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The Fifth Floor

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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: Putin and Erdogan: Head to Head

Documentaries

Putin and Erdogan

04/12/2015 GMT

Putin and Erdogan: Head to Head

BBC World Service - The Fifth Floor, Putin and Erdogan: Head to Head

Two leaders divided by the characteristics they share

Putin and Erdogan: Head to Head; Traditions and taboos around heads and feet; Turkish band Grup Yorum; Revisiting Sinjar and Fifi

With Russia and Turkey locked in an angry dispute since Turkey shot down a Russian jet, Emre Temel of BBC Turkish and Famil Ismailov of BBC Russian reflect on the personalities behind the row. It seems Presidents Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin have a lot in common, including a love of confrontation and a determination not to back down. Where does this leave the mutual respect they used to enjoy?

Taboos from head to toe
Why is it so humiliating for prisoners in Thailand to have their heads shaved? Why is it unacceptable in Myanmar to sit with your feet pointing at someone? Tin Htar Swe of BBC Burmese and Issariya Praithongyaem of BBC Thai talk us through the traditions and taboos surrounding heads and feet in their cultures.

Grup Yorum
Their followers defy definition by age or gender, but they come in their droves to see Grup Yorum - a hugely successful Turkish band that this year celebrates three decades of making music. They say they stand up for the oppressed and against the rules and regulations of the state. Turkish journalist Seref Isler explains how Grup Yorum have stood the test of time.

Sinjar revisited
A few weeks ago, the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar, which used to be home to thousands of Yazidis, was liberated from so-called Islamic State. BBC Persian's Nafiseh Kohnavard reported from Sinjar in the days following its liberation and she tells us that people feel unable to return to their ancestral home, because it has become a place of danger, division and retaliation.

Brazilian or Japanese?  A question of identity
As Japan celebrates its 120 year relationship with Brazil, we meet a product of those ties -  Ewerthon Tobace. Ewerthon was born in Brazil to Japanese parents, and now lives in Tokyo, from where he reports for BBC Brasil. Ewerthon reflects on the complexities of belonging to two such different cultures, and the challenges facing the Brazilian Japanese community.

And Fifi picks her favourite stories from the web this week.

(Picture: Russian President Vladimir Putin (Left) pictured facing Turkey's President Recep Tayyip  Erdogan  (Right)
Picture credit: Getty Images)

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