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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: Throwing Off The Veil in Iran

Documentaries

Iran's anti-hijab movement

01/06/2018 GMT

Throwing Off The Veil in Iran

BBC World Service - The Fifth Floor, Throwing Off The Veil in Iran

How a selfie started a mass movement to allow women more freedom in Iran.

Unveiling Iran; Pakistan bike rally; Cairo graves; Amazonian journey; North Korea's accordion exports; Georgia's nightclub protests. With David Amanor.

When Iranian activist Masih Alinejad posted a picture of herself driving without a hijab, she had no idea what she was starting. Five years later,  thousands of women have joined her movement against the mandatory hijab, and they have become a force for the Iranian government to reckon with. The BBC's Nassim Hatam has been following the story.

Pakistan bike tour
The first Tour De Khunjerab took place this month in Pakistan's Gilgit-Baltistan region. The so-called "race to the roof of the world" was three days of high altitude racing along the Karakoram Highway from Gilgit city to the Chinese border.  BBC Urdu's Islamabad bureau chief Haroon Rashid pulled on the lycra, threw his bike on the van and set off to record the action.  

Graves in Cairo
The cost of dying is going up in Cairo.  As the city expands and developers look for more land, the price of a burial plot has become unaffordable for many. BBC Arabic's Amira Gadallah did a report on the story recently - it's a story close to her heart.

Amazon journey
When Joao Fellet of BBC Brasil was invited to cover a scientific expedition to the Amazon rainforest, he jumped at the opportunity. He  joined a team of scientists from Sao Paolo university on the lookout for new species.

North Korean accordions in Russia 
With Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in North Korea this week, BBC Russian's Anastasia Napalkova has been looking at trade relations between the two states, including a surprising shared interest in accordions.

Georgia nightclub protest
Why have Georgian protesters been dancing outside the parliament building?  The BBC's Nina Akhmeteli explains how the forced closure of two nightclubs in Tbilisi was the catalyst for a confrontation between conservative and liberal Georgia.

Image: Iranian woman with wind in hair, veil held aloft
Credit: mystealthyfreedom

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