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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: Burundi: Living Inside a Crisis

Documentaries

Barricades in Bujumbura area during 2015 elections

15/01/2016 GMT

Burundi: Living Inside a Crisis

BBC World Service - The Fifth Floor, Burundi: Living Inside a Crisis

Gunfire, fear and lockdown: life in Bujumbura

Burundi diary, Russia's Winnie the Pooh, Afghan film archive, instructions in Persian etiquette, relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan

Prime Ndikumagenge is a BBC Africa reporter based in the Burundi capital Bujumbura.  For the Fifth Floor he has recorded his experiences of living through the current crisis in the city, which came to a peak on 11th December with the killing of 87 people, and how citizens, including his wife, have developed app aptitude to stay safe from the violence.

Russia's love affair with Winnie the Pooh
With Winnie the Pooh Day looming on 18 January, BBC Russian is celebrating one of their favourite characters. Soviet children first met A.A. Milne's famous bear in the 1960s, first with a translation of the stories and then with a series of cartoon films. The sayings, poems and songs of 'Vinni Pukh' are still popular today. BBC Russian's Yana Litvinova shares her own love of Pooh, and describes her recent pilgrimage to his home in Ashdown Forest. 

Afghan Film Archive
In the heart of Kabul is a unique collection of documentaries and Afghan made films showing Afghan life throughout the twentieth century.  But of the thousands of hours of footage only a tiny fraction has been digitised, and the archive's location next to the NATO headquarters leaves it vulnerable to the increasingly frequent and accurate suicide attacks in the city's Green Zone.  Karim Haidari and Mahjooba Nowrouzi from BBC Afghan shared their thoughts on the archive.

Ta'arof, or Iranian Etiquette
We get a masterclass in the Iranian art of 'ta'arof' or civility which requires people to constantly offer things they might not want to give, and to refuse things they want to take. An Iranian shopkeeper may insist a customer takes his goods for free, and the required response is to insist on paying, several times if necessary. Complimenting someone's furniture may lead to them urging  you to take it home with you. David Amanor navigates these complicated customs with BBC Persian's Siavash Ardalan and Camelia Sadeghzadeh.

Afghanistan and Pakistan - difficult neighbours
As talks continue on how to resolve the 14 year long conflict between the Taliban and Afghan forces and their allies, there are any number of experts with views on the situation. But what do ordinary Afghans think - particularly about the role of their neighbour Pakistan, which denies accusations that it has sponsored the insurgency? BBC Urdu brought together two Afghans and two Pakistanis to hear what's being said on the streets. Haroon Rashid in Islamabad and Dawood Azami of BBC Afghan reflect on what came out of the discussion.

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


Photo: Barricades during 2015 elections in Bujumbura, Burundi.
Credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

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