Erstellt am: 28. 1. 2013 - 14:42 Uhr

Tragedy in Brazil

Reality Check: Disco fire in Santa Maria, codes of conduct for politicians, Mali rebels pushed back, Egypt state of emergency in key cities, European brain project.

Brazil has declared 3 days of national mourning after over 240 young people died in a disco fire in the city of Santa Maria.

EPA/GERMANO RORATTO

Firefighters struggled to control the blaze, that is't believed started when a performing band lit a firework

Details of what happened and why are still emerging, but it is clear that this was a tragedy of enormous proportions. Riem Higazi pieces together the story so far.

Codes of conduct for politicians

With new political scandals breaking all the time, many countries are now looking at adopting codes of conduct for their politicians that would set clear guidelines on what is, and is not, ethical and acceptable.

In some cases it is clear cut, and already defined by the law of the land - but for most countries there are large grey areas where a type of conduct might be considered unethical, but is not actually illegal.

Liz David-Barratt is an expert on corruption at the University of Oxford and she explains why more and more countries are considering implementing codes of conduct.

Mali - French led troops take Timbuktu

The conflict in Mali is spreading north, and French led forces have now taken Timbuktu, leaving only one major population centre in the hands of the Islamist rebels.

Jeremy Keenan discusses the make up of the Islamist forces and why it is unlikely that they will be able to resist for much longer.

Egypt protests

A state of emergency is declared in several Egyptian cities following violent protests against President Morsi over the weekend.

Morsi has invited the opposition coalition for talks this evening, but it is unclear whether they will attend, or what could be achieved.

Karim El Gawhary reports from Cairo on the latest developments.

A brain-like computer

A Pan-European project to build a computer modeled on the human brain is getting underway, and scientists working on it hope that it will reveal the mysteries of how the brain works, and what goes wrong in a wide range of neurological diseases.

One of the project leaders is Professor Alois Saria at the Medical University in Innsbruck, who explains to Joanna Bostock what the project will do.

FM4 Reality Check

Monday to Friday from 12.00 to 14.00, and after the show via Podcast or fm4.orf.at/realitycheck.