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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: Fighting 'Islamic State' with Cartoons

Suleiman Bakhit

16/07/2015

Fighting 'Islamic State' with Cartoons

BBC World Service - Outlook, Fighting 'Islamic State' with Cartoons

Jordanian comic book artist Suleiman Bakhit on challenging IS with cartoons.

Suleiman Bakhit, a best-selling Jordanian comic book artist, has created super-heroes for middle-eastern youth who might otherwise be attracted to extremist groups such as IS.

Suleiman Bakhit is a best-selling Jordanian comic book artist who has made it his mission to create alternative super-heroes for middle-eastern youth, who might otherwise be attracted to extremist groups such as the so-called Islamic State. He believes that a yearning for heroic adventure, rather than religion, is the main reason young people join these groups.  

Also, one of the few remaining weavers of sea-silk, Chiara Vigo, lives in a remote Sardinian village. That is where she creates this rare fabric which is made from Byssus - a fine filament collected from the sea. Chiara dives into the Mediterranean every spring to harvest the fibre produced by a few large molluscs near the island of Sant'Antioco. She shares her story with Outlook. 

Despite having enjoyed a successful stage and screen career since the late '60s, British actor Sir Ian McKellan became a big Hollywood name relatively late in life - when he took on the roles of Magneto in the X-Men franchise and Gandalf in the Lord Of the Rings films. As a result - and perhaps because Gandalf is several thousand years old - McKellan has always been seen as an 'older actor'. Now the issue of age and mental and physical decline is the subject of his new film Mr Holmes in which Sir Ian plays the famous fictional detective as a 93-year-old. Sir Ian McKellan tells the BBC's John Wilson what it was like to play this role. 

More than 11,000 people have died from Ebola since the epidemic began in December 2013. Liberia was declared Ebola-free on 9 May but just this month six new cases have been reported, and this week a woman died from the virus in a hospital in Monrovia. Our reporter Anne Soy has been to the city and has been hearing the story of one survivor, a 46-year-old father of two, Amos Gyasi.
 
When you think of country music, you probably think of America's deep south and of the countless stars that came from there. But what about Kenya's country music scene? One of the pioneers of country music Kenyan-style is Elvis Otieno - otherwise known as Sir Elvis. Influenced by his American counterparts, he is busy bringing songs of heartbreak and longing to the bars of Nairobi.

(Photo: Suleiman Bakhit, courtesy of S. Bakhit)

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