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Factual: Life Stories

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

Outlook: Judge Judy, Slack-Lining and Afghan TV Soap

Judge Judy, Caio Afeto & Trudi Ann Tierney

11/01/2015

Judge Judy, Slack-Lining and Afghan TV Soap

BBC World Service - Outlook, Judge Judy, Slack-Lining and Afghan TV Soap

US TV's top-paid judge, the man who walks over rooftops in Rio, and Afghan drama

US TV's top-paid judge, the man who walks over rooftops in Rio, and Afghan drama made by an Australian.

Shukri al-Assouli from Gaza was one of only 11 survivors of 500 migrants who set sail from Egypt bound for Europe last September. Most of them were fleeing war in Gaza and Syria. After four days at sea the boat was allegedly rammed by traffickers and capsized. Shukri lost his wife and his two young girls in the shipwreck.

Levison Wood is a former British soldier turned explorer who recently attempted to walk the entire length of the Nile, the longest river in the world. The journey took him through savannahs, swamps, rain forests and war-zones. 

Munjed Al Muderis fled his native Iraq after defying an order to mutilate army deserters. He undertook an epic journey and ended up being given asylum in Australia, where he is now a respected surgeon.

Trudi Ann Tierney gave up her lucrative career in Australian TV to produce soaps operas in Afghanistan. She became head of drama at Afghanistan's largest media organisation and today runs a production company making dramas with her business partner.

Caio Salomão is a high liner from Brazil. Like a tight rope walker, he walks across huge gaps balancing on a what is known as a 'slack line' which is a narrow strip of webbing just two and half centimetres wide. He has crossed gaps between sky scrapers and mountains walking across sheer drops of thousands of meters in just his bare feet. 

Seventy-two-year-old Judith Sheindlin is one of the highest paid TV stars in the world. She is better known as Judge Judy. For nearly 20 years she has been handing down on-screen judgments in the real-life disputes of ordinary Americans. She tells us how she negotiates her multi-million dollar fee.

(Photo: Judge Judy (credit: Valerie Macon), Caio Salomão (credit: Ion Furlin - Balneário Camburiú), Trudi Ann Tierney)

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