Dateline: July 24

Dateline returns to SBS next Tuesday with a live broadcast from London looking at the Olympics, including issues surrounding housing and sponsorship.

“How can I be part of something that’s going to take my home?” – Mary Finch, long term resident of Carpenter’s Estate.

Mary’s home and many others are facing demolition as part of London’s East End Olympic regeneration.

In this special Olympic episode of Dateline, Mary tells Yalda Hakim how she’s lived on the estate for over forty years, doesn’t  want to be shunted out and is prepared to fight to prevent it happening.

“We have a lovely, lovely, little community here. A safe community. So why would you want to break it up?”

Yalda will also interview the controversial Ken Livingstone, who was London Mayor when the games were awarded to the city in 2005. He has strong views about the ethics and commercialism of the modern Olympics.

Also on Tuesday’s episode of Dateline, Video journalist Evan Williams examines the tightly-controlled sponsorship surrounding the Games. Giant  multinational corporations are spending millions of dollars to buy monopoly sponsorship rights for the Games, to the exclusion of local businesses .Restaurant owner  Aziz ur Rahman was asked to pay $2000 for be part of the  torch relay event and was told he would have to cover up his restaurant’s brand name.

“The council are adamant that it wasn’t their decision but it was the major sponsors, dare I say the McDonalds, the Coca Cola, who are the big brands. They were the ones who made these rules. But I think it’s absolutely ridiculous,” Rahman tells Dateline.

Plus Amos Roberts reports from Suffolk where the locals have gone “Rwanda crazy” as they play host to that country’s young athletes hoping for Olympic glory.

Live 9:30pm Tuesday 24 July on SBS ONE.