OCTOBER 2004
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Wednesday, 27th October,2004
AMERICA’S VIRTUAL VOTE
It was a decision of the American Supreme Court in 2000 that finally handed George W. Bush the presidency - and it will be no surprise if next week’s election is also decided by the courts. Democrats, Republicans and other groups have already filed 40 lawsuits challenging voting rules and procedures in key states where Bush and Kerry are running neck and neck. On election day the major parties will have an estimated 20,000 lawyers poised to challenge the results. Nick Lazaredes reports from Florida on the looming election chaos.
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Wednesday, 27th October,2004
INTERVIEW WITH GIDEON REMEZ
Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon built his career on a reputation as a conservative hard-liner on the battlefield and in politics. He was also seen as the father of the controversial settlement movement on land seized in the 1967 war. Earlier this year, when he announced he would dismantle Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip, he was greeted with scepticism internationally and inside Israel. Last night, in a tumultuous parliamentary sitting, he delivered on the first part of that pledge. He won the vote to dismantle the settlements, although almost half of his own party voted against him. Many are now threatening to bring down the government if he refuses to put the issue to a referendum. A short time ago, I spoke with Israeli journalist and analyst Gideon Remez for the latest from Jerusalem.
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Wednesday, 27th October,2004
INSIDE SADR CITY
Most of the news stories coming out of Baghdad now focus on the covert and sporadic attacks on coalition forces across the city - the bombings and the kidnappings by unseen and often unknown forces. But for the Allawi Government a far more disturbing battleground is emerging in Sadr City. This part of Baghdad contains between a third and a half of the city’s population. And, as tonight’s report reveals, it is now virtually in open revolt - a no-go zone for government officials, coalition forces and the media. The prospects of conducting an election there in a few months time would be slim to say the very least. Dateline reporter John Martinkus got inside Sadr City to make this report. He survived that ordeal, but shortly after was kidnapped outside the Australian Embassy and managed to negotiate his own release. With few journalists remaining, and those who are now bunkered down, this is a part of Baghdad that we are not likely to see again soon.
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Wednesday, 20th October,2004
ISRAELI SOLDIERS
With security in Israel’s occupied territories worsening, those on the front line face a daily nightmare of death, injury and hate. For many of the young Israeli conscripts, it also means confronting an uncomfortable moral dilemma. Olivia Rousset reports on a group of Israeli soldiers trying to come to terms with their life on the West Bank.
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Wednesday, 20th October,2004
INTERVIEW WITH DATELINE REPORTER JOHN MARTINKUS
Author and Dateline journalist John Martinkus was kidnapped in Baghdad on Saturday afternoon. He spent a terrifying 20 hours being interrogated by his captors before being released. Martinkus came back to Australia last night and I spoke with him a short time ago about his ordeal.
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Wednesday, 20th October,2004
THE GUERILLA GIRLS OF THE PKK
Apart from troubles elsewhere in Iraq, the north of that country is bracing itself for a another guerilla war - this time between Turkey and the Kurdish independence fighters of the PKK. This sideshow could soon move centre stage since a cease-fire between the Kurds and the Turks was called off three months ago. Matt Carney gained exclusive access to the PKK base inside northern Iraq and he discovers quite an anachronism for the region - a guerilla group that shuns religion and treats women as equals.
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Wednesday, 13th October,2004
MANY HAPPY RETURNS - DATELINE’S 20 YEARS IN THE FIRING LINE
Tonight on Dateline, we go behind the scenes of Australia’s longest-running international current affairs program.
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This transcript has been edited. -
Wednesday, 6th October,2004
HALLIBURTON DOWN UNDER
The American company Halliburton was one of the hot topics in today’s vice-presidential debate in the US. The current Vice-President, Dick Cheney, was the CEO of the oil and defence conglomerate for much of the 1990s. Now the company stands accused of bribery and the rorting of contracts in Iraq which they were given without tender. As Sophie McNeil reports, the company has a little-known, but significant, presence in Australia, where it is also receiving large government projects without any bidding process involved.
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Wednesday, 6th October,2004
INTERVIEW WITH AHMED RASHID
As Australians head to the polls this Saturday, Afghans will be making the same trek, but under rather more arduous conditions. Most of the country is still in ruins after more than two decades of permanent war. It’s now three years since the Taliban were driven from power and this Saturday will be the first chance Afghans have had to directly elect their president. But the mood in the country is still ominous. For an update, I spoke earlier with Afghan expert and renowned author Ahmed Rashid from Kabul.
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Wednesday, 6th October,2004
MACEDONIAN MURDER MYSTERY
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