Erstellt am: 10. 4. 2012 - 16:15 Uhr
Syria ceasefire deal fails
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Violence continues in Syria as the deadline for governement troops and weapons to be withdrawn expires.
Many people were sceptical when the deal was announced. Last week, our Syria correspondent, Rime Allaf, expressed her doubts that President Assad woukd honour his agreement to the ceasefire plan proposed by Kofi Annan. After all, Assad has made so many promises before, and still there is no sign of an end to the violence. He created his own loophole. On Sunday, he said he would stick to the agreement only if the opposition would give written guarantees to give up arms, and foreign governments would promise not to fund them. Neither was realistically possible, so Assad has wriggled out of his committment once again - and his position seems secure, at least for the time being. Intermational security expert, Paul Rogers, considers what might happen next, and how Russia and Saudi Arabia might now become key players in the finding a solution.
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Hunger striker in Bahrain close to death
Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja is entering the third month of his hunger strike, and his family and lawyer say he is in a critical condition.
The former protest leader has become a figurehead of the opposition movement, and if he dies in prison, this could have a very serious destabilising effect on the country.
Mary Lawlor from Front Line Defenders explains why Al-Khawaja's case has taken on such particular importance.
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North Korea rocket launch
North Korea says it will launch a rocket this week to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of the "Eternal President", Kim Il-sung, who died in 1994. Officials say the rocket will carry a satellite, and is part of the country's peaceful space programme, but many fear it is really a test for long range missile technology. Aidan Foster-Carter gives his analysis of the situation.
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Facebook's bid for Instagram
Facebook is spending 1 billion dollars to acquire the photo software concern, Instagram. It's the largest bid the social networking giant has ever made for another company, but Instagram is a relatively small concern, with no direct revenue prospects it can offer to Facebook. So what's going on?
Darika Ahrens of Forrester Research looks at the deal and why this company is worth so much to Facebook.
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An end to the career politician?
US President Roosevelt said „The government is us“. Birgitte Johnsdottir says direct democracy is the way forward, and professional politicians should be abolished. She says the people should be allowed to make the important political decisions, and take responsibility for them. She explains her vision to Chris Cummins.
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