Foreign Correspondent Season 23, Episode 18: Syria - A Gangster Goes To War

1

Ukraine - Moscow Rules

With breathtaking speed, Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the armed takeover of a key part of a neighbouring country and dared the world to do something about it. Eric Campbell is there for the countdown.

30 min

2

Chile - Facing The Past

Sally Sara follows the trail of a woman accused of involvement in serious, violent crimes in her homeland. Now living quietly in suburban Australia, the families of the dead are demanding she return to face justice.

30 min

3

Dubai - Trapped Part 1

In Dubai, Australian Marcus Lee was accused of a multi-million dollar fraud he never committed. But it took him 7 months of jail time and a legal battle lasting years before he and his wife Julie would be free.

30 min

4

Dubai - Trapped Part 2

In the second part of our exclusive report, Foreign Correspondent hears how Marcus and Julie Lee eventually escaped, and examines the controversial deal in more detail, hearing from all the main players for the first time.

30 min

5

India - The Babymakers

Foreign Correspondent investigates India's booming international surrogacy industry by following Australian couples hoping to start or build their families by paying Indian women to bear them a child.

30 min

6

Canada, South Africa - Granpower!

The uplifting story of a group of gutsy grandmothers from Canada, who have built a remarkable connection with Africa. Led by a powerhouse 89 year-old expat Australian.

30 min

7

Cuba - Inside Gitmo

Shaker Aamer, hands and feet shackled, was dragged into Camp X-Ray, Guantanamo Bay prison more than 4,500 days ago. No charges, no trial. North America correspondent Lisa Millar inspects the infamous prison, Guantanamo Bay.

30 min

8

Afghanistan - Groomed to Kill

The experiences and stories of some of the children convicted of fighting for the Taliban who are currently being held in special prisons across Afghanistan.

30 min

9

Spratly Islands - Reef Madness

Eric Campbell reports from a conflict zone in the South China sea. In a world exclusive, Foreign Correspondent reports from the island dispute threatening war with China.

30 min

10

Pakistan - The Polio Emergency

An immunisation program saw Polio retreat from the developed world - then a concerted campaign in the '80's all but wiped it out in the developing world. So why has Pakistan become a polio hotspot with cases on the rise?

30 min

11

Tiananmen - Australia's Witnesses

China has changed dramatically since the crackdown and wholesale slaughter in Tiananmen Square 25 years ago. For the first time Australia's embassy staff assemble with their first-hand accounts of the days that stained China.

30 min

12

Jordan - Home Away From Home

The Hariri's are an ordinary family who've had their lives shattered by war. Like 2.8 million other Syrian refugees, this family thought they were leaving their home for only a few weeks, but will they ever return?

30 min

13

USA - Cannabis Inc.

Hundreds of cannabis businesses are aiming to make it an industry to rival beer. But there is a growing opposition of voices warning that a new Big Tobacco is being created.

30 min

14

Cairo: Ordeal In Egypt

As judgement arrives for Australian journalist Peter Greste and his Al Jazeera colleagues in Egypt, family and key players feature in this special report by ABC Middle East correspondent Hayden Cooper.

30 min

15

Myanmar - A New Dawn

What happens when a vacuum-sealed, strictly-controlled nation opens its doors and ushers in aggressive international businesses, hungry global developers and curious tourists? Sally Sara reports from Yangon, Myanmar.

30 min

16

Mexico - The Last Resort

Jane Cowan investigates the booming international surrogacy business and an unscrupulous operator preying on the dreams and life savings of clients.

30 min

17

Laos - The Legacy

Sally Sara travels into the mountains of Laos, to meet the brave women hunting for bombs.

30 min

18

Syria - A Gangster Goes To War

Foreign Correspondent presents an extraordinarily intimate and confronting journey as a violent, criminal king-pin leaves his turf behind to head to Syria's frontlines to fight a war he doesn't really comprehend.

30 min

19

Scotland - You Take The High Road And I'll Take The Low Road

Scottish/Australian reporter Barbara Miller returns home to see whether the Scots really are prepared to be brave and vote for independence?

30 min

20

Norway - The Gender Mission

Eric Campbell travels to the Arctic Circle in Norway where he reports on a radical experiment being watched by the rest of the world, including Australia.

30 min

21

East Timor - The Clinic

Foreign Correspondent travels to Dili, East Timor and witnesses a country facing a myriad of health problems. We follow the challenging daily life of Dr Dan Murphy as he treats people overwhelmed by the diseases of poverty.

30 min

22

Japan - Return Of The Samurai

An in-depth look at the rise of militarism in Japan as tensions with China coincide with major changes to the country's pacifist constitution. The story exposes the deep rifts in Japanese society over the issue.

30 min

23

Sierra Leone - Ebola: Into The Hot Zone

A special report on the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone. Our team, which was the last camera crew into the hardest hit areas before a Government lockdown, has been at the frontline for one of the worst weeks in the Ebola crisis.

30 min

24

Palau - Take A Long Line

Whether you enjoy tuna on a sandwich, or as sashimi, you need to know that Pacific stocks are being fished out at an alarming rate. Can the small equatorial paradise of Palau turn the tide by banning foreign fishing vessels?

30 min

25

Nepal - The Road

The kingdom of Upper Mustang, Nepal is the last outpost of authentic Tibetan Buddhism. Cut off from modernity, foreigners were banned until 1992. Now a road is being built all the way to China. Can the unique culture survive?

30 min

26

Northern Ireland - The Disappeared

Off an isolated country laneway on a remote area of Irish bog, sophisticated forensic technology is being rolled out in an attempt to crack a notorious cold case.

30 min

27

South Africa - Symphony In Soweto

Sally Sara meets the new generation of Soweto. The black township was once a byword for suffering and squalor but it's always had an unassailable spirit and now it's undergoing a dramatic transformation.

30 min

28

China - Crackdown

As Australia lifts its terror alert to high, China is intensifying its crackdown on a resident Muslim community in the remote northwest of the country in what it claims is its own war on terror. Stephen McDonell reports.

30 min

29

Kenya - Inside Out

Sally Sara goes inside some of Kenya's toughest jails to investigate an innovative program that is seeing convicted criminals learn how to set themselves free, using the justice system.

30 min

30

The Italian Solution

In an Australian TV first, Sophie McNeill hitches a ride on an Italian navy boat as more than 800 people are plucked out of the Mediterranean, just a tiny drop in an ocean of people fleeing Libya to seek asylum in Europe.

30 min