Erstellt am: 9. 9. 2013 - 14:28 Uhr

Turning the Putin tide

Reality Check: Russian mayoral elections, Obama and Syria, Norway elections, Aga Khan awards, Weibo words

Former prison inmate and opposition candidate, Alexei Navalny, failed to beat President Putin's favoured candidate, Sergei Sobyanin, in mayoral race in Moscow, but did far better than expected, polling over 27%. Meanwhile in Yeketerinburg, Kremlin critic, Yevgeny Roizman won his race by a narrow margin.

ITAR-TASS/ Pavel Smertin

Navalny's western style campaign won him more support than expected, but not enough to take the election to a second round.

Charles Maynes reports from Moscow on the results and what they tell us about the direction of Russian domestic politics.

Obama seeks support for attack on Syria

While it looks likely that the Senate will back President Obama's plans for an attack on Syria, the support of the House of Representatives looks very uncertain. His draft plans are not aggessive enough for the hawks, and too aggressive for the doves. US political analyst, James Boys, gives his interpretation of the debate and where it might be leading.

Norway elections

Norwegians vote today in the first election since the horrific, politically motivated attacks by Anders Bering Breivik. Lars Bevanger considers the mood in Norway and the issues central to this election.

Aga Khan award goes to Austrian Islamic cemetery

The Islamic cemetery in Altach, Vorarlberg, has won an Age Khan award for architecture. Jury member, Shahira Fahmy, explains why this cemetery is so exceptional.

Weibo words

Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, has certain words that are banned. Many of them apparently innocent, but are a form of code for politically sensitive words or terms. Blogger and author of the book "Blocked on Weibo", Jason Q Ng, explains this rather bizarre policy.

FM4 Reality Check

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