Fifth Floor

By BBC World ServiceNews

Fifth Floor episodes

April 21, 2023 Uganda's child pregnancy problem
Since the pandemic, reports from Uganda say there has been a 300% increase in pregnancies among girls aged 10-14. Sexual violence has been further fuelled in the north by the legacy of a 20-year insurgency led by notorious warlord Joseph Kony, and cases of sexual abuse of girls as young as three are being reported. For BBC Africa Eye, Paul Bakibinga investigates the true scale of the problem.
Russia's online draft
Under a new law recently signed by President Vladimir Putin, call-up papers will be served online, which makes avoiding the draft almost impossible. Kateryna Khinkulova of BBC Russian explains the new legislation.
Fighting to keep Afghan music alive
After they took power in August 2021, the Taliban imposed a total ban on playing and listening to music in public in Afghanistan. Students at the National Institute of Music fled the country, but now they are performing on the international stage in order to keep their music alive. BBC Afghan's Shekiba Habib has been talking to them.
The return of Ya Ya the panda to China
Ya Ya arrived at Memphis Zoo 20 years ago but will soon make the journey back to her home country. Chinese netizens have been urging her swift return and asking if it's time for China to move on from 'panda diplomacy'. The BBC's Fan Wang has been covering the story.
(Photo: Young Ugandan mother carrying baby on her back)
42 min
April 14, 2023 Defending against the death penalty
Since anti-government protests erupted in Iran following the death in police custody last September of Mahsa Amini, at least 30,000 people have been arrested. While most have been released on bail, it's reported that more than a hundred have been sentenced to death or charged with capital offences. BBC Persian's Firouzeh Akbarian tells us about the lawyers who are trying to stop more executions as well as free people from detention.
A haunted forest in Serbia's 'Siberia'
The Pešter Plateau in south west Serbia is nicknamed Serbia's Siberia because of its long cold winters, which often leave villages cut off by snow. Its extensive grasslands are used for raising sheep and cattle, but Sandra Maksimovic of BBC Serbian discovered an unusual forest which has survived through the centuries, because - according to legend - it's haunted.
The Indian communities where women inherit
In India's north-eastern state of Meghalaya, many families still follow an age-old system of inheritance, where children take the mother's surname and the ancestral property goes to the youngest daughter. BBC Marathi's Mayuresh Konnur visited Meghalaya and discovered the pressure that modern life is putting on this matrilineal tradition.
My father's story - and my country's
In 2018, BBC Uzbek journalist Ibrat Safo began recording stories told by his father, Ozod. They were family memories but also revealed a lot about the history of Uzbekistan in the 20th century. When Ozod died earlier this year, Ibrat decided to share some of those 'Dad tapes'.
(Photo: Women hold up signs depicting the image of Mahsa Amini, who died while in the custody of Iranian authorities. Credit: SAFIN HAMED/AFP via Getty Images)
43 min
April 07, 2023 Indian students returning to Ukraine
A year ago India evacuated thousands of students, mostly studying medicine, from Ukraine following the Russian invasion. Their arrival home was greeted with great thanks and fanfare, so why have more than a thousand felt compelled to return? BBC Hindi’s Jugal Purohit has been finding out.
Chicken poop power
A farmer in Kenya has developed an original way of tackling the rising cost of living, using chicken droppings to make biogas which produces electricity for his farm. BBC Africa business journalist Sara Adam went to meet him.
The Javanese diaspora in Suriname
More than 70,000 people in Suriname, around 15% of the population, are of Javanese ancestry. In the 19th century, Dutch colonisers recruited thousands of Indonesians from Java to work on plantations in Suriname. More than a century later, the Javanese Surinamese still keep their heritage alive. Mohamad Susilo from BBC Indonesian visited Suriname to meet some of them.
Reporting Lebanon's financial meltdown
The Lebanese lira has been in freefall as the country experiences a financial meltdown. Prices are constantly rising and many people are struggling to survive. For Carine Torbey, the BBC correspondent in Beirut, it’s a story she has to live as well as report.
Investigating the ‘pig butchering’ romance scam
One of the most successful global online romance scams, known as ‘pig butchering’, is run by criminal gangs in South East Asia. World Service journalist Zhaoyin Feng worked with the BBC Eye Investigation team, travelling from Boston to Phnom Penh to meet victims and former scammers.
(Photo: Indian medical students who've returned to Ukraine. Credit: BBC)
42 min
March 31, 2023 Exposing bogus blindness treatments
BBC Arabic’s recent film ‘Blind Faith’ exposes the clinics offering bogus, and potentially dangerous, treatments to people living with an incurable eye disease called retinitis pigmentosa, or RP. The reporter is Ramadan Younes, who's based in Egypt. He also has RP and is visually impaired, and underwent one of these treatments himself.
Vietnamese embassy protests in Poland
Poland's Vietnamese community has been protesting outside the Vietnamese embassy in Warsaw, and demanding the resignation of the ambassador, over allegations of overcharging and illegal fees for visas and passports. BBC Vietnamese editor Giang Nguyen has been following the story.
South Koreans committing to singledom
BBC Korean journalist Yuna Ku has been investigating the growing number of Koreans committing to remaining single, some even staging 'non-marriage' ceremonies. She explores how the workplace, and society, are responding.
(Photo: BBC Arabic's Ramadan Younes. Credit: BBC)
42 min
March 24, 2023 The Fifth Floor in São Paulo
With big political changes in Brazil after a divisive election which brought in a new president, Faranak Amidi is in the country's largest city São Paulo to look at the stories being covered by the BBC journalists based there.
The heart of São Paulo: Avenida Paulista
Leticia Mori takes us to the famous Avenida Paulista, built for the rich of São Paulo and now home to many businesses and banks. It hosts street markets and live performances every Sunday, and has also been the site of many protests and demonstrations.
A country the size of a continent
Journalists Vitor Tavares, Camilla Mota, Ian Alves and Ligia Guimarães give us an idea of the vastness of Brazil with a quick introduction to their home towns.
Divided Brazil
We discuss the divisions which seem to touch all parts of life in Brazil - with João Fellet, Thais Carrança and Ian Alves. What's it been like reporting on such a polarised country, and has the new presidency brought any signs of change?
My favourite neighbourhood: Liberdade
We rejoin Leticia Mori in the Liberdade neighbourhood of São Paulo, home to the city's Japanese community. Leticia tells us about her own Japanese heritage and what this area tells us about the complex history of Brazil.
Brazil, the melting pot
Brazil has one of the most diverse and mixed populations in the world, and São Paulo is its most diverse city. Camilla Mota, Mariana Alvim and Felipe Souza tell us what it means to be Brazilian, and discuss the stereotypes they're sometimes faced with.
(Photo: A man shows the Brazilian flag in Avenida Paulista, São Paulo. Credit: Mauro Horita/Getty Images)
42 min
March 17, 2023 Aid, politics and Syria’s earthquake
February's earthquake spanned the Turkey-Syria border and refocused international attention on the complicated geopolitics of northern Syria. We hear how the earthquake aid operation presented both challenges and opportunities to the different groups controlling Syria, from the government in Damascus to the rebel leaders of Idlib province. With BBC Monitoring jihadi expert Mina al-Lami and BBC Middle East correspondent Lina Sinjab.
The handwritten newspaper of Bangladesh
Since 2019, a handwritten newspaper has been published by a group of day labourers in southern Bangladesh. It aims to inspire others with stories of ordinary villagers who have overcome struggles and hardships, as BBC Bengali's Nagib Bahar reports.
Venezuela: 10 years after the death of Hugo Chavez
Venezuelans have been marking the tenth anniversary of the death of former president Hugo Chavez, one of the most controversial, charismatic and influential politicians in Latin American history. As a child, teenager and then young reporter, BBC Mundo’s Jorge Perez witnessed some of the key moments of Chavez’s rule.
Searching for gems of hope
For four decades local people have been mining semi-precious stones in the mountainous Chumar Bakhoor area of Gilgit-Baltistan in northern Pakistan. BBC Urdu’s Musa Yawari travelled into the mountains to meet the miners as they brave hazardous conditions hoping to make their fortunes.
(Photo: A man in Idlib province carrying the body of a child after the Turkey-Syria earthquake. Credit: Mohammed Al-Rifai/AFP via Getty images)
43 min
March 10, 2023 The Belarusians fighting in Ukraine
We look at the Belarusian regiment of volunteers serving under Ukrainian command in the war against Russia, and explore Ukraine's complex relationship with Belarus, with BBC Monitoring journalist, and Belarusian, Gennadiy Kot.
Me and my name
BBC Mundo's Atahualpa Amerise reflects on what it’s like to be a Spaniard named after the last Inca emperor.
Thai punishment haircuts
Historically Thai students have faced humiliating punishment haircuts by teachers for breaking strict rules regarding the length and style of their hair. But last month the authorities revoked the hair regulations. BBC Thai's Tossapol Chaisamritpol visits a school that has adopted more liberal rules, and remembers his own punishment haircuts.
Chinese migrants 'walking the line' through South America
Benny Lu of BBC Chinese has spoken to some of the growing number of Chinese asylum seekers trying to reach the United States via South America. They call it 'walking the line'.
The champion rat catcher of Bangladesh
Mohammed Anwar is a champion rat catcher. It started as a hobby to make a bit of pocket money then became a lucrative career. BBC Bengali's Shahnewaj Rocky joined him for a rat catching day out.
(Photo: Belarus fighters in Ukraine. Credit: The Kastus Kalinowski Regiment website)
42 min
March 03, 2023 Reporting Iran's school poisonings
There's fear and anger in Iran over a wave of poisonings that have affected hundreds of schoolgirls across the country. Soroush Pakzad from BBC Persian's social media team describes the challenges of investigating the story, and Aalia Farzan from BBC Dari tells us how the cause of similar incidents in Afghanistan a few years back was never established.
BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year
The sporting achievements of Indian women athletes are being celebrated by the BBC in Delhi this weekend when they announce the winner of their Indian Sportswoman of the Year award for 2022. Journalist Divya Arya has been reporting on the nominees, and tells us about their achievements.
Crimea bridge attack: who has been arrested for the explosion?
In October last year, sections of Russia's only bridge to Crimea were brought down in a huge blast. Moscow had illegally annexed the region four years earlier. Within days of the explosion, eight people were arrested. BBC Russian's Nina Nazarova has spoken to lawyers and families, and tells us what she discovered.
Triumph against the odds
Halima Umar Saleh of BBC Hausa shares the inspiring story of how she escaped the threat of an arranged marriage as a teenager and fulfilled her dream of becoming a journalist, in our series celebrating the BBC's 100 years.
(Photo: Mothers demanding classes move online. Credit: IRNA)
42 min
February 24, 2023 BBC Russian: meet the Riga team
Faranak Amidi meets the BBC Russian journalists who relocated from Moscow to the Latvian capital after the invasion of Ukraine.
The first anniversary: what's in the news?
Editor Sergei Zakin tells us what the news focus has been for his team in the week of the first anniversary of the invasion.
The move from Moscow to Riga
Bureau chief Andrei Goryanov explains why the difficult decision was taken to move BBC Russian journalists and their families out of Moscow, and why Riga was chosen as their new home.
Leaving Russia
Seva Boiko, Liza Fokht and Sergei Goryashko share their experiences of the past year. They describe the challenge of leaving homes and family members and building a new life in a new city. We find out how the shared difficulties have brought the team closer together.
Riga: my home town
For several years, Latvian journalist Oksana Antonenko covered news from the Baltic region for BBC Russian. She tells us what it was like when nearly fifty colleagues arrived from Moscow to set up their new base in her home town.
Reporting Russia from outside
The move from Moscow to Riga has meant a new way of reporting for many of the BBC Russian team. Misha Poplavsky and Nataliya Zotova tell us how the change has impacted them. And they reflect with Oksana on what the future holds for them, personally and professionally.
(Photo: Faranak Amidi with BBC Russian's Oksana Antonenko in front of Riga's historic House of the Blackheads. Credit: BBC)
47 min
February 17, 2023 BBC Ukrainian: a year of war
Since the start of the war in Ukraine nearly a year ago, thousands of lives have been lost on both sides, and millions of Ukrainians have been forced to leave their homes. For BBC Ukrainian, it's been a year of upheaval, with many journalists from Kyiv moving to new hubs in Lviv and Warsaw, and some living apart from family members. We hear how the team have continued to report the war, from editor Marta Shokalo in Warsaw, Daria Taradai in Lviv and Oleg Karpyak in Kyiv.
Ukraine war - perspectives from around the world
Over the past year, Russia has been building on its already strong ties to many countries around the world, using trade deals, historic loyalties and propaganda. We get perspectives from China, Latin America and Africa from BBC Chinese editor Howard Zhang, Grigor Atanesian from the BBC's Global Disinformation Unit and Luis Fajardo from BBC Monitoring.
(Photo: The Ukrainian national flag flies over Kyiv. Credit: Raul Moreno/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
42 min