

Fifth Floor
BBC World Service
Faranak Amidi takes a fresh look at the stories of the week with journalists from our 40 language sections.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Aug 24, 2018 • 14min
Kerala: Reporting the Floods
As the Indian state of Kerala struggles to cope with the worst floods in a century, Pramila Krishnan of BBC Tamil and Salman Ravi of BBC Hindi tell David Amanor how they've reported on the disaster, and how they came uncomfortably close to the floodwaters.Image: Indian volunteers rescuing a local resident in Ernakulam Kerala August 2018
Credit: AFP/Getty Images

Aug 17, 2018 • 7min
Sinking Jakarta
Experts predict that large parts of the Indonesian capital will be submerged by 2050 unless action is urgently taken. As a low-lying coastal city, Jakarta is vulnerable to climate change, but the biggest problem is the massive extraction of groundwater, as Mayuri Mei Lin of BBC Indonesian has been finding out.Image: Residents in Jakarta during floods in February 2018
Credit: NurPhoto/Getty Images

Aug 10, 2018 • 13min
Under Fire in South Ossetia
Ten years ago, conflict broke out between Georgia and Russia over the break-away region of South Ossetia, with the first shells falling on the capital Tskhinvali on 7th August. Watching events unfold from the Georgian capital Tbilisi was Temur Kighuradze, now a journalist with BBC Russian, but then an ambitious young newspaper journalist.Image: a destroyed building in South Ossetia in August 2008
Credit: VIKTOR DRACHEV/AFP/Getty Images

Aug 3, 2018 • 10min
Poet, painter, lover: Kahlil Gibran
A new musical called Broken Wings is on in London this week, based the life of Lebanese-born writer Kahlil Gibran. BBC Arabic's Nahed Najjar is a fan, and explains why Gibran remains so popular across the Arabic-speaking world nearly 90 years after his death.Image: Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931)
Credit: Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images

Jul 27, 2018 • 10min
Voices Across a Divide
President Trump’s zero tolerance immigration policy has polarised opinion in the US. BBC Mundo reporter Patricia Sulbaran followed the story of 11 year old Honduran Brayan, separated from his father. Brazilian Hugo Bachega visited a small town in Ohio which recently saw raids on undocumented Mexicans working there, a move residents support.Image: holding hands
Credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Jul 20, 2018 • 11min
Pakistan's Election Hotseat
It's election time in Pakistan, and BBC Urdu has been finding out what voters think. Hassan Zaidi has been following the social media chatter; and Hussain Askari has been criss-crossing the country in the company of 3 women bikers, 3 life-sized cardboard cut-outs of prominent politicians, and a big yellow chair.Photo: The yellow chair of power in Karachi
Credit: BBC

Jul 13, 2018 • 6min
Thai cave rescue: behind the scenes
Overnight laundry, halal meals, and the reading habits of the rescue chief: insights from BBC Thai's Watchiranont Thongep into some of the volunteers helping behind the scenes with the rescue of the Boo Pa football team from the Tham Luang caves. Image: cooking food for the Thai cave rescuers
Credit: BBC

Jul 6, 2018 • 10min
Nigeria: herders and farmers in crisis
Many parts of Nigeria have seen increasingly violent clashes between farmers and Fulani herdsmen. Who are the Fulani, and what really lies behind the violence? Questions for Halima Umar from BBC Hausa and BBC Yoruba's Ahmed Ambali.
Photo: Nigerian Herdsman. Credit: Emmanuel Arewa / AFP /Getty Images)

Jun 29, 2018 • 11min
Ethiopia & Eritrea: Peace?
This week an Eritrean government delegation arrived in Ethiopia, an event unimaginable even a month ago. The two countries clashed in a border war in 1998, and despite a ceasefire the standoff has continued over the border town of Badme. But with a new Prime Minister in Ethiopia it seems peace may finally be possible. BBC Tigrinya journalists Tesfalem Araia from Eritrea, and Berihu Lilay from the Tigray region of Ethiopia, discuss developments.Image: Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (L) and Eritrea's Foreign minister Osman Saleh Mohammed (R) in Addis Ababa as Eritrea's delegation arrives for peace talks
Credit: Yonas Tadesseyonas /AFP/Getty Images

Jun 22, 2018 • 10min
Afghanistan: A Moment of Peace
Afghans had a rare taste of peace during the Eid ceasefire between the government and the Taliban. At the same time, a peace march from Helmand reached Kabul. The BBC's Malaika Ahmadzai interviewed a member of the Taliban, and Karim Haidari met the marchers as they approached the capital.Image: Taliban greet people on Eid al-Fitr amid ceasefire in Herat, 17 June 2018
Credit: Jalil Rezayee/European Photopress