Erstellt am: 22. 12. 2014 - 14:30 Uhr

Tunisia's new president?

Four years on, how far has Tunisia come to true democracy? Reality Check takes a look.

Tunisia

Veteran politician Beji Caid Essebsi has declared victory in the country's presidential run-off vote. Full results are expected later today, but exit polls suggest he has taken more than 55% of the vote.

88 year old Beji Caid Essebsi, served under previous regimes and he heads the secularist Nida Tunis party, which currently controls the parliament. The election was seen as the last step in Tunisia's shift to full democracy, four years after the Arab Spring uprising ousted autocrat Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali. Last October, Tunisians elected a new parliament and with today’s result, it is expected that Tunisia’s politicians now have a mandate to push through reforms to revive the country’s failing economy.
But in which direction is he and his party set to take Tunisia? We speak with Arab Affairs analyst, Michael Lüders.

North Korea

President Barack Obama says he's considering formally designating North Korea a "state sponsor of terrorism" following the cyber attack on Sony Pictures. North Korea denies responsibility for the attack, which led Sony to abandon plans to launch a new comedy that depicts a fictional attempt to assassinate Kim Jong Un. Meanwhile South Korea's nuclear power plants have begun a series of drills, following online threats to attack the facilities.
The plant's operator has confirmed that its computer systems were hacked last week, with stolen information published online.We speak with North Korea specialist Aidan Foster-Carter who tells us what he thinks is really going on.

Corruption in Spain

Barely a week goes by in Spain without new allegations of corruption being levelled against business leaders, politicians and even the royal family. In response, a group of Barcelona based volunteers have set up an anonymous internet site for whistleblowers known as X-net. We speak with Simona Levi, one of the founders of X-net.

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