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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: "Boots on the Ground"

Military Boots

26/09/2014

"Boots on the Ground"

BBC World Service - The Fifth Floor, "Boots on the Ground"

The story behind the phrase 'boots of the ground'; Presidential dress codes; Celebrating 100 years of Julio Cortazar; and inside Pakistan's Ahmadi community.

'Boots on the ground' is essentially shorthand phrase for sending combat troops into war. It's a term that has been popping up constantly in English language news coverage, but we find out why you're unlikely to hear anyone from BBC Arabic use it and how the Chinese equivalent - 'iron hooves' - has its own significance.

Letter from Cambodia: the Floating Vietnamese Villages of Tonlé Sap 
Tonlé Sap, a giant freshwater lake in Cambodia, is home to an ethnic Vietnamese community who live in floating villages. Despite having lived on the lake for generations, many of the residents do not have the right documents to stay in Cambodia and there are fears that a planned government census may result in them being pressured to leave the country. Nga Pham of BBC Vietnamese took a boat trip around the floating homes, schools, shops and temples of Tonlé Sap and heard the stories of those that live there.

How to Dress a President 
Next Monday, Hamid Karzai will stand down as president of Afghanistan - leaving some very stylish shoes to be filled. Karzai is famously well-groomed and was once voted one of the best dressed men in the world by Esquire magazine. Other leaders have made a point of being less well-turned out - for instance Gandhi never went in for high fashion, and Chechnya's Kadyrov once turned up in a tracksuit at the Kremlin. Language service colleagues tell their sartorial tales of presidents gone by, including what happened when BBC Africa's Veronique Edwards went to interview a leader who was dressed so oddly that she failed to recognise him.  

The Strangest Museums of Mexico City 
According to the Mexican government, Mexico City has more museums than any other city in the world. Juan Carlos Perez of BBC Mundo talks us through some of the more eccentric museums the city has to offer, including museums of toys, torture and drug trafficking. 

Inside the Ahmadi Community 
Forty years ago the Pakistan government declared the minority Ahmadiya religious sect to be non-muslim, resulting in Ahmadis being subjected to sectarian attacks and further persecution. BBC Urdu's Nosheen Abbas reports from the all-Ahmadi town of Rabwah in rural Punjab - one of the few places in Pakistan where they are not marginalised.

Celebrating Julio Cortazar 
He's a master of magical realism, and can even teach you to climb the stairs: Julio Cortazar is one of Argentina's most famous writers, and this year marks 100 years since his birth. BBC Mundo's Valeria Perasso, a self confessed fan of his work, explains his appeal.

Online Greatest Hits
Digital diva Fifi Haroon gives the lowdown on the weird and wonderful stories across the web, including Dutch detective dogs, intoxicating noodles, and a napkin-eating mortgage broker.

 
(Picture: Military boots
Picture credit: Getty Images)

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