Erstellt am: 18. 11. 2011 - 13:54 Uhr

A testing time ahead in Spain

Reality Check: Spanish elections, displaced people, Burma changes, food fears in Japan, window farming.

In 2004, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and his socialist party swept to victory in the Spanish elections immediately following the Madrid train bombing. His pledge to pull Spanish troops out of the Iraq war went straight to the hearts of the electorate, and he was even re-elected in 2008.

Now the climate has changed. Although it has managed to stay out of the headlines recently, Spain has been grouped along with Italy, Greece, Ireland and Portugal as Europe's prime financial liabilities - and that is very likely to be the key factor as Spaniards go to vote on Sunday.

The conservative Popular Party are the hot favourites, riding high in the opinion polls. They are promising a programme of "shock therapy" which they say will turn the economy around, stimulating employment and growth - the two things Spain desperately needs. However, Italy, Greece, Portugal... and in fact most of the rest of the world need to stimulate employment and growth too, and so far no one has really managed it.

Zapatero is not running again. His socialists are being led into the election by Alfredo Peres Rubalcaba, but they have very little chance of holding on to government. The likely outcome is that Mariano Rajoy will be the name to remember, and that he will be man taking up the Prime Minister's role on Monday.

However, policial heads have already rolled in Greece and Italy because of the financial crisis, so Rajoy will need steady nerves and strong policies if he is to deliver on his promises and see his term out.

Our Madrid correspondent, Sarah Rainsford, looks ahead to the election with Riem Higazi.

Displaced people

Wars, natural disasters, local conflicts, there can be all sorts of reasons why people become displaced from their homes. There can also be many reasons why they are unable to return. Elizabeth Alcock spoke to Volker Türk who is the Director of the Division of International Protection at the UNHCR to find out what can be done to help them

Myanmar shows signs of a shift towards democracy

After a week that has seen the military government in Burma apparently easing it's control and trying to garner favour with the West, changes now seem to be coming think and fast.

US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, is heading to Burma next month, pro-democracy leader Sung San Suu Kyi says she will stand for parliament and US president Obame says he sees "flickers of progress" in the country. Our Asia correspondent, Tony Cheng, discusses the changes with Hal Rock.

Japan bans rice from Fukushima

A shipment of rice from Fukushima has been found to contain high levels of radioactive caesium - and most Japanese are not surprised. Our Tokyo correspondent, John Watts, explains how many people are becoming very cautious about what they eat.

Window Farms - the growing social business idea

Cezar Neaga of Schreber Meister tells Joanna Bostock about the idea of window farms, which enable city dwellers to not only grow their own produce, but support a worthy enterprise.

SchreberMeister are producing a limited edition Window Farm for Christmas. If you go to the website and pre-order a Window Farm between now and Christmas your name will go into the draw – with one name being picked each day in December as the buyer who gets one of 25 specially designed and decorated kits.

FM4 Reality Check

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