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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: Who’s advising Zelensky?

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Ukainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks to the press in the town of Bucha, Ukraine on April 4, 2022

08/04/2022 GMT

Who’s advising Zelensky?

BBC World Service - The Fifth Floor, Who’s advising Zelensky?

How have Volodymyr Zelensky and his team managed his image so successfully?

Since the invasion of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky has become a familiar face on the world stage speaking to parliaments and the UN, as well as a constant presence in the lives of his own people from front lines to his nightly broadcast. So how much of this sure-footed campaign is down to Zelensky himself, and how much to his advisers? BBC Monitoring journalist Vitaliy Shevchenko has been looking at what is known about who is advising President Zelensky.

The $200 jackfruit 
When BBC Brasil reported earlier this year that a large jackfruit was on sale in a London market for the equivalent of  $200 dollars, there was disbelief. Jackfruit is widely grown in Brazil and sells for a fraction of that amount, with much ending up rotting on the street. Luis Barrucho has been investigating the international jackfruit market.

A haircut for a war hero 
One of Kenya's most prominent women independence fighters has had her locks cut by a former first lady after more than 60 years. Her hair had been seen as an enduring mark of defiance, and when it was cut by Mama Ngina Kenyatta, mother of the current president, there was uproar online, as Beverly Ochieng of BBC Monitoring in Nairobi reports. 

Women in Iranian film fighting sexual harassment 
Hundreds of women working in Iranian cinema have launched a powerful protest against sexual harassment, bullying and even rape.  They are demanding action to protect women and make offenders accountable, as well as an independent body to investigate allegations, as Taraneh Stone of BBC Persian TV reports.

Nigerian teenagers who became sci-fi sensations 
Using a parent's smartphone and tripods made of wood, a group of nine teenagers began making their own sci-fi movies in 2016. When one of their movies went viral on social media it caught the attention of millions, including many celebrities, and now they have global ambitions, as Damilola Oduolowu of BBC Lagos reports. 

(Photo: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks to the press in the town of Bucha, Ukraine on 4 April 2022. Credit: Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images)

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