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BBC World Service West and Central Africa

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: Discovering Mauritania

Documentaries

Gold mining in Mauritania

26/08/2016 GMT

Discovering Mauritania

BBC World Service - The Fifth Floor, Discovering Mauritania

A rare look inside a country of Bedouins, Arabs and African tribes

Inside Mauritania, the pressure of dress codes for Egyptian women, stories and memories of grandmothers; and a trip to a Beirut nightclub.

This year Mauritania hosted the Arab League Summit. Mauritania is often overlooked by the Arab world, a large country with a tiny population, geographically isolated in the far west of the African continent, and a long way from Arab centres of influence. So when BBC Arabic's Hanan Razek got the chance to cover the summit, she was not sure what to expect. But what she found was a unique culture where women hold divorce parties, and a country in the grip of a gold rush.  

Too Plump for Television?
In Egypt, eight female state TV presenters were recently suspended from their jobs and given a month to come back slimmer. A week later and the action is still provoking furious chatter on social media. Fifth Floor held its own debate with two Egyptians - Angy Ghannam of BBC Monitoring and Sally Nabil who has been following the story from BBC Cairo. 

Glorious Grannies
In praise of grannies everywhere and the knowledge they have passed on. From tales of revolutions and wars with BBC Uzbek's Rustam Qobil; resilience and strength in Ethiopia with Hewete Haileselassie; and secluded gardens, cooking and memories of an older Bangkok with Issariya Praithongyaem.

Remembering the Arctic Convoys
BBC journalist Natalia Golysheva is from Arkhangelsk, or Archangel, in the Russian North, where this weekend sees the annual celebration in honour of the Arctic convoys which transported supplies and arms to the Soviet Union during World War Two. The British Merchant Navy and their escorts, along with other Allied vessels, braved enemy ships and atrocious weather. Natalia tells us why her mother Valentina made it her personal mission to preserve the stories of the veterans, and how that has changed her life. 

Beirut's Metro al-Madina 
Before the civil war in Lebanon, the neighbourhood of Hamra was considered Beirut's cultural heart - home to poets, academics and revolutionaries. Today, that artistic spirit has taken a new form in the shape of the Metro al-Madina club, known for its spectacular cabaret shows and performances - and for nurturing some of the city's new talent. Carine Torbey and Rami Ruhayem tell the Fifth Floor why it is the place to go in Beirut.  

And Fifi Haroon's pick of the world wide web.

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