In Mauritania big is beautiful and stretch marks are considered sexy.

They’re banned from having boyfriends, perform in frilly knickers and suggestive schoolgirl get-ups – and their male fans are encouraged to imagine making babies with them. Oh, and they outearn Lady Gaga. Meet the cute, but controversial, AKB48.

More than two years after the nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan, couples are struggling to keep love alive and their children safe in a place where even birthday cakes pose a contamination risk