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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: Farewell Nadine Gordimer

Nadine Gordimer

18/07/2014

Farewell Nadine Gordimer

BBC World Service - The Fifth Floor, Farewell Nadine Gordimer

Paying tribute to one of South Africa's most influential authors

Remembering one of South Africa's most influential authors, celebrating 60 years of Colombian TV, Delhi's water ATMs, and Sufi music on Karachi's streets.

She was a Nobel Laureate and one of the most powerful literary voices against apartheid in South Africa. Two South African journalists Audrey Brown and Nick Ericsson remember Nadine Gordimer, one of their country's most influential authors.

Also in the programme:

Delhi's water ATMs 
A new service has been introduced in Delhi for those with poor water supplies and that is the Water ATM - you pay in your money and out comes a steady flow of pure, clean water. BBC Hindi's Nitin Srivastava has been trying it out.

Colombian TV at 60
For 60 years, Colombian TV has been entertaining audiences across Latin America with its colourful shows. BBC Mundo editor Hernando Alvarez  and Colombia correspondent Arturo Wallace, discuss why Colombian TV became so popular across the continent and how the hit US TV show Ugly Betty, based in New York, actually started life as Yo Soy Betty, La Fea from Bogota. 

Remembering Brazil's Decades of Military Repression
BBC Brasil's Pablo Uchoa recalls the story of his father, Inocencio, one of hundreds of Brazilians detained and tortured under two decades of military rule.  

BBC's Thai "Pop-up" Service
The Thai service is back in a brand new form on social media. This comes after the BBC and other international media were taken off air in Thailand during the military coup in May. Issariya Praithongyaem describes the new service and its huge popularity with Thai audiences - despite the fact one can face seven years in prison for 'liking' a Facebook page the authorities in Thailand deem controversial. 

Sindhi Music on the Streets of Karachi
In the hustle and bustle of Karachi, a city where you drown in a cacophony of ambulance sirens, street sellers, crows and dogs, Saba Imtiaz finds a precious moment of beautiful sound when a street musician stops outside her door. For a short while the city stops and listens to music that has been passed down through the generations - this is Sindhi music - simple and sometimes melancholy melodies, evoking memories of a land of beauty and often unspeakable tragedies.

Online Greatest Hits
Digital diva Fifi Haroon gives the low down on the top-hitting stories across the web including, urinating during the Beijing and creating the kingdom of "North Sudan".

Picture: Nadine Gordimer, Credit: AFP

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