New York's Mob Wars
Drugs, extortion, murder and loan sharking - this week Nick Lazaredes reports on the real underbelly of New York's mob wars.
For decades the infamous Gambino crime family ruled New York's underworld with an iron fist, but earlier this year that came to a dramatic halt after a massive Mafia crackdown by authorities. Federal and Sate task forces arrested more than 60 people, almost half of them alleged members of the Gambino crime syndicate. Among those captured in the FBI's net was the Gambino's Godfather, John D'Amico - also known as Jackie the Nose.
But despite the underworld crackdown, the mob are still deeply enmeshed in New York.
Along the way Lazaredes meets Curtis Sliwa, an anti-mob activist who was the target of a Mafia hit. Sliwa says the Mafia is a successful business enterprise, operating labor and protection rackets along with numerous scams bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars each year.
The Sub-Prime Contagion
The downturn in the U.S. economy is already wreaking havoc around the world, but exactly how far has the contagion spread? This week George Negus reports from the small Norwegian seaport town of Narvik, an unsuspecting victim of the crippling Sub Prime mortgage crisis.
Despite boasting some of the majestic and most luscious sceneries in the world, the seaport town of 14,000 proves that international loan sharks hold no boundaries. The local council were sold a 'loan lemon', by an Oslo-based brokerage company, Terra Securities - a company owned by 78 different banks including Citigroup. Narvik suddenly found itself caught in a spiral of deceit and debt that's left its public services and utilities struggling to stay above water.
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About International Dateline
SBS Dateline, which began in 1984, is Australia's longest-running international current affairs program. It has a well-earned reputation for authoritative and incisive reporting. Dateline has taken the traditional way of producing TV current affairs and turned it on its head. Reporters who used to travel with a cameraperson and sound recordist now travel alone and have the responsibility of both filming and reporting their stories. The reporters became video-journalists, gaining access to people and places that the conventional camera crews cannot.
