Erstellt am: 15. 12. 2014 - 14:22 Uhr

Sydney

The hostage standoff. Reality Check on how vulnerable Australians feel to terrorist acts?

Sydney

A hostage standoff in Sydney. A gunman took about 40 people captive at a chocolate shop and cafe in the city centre.

The gunman had reportedly demanded a phone call with Prime Minister Tony Abbott as well as a flag of the Islamic State militant group. Australian military advisors and aircraft are part of the international coalition fighting IS in Iraq and Syria. Australian Muslim groups have condemned today's hostage-taking, and the governor of New South Wales, Mike Baird, has said such violent acts are an attack on the country's tolerant and open society:

Television pictures were showing several people inside standing with their hands pressed against the windows and holding up a black flag with Arabic writing on it. We’ll get the very latest on developments here with our security analyst Shashank Joshi.

Turkey
Turkish police have raided media outlets linked to a US-based Muslim cleric and detained over 20 people in a nationwide operation. A one-time ally, the cleric Fethullah Gulen has been in an open conflict with Turkey´s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan since a corruption investigation targeting his inner circle emerged a year ago.What’s being said about this clampdown? We’ll go to Turkey.

Pope & Dalai Lama
Pope Francis has declined a meeting with the Dalai Lama because of the "delicate situation" with China. Pope Benedict met the Dalai Lama in 2006, so how tricky is the situation currently with Beijing? We’ll speak with our Vatican watcher, David Willey, in Rome.

Hangovers
It’s the week for Christmas parties and the inevitable hangover the next day. Two new studies have shown that our tendency to suffer hangovers is partially inherited and is influenced, at least 50 percent, by our genes. We speak with health psychologist Sally Adams from the University of Bath.

Listen to the programme after the show via Podcast or at fm4.orf.at/realitycheck.