Michael McKay's guest today has a unique perspective on some of the most pressing issues of our time, namely the human experience of flight from the terror of war, from the despair of famine and from the demoralising effect of badly, dysfunctional governments and economies. In fact “flight” is not quite the right word because my guest is a naval man. And he is from a country at the very heart of the migrant and refugee crisis at sea. Admiral Giuseppe De Giorgi (recently retired) is a former Chief of Staff of the Italian Navy and was responsible for that invaluable rescue operation known as Operation Mare Nostrum.

On this week's Dig It, Hester is tackling a couple of your listener questions. Alison wants to know what veggies can safely be planted now, and Paddy wants to know how he can grow British bluebells in his garden here

The fifth round of intra-Syrian talks have ended at the UN in Geneva. Daniel Johnson from the UN takes us through the main points to takeaway from the most recent round of talks and quotes Staffan de Mistura, UN Special Envoy for Syria:

“No one can deny and I cannot deny that there serious challenges and I’m not seeing immediately this developing into a peace agreement, no doubt about that …In any negotiations there are certain issues that need to be prepared and discussed before the real peace negotiation starts. We are not yet there.”

Cultural events this week include a screening this Tuesday evening at 6.30pm:

“A snake gives birth to a snake”

(English version with French subtitles)

Summary: Can we forgive the past to survive the future?

Venue: Cinéma CINERAMA EMPIRE, rue de Carouge 72-74, Geneva

Followed by a debate with Michael Lessac, director

Ms. Jackie Bertrand Lessac, Producer of the film

A representative of the Permanent Mission of Rwanda – in recognition that this event is linked to the International Day of Reflection on the Genocide in Rwanda (Friday 7 April).

*Image: from The Chop*

The 12th edition of FIFOG kicked off this =Saturday April 1st and it runs until Sunday April 9th.

This year, under the themes of 'dialogue & living together', there are 100 films of a wide varieties of genres, including fiction films, documentaries, shorts, with 30 countries represented and over 60 guests from around the world.

Most films will be shown at Cinema Grutli in Geneva, but there are 20 locations in total in Switzerland and neighbouring France.

Film screenings will also be supplemented by debates, symposia, lectures, exhibitions, school programs and various training workshops.

The following films are particularly appropriate for an English speaking audience as they're either in English or subtitled in English.

http://fifog.com/event/carvina/

http://fifog.com/event/chop-the/

http://fifog.com/event/collabeur/

http://fifog.com/event/deema/

http://fifog.com/event/diamond-generation/

http://fifog.com/event/django/

http://fifog.com/event/gift-of-my-father/

http://fifog.com/event/jaws/

http://fifog.com/event/kingdom-of-fishes/

http://fifog.com/event/other-world/

For the last few years you may have noticed that there's now an awful lot of options that you can add on to your journey. Remember the days when you bought a ticket and all the "extras" were just included? Well those days are long-gone and Chaitan explains that it's due to a new concept we'll refer to as 'unbundling'.

This sounds like jargon and, to be honest, we've long been getting fed up with is as a means to charge for things which used to be included, such as choosing your seat. But are flight prices getting more expensive due to these "bundled" seat options? Chaitan explains...

If your flight has been significantly delayed, you might be entitled to some kind of compensation and there are a growing number of agencies who are offering help.

What should our first course of action be when there's been a delay and an inconvenience to you; the passenger?

Chaitan explains some of the things we should be aware about if using an agency that's seeking compensation on a consumer's behalf.

Is your computer running slowly? There maybe something you can do to help it run 20 x faster without replacing the entire machine.

Paul Bristow explains...

ART SEEN - Tinguely's machines by WRS

Kerre Cole takes us through this week's big screen releases.

United Kingdom is a hard-hitting love story of when Prince Seretse Khama, of Botswana and Ruth Williams, from England, fell in love and got married under South African apartheid.

Scarlett Johansson plays human-cyborg cop in Ghost in the Shell and there's a baby wearing a suit in Warner Bros latest release.

Competition closes midnight Fri 31 March.

Word of Mouth - Swiss watches & corruption by WRS