Fifth Floor

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My Hanoi Childhood in Five Pictures Nov 02, 2018

Show notes

Queuing for vegetables, fetching boiling water, and jumping the trams: a newly published collection of black and white photographs of Hanoi, taken not long after the end of the Vietnam War, has transported Ha Mi of BBC Vietnamese back to her childhood.

Image: A queue outside a Hanoi vegetable shop Credit: John Ramsden

Edible Gold Oct 26, 2018

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Renowned for its colour, price and fragrance, 90% of the world's saffron is grown in Iran. The BBC's Golnoosh Golshani has family ties to a famous saffron-growing region and she tells us about her relationship with this precious spice.

Image: Iranian saffron in a gold box Credit: Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Makoko: Stories of Hope Oct 19, 2018

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Makoko is a floating slum in Lagos with a lawless reputation. BBC Pidgin’s Dan Ikpoyi has been a victim of extortion there himself, but his latest video shows a community full of life and optimism. (Image: Makoko floating slum in Lagos. Credit: BBC)

Spies In The Spotlight Oct 12, 2018

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The two Russian "tourists" linked to the Salisbury poisoning have been unmasked as secret agents, using little more than open source websites. So is the golden age of Russian spycraft over? Famil Ismailov and Andrei Soshnikov of BBC Russian share insights.

Image: A Man Silhouette In The Night Credit: Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images

Bolsonaro: The Man Dividing Brazil Oct 05, 2018

Show notes

Brazilians vote this weekend for a new President and currently ahead in the polls is right-wing candidate Jair Bolsonaro. To his supporters he’s the man to clean up politics and restore order, to his detractors he’s a misogynist who openly supports the former military dictatorship. Camilla Costa of BBC Brasil has been following a campaign she describes as “quite a ride”.

Image: Brazilian Presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro Credit: HEULER ANDREY/AFP/Getty Images

Don’t Tell Us What to Wear Sep 28, 2018

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Kyrgyz singer Zere Asylbek showing her bra in music video, Uzbek teachers in mini-skirts, and controversial portraits of Tajik women. Diloram Ibrahimova of BBC Uzbek and Gulnara Kasmambet of BBC Kyrgyz discuss stories from Central Asia that have started a debate about how women should behave and what they should wear.

Image and credit: Zere Asylbek, Kyrgyz singer

Reclaiming Mogadishu’s Sports Stadium Sep 21, 2018

Show notes

In 1979 Somalia opened a state of the art sports stadium to host international sporting events. But with the beginning of the civil war in the 1990s the stadium became a base for successions of fighting forces. Last month it was formally handed it back to the state, so can it reclaim its former glory? BBC Somali’s Ahmed Abdinur was a sports official at the stadium during its glory days.

Image: Mogadishu athletics track overgrown with grass and trees after decades of war in Somalia Credit: Mohamed Abdiwahabafp/Getty Images

Pakistan's Ahmadiyya Problem Sep 14, 2018

Show notes

Last week Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Imran Khan, appointed a renowned Pakistani economist to an advisory economics panel. But Professor Mian is also a member of the Ahmadiyya religious community, which many Muslims consider to be sacrilegious. Following protests he resigned. So why do the Ahmadiyya stir such passions in Pakistan? BBC Urdu's Khalid Karamat explains.

Image: A man cries as he prays at the graves of victims killed in attacks against Ahmadiyya community mosques in 2010. Credit: Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images

The Bengali Kitchen Divide Sep 07, 2018

Show notes

Bengalis are united by a love of good food, but divided over who cooks it. West Bengalis love poppy seeds and sugar, East Bengalis dried fish and chilli. BBC Bangla journalists Manoshi Barua from India's West Bengal state, and Masud Khan from Bangladesh, shed light on the Bengali kitchen divide.

Image: Shukti, or dried fish, is popular in Bangladesh Credit: Majority World/UIG via Getty Images

Lost Stories from Uzbekistan Aug 31, 2018

Show notes

A chance encounter in a Tashkent street brought BBC Uzbek's Ibrat Safo an amazing story. A local academic took him to a museum dedicated to the Uzbek victims of Stalin's purges, and shared some of the stories he'd uncovered.

Image: Brothers Muhammadjon and Rahmatjon Avazjanov Credit: Bahrom Irzayev

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