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The Fifth Floor

Factual: Life Stories

Global stories from the BBC’s 40 Language Services, with Faranak Amidi

Faranak Amidi presents global stories from the Fifth Floor, home to the BBC’s 40 Language Services.

Faranak Amidi presents global stories from the Fifth Floor, home to the BBC’s 40 Language Services

The Fifth Floor: Colombia's Houses of Horror

Residents of Beunaventura

21/03/2014

Colombia's Houses of Horror

BBC World Service - The Fifth Floor, Colombia's Houses of Horror

Finding fear and gruesome stories in Buenaventura, Colombia's most dangerous city

Colombia's 'horror city'; Tunisia's single ladies; Gaza's only music school; Russia and Ukraine battles it out on Wikipedia; Kabul's historic cinema.

Even in the context of Colombia, a country that is no stranger to violence, Buenaventura is a no go zone. It's been dubbed 'horror city' because of the depraved way in which gangs there have started to torture and kill their victims, in what have become known as 'casas de pique' or 'chop houses'. BBC Mundo's Arturo Wallace from BBC Mundo travelled there and shares his experiences.

Tunisia's Mubaras
BBC Africa's Sihem Hassaini is fast approaching that magical age by which her aunts think she should be married off to a nice young man. In Tunisia if you're unmarried by 30 you get labelled a 'mubara', or an 'old maid'. But more and more young, professional women like Sihem are choosing to ditch this title and live an independent life, she tells us why.

Gaza's Only Music School
It was founded in 2008, to teach young Gazans to read music, sing and play eastern and western instruments. The school currently has 185 students and is struggling on despite being pushed to the financial brink. Shahdi Alkashif from BBC Arabic reports from his a visit to the school. 

Wiki Wars
The Crimea crisis is also being played out on Wikipedia - the site has been hot with activity since the crisis began but the battles have gone into overdrive this week with people battling over terminology and details and lambasting each other for bias. Famil Ismailov from BBC Russian and Irena Taranyuk from BBC Ukranian check out the activity on the site over the last few days.

Kabul Cinema 
The Aryoub was Kabul's biggest and best loved cinema - it was the place to be and be seen before the civil war, but the crumbled wreckage has served as a constant reminder to people in the city of how much has been lost over the years. Now it has been refurbished and has just re-opened. BBC Afghan editor Meena Baktash used to go there with her family as a child and shares her memories. 

Online Greatest Hits
Fifi Haroon gives the low down on the top-hitting stories across the Language Service websites, including smelly ear wax and a man with 98 children.

Image Credit: Arturo Wallace

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