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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

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The Fifth Floor: Bama After Boko Haram

Documentaries

A Nigerian soldier at the now destroyed prison in Bama

11/12/2015 GMT

Bama After Boko Haram

BBC World Service - The Fifth Floor, Bama After Boko Haram

The northern Nigerian town now liberated from Boko Haram

Bama after Boko Haram; Parkour in Kabul; Svetlana Alexievich; Living through the Chennai floods; Somali Soap; Confucius Confusion and Fifi

Bashir Sa'ad Abdullahi was among the first group of journalists to visit the north-eastern town of Bama in Nigeria since it was liberated from militant Islamist group Boko Haram earlier this year. Bashir had reported extensively on Boko Haram and their occupation of many areas in Borno State for BBC Hausa, and heard many stories of the violence in the city during its occupation. But visiting the town still came as a shock: the level of destruction, and the hopelessness of the few remaining residents. He gives us an eyewitness account of the town today.  

Parkour in Kabul
Parkour, also called free running, is a relatively new sport in Kabul. The Afghan Parkour Generation formed a "team" five years ago and could be seen tumbling, jumping and somersaulting in some of the quieter outskirts of the city.  But now two thirds of the team have left the country for Europe, part of a wider youth exodus. Khalil Noori is a producer for the BBC's Afghan service based in Kabul and tells us about the rise, and faltering, of Parkour in Kabul.  

Svetlana Alexievich
The Belarusian author and journalist, Svetlana Alexievich is the first non-fiction writer in 50 years to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. Her writings focus on the human stories behind historic events which have shaped the post-Soviet era. Alexander Kan from BBC Russian, and Katya Rogatchevskaia from the British Library talk about the woman and her work.

Living Through the Chennai Floods
Muralidharan Kasi Viswanathan reports for BBC Tamil from Chennai and last week the news came to his doorstep, quite literally, in the form of water, lots and lots of water. Murali was at home in Chennai when the floods hit.  He lives in a ground floor flat which was almost completely overrun by water. He managed to save some of his most precious books and papers but most of his belongings were destroyed. 

A Better Life than Today
It is what millions of young people around the world are searching for, and it is the title of a Somali soap opera created by BBC's international development charity Media Action. Listeners to Maalimo Dhama Maanta can vote on the path the characters should take, and many are changing their own paths in life as a result. Project manager Hoda Hersi, who is based in Somaliland, tells us about the impact the drama is having.

Confucius Confusion
There was due to be a ceremony this week for the grand handover of the Confucius Peace Prize. This year it was awarded to Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe prompting both outrage and bemusement but the organisers seem to be having trouble persuading their winners to come forward. Earlier this year it was reported that Mugabe had become the fourth recipient to refuse. Why? I asked Howard Zhang of BBC Chinese.

And the inimitable Fifi Haroon shares her favourite stories from the web this week.

(Photo: A Nigerian soldier at the now destroyed prison in Bama. Credit: Nichole Sobecki/Getty Images)

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