Erstellt am: 30. 10. 2012 - 14:31 Uhr
Sandy plunges New York into darkness
Subscribe to the Reality Check podcast and get the whole programme after the show.
Hurricane Sandy exceeded all expectations. Even though it was predicted that is would be a "super storm", no one had predicted just how severe is would be.
It's still unclear exactly what the toll in terms of lives, injuries and property damage, but it's already evident that the damage in terms of infrastructure and services will be enormous.
What is emerging is that President Obamba is looking highly presidential and in control of things. He immediately declared states of emergency in the worst affected areas, allowing funds to be released to help the resucue and recovery operations. Mitt Romney, on the other hand, is not in a position to do anything other than by sympathetic to the people affected. If he criticises the President's handling of the disaster, he will look as though he is exploiting human suffering, if he praises it, he weakens his own stand.
I could have been just what the Obama campaign needed. Our correspondent in Wahsington DC, Simon Marks, says that Hurricane Sandy could be evidence that Mother Nature is a democrat!
Dieses Element ist nicht mehr verfügbar
In the meantime, David Kriegleder has been monitoring how New Yorkers have been weathering the storm, and reports on the events of the night and the dangers the storm still poses.
Dieses Element ist nicht mehr verfügbar
The Kurds and Syria
As violence continues to rage in Syria, is it becoming more and more obvious how divided and complex the situation is. The Kurds are a large minority in Syria, and have already established two almost autonomous regions in the north of Syria, near the Turkish border. While both the Kurds and the Free Syrian Army want to see regime change, the FSA nevertheless launched attacks on the Kurdish and Christian areas of Aleppo at the weekend. Tony Cheng has been to one of the Kurdish regions of Syria and tells John Cummins about what he found there.
Dieses Element ist nicht mehr verfügbar
Ukraine elections
The OSCE says the weekend's election in Ukraine represent a backwards step for democracy. Alex Kleimenov reports from Kiev.
Dieses Element ist nicht mehr verfügbar
Hybrid democracies
Russia is one of the countries that combines elements of democracy with authoritarian power. Kirill Rogov explains what being a hybrid democracy means in the development of a political system.
Dieses Element ist nicht mehr verfügbar
FM4 Reality Check
Monday to Friday from 12.00 to 14.00, and after the show via Podcast or fm4.orf.at/realitycheck.