麻豆社

Pascale Harter introduces stories from Sudan, Italy, Japan and Georgia.

Sudan was thrown into disarray in April last year when its army and a powerful militia group, the Rapid Support Forces began a vicious struggle for power. More than 40,000 have been killed in the conflict and endemic hunger has set in across the country. Aid agencies have long complained that security threats and roadblocks have greatly hampered their effort to deliver vital goods, like food, to the people who need them. But Sudanese people have shown extraordinary resourcefulness, says Leila Molana Allen.

Last year in Italy the biggest anti-mafia trial in 30 years ended with over 200 defendants sentenced to a total of more than 2,000 years in jail. On the stand were members and associates of the Calabrian Ndrangheta 鈥� considered to be one of the world鈥檚 most dangerous criminal organisations. As Francisco Garcia discovered when he visited the region, the Ndrangheta and other mafia organisations have also muscled in on Italian agriculture.

Record numbers of houses are lying vacant in Japan. It鈥檚 partly because of people moving from the countryside to cities. But it鈥檚 also due to the falling value of old homes as Japanese buyers prefer new houses. Shaimaa Khalil reports from Tokyo.

In April this year tension and public protests spilled onto the streets of Georgia 鈥� once part of the former Soviet Union. The unrest stemmed from a controversial new law, which classes civil society groups and media which get more than of a fifth of their funding from abroad as 鈥渙rganisations serving the interests of a foreign power.鈥� Critics of the law argued it mirrors a similar one introduced in Russia. But as Beth Timmins discovered 鈥� though the tension is never far from the surface - there is still much happiness to be found in Georgian weddings.

Producer: Caroline Bayley
Editor: Tom Bigwood
Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison