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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: Reporting Pakistan's cable car rescue

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Army soldier descends from a helicopter during a rescue mission to recover students stuck in a chairlift in Pakistan.

01/09/2023 GMT

Reporting Pakistan's cable car rescue

BBC World Service - The Fifth Floor, Reporting Pakistan's cable car rescue

Stories from survivors of the cable car accident and insights into their lives

BBC Urdu's Azizullah Khan shares stories from survivors of the cable car accident and insights into their lives.

BBC Urdu’s Azizullah Khan was on the scene soon after last week’s dramatic rescue in northwest Pakistan, when a broken cable car was left dangling hundreds of metres above the ground. He interviewed survivors and local people, and tells us about the harshness of their lives.  The rescue put an international spotlight on these remote villages, but will that change anything? 

Andalusian Spanish
BBC Mundo's Alicia Hernandez is from Andalusia in the south of Spain, and she published an online piece about the unique dialect of Spanish spoken there, which differs from the standard form.  She explains why it's the basis of the Spanish spoken across Latin America.

Chinese shoppers stockpiling salt 
Consumers in mainland China, Macau and Hong Kong have been panic-buying table salt after Japan began releasing treated radioactive wastewater from the damaged Fukushima power plant. Martin Yip of BBC Chinese explains why. 

Lebanon's beauty treatment boom 
Despite the economic crisis in Lebanon, its cosmetic procedures industry is thriving. The pressure to look good has forced many women to continue costly beauty treatments, with diaspora remittances and visits home keeping the clinics busy. We hear more from BBC Arabic's Carine Torbey.

Gold smuggling in Nepal 
The recent seizure of 60 kilograms of gold at Kathmandu airport has shone light on the scale of smuggling in Nepal’s tightly controlled gold market.  It’s a story that hints at corruption and shady dealings in high places. BBC Nepali’s Sanjaya Dhakal has been covering the story.  

(Photo: Army soldier descends from a helicopter during a rescue mission to recover students stuck in a chairlift in a remote village in Pakistan. Credit: AFP via Getty Images)

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