Erstellt am: 17. 10. 2011 - 16:06 Uhr

Separatists, Socialists and Superpowers

Reality Check: attempts to end ETA violence; Hollande to take on Sarkozy for the French presidency; who is Herman Cain, and is America still a superower?

An end to ETA violence?

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Supporters of Spain's terrorism victims associations demonstrate against ETA in Madrid in April. Photo: EFE/Victor Lerena

Can people like Gerry Adams, the president of Northern Ireland’s Sinn Fein party, and the former Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan help to bring an end to the campaign of violence waged in Spain by the Basque separatist group ETA? Since the late 1960s, ETA has killed 829 people in a series of bombings and shootings. It is classified as a terrorist organization by Spain, the European Union and the United States. It declared a permanent cease-fire in January. A meeting in San Sebastian hopes to turn that ceasefire into something more permanent. Chris Cummins spoke to our Spain correspondent Sarah Rainsford:

French Presidential Primary

Francois Hollande has won the presidential nomination of the French Socialist Party, defeating party leader Martine Aubry and setting up a likely clash with conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy in next spring's election. When asked “Why you?” in an interview published in Le Parisien newspaper on Saturday, Hollande first answered: “Because I can beat Nicolas Sarkozy.” But who is the man taking on Sarkozy, and is he tough enough? Lucian Giordani fills us in on the details:

Germany attacks

A series of arson attacks in Germany is making people nervous. Most recently fire bombs have been planted on railway tracks – in the space of just four days, 16 explosive devices were found. Noone has been hurt but hundreds of trains have been delayed. Over the summer, mystery attackers set on fire over 100 cars in mostly affluent districts of Berlin. Police have not discovered who was responsible but many politicians have blamed left-wing radicals targeting the rich. So are there grounds for fears of a surge in left-wing violence? An interview with terrorism expert, Michael Lüdders:

Herman Cain

Barack Obama is the first African-American president of the United States. He’s a Democrat. Could Herman Cain be the next US President? He’s also an African-American, but he’s seen as the front runner at the moment for the Republican nomination. Some say that the conservative Tea Party movement might simply be using Herman Cain in order to counter criticism of prejudice and racism. Our Washington correspondent Simon Marks reports:

A not-so-super Superpower?

Dr James D. Boys is an expert on American domestic and foreign policy and is a Senior Research Fellow at the Global Policy Institute in London, where he considers the role of the United States on the world stage in the early twenty-first century. He recently attended an event at the Salzburg Global Seminar and Joanna Bostock asked him whether the United States is still a superpower: