Erstellt am: 9. 2. 2016 - 14:03 Uhr

When is a siege not a siege?

Reality Check: Sieges in Syria; Water scarcity; The Balkan states and the refugee crisis; Italy convicts Eritrean people smugglers; Wayne Rooney and the Brexit.

Syria: Siege Watch report

A new report by the Netherlands-based PAX organistion and the US-based Syria Institute claims that the number of people living under a state of siege in Syria is more than double the estimate given by the United Nations. Analyst Paul Beaver explains the magnitude of the problem, why getting good information is so difficult and what this all means for peace negotiations.

AFP / BULENT KILIC

Thousands flee Aleppo as the Syrian army trys to lay siege to Syria's second largest city.

Future water scenarios

Getting clean water to all the people who need it is a major challenge and one that threatens to get worse as the global population increases. William Cosgrove, Water Programme Director at the Austria-based International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, explains the challenges and the solutions.

Kurz courts the Balkans

Austrian Foreign Minister, Sebastian Kurz is spending this week talking to leaders of the Balkan states about stemming the flow of migrants and refugees from Syrian and elsewhere. How effective can the Balkan states be and how high will be the price for their cooperation? Reality Check talks to Florian Bieber, director of the Centre for Southeast European Studies at the University of Graz, and coordinator of the Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group.

APA/AUSSENMINISTERIUM/DRAGAN TATIC

Austrian foreign minister, Sebastian Kurz (L) and Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic

Italy: Eritrean people smugglers convicted

Six Eritreans have been convicted of people smuggling in the first such case of its kind in Italy. The men though, got slightly shorter prison sentences than normal. Our Rome correspondent Michael Day tells us about the case and gives us some interesting insight into the workings of the Italian legal system.

Wayne Rooney and the Brexit

How could Wayne Rooney help keep Britain in the EU? What at first sounds like a slightly ridiculous and amusing approach to a very serious issue does in fact have some sound scientific research behind it as we found out when we spoke to Dan Hough, professor of politics at the University of Sussex in the UK.

FM4 Reality Check

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