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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: Preventing an Execution in Pakistan

Shafqat Hussain Family

16/01/2015

Preventing an Execution in Pakistan

BBC World Service - The Fifth Floor, Preventing an Execution in Pakistan

How a BBC journalist stopped an execution in Pakistan

How a BBC journalist stopped an execution in Pakistan; the challenges faced by whistleblowers; a Chinese clampdown on cleavage and remembering Cape Verde's 'Barefoot Diva'

A fresh look at the week's global news from across the World Service's 27 language sections, with David Amanor

The execution of a Pakistani man, due to take place this week, was halted after a BBC Urdu TV report highlighted shortcomings in the judicial process.  Reporter Haroon Rashid describes his race against the clock to publicise the case of Shafqat Hussain. 

Whistleblowers
Following the launch of AfriLeaks - a whistle-blowing website which aims to expose abuses of power in Africa - BBC Africa's Lewis Machipisa and BBC Russian's Famil Ismailov discuss notable whistleblowers from their regions and the attitudes of their nations toward them.

Cleavage and Corruption: China Clampdown 
With the recent disappearance of cleavage from a new Chinese TV drama, and a threat to the appearance of scantily clad models at the Shanghai Auto Show, Yuwen Wu of BBC Chinese explains why the Chinese government is cleaning up 'decadent' popular culture. It's not just a crackdown on revealing outfits, it's part of a wider plan to target corruption.

The Widows of Kashmir
Thousands of people have been killed in Indian-administered Kashmir since an armed rebellion against Indian rule erupted in 1989. Although the violence has declined overall since the early 2000s, the scars are still borne by the widows of the conflict. BBC Hindi's Shalu Yadav met two Kashmiri widows on opposite sides of the conflict.

Cesaria Evora 
It's 3 years since the death of Cape Verdean singer Cesaria Evora. She spent time in an orphanage as a child before starting her career singing on cruise ships. She went on to become a huge international star, known as the "Barefoot Diva" for performing without shoes. As a new box set of CDs is released in tribute to her, David is joined by the BBC's Manuel Toledo and Zenaida Machado to discuss her music and what she meant to Cape Verdeans.


(Photo: The family of Shafqat Hussain)

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