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BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

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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BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

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BBC World Service West and Central Africa

The Fifth Floor: The Front Line Of The Migrant Crisis

Documentaries

Migrant boat rescue

04/08/2017 GMT

The Front Line Of The Migrant Crisis

BBC World Service - The Fifth Floor, The Front Line Of The Migrant Crisis

Reporting from on board a migrant rescue ship

Migrant crisis first-hand; Delhi's disappearing havelis; giant Indonesian meatballs; Welsh founder of Donetsk; Argentina and Che; the meaning of names.  With Sangeetha Rajan.

Guest presenter: Sangeetha Rajan.

Rami Ruhayem of BBC Arabic recently left terra firma to tell the story of the migrant crisis at sea.  He joined a ship run by the charity Medecins Sans Frontieres, as they rescued  migrants trying to reach Europe from North Africa.  He describes witnessing this mission first-hand.

Delhi's Havelis 
Old Delhi is home to many havelis, impressive courtyard houses built by merchants and traders, particularly in the nineteenth century.  But many are now neglected or have even been demolished.  Vikas Pandey from BBC Delhi tells us why he loves these special buildings.

Indonesian meatballs
Bakso are big in Indonesia, and getting bigger.  This snack of meatballs, stock and noodles is consumed by all classes, all day, everywhere.   Innovation is key and the latest fad is a supersized, giant bakso.  BBC Indonesia's Christine Franciska has sampled one.

The Welshman who founded Donetsk
Irena Taranyuk has been to Merthyr Tydfil in Wales to investigate a very Ukrainian story.  It goes back to the nineteenth century, when a local ironmaster went to imperial Russia to set up a metalworks.  The site he chose was in modern-day Ukraine, and it became the city of Donetsk.  Irena takes up the story.

Argentina and Che
The Argentinian revolutionary Che Guevara is an iconic figure whose face adorns countless t-shirts and posters.  But his countrymen have mixed feelings about him, and there's even a campaign to pull down his statue in his birthplace, Rosario.  BBC Mundo's Macarena Gagliardi explores Argentina's complex relationship with its famous son.

What's in a name?
Anthony Scaramucci lasted just ten days as White House communications director .  His Italian surname translates as 'brief skirmish', which some say aptly describes his tenure.  What does your name mean?  Answers from BBC Persian's Feranak Amidi, Prudent Nsengiyumva of BBC Great Lakes and BBC Africa's Hewete Haileselassie.    

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

Image: NGO workers rescue migrants from a crowded boat
Credit: ANGELOS TZORTZINIS/Getty Images

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