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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: Sierra Leone: Remembering the Civil War

Documentaries

A soldier inspects weapons seized during the Sierra Leone civil war

24/03/2016 GMT

Sierra Leone: Remembering the Civil War

BBC World Service - The Fifth Floor, Sierra Leone: Remembering the Civil War

Stories from BBC reporters of how the civil war in Sierra Leone changed their lives

Sierra Leone civil war 25 years on; Russia: Hear My Country; the Egyptian Cinderella; Ukraine's political women; from Delhi to Abuja - new hair, new food, new language.

It's 25 years since the start of the civil war in Sierra Leone. Two BBC Africa reporters, both from Sierra Leone, were caught up in the violence and cruelty, and their lives were changed forever. David Amanor talks to Umaru Fofana and Alhassan Sillah.

Hear My Country: Russia 
Can you think of a song that captures the spirit of your country? This week Natalia Touzovskaya and Nikolay Voronin of BBC Russian choose tracks that remind them of home.

The Egyptian Cinderella
Marwa Mamoon looks after audience engagement for BBC Arabic, but she has another life presenting a new weekly radio programme called Story Shop. Marwa ransacks history books and internet sources to find stories for listeners, like the tale of the Egyptian Cinderella. 

Ukraine's political women 
Her youthful face has captured the imagination of Ukraine's pro-European movement. Nadia Savchenko is the helicopter pilot who sang defiant songs in a Russian court as she was sentenced to 22 years in jail. Irena Taranyuk of BBC Ukrainian explains why Savchenko has become a hero to many, and a contender for the country's hall of female fame.

From Delhi to Abuja
Rupa Jha is a BBC journalist from India, now working for BBC Media Action in the Nigerian capital Abuja. She tells Fifth Floor that Abuja is starting to feel like home: she is picking up pidgin and getting her hair braided. 

And the best of the worldwide web with Fifi Haroon.

Photo: A soldier inspects weapons seized during the Sierra Leone civil war.
Credit: Issouf Sanogo/AFP/Getty Images

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