Island of protest
Since 1945, the inhabitants of Okinawa have shared their island with a US military base.
The Pacific island of Okinawa, situated some 500 miles from the Japanese mainland, has a rich culture and is known as a popular tourist destination.
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| Okinawan survivors of the Second World War |
But a bloody historical legacy has dictated that, since 1945, the people of Okinawa have had to share their island with 50,000 US servicemen.
Although the US handed sovereignty of the island back to Japan in 1972, it maintains a military base there.
Many Okinawans are angered by the pro-US policies of their government and protests over the military presence have increased diplomatic tensions between the two powers.
Despite having one of the most enduring protest movements in the world, it seems the destiny of Okinawa and its people will be decided not on the island but in Tokyo and Washington.
Lisa Cazzato investigates the long-standing tensions.
Roberto Saviano
Known as the Salman Rushdie of Italy, Roberto Saviano, the author of the book behind the film Gomorrah, lives under 24 hour police protection in a Naples police station.
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| Roberto Saviano talks to Al Jazeera |
Although his book, and the film based on his writings, about one of Italy’s most powerful mafia families have turned him into a celebrity, his stark revelations about the Camorra has also made him one of their biggest targets.
“I would write my book Gomorrah another 100 times, because I understand that this book was necessary. But I have hated it a lot, it’s the book that I hate the most because it forced me and my family to live a life I never wanted,” he says.
The police rarely come to the housing estates in Neapolitan suburbs like Scampia, a Camorra enclave, famous for its drug dealers.
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| The Italian police rarely enter housing estates in Camorra enclaves |
Experts say it is the highly profitable narcotics market that is at the centre of a turf war between Mafia families and according to priest Vittorio Siciliani over the last few years things have grown worse.
He says Camorra families are now encouraging their children to lead a life of crime: “I have seen ten-year-olds with a baton in their hands hitting drug addicts 20 years older than them who caused trouble waiting for their fix.”
The violence is not just limited to the suburbs. In 2004 Anna Lisa Durante was killed in the centre of Naples, when she was caught in the cross-fire of a Camorra ambush.
Coming out of hiding to speak to Al Jazeera, Saviano says the Camorra has killed thousands of people in the past 30 years and that he hopes not only that his work will now make a difference but that one day he will again be free to walk the streets of this city.
This episode of People & Power airs from Saturday, November 22, 2008 at the following times GMT:
Saturday 0130, 1230 and 1930; Sunday 0330, 1030 and 2330; Monday 0730