An online storm has engulfed Kate Middleton. Rumour and speculation have swirled ever since she underwent planned abdominal surgery at the start of the year. Kensington Palace said from the beginning that she wasn’t expected to resume Royal duties until after Easter but that did nothing to stop the pressure mounting over a lack of public appearances.

Over the weekend the Palace released a photo of the Princess of Wales with her children but then people started noticing odd details. Soon the press agencies that distributed the photo had issued a “kill notice” - over concerns that it had been digitally altered or edited. Eventually Kate issued a statement on Instagram, admitted “experimenting” with editing and apologised for any “confusion” the picture may have caused.

This PR disaster has done nothing to quell the rumours.

In this episode we break down the timeline of the story so far, the BBC’s Jacqui Wakefield looks into how the image may have been edited and we get some PR tips from crisis management expert Molly McPherson.

Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Alex Rhodes and Maria Clara Montoya Editors: Verity Wilde and Simon Peeks

These days tickets for big music tours and sports events can sell out in a matter of seconds. And not everyone who buys a ticket is planning on going. Touts, scalpers, resellers (whatever you know them as) are using increasingly high-tech ways to snap up all the tickets before real fans get a chance, then selling them on for dizzying amounts.

It’s not just big stars like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, it’s also huge sports events like the Cricket World Cup, the Superbowl and the Euros.

We hear from Rachel Lee, a reporter in South Korea, and Roxy Gagdekar, a reporter in India, about the scale of the problem in their countries. Plus we speak to Alessandro Moretti, a criminologist who’s spoken to some prolific touts to study their secrets.

Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Beverly Ochieng Producers: Alex Rhodes, Baldeep Chahal and Maria Clara Montoya Editors: Verity Wilde and Simon Peeks

By the end of March, the Academy Awards and the Grammys will have finished, with hours of dedicate coverage, posts and memes galore. But viewing figures in the US show less people are tuning in. There’s a tendency to highlight the glitziness and importance of these events in the US, UK and Europe, but are award shows held to the same standard everywhere? And do these shows even matter anymore?

Noor Nanji, the BBC’s Culture Reporter and Fan Wang, a BBC Journalist in Singapore tell us about what award shows exist across Asia, and whether winning an award holds the same weight culturally. Nyasha Michelle, a journalist at BBC Africa also gives us a glimpse into Africa’s award show industry.

Plus, what do you have to do behind the scenes to actually win an Oscar? It's not as simple as putting in the best performance. Stars like Oppenheimer's Cillian Murphy, Maestro's Bradley Cooper, Killer of the Flower Moon's Lily Gladstone and the studios behind them have been on the campaign trail to try and secure that famous golden statue.

We get some Hollywood insight into what it takes from Jillian Chilingerian, the co-founder of Offscreen Central.

Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Beverly Ochieng Producers: Alex Rhodes, Adam Chowdhury and Benita Barden Editors: Simon Peeks

South Korea has had the world’s lowest birth rate for several years. And recent figures show that it has dropping even further.

Yuna Ku, a reporter in the BBC’s Seoul bureau, explains why the high cost of childcare and expectations about women in the workplace have really put young people off. She also tells us about government efforts to encourage women to have kids, including subsidised housing, IVF treatment and even cash handouts.

Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Beverly Ochieng Producers: Josh Jenkins and William Lee Adams Editors: Simon Peeks

Senegal has a reputation as being a beacon of stability in West Africa. Even (whisper it) a bit boring when it comes to politics - but in the last few months all that has changed.

Senegal was supposed to hold a presidential election in February but that hasn’t happened and no new date has been set. Critics of the current president, Macky Sall, say they’re worried he’s trying to stay on for a third term - which is prohibited under the country’s constitution. Young protestors have been out on the streets, they don’t think they’re getting enough opportunities and are worried that if the chance to vote is taken away then nothing is going to change.

The BBC’s West Africa Correspondent Mayeni Jones helps us take a complicated situation back to basics and explains why what happens in Senegal might have big consequences for the entire region.

Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Beverly Ochieng Producer: Alex Rhodes Editors: Simon Peeks

Doctors in Kenya have been on the streets protesting against the state of healthcare in the country. They’re angry about a shortage of staff in hospitals and other public medical facilities.

The Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists and Dentists Union or KMPDU want the government to plug the gaps by paying for medical interns to start working in hospitals immediately. But the country’s Ministry of Health says it doesn’t have the funds to do that.

Dorcas Wangira, the BBC’s Africa Health correspondent, explains the doctors’ main demands and discusses how a planned 14-day strike could impact the health system.

Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Beverly Ochieng Producers: Josh Jenkins and William Lee Adams Editors: Simon Peeks

Haiti is battling a wave of gang violence. On Sunday armed gangs stormed a major prison in the capital Port-au-Prince. At least 12 people were killed and around 4,000 inmates escaped. The United Nations says the country has reached a critical point, with more than 1,100 people killed, injured or kidnapped in January alone.

Kenya’s government has offered to help. It’s agreed to lead a multinational security force in the country and will deploy 1,000 troops to Haiti. Pascal Fletcher, a journalist with BBC Monitoring, explains the roots of Haiti’s instability.

We also hear from women across the Haitian diaspora including Bertrhude Albert, Monique Clesca, Gessica Geneus and Dr. Tatiana Behrmann.

This episode contains discussion about sexual assault, kidnapping and violence. Details of organisations offering information and support with these issues are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.

Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Beverly Ochieng Producers: Benita Barden and William Lee Adams Editors: Simon Peeks

If you’ve made a TikTok recently, you might not have been able to add your favourite artist’s music. That’s because Universal, a massive record label that represents a third of all music in the world, won’t let TikTok use music by any of its signed artists - or songs that were written by any of its artists either. It’s part of a huge dispute that’s been going on in the music industry. We break this down with BBC Radio 1 presenter Maia Beth and producer and music journalist Siobhán McAndrew. Who’s going to lose out? And can Tiktok survive without all that music?

Plus former Manchester United midfielder and World Cup winner Paul Pogba has been banned by Italy’s national anti-doping tribunal (Nado) from playing football for four years for a doping offence. BBC Sport Africa’s Kelvin Kimathi tells us all about it.

Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Josh Jenkins and Baldeep Chahal Editor: Julia Ross-Roy

Shaikh Mohammad Sarfaraz, a young Indian man from Kolkata, thought he’d landed a great job in another country; the pay was good and he believed he’d get a passport after just a few months’ work. He was told he was going to be a helper for the Russian military, working as a security guard or in the kitchens. But once he got there he found out he wasn’t going to be a helper, he was going to be a soldier - and he was being sent to fight in Ukraine.

Neyaz Farooquee, a reporter from the BBC’s Delhi bureau, has spoken to a number of Indian men who say they were also tricked. He describes their experiences. Plus Veronika Malinboym from BBC Monitoring in Georgia tells us about the other foreign nationals fighting in the Russia Ukraine war - on both sides of the conflict.

Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Alex Rhodes and Baldeep Chahal Editor: Julia Ross-Roy

Singeli is a style of electronic dance music that developed in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in the mid-2000s. The genre fuses incredibly rapid beats, with MCing and more traditional Tanzanian music. It started in underground parties but is now making waves globally. It’s played at Uganda’s Nyege Nyege festival, as well as in Boiler Room sets. Popular artists include Jay Mitta, Abbas Jazza and Sisso.

Gloria Achieng and Macharia Maina have been researching the genre for the past year for the BBC. They explain its origins and unique dance style.

We also hear how Mimah, and other female artists, are challenging negative stereotypes around the genre.

Plus, 23-year-old DJ Travella - a producer from Dar es Salaam - shares his hopes for the future.

The Singeli track in this episode is Agaba Kibati by Bamba Pana.

Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: William Lee Adams Producers: Mora Morrison and Benita Barden Editor: Julia Ross-Roy

There are more than 7000 languages spoken around the world. However, nearly 40 percent of them are considered endangered and are at risk of dying out completely. It’s estimated that in the next one hundred years, at least half of the languages spoken today won’t be around anymore. To find out why and whether anything can be done to save them, we spoke to Stephanie Witkowski, the head of ‘7000 Languages’, an organisation that works to keep endangered tongues alive and kicking.

And if you’re looking to learn a new language, we’ve got some tips for you from polyglots - people that can speak more than three!

Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: William Lee Adams Producers: Adam Chowdhury, Baldeep Chahal and Alex Rhodes Editors: Simon Peeks

Darryl George, an 18-year-old student, has been in in-school suspension since August for refusing to cut his dreadlocks. They violate his school’s dress code.

His lives in the U.S. state of Texas which had just passed the Crown Act, a law designed to prohibit race-based hair discrimination. A judge has ruled that this does not apply in Darryl’s case. Brandon Drenon, a BBC journalist based in Washington, explains.

We also hear from Beverly Ochieng, from BBC Monitoring based in Nairobi, who explains hair standards in Kenya.

Plus, BBC news presenter Lukwesa Burak tells us what it was like when she stated to wearing her natural afro on screen.

Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Benita Barden Producers: Mora Morrison and William Lee Adams Editors: Verity Wilde and Simon Peeks