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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: Where do ancient treasures belong?

Documentaries

Sculpture of the head of Tutankhamun

05/07/2019 GMT

Where do ancient treasures belong?

BBC World Service - The Fifth Floor, Where do ancient treasures belong?

The sale of Tutankhamun’s head reveals Egypt’s complex relationship with its heritage.

The Egyptian authorities challenged the recent sale of an ancient sculpture in London, demanding it be returned.  But how much does the country value its pre-Islamic history?

A small bust of Tutankhamun was sold in London this week for £4.7 million.  The sale was challenged by the Egyptian government, which believes the sculpture was removed illegally from the country.  Reda El Mawy of BBC Arabic studied archaeology in Egypt and has been gripped by the story. 

Return to Madagascar
Raïssa Ioussouf is of Malagasy descent and reports for BBC Afrique from Madagascar.  She tells us about the challenges of learning the language her parents never taught her, and finding acceptance among people who see her as different.

My Home Town: Varna, Bulgaria 
Yanita Georgieva of BBC Arabic takes us to her home town of Varna in Bulgaria to pick cucumbers and see a show at the theatre. 

Pakistan China scam marriages 
Hundreds of Pakistani girls have married Chinese men working in their country, promised good jobs on their return to China.  Instead they find themselves coerced into sex work.  BBC Urdu’s Saher Baloch spoke to several of the young women, predominantly from Pakistan's Christian community. 

Say it with a xylophone! 
Meet the Ghanaian xylophone-maker who says that if you’re too shy to propose  to a woman, just play her a tune on one of his xylophones and she’ll say yes…  It’s a story Sarah Tiamiyu reported for BBC Pidgin, but was she convinced by the power of the music?

Uzbek cherries
In Soviet times, Uzbekistan was the fruit bowl of the USSR, and this year for the first time Uzbek cherries are on sale in the UK.   BBC Uzbek's Ibrat Safo joined the early morning shift in a London wholesale market to find out more.  

Image: Tutankhamum head on auction this week in Christie's London
Credit: AFP PHOTO/Handout/CHRISTIE'S AUCTION HOUSE

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