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BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

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

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The Fifth Floor: 06/11/2015 12:06 GMT: When the Refugee Crisis Becomes Personal

Documentaries

Syrian refugees arrive on a Greek beach

06/11/2015 12:06 GMT

06/11/2015 12:06 GMT: When the Refugee Crisis Becomes Personal

When the Refugee Crisis Becomes Personal

BBC World Service - The Fifth Floor, When the Refugee Crisis Becomes Personal

BBC Arabic's Feras Killani and his brother tell us the family story behind the headlines

Syria - when the news is personal; Chinese character test; Indonesian literature; kings of Africa; the mystery of Shahram Amiri. With David Amanor.

Feras Killani is a reporter for BBC Arabic, he is also from Syria. He left the country in 2006. In recent months he has been covering the refugee crisis, the droves of people making their way from Syria to Europe. An unusual experience for him because one of the people on that journey was his brother Basem. He arrived in Berlin just two weeks ago and has now been reunited with his family. Feras and Basem joined David to talk about reporting and living as a refugee.

Reading Indonesia
With Indonesian literature in the spotlight at the recent Frankfurt Book Fair, BBC Indonesian's Kiki Siregar joins her colleague Liston Siregar to discuss what books are attracting most attention - and how stories are conveyed in a country with so many cultures and languages.   

The Strange Story of Shahram Amiri
Now how is this for a Cold War spy novel? In 2009, an Iranian nuclear scientist disappears whilst on the Hajj in Saudi Arabia. A month later, he reappears on YouTube variously claiming to have been taken to the USA against his will, or to be studying in Arizona and having a great time thanks! A short while later he returns to Iran where the story becomes even more mysterious. This week Anahita Shams from BBC Persian interviewed the scientist's father. She tries to sort fact from fiction. 

Kings of Africa
As the Yoruba people of Nigeria celebrate the appointment of a successor to their late king, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, we ask who are the kings of Africa, what is their role, and why are they still so important? David Amanor talks to BBC Africa's Paul Bakibinga, who is from Uganda, and Nigerian Sola Odunfa. 

Chinese Character Test
A Chinese university teacher has come up with an unusual way of deterring his students from turning up late. He says latecomers should write a complicated character for the word 'biang' - which means a kind of noodle - 1000 times. The character requires 56 pen strokes. Sarah Wang of BBC Chinese assesses the challenge.

And Fifi Haroon's pick of the worldwide web.

(Photo: Syrian refugees wrapped in foil blankets after arriving on a Greek beach. Credit: Getty Images)

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06/11/2015 12:06 GMT: When the Refugee Crisis Becomes Personal

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