FEBRUARY 2003
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Wednesday, 26th February,2003
LOMBOK - HOW TO KIDNAP A BRIDE
On the Indonesian island of Lombok love and marriage takes an unusual twist. It follows an ancient tradition, where men hijack their future brides from their family homes. David O’Shea was invited along for what turned out to be a hair-raising operation.
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Wednesday, 26th February,2003
DEBATE ON US MEDIA COVERAGE
And now for our debate - Norman Solomon is an author who’s highly critical of the US media. His latest book is titled ’Target Iraq - What the Media Didn’t Tell You.’ Our other guest, Rich Tucker, has been a journalist with CNN. He’s now a media analyst at the Heritage Foundation - a conservative think tank based in Washington.
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Wednesday, 26th February,2003
FOX COVERAGE OF IRAQ QUESTION
Last week in New York we reported how tens of thousands of people were prevented by police from marching in an anti-war protest, and how this barely rated a mention in the media. Critics say the US media is simply trumpeting the government’s line on war with Iraq - and dissenting voices are far less likely to be heard. Later, two divergent views on that issue. But first, a taste of how the Fox Network, America’s highest-rating cable news channel, tackles the Iraq question.
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Wednesday, 26th February,2003
NEW YORK DIPLOMAT
There is intense lobbying at the United Nations this week, as the US and Britain seek support for their second resolution which, if adopted, will sanction war against Iraq. The diplomatic arm-twisting started late last week as America began negotiating the precise wording. Much of UN headquarters is off limits to the world’s media. We gained access with Arab League Ambassador Yahya Mahmassani, as he and his Arab colleagues mounted a diplomatic counter-attack against the resolution.
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Wednesday, 26th February,2003
HOW TO KIDNAP A BRIDE
On Wednesday, February 26 at 8.30pm, witness the kidnapping of a bride – the continuation of a centuries old tradition still in force on the Indonesian island of Lombok.
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For generations the men of Lombok have proved their love and demonstrated their bravery by stealing their chosen bride from her family home, virtually out of the arms of her watchful parents.
Dateline’s David O’Shea is in on the plan for Cholis, the son of a former mayor, to capture Inga, the daughter of a former village chief. Inga is the daughter of a stolen bride and Cholis’s grandfather stole four wives before finally finding happiness.
In the modern version of this snatch and grab approach to courtship Inga is a willing participant who knows exactly when the kidnap will take place. Despite this the risk is no less real – the Sasak people of Lombok regard this tradition very seriously and if they discover the escaping lovers they are culturally bound to draw their machetes for a fight. With this threat hanging over him Cholis plans the event with as much care as if he was undertaking a special forces’ operation.
And, also on Dateline this week, as the United Nations decides whether to sanction war with Iraq, Mark Davis follows one of the key players down the corridors of power - Yahya Mahmassani, the Arab League Ambassador to the UN.
That’s Dateline, this Wednesday February 26 at 8.30 pm. -
Wednesday, 19th February,2003
THE LAWYER AND THE BLIND SHEIK
The increased security measures in place here are obvious, but they’re just the tip of the iceberg in America’s war on terror. One person already caught in the new anti-terror laws is an unlikely suspect. She’s a grandmother who’s facing the prospect of spending the rest of her life in prison. Ginny Stein has her story.
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Wednesday, 19th February,2003
RICHARD MURPHY INTERVIEW
One man who knows the intrigues of both the UN and the US Administration is Richard Murphy, former ambassador to Syria and Saudi Arabia, and now an analyst with America’s biggest think tank - the influential Council on Foreign Relations, here in New York. I spoke with him a short time ago.
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Wednesday, 19th February,2003
MOHAMMED ALDOURI INTERVIEW
The US Administration may not be overjoyed by events at the UN, but for Iraq’s ambassador here, Mohammed Aldouri, it’s been a better week. He’s been negotiating hard behind the scenes, and I asked him if he thinks America is going to attack regardless.
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Wednesday, 19th February,2003
NEW YORK STATE OF MIND
It hasn’t been a good week for the US at UN Headquarters, the tide seems to be turning against them and perhaps many of its own citizens are turning too. We went onto the streets to judge the mood of this town to both the war and the terrorist threat.
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Wednesday, 12th February,2003
BEN HUR
And now for rivalry of a completely different kind in Nicaragua. Each year the city’s poor line up for the annual Ben Hur chariot race. With a new house as first prize, the contestants have a chance to escape their life of poverty. Bentley Dean was on hand for what’s become one of the biggest events on the social calendar.
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Wednesday, 12th February,2003
JEAN-MARIE COLOMBANI INTERVIEW
So, how deep is the current anti-American sentiment in Europe - old or otherwise? As chief executive of ’Le Monde’ newspaper and a range of magazines, Jean-Marie Colombani is one of Europe’s most influential publishers. He’s well placed to judge the mood of the continent, and as an editorial writer, to shape it. He spoke to us from Paris.
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Wednesday, 12th February,2003
EUROPE BACKGROUNDER
It would seem that much of Europe is sceptical of Britain’s position on Iraq and now almost contemptuous of their ally, America. And its Geoff Hoon’s counterpart, the US Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld who seems to have most riled the Europeans.
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Wednesday, 12th February,2003
GEOFF HOON INTERVIEW
Like Australia, Britain’s public position on invading Iraq is that it’s waiting for a decision from the Security Council, which may come as early as next week. But with 40,000 troops now in the Gulf, many Britons are sceptical when the Government says it hasn’t yet committed to war. Mark Davis spoke with British Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon.
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Wednesday, 12th February,2003
BLAIR OPPONENTS
Yesterday’s signing of a joint declaration by France, Germany and Russia, calling for more UN weapons inspectors, has put a spanner in the works of US plans in Iraq and created an unprecedented crisis in relations between Europe and the US. Amid this growing anti-war push, George Bush’s strongest supporter in Europe, Tony Blair, is beginning to look like the odd man out. And like Bush’s other ally, John Howard, the British Prime Minister is having difficulty persuading Britons that war on Iraq can be justified. Later, we put the critics’ case to British Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon, but first, Geoff Parish profiles the government’s opponents.
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Wednesday, 12th February,2003
BEN HUR RIDES AGAIN IN NICARAGUA
On Wednesday, February 12 at 8.30pm, Dateline reports on a life-changing event for Nicaragua’s poor and the biggest spectacle in the country’s calendar – the Ben Hur races.
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In this nationally televised event Nicaragua’s horse cart drivers compete for a magnificent trophy and substantial cash prize.Winning the Ben Hur means a lot to these drivers who struggle daily just to make a living. So many people enter the race that a lucky draw has to be used to choose the competitors.
This year for the first time there is a separate women’s race and Maria Luisa Estrada’s name is drawn by ballot. Maria, or “La Negra” as she is known, is a young mother of five children under the age of ten. She has been driving for eight years – ever since her husband was disabled in an accident. At the moment she is raising her kids single-handedly while she visits her husband in jail every day, waiting to hear the outcome of his case.
Watch the race and see whether Maria wins the ultimate prize – a new home.
That’s Dateline, this Wednesday, February 12 2003 at 8.30 pm. -
Wednesday, 5th February,2003
ROBERT FISK INTERVIEW
So what is the likelihood of an explosion of Arab feeling in response to an attack from the West, and are Arab nations in any position to present a credible alternative to Western plans? I spoke a short time ago to veteran Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk.
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Wednesday, 5th February,2003
THE ARAB DIVIDE
In an interview overnight Saddam Hussein strongly rejected allegations that he possesses weapons of mass destruction. But early tomorrow morning, US Secretary of State Colin Powell will present what he calls ’a convincing case’ that Hussein is lying. Powell’s information may become a trigger for a US-led invasion, whether or not the UN accepts his evidence. While there’s intense focus on divisions in the West to a looming war, Alan Hall has found that the Arab world is equally divided.
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Wednesday, 5th February,2003
SAUDI ARABIA - INSIDE THE HIDDEN KINGDOM
After weeks of headlines about Iraq, the real war on terror may well be played out not in rogue nations, but in supposed allies like Saudi Arabia. US intelligence is paying close attention to its regional friend after revelations that terrorists, and more importantly terrorist funds, have been flooding out of the desert kingdom. Saudi Arabia usually shuns the international media, but Matthew Carney, with a government minder by his side, has been given access. He found a nation undergoing an identity crisis - between a hard-line religious hierarchy and, an emerging democracy movement, something previously unheard of in this secretive monarchy.
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