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Faranak Amidi presents global stories from the Fifth Floor, home to the BBC’s 40 Language Services

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The Fifth Floor: Staying Alive in Bamenda, Cameroon

A soldier from the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR) in Cameroon (credit: AFP/Getty Images)

14/12/2018 GMT

Staying Alive in Bamenda, Cameroon

BBC World Service - The Fifth Floor, Staying Alive in Bamenda, Cameroon

How your hair, your clothes, even your physique can get you killed

Conflict in Cameroon, India's nightie ban, harvesting grasshoppers in Uganda, reporting on the trial of El Chapo, Somaliland's ancient rock paintings.  With David Amanor.

There have been protests in Cameroon’s two English-speaking regions, where people say they are marginalised by the French-speaking majority.  There have been violent clashes between rebels and government forces, with civilians caught between.  BBC Africa's Peter Tah is based in Bamenda, and has found the story on his doorstep. 

India's nightie ban 
Tempers have been fraying in a small Indian village over the humble nightie.  Village elders have banned them between the hours of 7am and 7pm, so what’s wrong with nighties?  Geeta Pandey in Delhi explains.  

Fried grasshoppers in Uganda
In Uganda, fried grasshopper is considered a perfect seasonal snack, but how do you catch them? BBC Africa's Patience Atuhaire joined harvesters near Kampala to find out. 

El Chapo on trial
Joachim “el Chapo” Guzmán is billed as “the most notorious criminal in the world”.  He’s on trial in New York, charged as leader of Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel with bringing 150 tons of cocaine into the United States, using violence.  From New York, BBC Mundo’s Gerardo Lissardy has been following the drama.

Somaliland rock paintings 
In a cave formation in the self-declared republic of Somaliland, you can find rock paintings going back more than 5,000 years.  The area has family connections for Bidhaan Dahir of BBC Somali, who's made a documentary called Stories on the Rocks about the paintings with local archaeologist Dr Sada Mire.

Image: a soldier from the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR) in Cameroon   
Credit: AFP/Getty Images

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