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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: Remembering Aleppo Before the Bombs

Documentaries

Aleppos' Old Souq, before and after the war

30/09/2016 GMT

Remembering Aleppo Before the Bombs

BBC World Service - The Fifth Floor, Remembering Aleppo Before the Bombs

Aleppo's citizens, past and present, are going online to eulogise their city

Aleppo's citizens eulogise their city online; a Kenyan beekeeping tribe fights for survival; Afropunk festival; peace in Colombia; and The Queen of Katwe, with Paul Bakibinga

The Syrian city of Aleppo has come under heavy aerial bombardment since the partial truce deal disintegrated last week.  It's a city with a rich culture and a unique historic centre going back over two thousand years, and the war has taken a heavy toll.  BBC Monitoring's Lina Shaikhouni tells Paul Bakibinga the story of the people who have taken to social media to post pictures of their home city before the destruction.

The Yaaku people in northern Kenya only number about 4,000 these days, but they're still clinging on to their traditional ways. One of which is beekeeping.  BBC Africa's Emmanuel Igunza has been to meet them.

A Chinese state TV reporter was suspended for wearing sunglasses and carrying an umbrella whilst on camera.  Howard Zhang of BBC Chinese, Olga Y Ivshina of BBC Russian, Rustam Qobil of BBC Uzbek and Bilkisu Labaran of BBC Africa share their dos and don'ts for reporting in the field.

The first ever Afropunk festival has just happened in London and many big names turned up to celebrate alternative black culture and fashion. Mayeni Jones of BBC Africa was one of them, and she gave us a run down of the event and the movement.  

This weekend Colombians will vote in a referendum to decide whether or not to accept the peace agreement signed between their government and the left-wing Farc rebel group. The prospect of peace has stirred up some awkward issues for BBC Mundo's Hernando Alvarez.

BBC Africa's Catherine Byaruhanga reports on the new Disney film, Queen of Katwe, which tells the true life story of Phiona Mutesi, a young girl living in a Ugandan slum with an amazing talent for playing chess.   

Photos: The ancient market, in Aleppo, Syria before and after it was badly damaged by fire.  Credits: AFP/Getty Images.

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