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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: On the World's Highest Battlefield

Documentaries

Pakistan army on Siachen Glacier

18/08/2017 GMT

On the World's Highest Battlefield

BBC World Service - The Fifth Floor, On the World's Highest Battlefield

BBC Urdu scale Siachen Glacier, frozen site of an India-Pakistan stalemate

Reporting from Siachen Glacier; Persian heavy metal; Sudanese fat pill fad; Kyrgyz and Mongol nomads compare notes; guns and toilets in India; plus Fifi Haroon. With David Amanor.

The Siachen Glacier is the world's highest battlefield, straddling the disputed border between India and Pakistan in northern Kashmir.  Thousands of soldiers have died there - mostly, since the 2003 ceasefire, from the harsh conditions.  BBC Urdu's  Abid Hussain paid a rare visit.

World youth cultures: Iranian heavy metal
BBC Persian's Behzad Bolour introduces us to the Iranian heavy metal scene and the persecuted musicians who built it.  With roots in Western rock from the 70s, Iranian metal has now taken on a partly Persian sound.

Sudanese fat pills
In Sudan, the fuller figure considered desirable by many women, and some go to dangerous lengths to achieve it.  Sudanese journalist Yousra Elbagir has written for BBC Africa about a new craze for weight gain pills.

Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia: nomad meets nomad  
Gulnara Kasmambet of BBC Kyrgyz has been reporting from Mongolia for the annual Nomad Games.  Kyrgyz and Mongolians share many traditions - so was it like a home-coming for Gulnara?  

Guns and Toilets
A local authority in India has changed the rules for people trying to get a gun licence: no indoor toilet, no licence.  Guns and toilets?  Over to BBC Urdu's Suhail Haleem in Delhi.

And Fifi Haroon casts an eye over the week's stranger stories from the web.

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