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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: Ukraine: Ancient and modern

Documentaries

A copy of the Scythian Pectoral  exhibited in the Treasury of the National Museum of History of Ukraine

15/12/2023 GMT

Ukraine: Ancient and modern

BBC World Service - The Fifth Floor, Ukraine: Ancient and modern

Diplomatic and military challenges, but victory on the return of ancient treasures

While Ukraine struggles on frontlines and in international diplomacy, it is celebrating the return of ancient treasures disputed with Russia.

A stalled front line and diplomatic challenges - we look at the pressures on Ukraine with Vitaliy Shevchenko, Russia editor at BBC Monitoring. And Daria Taradai of BBC Ukrainian tells us about the return to Kyiv of hundreds of ancient Scythian treasures from Crimea, which were on loan to a European museum when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. Their arrival in Kyiv follows almost 10 years of legal battles with Russia.

Pilgrimage to Aksum 
Thousands of pilgrims recently made their way to Aksum in Ethiopia, for a religious holiday taking place for the first time since the end of the civil war in the northern region of Tigray. Aksum is a holy site for Ethiopian Orthodox Christians who say it is home to the Ark of the Covenant. BBC Tigrinya’s Girmay Gebru, who’s based in the regional capital Mekelle, travelled to Aksum to talk to local people and visitors.

HIV and sterilisation: a legal victory in Kenya 
After a nine-year legal battle, four Kenyan women living with HIV have shared their stories with BBC Africa, of how they were sterilised without informed consent. They have now received compensation, and the recognition that the procedures they went through at a public hospital were carried out because of their HIV status.  Health correspondent Dorcas Wangira tells us about meeting them, and the legal significance of this ruling. 

Lost and found: Indonesia’s rare echidna 
Pristine forests, crystal clear water, and an ancient species of animal that was believed to be extinct - BBC Indonesian's Famega Syavira travelled to northeastern Papua to report on the rediscovery of Attenborough’s long-beaked echidna.  Previously, the only evidence of this rare species of the egg-laying mammal was a dead specimen in a Dutch museum, collected 60 years ago. 

(Photo: A copy of the Scythian Pectoral exhibited in the Treasury of the National Museum of History of Ukraine. Credit: Pavlo Bahmut/Getty Images)

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