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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: Ecuador’s prison battle: The aftermath

Documentaries

Relatives wait with caskets for inmates who died in the Litoral Penitentiary

08/10/2021 GMT

Ecuador’s prison battle: The aftermath

BBC World Service - The Fifth Floor, Ecuador’s prison battle: The aftermath

How Ecuador’s violent gang rivalry is fuelling armed conflict within prisons

A riot that killed 118 prisoners has raised questions about Ecuador’s prison system, as violent gang rivalry continues within prison walls.

The president of Ecuador has declared a state of emergency for the prison system after the country’s worst prison riot, in which 118 inmates died. It’s part of a wave of violence that has swept Ecuador's jails, as rival drug gangs fight for dominance. BBC Mundo’s Ana Maria Roura has been looking into the story.

Squid Game: kids' games and killings 
‘Squid Game’ has been topping streaming charts around the world. The South Korean drama sees contestants playing popular children's games to win millions of dollars, but the cost of losing is death. BBC Korean's William Lee explains the appeal of its mix of nostalgia and horror.  

Morocco’s cannabis farmers 
Despite the huge profits for international dealers, Morocco’s cannabis farmers are poor. Recently the government legalised the growth and sale of cannabis for medical and industrial purposes, so will farmers benefit? BBC Arabic’s Mohamed Ibrahim visited northern Morocco to find out.

Russia's Romanov wedding 
A descendant of the Russian royal family was recently married in a lavish ceremony in St Petersburg. Grand Duke George Mikhailovich Romanov is a great-grandnephew of the last tsar, Nicholas II. Olga Ivshina of BBC Russian tells us about reactions among ordinary Russians. 

Afghan fruit in Pakistani markets 
Pakistan imports plenty of fruit from Afghanistan, but this year there’s been more, and it’s cheaper. Since the Taliban took over, trade between the two countries has become one-sided, with Afghan farmers keen to get their produce out, as BBC Urdu’s Azizullah Khan reports.  

Image: Relatives wait with caskets for inmates who died in the Litoral Penitentiary
Credit: Gerardo Menoscal/Agencia Press South/Getty Images

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