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This International Dateline episode includes three segments:  G8 - Where to from Here Interview, Malawi - An African Test Case, and Thailand - Southern Beat

G8 - Where to From Here Interview 
Africa has been a major focus of this year's G8 Summit. Bob Geldof's Live 8 campaign garnered the support of millions of lay people demanding to see a positive outcome from the G8 Summit. Fifty-three African leaders met in Libya as a united front to demand debt relief for all of Africa and fair trade policies from Europe and the US. And protestors gathered in Scotland to put even further pressure on Tony Blair and his seven counterparts. 

Dateline reporter George Negus speaks with author and Guardian columnist, George Monbiot, who attended the Alternative G8 Summit in Scotland along with Australian trade consultant, Alan Oxley.  As the former Australian Ambassador to the precursor of the WTO, Alan Oxley has a very different perspective on Africa's problems and the way to go about tackling them.

Malawi - An African Test Case 
Dateline reporter Nick Lazaredes has a special report from Malawi; a case study of a poverty and HIV/AIDS ridden African nation. Land-locked and debt-locked, Malawi can ill afford social benefits such as education and health.  In the capital Lilongwe, the average life expectancy is 37. In spite of the Malawian government's efforts to fight corruption, it will not be one of the 18 countries to receive debt relief.

Dateline examines the history of questionable economic advice from the IMF and the World Bank, who, in 2002, advised the government to sell off the country's maize reserves in order to make debt repayments. When the inevitable famine hit, the Government was then forced to buy back the maize at an incredible 500% markup. Can Malawi expect to break free from the shackles of poverty, feed stomachs and minds without the decisive action from the powerful G8 leaders? 

Thailand - Southern Beat
In Datelines final segment, Ginny Stein reports on the deadly conflict that's claimed hundreds of lives over the past two years in Thailand's predominantly Muslim south.

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.