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From Our Own Correspondent: Syria and Vietnam

Bustan al-Qasr

21/08/2013

Syria and Vietnam

BBC World Service - From Our Own Correspondent, Syria and Vietnam

The Aleppo crossing point where snipers target children

Hannah Lucinda Smith is at an Aleppo crossing point where locals scurry while snipers target children; Petroc Trelawny traces the history of a bridge which unites Hanoi.

Pascale Harter presents dispatches from two cities at the crossroads - where war and business have intersected, while daily life had to go on. Hannah Lucinda Smith's at the only point in Aleppo where people can cross openly between regime and rebel-held areas of town. In a place which has become "a city of fiefdoms" during the fighting, it's a dangerous spot. Worried students, would-be food shoppers and fatalistic merchants must scurry or stroll through the sights of the sniper rifles - which seem to particularly target children. 

Meanwhile Petroc Trelawny's in Hanoi, a city remodeled many times over by war, exploring a cherished landmark, the colonial-era Long Bien Bridge. It still throbs with commerce - and it's covered with messages from young lovers.

(Photo: Getty Images)

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