BBC

The BBC has uncovered new evidence that vulnerable girls and young women in London are being groomed by gangs to carry drugs and have sex. We discuss the findings with the former head of the National Crime Agency's Child Exploitation Command.

Also on the programme: the day after the US State Department approved the UK's Chagos Islands deal, President Trump launches a new attack on it.

And the symphonic sounds hidden in the freezer aisle of a Sheffield supermarket.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg appeared in a California court on Wednesday, defending his leadership in a landmark case over whether social media is addictive for children.

Banking giants JPMorganChase is to open more than 160 new branches in over 30 states. So why the move back into launching physical banks when a lot of the industry is moving away from them - and towards online banking?

And Researchers say the world's main coffee-growing regions are getting hotter every year because of climate change - and that means coffee bean prices have almost doubled. We go to Brazil and hear from one coffee producer.

(Picture: Mark Zuckerberg, Chief Executive Officer of Meta Platforms, arrives for a court appearance at the Los Angeles County Superior Court in downtown Los Angeles, California, USA, 18 February 2026. Credit: CHRIS TORRES/EPA/Shutterstock).

The Meta boss defended his leadership and answered questions about Instagram, with reports from the courtroom saying he was testy under questioning. Also, why is JPMorganChase opening more than 160 new bank branches in the United States in a world of online banking? And a coffee producer in Brazil explains how climate change has seen coffee bean prices almost double.

(Picture: Mark Zuckerberg, Chief Executive Officer of Meta Platforms, arrives for a court appearance at the Los Angeles County Superior Court in downtown Los Angeles, California, USA, 18 February 2026. Credit: CHRIS TORRES/EPA/Shutterstock).

The owner of Instagram and Facebook has been testifying in a landmark legal case over social media addiction, which could pave the way for future hearings.

Also on the programme: Les Wexner, who gave Jeffrey Epstein his own fortune to manage and who was pivotal in his rise as a financier, has told a Congressional inquiry he was naive and was duped, but not himself involved in sexual abuse. And the widow of the Hollywood actor Chadwick Boseman tells us about the revival of "Deep Azure," a play he wrote twenty years ago, in London.

(Picture: Mark Zuckerberg arrives in court. Credit: Reuters)

Brookfield’s guest continues to stir the pot, and Ruairi steps up.

Kyiv's chief negotiator describes US-mediated negotiations with Russia as difficult and complex, but says there has been progress. Also: European football authorities investigate claims of racism in the Champions League match between Real Madrid and Benfica. Investigators looking into the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie say they believe she is being held somewhere close to her home in Arizona. Researchers in Britain assess the threat from the Chikungunya virus in the Asian tiger mosquito, saying it could spread across Europe. The internet page showing the first ever YouTube video is saved for posterity by London's Victoria and Albert Museum. And excitement builds ahead of the debut of Skimo at the Winter Olympics in Italy.

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We hear from a tour guide in Tokyo as the number of oversees visitors to Japan has fallen for the first time in four years partly because of a big drop in tourists from China after a diplomatic row between the two countries

Also a farmer tells us about the impact of a Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak in South Africa

and inflation falls in the UK

Presenter: Leanna Byrne

Producers: Amber Mehmood and Huma Shah

Editor: Justin Bones

University students in Senegal have been protesting in demand of payment of their stipend from the government. They say the allowance, paid to students mostly from low-income backgrounds, has not been disbursed for months. A week ago, a protest at the country's main Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar left one student dead after a confrontation between the protestors and the police. The push by the learners comes at a time when Senegal is facing a high debt burden.

And we hear from award-winning poet Hafsat Abdullahi on the evolution of spoken word poetry in Africa, and its role in cultural preservation and activism.

Presenter: Nkechi Ogbonna

Producers: Bella Twine and Ayuba Iliya

Technical Producer: Herbert Masua

Senior Producer: Charles Gitonga

Editors: Samuel Murunga and Maryam Abdalla

As talks between Kyiv and Moscow end in Geneva, the two sides remain at loggerheads over the status of territory in Eastern Ukraine. We hear from Brigadier General Oleksandr Pivnenko, Commander of Ukraine's National Guard.

Also in the programme: a trial in Austria raises questions about the circumstances in which mountain climbers may be held responsible for their companions; and the widow of the American actor and playwright Chadwick Boseman, most famous as the star of Black Panther, tells us how she feels about her late husband's play being staged in London.

(IMAGE: Ukrainian chief of the general staff Andrii Hnatov walks outside the InterContinental hotel on the day of U.S.-mediated peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, in Geneva, Switzerland, February 18, 2026 / CREDIT: Reuters/Pierre Albouy)

Commissioner for Older People for NI Siobhan Casey speaks with Nolan.