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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: Policing Morality in Iran

Documentaries

Police Enforce Women's Islamic Dress Code, Iran

19/02/2016 GMT

Policing Morality in Iran

BBC World Service - The Fifth Floor, Policing Morality in Iran

How the 'morality police' affect daily life in Iran

Brushes with Iran's 'morality police'; North-South divides; Mother Language day in Bangladesh; how to Kowtow; and censorship in Lebanon.

An app that allows Iranians to avoid the country's feared 'morality police' has been banned. Feranak Amidi of BBC Persian explains how these enforcers affect the daily lives of citizens. Feranak herself has fallen foul of them and was lashed for breaking their strict code of behaviour. 

Censorship in Lebanon
Lebanese artists have come under increasing pressure to censor their work. One example is the acclaimed playwright Lucien Bourjeily, who was recently denied a licence for his new play after he refused to make changes required by the country's  Censorship Bureau. We speak to Anwar Hamed and Najlaa Abou Merhi from BBC Arabic.

North-South Divides
The north-south divide in Vietnam has been highlighted by the recent appointment of a northerner to run Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon -  the main southern city. Nga Pham of BBC Vietnamese explains why this has created so much anger in Saigon, and compares notes with Afra Ahmed of BBC Arabic. Afra is from the southern Yemeni city of Aden, which has a long history of conflict and rivalry with the capital Sanaa.

International Mother Language Day 
February 21 is commemorated across Bangladesh as International Mother Language Day. It has its origins in a street protest in Dhaka in 1952, when students rose up against the downgrading of their mother tongue. Bangladesh was then East Pakistan, and Urdu had been imposed as the state language. Several protesters were shot and killed by police, and their deaths are remembered every year. Akbar Hossain of BBC Bangla explains why the day is still so important to Bangladeshis.

Still Kowtowing
The recent publication of a photograph showing a Chinese man kowtowing to his parents has started a debate about this ancient way of showing respect. To kowtow means to kneel and touch your head to the ground, and it was part of the Confucian tradition of showing reverence to elders and rulers. Raymond Li of BBC Chinese reflects on the survival power of the kowtow.

And Fifi shares her pick of the worldwide web.

(Photo: Police enforce women's Islamic dress code, Iran. Credit: Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)

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