Erstellt am: 11. 2. 2014 - 14:42 Uhr

A Mega-Culture Club in the Congo?

Reality Check: Syria Geneva II talks, Hypo Alpo Adria solution, Russian violent homophobia, American football gay tolerance, and mega-chimp culture found.

Homs Ceasefire Extended

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A Syrian woman carries a child as Syrian Red Crescent workers offer help at a shelter center in Homs, Syria, 10 February 2014

The besieged Syrian town is getting another 3 days of ‚peace‘ thanks to a UN brokered truce.
More than 800 people have been able to leave Homs as the UN and the Red Crescent have tried to deliver food and medical supplies into the city but the humanitarian pause in the fighting has been anything but peaceful. The aid convoys have had difficulty making deliveries - they have been targets of gunfire and explosives. According to Valerie Amos, the U.N. humanitarian chief, 11 people have been killed since the ceasefire started on Friday. Rosemary Hollis is Professor of Middle East Policy Studies and Director of the Olive Tree Scholarship Programme at City University London and she gives us her take on how the Geneva II peace talks, where the 3 day Homs ceasefire extension was hashed out, could have a further impact on the future of Syria.

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The headquartes of the Hypo Alpe Adria bank is seen in Klagenfurt, Austria

Hypo Group Alpe Adria

Such a pretty name, such a ‘bad bank’. That’s the definition of the beleaguered bank that Austrian Finance Minister Michael Spindelegger has finally admitted to and after years of back-and-forthing over who needs to pay the huge losses the scandal-ridden bank has made, politicians have finally come up with a solution: taxpayers! FM4 Finance Journalist Robert Zikmund discusses the latest chapter in the Hypo saga.

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Supporters of the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) and sexual minorities hold poster 'LGBT against fascism' as they attend in attend a anti-fascist rally in Moscow 19 January 2014

Occupy Pedophilia

Charles Maynes is FM4’s correspondent in Moscow and he does not mince words when it comes to describing a network of homophobic hate-criminals who operate under the guise of protecting society from pedophiles in Russia. With the world’s attention on Sochi, human rights activists have been trying to exploit this focus on Russia by raising awareness of the harsh conditions under which Russia’s LGBT community live and how a network like Occupy Pedophilia enjoys immunity during state-sanctioned anti-gay times there now.

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University of Missouri linebacker Michael Sam (R) is congratulated by teammate Matt Hoch (L) after returning a fumble seven yards for a touchdown in first quarter action during a game between Missouri and Southeastern Louisiana at Faurot Field in Columbia, Missouri

"I am an openly, proud gay man."

Michael Sam is a 24 year-old college student in the US state of Missouri and he is a football star who is very likely to be drafted to the NFL soon. Cool but nothing out of the ordinary - except Michael Sam told The New York Times and ESPN he is gay - the first football player to be open about his homosexuality in the history of the sport and that is MAJOR in the Sates. FM4 Washington correspondent Priscilla Huff tells us why it’s a big deal and also, why it’s NOT a big deal.

Cleve Hicks

Gangu chimps posing for Dr. Thurston Cleveland Hicks

A New ‘Mega-Culture’ of Chimps

Imagine trekking thousands of kilometers, dodging police and militia gunfire, deep into the heart of the Bili-Gangu forest in the Democratic Republic of Congo, to find a previously unseen ‘mega-culture’ of chimpanzees who catch and eat leopards and also enjoy large snails. That’s what Dr. Thurston Cleveland Hicks and his team at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology did and he tells us about his incredible discovery.

FM4 Reality Check

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