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Episode details

World Service,13 Sep 2019,49 mins

Inside Kashmir's lockdown

The Fifth Floor

Available for over a year

At the beginning of August, Kashmir was stripped of its autonomous status by the Indian government. It was subject to a strict curfew, without phone lines or internet access - a challenge for BBC Indian languages reporter Aamir Peerzada who’s based there. He was joined by his Delhi-based colleague and friend Neha Sharma to report on life inside Kashmir's lockdown. Kazakhstan’s gateway to China In a remote border area of Kazakhstan, a huge transport hub has been built, connecting China with distant markets in Europe. BBC Russian contributor Rose Kudabayeva returned to her home country to see how China’s Belt and Road project is changing lives. How to laugh online What do you type when your friends send you something funny by text? In English you might type 'hahaha', but in Thai it's the number '5', and in Portuguese, 'kkkkkkk'. Here's The Fifth Floor guide, with thanks to Beatriz de la Pava of BBC Mundo, Bugyeong Jung of BBC Korean, Chaiyot Yongcharoenchai of BBC Thai, Janay Boulos of BBC Arabic and Luis Barrucho of BBC Brasil. Idlib's “double tap” airstrike that never was BBC Arabic's investigations unit has pieced together the story of a so-called "double tap" airstrike on a market in Syria's Idlib province in which 39 people were killed. Nader Ibrahim explains how they put the story together, when it's too dangerous to go there, and Russian air force authorities deny it ever happened. Serbian head tennis If you haven't heard of this sport, you're not alone - it's only played in one town in Serbia. It’s a fusion of football, tennis and beach games and every summer locals and enthusiasts from further afield gather in Novi Sad for the annual tournament. BBC Serbia's Aleksandar Miladinovic took a trip to a beach on the Danube to see it in action. Picture: Aamir Peerzada and Neha Sharma Credit: BBC

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