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Outlook

Factual: Life Stories

True stories of ordinary people and the extraordinary events that have shaped their lives

True stories of ordinary people and the extraordinary events that have shaped their lives.

Outlook: Syria: War in a Wheelchair

Chavia Ali

04/07/2013

Syria: War in a Wheelchair

BBC World Service - Outlook, Syria: War in a Wheelchair

Syrian campaigner Chavia Ali on how hard life is for disabled people caught up in the war

Pooneh Ghoddoosi hears from Syrian disability campaigner Chavia Ali. She tells us about the plight of disabled people who got caught up in the war that is tearing her country apart

Chavia Ali has been very vocal in speaking up for better opportunities for disabled people in Syria. But since the civil war began, life for disabled people has become even more difficult. Chavia told Pooneh Ghoddoosi why she had to leave her native town of Aleppo, as violence escalated across the country.

Over the summer the famous Metropolitan Museum is celebrating the impact of the New York punk rock scene on fashion today. And the place where the first punk rockers bought their clothes back in the 1970s is still going strong. Our reporter Matt Nelson has been to meet its manager, Jimmy Webb.  

HyeonSeo Lee defected from North Korea in the late 1990s. She went to China first and spent nearly ten years in hiding. Then, she applied for asylum in South Korea. She told Pooneh Ghoddoosi how she went back to help her mother and brother escape - with some assistance from an Australian man.

Sir Elton John is one of the world's most successful musicians. In a career spanning more than 50 years, he has sold more than 250 million records worldwide. His new album, The Diving Board - to be released later this year - features 12 new songs, as he told the BBC's John Wilson.

(Image: Syrian disability campaigner Chavia Ali prepares for her interview with Outlook)

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