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BBC World Service Online

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: Stories from the Frontline: Gaza

Stories from the Frontline: Gaza

08/08/2014

BBC World Service - The Fifth Floor, Stories from the Frontline: Gaza

When home becomes a conflict zone: reporting, sleeping and surviving in the bureau

Gaza: When home becomes a conflict zone; West African ghost stories; Water as a weapon of war in Iraq; and Eastleigh - a local's tour

How do you cope when your home is a conflict zone? For the last month, BBC Arabic's Shahdi Alkashif has been sleeping on the floor of his office in Gaza. Shahdi has been on the ground reporting the war for BBC Arabic, and he reflects on how this is affecting life for him and his family. 

Also in the programme:

Famous Resignations 
This week marks 40 years since the first and only resignation of an American president - Richard Nixon. From Yeltsin to Musharraf and Mubarak, language service journalists remember covering the last days of historic premierships and what the atmosphere was like in those countries when the news broke. 

African Horror Fiction
The revenge of wronged ancestors, villages populated by the dead and what can befall you when you don't knock on the door of a morgue three times. Welcome to the world of West African horror fiction. Nigerian writer Nuzo Onoh tells David about her new supernatural novel The Reluctant Dead and BBC Africa's Veronique Edwards shares scary tales from her native Cameroon.

Water as a Weapon in Iraq
Two rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, are the lifeblood of Iraq. Iraqis depend on these waters for fishing, farming, drinking and hydro-electric power. Now there are fears that Islamic State militants could take control of the country by capturing dams on these waterways, allowing them to flood upstream regions and create drought in cities downstream. BBC Persian's Jiyar Gol has been to the region to investigate. He tells David how a life-giving natural resource can become a deadly weapon. 

Eastleigh: A Local's Tour
BBC Somali's Suheba Mohammed takes David to the heart of Eastleigh - a district in Nairobi populated mainly by ethnic Somali Kenyans and Somalis who fled decades of war in their homeland. The place is famous for its vibrant markets, although a crackdown against illegal migration and suspected militants has also taken its toll.

Online Greatest Hits
Digital diva Fifi Haroon gives the lowdown on the top-hitting stories across the web including Japanese snapping turtles and the Russian teenagers who made a swimming pool in their living room.

Photo credit: Getty Images

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