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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: Russia’s colonial past, and present?

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Official of the Emirate of Bukhara

26/08/2022 GMT

Russia’s colonial past, and present?

BBC World Service - The Fifth Floor, Russia’s colonial past, and present?

Russia ‘never stained itself with the bloody crimes of colonialism’: true or false?

BBC Russian tests Sergei Lavrov’s claim that Russia ‘never stained itself with the bloody crimes of colonialism’, and relates history to today’s actions in Ukraine.

The Russian Foreign Minister recently wrote that Russia had ‘never stained itself with the bloody crimes of colonialism’. It’s not a new theme for Sergei Lavrov but it did surprise many Russian historians. BBC Russian’s Grigor Atanesian wrote an article testing Mr Lavrov’s claims.

Rural schools in Azerbaijan 
A plea by a 13-year-old Azerbaijani schoolgirl has put the spotlight on rural education in the country, with too few schools in some regions and badly maintained buildings. BBC Azerbaijani filmed Zahra walking the 4 kilometre return trip to her classroom, and editor Könül Khalilova shares the story.

Military service for K-pop superstars 
Members of the K-pop band BTS may soon have to complete their military service, but this may not mean they have to stop performing. The band had already been given a 2 year deferral, and parliament is debating radically shortening their service, as Julie Yoonnyung Lee of BBC Korean explains. 

Five years of the Rohingya crisis 
BBC Bangla has been marking the fifth anniversary of the Rohingya crisis, which sent more than a million refugees from Myanmar into the Cox's Bazar refugee camp. Journalists Akbar Hossain and Shahnewaj Rocky heard from Rohingya refugees and the local Bengali community about their perspectives.  

A travelling heart 
The embalmed heart of Brazil's first emperor, Dom Pedro I, has arrived in the country as part of celebrations for its bicentenary. Dom Pedro is remembered as a hero who led Brazil’s independence from Portugal, but he also allowed slavery to continue. BBC Brasil’s Nathalia Passarinho tells us about the man behind the heart.

(Photo: An official of Bukhara Emirate, a Russian protectorate. Credit: Sergey Prokudin-Gorskii/Getty Images)

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