gang unit veteran Tony Moreno.

Capturing Saddam Hussein is just the beginning of a battle of wills. While Hussein is held prisoner, it is the mission of junior FBI Agent George Piro to get the notorious dictator to reveal the truth about his weapons of mass destruction and alleged ties to terrorism. In an in-depth interview, Piro details how he patiently formed a powerful bond with Hussein to build the criminal case for his prosecution. In the psychological chess match that lasted 166 days, George Piro is about to checkmate.

The Gulf of Mexico is home to thousands of gas and oil platforms, in addition to some of the planet's most severe storms. So who do you call when a well or platform stops producing, or is toppled by a massive storm? Meet the Delta Divers, a team of highly skilled underwater adventurers who descend where few dare to go to - 300 feet below the water's surface. We'll join them on the dive barge "Southern Hercules" as they head out to repair an aging subsea oil well.

It's a real-life "Big Love." Winston Blackmore is the family patriarch and leader of a fundamentalist Mormon polygamist community in Bountiful, British Columbia, that includes his 20-some wives and more than 100 children. Winston, like all who practice "the principle," believes that plural marriage and siring dozens of children will help guarantee his entrance into the highest of Heavens.

Colombian drug traffickers are using a new secret weapon to smuggle cocaine north: drug submarines. Up to 100 feet long and nearly impossible to detect , they are capable of distributing several tons of coke in just one shipment. Dozens of subs are thought to be in operation between the coasts of Colombia and Mexico, and law enforcement estimates that another 70 will be built in the next year alone.

Every day, thousands attempt to enter the United States illegally from Mexico - some looking for work, some seeking a new life and others trying to smuggle drugs into the country. By foot or by car, many will do whatever it takes, often risking their lives by crossing Arizona's treacherous Sonoran Desert - "the Devil's Highway." Around the clock, the US Border Patrol scours the landscape with every means at their disposal - from stealth planes to wilderness skills - to stem the relentless human tide and protect national security. Meet the agents who patrol, the illegal immigrants who make the hazardous journey across the border and those caught up in the middle either making a profit from or offering their help to those travelling the Devil's Highway.

Tracing the story of kungfu in Taiwan, this film follows Master Wang Jin Fa, head of the last secret chapter of the Hong Men society in Taiwan, as he reveals their heretofore secret kungfu to cameras for the very first time. Also two young women pave the way for future Taiwanese Olympic glory as they travel to China in search of the most difficult gold medal of their careers.

Discover the world of today’s FBI as National Geographic’s cameras closely follow the daily operations. From a pre-dawn raid, to a drug dealer bust, to a bomb threat—ride along with the Special Agents of the FBI as National Geographic Explorer takes you behind the scenes with the best and brightest of American law enforcement. Discover the world of today’s FBI as National Geographic’s cameras closely follow the daily operations of an FBI field office and go from the busy squad room to the underbelly of a colossal container ship, to the drug dealer’s doorstep.

What really happened to Amelia Earhart? Was she spying for America when her plane vanished over the Pacific? Was she captured? Could she have survived?

'American Nazis' goes inside the growing trend of hate in America. Neo-Nazi groups in the U.S. are made up of many factions, but they share a common ideology that includes veneration of Hitler, hatred of Jews, and white supremacy. We go inside three extreme groups - Aryan Nations, White Revolution, and the Nationalist Socialist Movement - to discover how they exploit anti-immigration sentiment for their own agenda, and how their violent rhetoric has led to hate crimes against Jews and Latinos.

In the 2007-2008 winter season alone, 52 people died in avalanches in the U.S. and Canada, and more than double that number worldwide. As more and more people head into to unpatrolled backcountry these numbers are on the rise. Enter Tim Samaras, a scientist and engineer who combines a passion for technology with a life-long career in disaster analysis. Hes built cameras that analyze lightning strikes, sensors that can survive a bomb blast, and probes that record the path and force of tornadoes. In each situation, hes found a way to measure whats never been measured before. In this episode, Tim will bring his expertise and tools to try and measure the forces inside an avalanche -- how it accelerates, what g-forces it creates, and how it buries its victims. He hopes the data he collects can help those on the front lines of avalanche rescue find better ways to locate and treat victims. But he cant do it alone. Tim will need the help of Mike Jenkins, Patrol and Snow Safety Manager Snowbasin Ski Resort in Huntsville, Utah and his team of ski patrollers. Its going to require a lot of manpower, persistence, and ingenuity to pull off this experiment - but Tim and his team are determined to master this disaster and collect data to help the first responders who are saving lives.

When Hong Kong mobsters, known as a Triad, move into San Franciscos Chinatown, the traditional Chinese underworld collides with modern American gang culture leading to a brutal turf war. With dead bodies piling up on the street law enforcement struggles to smash the secretive world of the Triads.

Shadow Works: Repo Men follows repossession agents Mark Castelluccio and Larry Pittman of TMA Recovery as they roam the night with a literal "license to steal." From retrieving seven-ton semis to hunting down fraudulent "gypsy" cases, these 20-year veterans use every means at their disposal to bring home their client's property. We trail them from dark Newark neighborhoods to a well-heeled neighborhood in Montclair, New Jersey, and witness the danger and unpredictability of this much-maligned occupation.

NGC reveals the Bonnie and Clyde's epic 11-state crime spree that included armed robbery, car theft, abduction, murder and a series of violent gun battles. Expert historians, a personal memoir written by Clyde's sister-in-law and fellow gang member Blanch Barrow, and recently released FBI files take us closer to the truth about the extraordinary human drama of Bonnie and Clyde.

Despite decades of civil war and tribal conflict in southern Sudan, the ancient ways of the Dinka have changed little. Discover the traditions at the heart of this tribe and their cattle-centric culture, including showering under urinating cows.

Whale Hunters follows one crew of Inupiaq Eskimo whalers as they engage in the annual spring bowhead hunt on thinning sea ice near Barrow, Alaska, and risk all to capture and kill an animal they both hunt and revere.

Similar to hate factions like the KKK and neo-Nazis, the New Black Panther Party is a militant hate group, headquartered in Washington, D.C. that seeks to redefine the black struggle for equality and demand liberation from what it sees as white supremacy.

Uncover the strategy and details behind Operación Jaque – the masterwork in a series of Colombian intelligence endeavours and military operations aimed at suppressing powerful guerrilla militia, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Through a series of ploys, Colombian officials tricked FARC leaders into releasing 15 politically significant hostages, including Colombian presidential-hopeful Ingrid Betancourt. Approximately 700 FARC hostages are still being held. Testimonies from high-tier military leaders, the intelligence agents who developed the operation, helicopter hostage rescuers, hostages and captured FARC members unravel this web of espionage. While Colombia's President and Defence Minister received accolades from around the world following the liberation, the hostage rescue has not been without controversy. Allegations of illegally using the International Red Cross emblem, media organisation logos and the filtering of the operation's video to Colombia's main TV network have tarnished the operation's successful tactics.

Cross into North Korea, one the most secretive nations on earth, for an extremely rare glimpse of the country and its absolute dictator Kim Jong II known as the “Dear Leader,” who rules the country as a god-king, controlling the worlds fourth-largest army and creating international crises with his condemned nuclear program. Correspondent Lisa Ling penetrates its border by traveling undercover with a Nepalese eye surgeon on a humanitarian mission, providing a unique look at life on the inside.

High school has always been tough, but for the students at Walter L. Cohen High School in New Orleans, it's a struggle for survival. In a city with one of the highest homicide rates in the country, day to day life at Cohen isn't easy. NGC roams the halls with students as they tell their unvarnished accounts of high school life.

Shadow Works: Road Crews follows a tight-knit group of construction workers who repair damaged urban roadways and bridges all over Massachusetts. Culled from the best in their field, this team works overnight to complete road repairs before the morning commute begins. From weathering intense physical challenges to watching for speeding vehicles to dealing with the strain that working at night has on their families, the stories of these men exemplify the effort and dedication of this often invisible occupation.

When London turns hip in the Swinging 60s, a new type of villain takes center stage: the English Mobster. Murderous twins Ron and Reg Kray square off against their South London rivals; the Richardsons. When they are finally jailed, gangland plunges into chaos as gangsters turn informant. Filling in the vacuum, a younger generation begins muscling in during the early 80s, and cockney villains regroup to plan the worlds biggest armed robberies. Interviews include ex-Richardson gang enforcer Mad Frankie Fraser; former armed robber and Kray associate Freddie Foreman; ex-armed robber Bernie Khan; and Metropolitan Police veteran Tony Lundy - supergrass informant handler.

In Boston, James Whitey Bulger fights his way to the top of the citys rackets in a barrage of bullets and blood. Whitey has friends in high places. His brother Billy runs the State Senate. The FBI recruits him as an informant. Trading on his connections, Whitey avoids indictment. But as the bodies pile up, Bulger draws the FBI, local officials and Bostons Irish community into a web of corruption, double cross and murder that rocks Boston to its core. Interviews include Bulgers enforcer Kevin Weeks; Bulger gangland rival Pat Nee; former Irish mob leader Howie Winter; former deputy chief of the FBI's Boston office Robert Fitzpatrick; and former Massachusetts State Police Officer Tom Foley.

Michael Travesser claims he is the Messiah, and the members of the Strong City cult believe him. NGC goes inside the Strong City cult in New Mexico to get an extended look at the lives of its 56 members.

Youth can be a minefield: drugs, sex, violence, and peer pressure. One group has an extreme way of dealing with it. They call themselves Straight Edge, and while they are being classified as a violent gang in areas such as Salt Lake City and Reno, they aren't like any other gang you know: they reject drugs, drinking, smoking, and even casual sex. They're rebels against a society in which everything goes. National Geographic goes inside this growing youth movement caught between being a refuge for Americas kids and a dangerous gang wanted by authorities.

In the 1980s, Miami was a playground for the rich and famous. But behind the fun in the sun, an underground cocaine war was escalating. South American drug cartels would forever change the face of sunny Miami.

Leonard Padilla, the "godfather of bail," and his partner and former competition Rob Dick work to track down a list of skips in California. As pressure mounts, Rob must go to Oklahoma to find who he needs.

Top bounty hunters Leonard Padilla and Rob Dick must overcome unusual challenges when a fugitive's friend creates a diversion and a confrontational man threatens them at the door of a bust.

After the godfather of the Philadelphia mob was assassinated, wise guys battled for the top position -- and the Mafia's code of silence began to crumble. Mafia soldier Nick 'The Crow' Caramandi and hit man Ron Previte describe gangster life in transition.

See how this Islamic terrorist network continues to morph, selects and trains militants to blend into Western society, and inspires a global jihadist movement. Meet men who know and have fought with Osama bin Laden and find out why he's still at large

For gang members in South Central Los Angeles, the "hood" is a brutal war zone, where streets and reputations are vehemently defended, often to the death. NGC goes into this violent world for four months -- a period in which more than 60 L.A. residents are killed or wounded in gang shootings. Watch an emotional funeral, see 11-year-olds brandishing their weapons, and hear the stories of those entangled in this chilling cycle of bloodshed.

In the 1950s, Mafia-built Las Vegas became a cash cow for organized crime, but when the richest man in the world arrived, things changed and the feds blew the lid on the original Gangster's Paradise.

Maverick researcher Shaun Ellis raises abandoned wolf cubs and teaches them, by example, how to survive in the wild -- living and behaving like them, howling, licking and snarling like them, even eating carcass meat like them.