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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: Artists targeted by the state

Documentaries

Iranian magazine cover Mahsa Amini

28/04/2023 GMT

Artists targeted by the state

BBC World Service - The Fifth Floor, Artists targeted by the state

How artists and celebrities in Iran and Russia are facing pressure from the state

How artists and celebrities in Iran and Russia are facing pressure from the state.

High profile artists and cultural figures in both Iran and Russia face punishment and restrictions on their work if they speak out against their governments.  Following the protests in Iran, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, artists are increasingly under pressure to toe the political line. With BBC Persian's Parham Ghobadi, and BBC Monitoring's Vitaliy Shevchenko.  

Couple living the Vietnamese saying dream
There’s a Vietnamese phrase that suggests perfect happiness can be found by those who live in a western house, eat Chinese food and marry a Japanese woman.  We hear about the couple on Tiktok living the dream, and about the history of this saying, with BBC Vietnamese's Thuong Le.  

Sudan: brothers divided by war
The fighting in Sudan has been a huge story for BBC Arabic. In addition to covering the main headlines they also told the story of two brothers fighting on opposite sides, as Majd Kilani reports.  

Meeting her pupils for the first time: North Waziristan 
The village school of Dewagar, North Waziristan, struggled to find a teacher due to the history of instability in the area. In 2020 Seema Mahin, based in Islamabad, became their online teacher, and recently went to meet them in person for the first time, with the help of Farhat Javed of BBC Urdu. 

(Photo: Iran’s Andiseh magazine shows Mahsa Amini, whose death sparked protests. Credit: Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images)

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