Erstellt am: 10. 5. 2012 - 15:24 Uhr

Al Qaeda and US on same side in Syria

Reality Check: Syria violence, hormones and politics, Obama supports gay marriage, student protests in Spain, MSF breaks partnership with ADA.

The sanctions didn't work, the cease-fire didn't work and the UN observer mission isn't working either - so just what might work in Syria?

Two bombs in Damascus this morning are being blamed by the government on "terrorists", for which we can read "Al Qaeda or related groups" - and they may well be right. They are clearly not right in their claims that the whole protest movement is driven only by terrorists, but there are certainly terrorists in the mix, which is something that has been widely overlooked.

The much heralded "Bin Laden Documents", released last week, showed that Bin Laden himself supported and encouraged the Arab Spring - putting him on the same side as the West in this particular conflict, albeit with a different end result in mind.

It's rather reminiscent of when the US and the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan joined forces to drive out the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, which led to a civil war which ended in rule by the Taliban.

As Shashank Joshi explained on Reality Check, the Syrian conflict may have a core element of pro-democracy activists against a repressive regime, but there are good guys and bad guys on both sides, and the chances for a peaceful solution any time soon are bleaker than ever. On the other hand, outside intervention would have to be initiated from within the Arab world to have any chance of success, and none of the possible contenders, from Saudi Arabia to Turkey, are showing any inclination to get involved.

Hormones in politics

Karin Kneissl, author of "Testosteron macht Politik" tells Riem Higazi about her theory that hormones are driving world events.

Obama and gay marriage

US President Obama has caused a sensation by openly saying he is in favour of gay marriage. Our Washington DC correspondent, Priscilla Huff, looks at how this is being received and the impact it is likely to have on his election campaign.

Student protests in Spain

Guy Hedgecoe reports from Madrid on the issues behind today's planned student protests in Spain, and on the first anniversary of the group calling themselves the "indignados".

MSF in Austria breaks from Austrian Development Agency

The Austrian section of Doctors Without Borders has withdrawn from its partnership with the government's Austrian Development Agency, or ADA, saying the ADA is "totally without credibility” when it comes to humanitarian aid.
MSF`s financial director, Mario Thaler, tells Chris Cummins why it has come to this.

FM4 Reality Check

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