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Syria and Egypt

In a cafe in Beirut, Lina Sinjab meets old friends three years after violence erupted in Syria; Robin Denselow takes a trip down an unseasonably deserted Nile.

On 18th March 2011, in the southern Syrian city of Daraa, the first anti-government protesters were shot in what is widely regarded as the first deaths of the present conflict. Three years on, Lina Sinjab meets some old friends from Damascus, in a cafe in Beirut, to find out what's become of her generation of Syrians.

As political instability and unrest continues in Egypt, the country's tourism sector is suffering. Five million fewer tourists arrived in 2013 than in 2010, and those employed in that industry are struggling to cope. Robin Denselow heard from them on a recent trip down the Nile.

Presenter: Pascale Harter
Producer: Ben Weisz

Photo: Temple of Karnak, in the southern Egyptian city of Luxor, December 2013
Photo credit: KHALED DESOUKI/AFP/Getty Images

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11 minutes

Last on

Tue 18 Mar 2014 20:50GMT

Broadcast

  • Tue 18 Mar 2014 20:50GMT