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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: Apples, Dams and the Taliban

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Orchards in Wardak Province

27/10/2017 GMT

Apples, Dams and the Taliban

BBC World Service - The Fifth Floor, Apples, Dams and the Taliban

A risky assignment in Afghanistan's beautiful Wardak Province

Afghanistan's Wardak Province; mining and rock music in Zambia; Brazil's farinata controversy; Madagascan bull-wrestling; Turkey's Ottomania; Fifi Haroon. With David Amanor.

It's a short but risky journey from Kabul to the centre of neighbouring Wardak province - much of which is under Taliban control.  BBC Afghan's Auliya Atrafi looked beyond conflict on his recent reporting trip - to  the university local people built for themselves, and new power from an old hydro station.

Youth series: Zamrock
In the mid 70s, newly independent Zambia was alive with youthful energy and political upheaval.  The result?  Zamrock, a new sound that emerged from the country's mining heartland, and made a big impression on the BBC's Kennedy Gondwe.  

Farinata: a word in the news 
Why is the Portuguese word farinata provoking all kinds of controversy in São Paulo?  BBC Brasil's Paula Idoeta sheds light on why a scheme to provide cheap meals for schoolchildren seems to have backfired.

Madagascan bull wrestling
BBC Afrique's Raissa Ioussef, based in Dakar, recently made a beautiful film about bull wrestling in Madagascar, where young men show off their strength and courage as a way of impressing the girls.  She tells us it was also a homecoming of sorts as her parents come from Madagascar. 

Turkey's Ottoman revival 
When modern Turkey was created nearly a century ago, founding father Mustafa Kemal Atatürk turned his back on the trappings of the Ottoman Empire.  Old fashions and customs disappeared overnight.  But Irem Koker of BBC Turkish says there's now a rise in what's called Neo-Ottomanism.

And Fifi Haroon's pick of the world wide web

Image: Landscape in Chak Valley, Wardak Province, Afghanistan
Credit: BBC

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