This International Dateline episode includes three segments: Gunning for Iran, Professor Georgi Toloraya, and East Timor's Refugees.
Gunning for Iran
In recent days, you must've heard the howls of protest from the International Atomic Energy Agency after the release of a US House of Representatives report on Iran's nuclear program. The IAEA branded the American report "outrageous and dishonest" for asserting that Tehran's nuclear plans were geared towards weapons. This, of course, was just the latest flare-up in the running debate over Iran's supposed nuclear ambitions. So where is Washington getting its information? Try an Iranian opposition group known as the Mujahedin-e-Khalq - MeK for short. Given the debacle over Saddam's non-existent WMDs in Iraq, you'd reckon there'd have to be a touch of caution where Iranian exiles peddling nuclear secrets are concerned. But as Bronwyn Adcock tells it, when the MeK speaks, Washington hardliners listen.
Professor Georgi Toloraya
Overnight in North Korea, the regime of the so-called Dear Leader Kim Jong-il dropped its own bombshell, announcing that it was planning a nuclear test some time "in the future". No time frame mentioned. Predictably, the news has been condemned by the US, Japan, South Korea, China, and Russia. So, how should we react to this latest nuclear rocket fired by the North Koreans? Is it another classic display of the Dear Leader's brinkmanship or the real McCoy? Earlier this evening, George Negus spoke with Professor George Toloraya, the Russian Consul-General in Sydney. He's also an acknowledged expert on North Korea, having lived and worked there for six years, and is currently director of the Centre for Contemporary Korean Studies in Moscow.
East Timor's Refugees
With their leaders continuing to bicker over their political differences, there's no end in sight to the troubles of the hapless East Timorese. The conflict goes on, albeit sporadically these days, though just last week, the ruling Fretilin Party's headquarters in Dili were torched. But what about the ordinary East Timorese? They're among the poorest people in the world, and after the recent violent upheavals, some 150,000 of them are surviving in refugee camps. David O'Shea spent some time with them.
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.