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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: Tunisia's Identity Crisis

Armed policeman on a Tunisian beach

03/07/2015

Tunisia's Identity Crisis

BBC World Service - The Fifth Floor, Tunisia's Identity Crisis

The young Tunisians who are drawn to extremism

The two sides of Tunisia; can reading stop corruption in China; the animals that represent a nation; the last journey of tango legend Carlos Gardel.

Tunisia's Identity Crisis
In the aftermath of the massacre of tourists at Sousse, Sihem Hassaini of BBC Afrique grapples with Tunisia's identity crisis. How can a young student like the Sousse attacker, Seifeddine Rezgui, be transformed from a music-loving breakdancer into a cold-blooded killer, pledging allegiance to Islamic State? Sihem shares insights she's gained from following the lives of other young Tunisians drawn to extremism.

Last Tango to Buenos Aires
80 years ago, celebrated tango singer Carlos Gardel died in a plane accident in Medellin, Colombia, but his eventful life story did not finish there. Six months after he was buried in Colombia his body was exhumed and taken on a momentous journey back to Buenos Aires by road, rail and sea. Natalio Cosoy, BBC Mundo's bilingual correspondent in Bogota, follows the infamous journey of the most renowned tango singer

Essential Reading for Chinese officials
China's state media have urged officials to read more to develop sound values and avoid corruption - but what should be on the reading list? Yuwen Wu of BBC Chinese gives a guide to some of the essential texts every Chinese official should read.

What does your national animal say about your country? 
The Indian state of Maharashtra has declared the Blue Mormon to be the official butterfly of the state. The country boasts the tiger as its national animal, and if that's not enough it also has the elephant as its national 'heritage' animal. We take a tour of the Fifth Floor to hear about the animals that represent different countries and what they tell us about their homelands.

Reporting a Forgotten War
As the world's newest nation, South Sudan, approaches its fourth birthday, there's no sign of an end to the fighting which has torn it apart since December 2013.  The BBC's Emmanuel Igunza knows the country well and has reported on numerous peace initiatives which have always ended in failure. He describes what it's like to report on a war which is largely forgotten by the rest of the world as new conflicts seize the headlines.

African Film Award Nominations / Who Will Win at the "African Oscars"
The nominations for the African Movie Academy Awards -  the African Oscars-  have just been announced. Now in their eleventh year, they are regarded as the most prestigious awards for the African film industry.  The award ceremony is scheduled to take place in Nigeria in the autumn. Here to talk about movers and shakers, actors and directors, and the latest trends in African cinema today, David Amanor is joined by two Kenyans - Alice Muthengi and Frenny Jowi from BBC Africa. 

And Fifi Haroon with her pick of weird and wonderful stories from the world-wide web this week.

(Picture: Armed policeman on a beach in Tunisia
Picture credit: Getty Images)

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