Erstellt am: 14. 11. 2014 - 15:14 Uhr

Russia flexes its military muscles

Reality Check: Russia-USA; FIFA; new reproductive laws; Afghanistan's new First Lady; Russia: Lipman.

Russia - USA

From supporting separatists in East Ukraine to positioning ships off the coast of Australia to threatening to send long distance bombers to patrol the coasts of the USA - including the Gulf of Mexico; these are just some of the ways Russia’s president Putin is flex his military muscle but are the Russian armed forces in a position to back him up?

FIFA report

FIFA, football’s governing world body, has long faced charges of corruption and a lack of transparency. Now a report on the bidding process which gave the 2018 and 2022 World Cup Championships to Russia & Qatar respectively, instead of ending accusations of impropriety, has stirred up even more trouble and is being called a "farce" and a "whitewash".

EPA/WALTER BIERI

FIFA headquaters in Zurich, Switzerland

Austria: New reproductive laws

Government proposals to change Austria’s outdated reproductive laws have received a positive reception from a wide range of interested parties. Lesbians in particular will benefit from the new laws but not only them as Reality Check found out in conversation with Christiane Druml, chairwoman of the Austrian Bioethics Committee.

Afghanistan’s new First Lady

Rula Ghani was born in Lebanon and brought up in a Christian family and she is the wife of newly elected Afghan president Ashraf Ghani. We find out that in many ways she breaks the mould of previous Afghan first ladies.

EPA/ALEXEY DRUGINYN/RIA NOVOSTI/KREMLIN POOL

Russian President Vladimir Putin

Russia - Lipman

Russia’s military posturing has led to concerns that it could destabilize the current world order. The crisis in Ukraine is just one example of this trend. But just how bad can things get? We speak to Maria Lipman, Russia analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Moscow who gives us a rather bleak prognosis.

FM4 Reality Check

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