BBC

The next government faces the huge task of restoring stability to key sectors, including the vital garment industry.

We hear from a denim manufacturer and young voters about what they want next.

And the designer behind Japan’s Hello Kitty character for more than four decades is stepping down.

Presenter: Andrew Peach

Producer: David Cann

Editor: Stephen Ryan

Tarique Rahman is set to become the country's next prime minister. He comes from a family dynasty and has been living in self-imposed exile in London for the past 17 years. After a period of violent upheaval, what comes next for Bangladesh?

Also on the programme: reaction from Ukraine after skeleton bob racer Vladyslav Heraskevych is disqualified from the Winter Olympics; and award-winning British cinematographer Roger Deakins has written a memoir. We hear from the man behind Fargo, the Big Lebowski, Skyfall and others.

(Photo: Tarique Rahman greets supporters during an election campaign rally in Dhaka, Bangladesh, 09 February 2026 / Credit: MONIRUL ALAM/EPA/Shutterstock)

In this episode of Focus on Africa: The Conversation, we explore the world of dating apps on the African continent. Around 350 million people worldwide are using dating apps to look for romantic connections. But the picture looks different in Africa.

We hear from a Nigerian couple who met on a popular dating app and ended up getting married. And a Kenyan woman who says her experience with the apps left her heartbroken.

Presenter: Nkechi Ogbonna

Producers: Carolyne Kiambo, Fana Negash and Makuochi Okafor

Technical Producer: David Nzau

Senior Producer: Priyanka Sippy

Editors: Samuel Murunga and Maryam Abdalla

In April 2022, two months after Russia invaded Ukraine, a man in his thirties called Victor Muller Ferreira flew into Amsterdam airport using a Brazilian passport. He was identified by the Dutch authorities as Russian national Sergey Vladimirovich Cherkasov and immediately sent back to Brazil, where investigations by both the FBI and the Brazilian police identified him as a Russian intelligence officer. He had been living in Brazil, undercover, for years, with a well-developed personal 'legend', or cover story, that included a passion for Forró, a popular Brazilian partner-dance. Cherkasov is currently serving a five year prison sentence in Brazil for identity fraud, and Russia demands his extradition.

Leandro Prazeres of BBC News Brazil - who happens to be a big fan of Forró himself - and BBC Russian's Olga Ivshina unpack the story of this 'fake Brazilian' and explore the history and motivations of Russia's network of so-called 'illegals', or deep cover spies.

This episode of The Documentary comes to you from The Fifth Floor, the show at the heart of global storytelling, with BBC journalists from all around the world.

Produced by Laura Thomas, Caroline Ferguson and Hannah Dean.

(Photo: Irena Taranyuk.)

& should people convicted of benefit fraud be named and shamed?

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party is claiming a "sweeping victory" after indications that it's heading for a landslide election win. It's the first poll since an uprising in 2024 that toppled the authoritarian leader, Sheikh Hasina. Also: President Trump has revoked an Obama-era law that underpinned US regulations on greenhouse gas emissions. Mr Trump said the move was the biggest act of deregulation in the country's history. The CIA has released a video designed to recruit disaffected Chinese military personnel, scientists, and other professionals as spies for the US. Jim Ratcliffe, who co-owns Manchester United Football Club, has apologised if his "choice of language" caused offence. He suggested the UK had been "colonised" by immigrants. And at the Berlin Film Festival, the world premiere of No Good Men, a romantic comedy set in a newsroom in Afghanistan.

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With the 2026 Winter Olympics well under way in Italy, we look to the most powerful woman in sport - the International Olympics Committee president, Kirsty Coventry. The most decorated African Olympian of all time, the 42-year-old mother-of-two made history as both the first African and the first woman to hold the title when she was elected last year. With seven Olympic medals and several World Records under her belt, she decided to take on a role at the International Olympic Committee, quickly climbing the ranks. Mark Coles examines how she got here.

Millions flock to Spain’s Sagrada Família to marvel at its towering tree-like columns, remarkable displays of light and ornate stonework. One hundred years after the master architect Antoni Gaudí’s death, Spanish journalist Lluís Amiguet explores why so many people, regardless of faith, come to visit a Barcelona church that is still far from finished. Amiguet hears how Gaudí was inspired by what he called “The Great Book Of Nature” and learns how this might have been of particular interest to visitors from Japan who were among the first to come and see Gaudí’s work. He meets Japanese architect Hiroya Tanaka who believes there are secret codes hidden within Gaudi’s plans, talks to Òscar Tusquets who organised a petition for work to stop on the church before suddenly changing his mind and he tours the towers of the world’s tallest church.

President Trump has repealed a key government scientific finding that carbon emissions endanger human health. The so-called “endangerment finding” of 2009 was the legal bedrock of efforts to rein in emissions and critics fear it is a major setback in the fight against climate change.

Also on the programme: Sir Jim Ratcliffe has apologised for "offending some people" with his language after saying the UK had been "colonised by immigrants". We discuss the importance of the language we use in politics.

And as the Berlin Film Festival opens, we speak to the director of one of the entrants, a rom-com set in Kabul.

President Trump says greenhouse gas emissions do not endanger public health, rolling back a landmark finding that formed the legal basis for US climate regulation. Andrew Peach gets reactions.

Also, South Africa's president sets out his plans to tackle growing water shortages.

And a dispute over the future of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.

(Photo: US President Donald Trump speaks in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 12 February 2026. Credit: WILL OLIVER/EPA/Shutterstock).