The Fifth Floor: The reality of reporting in Syria

In the city of Goma, former child soldiers are being rehabilitated using capoeira, the Brazilian martial art. Since the start of the conflict in 1996 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, child soldiers have been recruited to fight. After they are demobilised from armed groups, many suffer from mental health disorders like anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. The demobilised child soldiers are housed in transit centres while they wait to be reunited with their families. While they wait, Social Capoeira is one of the therapies offered to them. It is a form of capoeira where the fighting is non-contact and dialogue, and wellbeing are prioritised. Congolese journalist Ruth Omar explores the impact of this unique approach.

8 Tammi 202522min

The people of Valencia are still trying to come to terms with the events of 29 October - in a matter of hours, the Spanish city was hit by flash floods, leaving behind a trail of death and destruction. But, as news of the floods began circulating on social media, so did rumours about the supposed causes behind the torrential rain. “This is not normal weather”, suggested one tweet seen more than a million times, “This is weather warfare manipulated by HAARP.” Claims that the weather is being manipulated through the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP), an atmospheric research programme first developed by the US military, are not new. And yet, as many extreme weather events become more frequent and intense, these lies appear to be finding new audiences. So, what is the truth about HAARP?

8 Tammi 202518min

Why feminism has become a dirty word in South Korea. In South Korea being a feminist is now something that can only be admitted in private, thanks to a fierce backlash against feminism. Anti-feminists accuse women who advocate for equality as being man-haters, worthy of punishment. Online witch-hunts - spearheaded by young male gamers - target women suspected of harbouring feminist views, bombarding them with abuse and demanding they be fired from their jobs. Jean Mackenzie investigates how these witch-hunts have silenced women. She asks what this means for the future of women's rights in a country where gender discrimination is still deeply entrenched.

7 Tammi 202529min

You might not know the name Dan Perri, but you will probably have seen his work: he designed the title sequences for some of the most famous films in cinema history. Mark Burman hears how he created the titles for Star Wars, Raging Bull, Taxi Driver and The Exorcist.

6 Tammi 202539min

A few years ago, the town of Anam in Southern Nigeria was known for all the wrong reasons: high levels of crime and knife and gun violence. A group of local women, known as 'ụmụadas', decided to take matters into their own hands and confronted criminals with... their kitchen spoons. BBC Igbo editor Adline Okere, who is an ụmụada herself, has the story. Plus, how Subagunam Kannan's passion for filming ants in his own house led him to make a viral video for BBC Tamil, and a train journey through Thailand and Laos with Thuong Le from BBC Vietnamese.Produced by Alice Gioia and Hannah Dean. (Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)

4 Tammi 202526min

“I’m looking for a man in finance …” is the opening line of one of the most viewed, copied and remixed social media posts of the year. The woman behind it, Megan Boni, aka TikTok’s Girl on Couch, invented the rhyme as a jokey description of the perfect man she and her single friends would like to meet. She posted it one evening, and the internet went wild. It has been a similar story for Scottish actor Kirsty Paterson. Kirsty was photographed looking dejected in a sad green Oompa Loompa wig at possibly the world’s worst Willie Wonka-inspired event ever. The picture, which she hates, was shared around the world, and the initial publicity led to a slew of vicious replies. Megan and Kirsty are joined by Kelley Heyer, the inventor of the Charli XCX's Apple Dance, and Auri Kananen, Finnish queen of housecleaning videos, to discuss what it is like to ‘go viral’, and what happens next.

4 Tammi 202522min

In the aftermath of Bangladesh’s political unrest and the student-led protests that led to the collapse of Sheikh Hasina’s government in August 2024, the country is facing a period of transition and uncertainty. Amid the chaos, harrowing videos and reports of violent attacks against the Hindu minority flooded social media—images of burning buildings, horrifying violence, and women weeping as they pleaded for help. However, some began to doubt the veracity and authenticity of these videos after they seemed to be sensationalised by right-wing influencers and news outlets in neighbouring India.Despite this, shocking new videos of alleged attacks continue to appear on social media, with little or no acknowledgement from a world that is now questioning their legitimacy. In the first episode of a two-part series for BBC World Service’s Heart & Soul, reporter Sahar Zand travels to Bangladesh to investigate the truth behind the contradictory news headlines and the contrasting videos emerging daily online. There, Sahar follows two Hindu university students, Sukanto and Banamali, who have made it their mission to verify and document what they describe as brutal assaults on their community, determined to set the record straight.Sahar follows Sukanto and Banamali as they travel to some of the worst-affected areas, and sees and hears firsthand accounts of homes burned, families separated, temples desecrated, and entire villages torn apart by mob violence. Despite their tireless efforts to report the truth, the two friends say that the Hindu experience in Bangladesh has been met with silence from both the world's media and the country's authorities. Producer: Sahar Zand Executive producer: Rajeev Gupta

3 Tammi 202526min

In Palermo, and across southern Italy, there are two main types of stray dog. There are the semi-wild packs that live on the edge of human settlements, and then there are the cani di quartiere (dogs of the neighbourhood). These dogs are known by everyone and owned by no one. They sprawl out for naps in the middle of the pavement, frequent the same butchers for their scraps, play with the neighbourhood kids, and have friends - canine and human - all over the territory. Unlike strays in other parts of Europe, they are not rounded up and treated as a nuisance. They are protected by law, which guarantees their freedom as long as they are not a danger to people, animals, or property. British writer and producer Georgia Walker has been fascinated by the lives of these animals, and what they mean to the city.

2 Tammi 202526min