Yemen's Houthis launch missile attack on Israel

I'm Pete Ross and in the early hours of Sunday the 29th of March these are our main stories. The Houthis in Yemen have warned they'll keep targeting Israel in the coming days after launching

their first attacks since the war in the Middle East began a month ago.

Large protests have taken place across the United States against the Trump administration.

“In Ethiopia some non-essential government workers have been put on leave as the country struggles”

with a few shortage linked to supply disruptions caused by the conflict in the Middle East. Also in this podcast? There's no transponder or RFID. They can't find the truck. They can't find the supplies. It's quite shocking actually. Food giant Nestle say a truck carrying more than 400,000 kit cat bars has gone missing. We begin the podcast in the Middle East where Yemen's Houthi rebels have launched a second missile attack

on Israel. Listen a day after it entered the conflict. On Saturday the Iranian backed group launched

its first attacks since the beginning of the war. Emergency sirens in an explosion were heard in the

southern coastal city of Eliyat as a drone suspected to be from Yemen. We've intercepted by the Israel defense forces. Israel says that all the strikes launched so far have been intercepted. Brigadier General Yaya Sarri is a Houthi military spokesman. We've got help and reliance upon Allah. Our armed forces carried out the second military operation in the Holy Jihad battle with a barrage of cruise missiles and drones, targeting several

vital and military sites belonging to the Zionist enemy in the southern occupied Palestine. The Houthis of war and the strikes will continue and the escalation represents a dangerous spread of the war and brings threat of even more damage to the global economy. I spoke to our correspondent

Joe Inwood and began by asking him why the Houthis decided to attack Israel now.

So the Houthis are long-standing allies of backed by the Iranians. There are there are militia groups in Yemen and they're involved in the long-running civil war there and they were essentially some some say proxies for some say allies for you can choose your terminology but they are aligned with the Iranians. Now some people might say it's surprising they haven't got involved to this point. We saw Hezbollah. Of course another Iranian ally they got involved

very quickly, once the Supreme Leader, Alatallah, Ali, Ali, Ham & A was killed. The Houthis haven't but they have chosen now this weekend as their point to do it and it really could be quite a significant moment. Just tell us about the significance of these attacks today. This is a new front within the war and of course I don't want to downplay the significance

“of those missile attacks but what really is going to be crucial here is whether the Houthis”

and this is something they've said they might do decide not to attack Israel but to attack shipping going through the Red Sea, specifically something called the Babel Mandab Strait. Now this matters because of the massive economic consequences this war is having especially on global oil supply. Just to give you the bigger picture Saudi Arabia normally exports its oil through the Strait of Hormuz that has been shut by the Iranians. We've talked

about that a lot. To counter that they've started pumping their oil in a pipeline across the country and exporting it down through the Red Sea, sending it to Asia that way. The Houthis have the capability and they've done it before they did it during the war in Gaza to effectively shut or to try and block a the Babel Mandab Strait. Now if they do that Saudi Arabia will lose a huge amount of its capacity to export oil to Asia to the Far East and that will have huge

economic consequences. It might make what we're seeing so far which is very serious, look you know pale into insignificant. I don't want to overstate this but it could be potentially very serious if they decide to take that action. You see there's been precedence for this before. We haven't had any reaction from Saudi yet. What might they do? What options are up into them? So the Saudis obviously waged along war against the Houthis and evidence is that the Houthis are still there

“holding part of the country. So I think the military option for them is going to be difficult.”

There's a when the Houthis tried to shut the Babel Mandab Strait last time. The Americans did carry out air strikes and I think those did have a significant impact. So we don't quite know what the military capabilities are. I think they probably will be trying to work out some way to persuade them not to do this but the problem we've got in this conflict is that the why did diplomacy doesn't seem to be going anywhere. At the moment we have to be

the Americans talking about talks and saying the Iranians are desperate for a deal but there's

their point of view from the Iranian point of view the longer this goes on the stronger their hand gets. We have a situation where the Americans in the Israeli is obviously started off very with an overwhelming military power but every day that goes by they're a list of targets decreases. The impact they can have with each strike decreases. For the Iranians every day that goes by the impact they're having on the global economy increases it exponentially or certainly

very significantly so from the Iranian point of view they basically the longer they sit this out

“the more it looks like the kind of strategic balance is in their favor and that's why I think”

we're not going to be seeing them rushing to the negotiating table anytime soon. One of the Americans are saying. Joyn Wood. To Lebanon now where Israeli strikes show no sign of relenting state-run media says Israeli war planes flew over bay route skies on Saturday night with reports that some broke the sound barrier several times. Israel says it's targeting the Iran-backed group Hezbollah on Middle East Correspondent Hugo Beshega is in the Lebanese town of

Seqsakia where he attended the funerals of five people killed in Israeli air strikes on Friday.

This war is destroying not only Lebanon's present he does also taking away part of its future.

This was the funeral for Joyn Yunus killed in an Israeli air strike as he played football with his cousins. He was 11, his mother, Malak was devastated.

“Also killed with Joyn's cousin Saajid who was seven and his uncle Raheb, an interior designer”

who was also buried today. His body wrapped in a hezbollah flag. He was 41. I'm looking at the house that has been hit in this air strike and the scale of the destruction here gives us an idea of the power of the attack. The entire house has been destroyed. The Israeli military has yet to explain why the attack this building. Across Lebanon,

more than 120 children have been killed in Israeli air strikes in this war with hundreds more wounded.

Israel says it is targeting Hezbollah which has continued to fire missiles across the border in recent days. Any Lebanon, these rally attacks give no respite. Also in the south, in the town of Zaltan and they are strike killed at least five paramedics. Human rights groups say Israel's repeated attacks or healthcare workers in Lebanon could amount

“to war crimes. Hugobashaga in Lebanon. Ukraine's president Vladimir Zelenskin has accused Russia”

of helping Iran launch an attack on the base which is shared by the US and UK on the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. Speaking to journalists on a call from Qatar, he said Russian satellites had also spied on US military bases in the Middle East with intelligence passed on to Tehran. Mr Zelensky is currently on a tour of the Gulf where he signed deals on defence cooperation. Our correspondent Vitaliy Shavchenko sent this report from Kiev.

During a Zoom call with journalists, President Zelensky read from his phone what he described as an intelligence report from this morning. He said a Russian satellite had filmed the Diego Garcia base four days ago and that in separate similar incidents, Russian satellites had filmed US military bases in the Middle East, a Turkish air base, and oil installations across the Gulf. He did not share any detailed evidence to back up the

claim. President Zelensky also appeared to criticize the US for easing sanctions on the Russia's oil industry. This, he said, essentially meant helping your own adversaries at a time of war. Speaking about his tour of the Gulf, the Ukrainian president said the visit had focused on long-term defence and energy cooperation, particularly offering Ukraine's drone technology and expertise. He also said he was working to ensure that Ukraine's ability to fight Russia was unaffected

by the global energy crisis. President Zelensky told the BBC that the Ukrainian army had no fuel for now. Vitaliy Shavchenko reporting from Kiev. Pakistan is leading efforts to get Iran and the US engaged in peace talks, inviting the foreign ministers of Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt for talks on how to de-escalate the tensions in the Middle East, as Islamabad positions itself as a potential intermediary between Tiran and Washington.

Our correspondent Caroline Davis sent this report from the Pakistani capital. While there is still no confirmation that there will be talks between Iran and the US, Pakistan has announced different talks that will be happening from tomorrow, Sunday, here in Islamabad, the capital. They will be the foreign ministries of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia,

Now this will be again seen as Pakistan positioning itself as a key mediator

between the US and Iran. Now we already know that Pakistan has been passing messages between those two countries, but we also know that Pakistan's foreign ministry has been talking about the number of phone calls that Pakistan has been having with its senior officials and senior officials in other countries, not least a conversation that was had between President Donald Trump and Asim Mania Field Marshal Asim Mania, the head of the armed services here in Pakistan, just under a week

ago, a big question of course with these discussions is will any of these four countries be able to put something on the table be able to find a way through for de-escalation at such a fort moment. Caroline Davis in Islamabad, Ethiopia has told public institutions and state-owned companies

“to send non-essential staff on leave to reduce pressure on transport and fuel. The move comes as”

the country struggles with a diesel shortage linked to supply disruptions caused by the US is really war on Iran. Nearly half of Ethiopia's fuel imports come from the Middle East. Our global affairs reporter Richard Kagoy has the details. Long queues of vehicles are forming at fuel stations, many of them running low on supplies. Police say they have broken up a network accused of smuggling and holding fuel, calling it economic sabotage.

Authorities have already ordered supplies to prioritize security services, manufacturing and transport, but the impact is being found across Africa. Rising prices have triggered panic buying in Kenya and South Africa, fuel costs have jumped by more than 30% in Nigeria and Somalia since the war began.

“Egypt has ordered most businesses to close by 9pm from Saturday, in a month long effort,”

to cut energy use and ease rising costs. Richard Kagoy

Still to come in this podcast? This is the first time as far as I know we've talked about hitting

the courts. Beauty retailers Sephora and Benefit Cosmetics are under investigation for marketing anti-aging products to children. Let's turn now to the United States. No Kings! No Kings! No Kings! Large protests against the Trump administration are taking place in cities across the US,

marking the third iteration of no Kings rallies that have previously drawn crowds into the millions. Organizers say they're protesting against policies imposed by President Donald Trump, including the war in Iran, federal immigration enforcement and the rising cost of living. A White House spokesperson called the protests "Trump the rangement therapy sessions," and said the only people who care are the reporters who are paid to cover them.

What exactly though does no Kings mean? Are Washington correspondent, semi-jellotoso told me? The no Kings is a grassroots movement, and they say their message is simply that the US is a democracy, a country of laws, and not of Kings. So no one person should have absolute power. These protests have taken place in cities, including Boston, Los Angeles, Washington, Chicago, and Atlanta, but it's quite interesting that this year, the organizers say they

have seen a surge in a number of people organizing a no king protests in rural areas of deeply republican states like Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana. So that's quite interesting that that's happening this year, especially with the midterm elections coming up in November. The no Kings protests and the movement was actually launched on President Trump's birthday last year, and this is the third one, the last one took place in October, in which they really focused on President Trump's policies

around illegal immigration, which is also a theme they've been protesting against this year.

We don't have a confirmed number yet, but the last no kings protest drew crowds of nearly 7 million

people across America, and organizers are expecting this one to have drawn crowds of more than that, and they are also protesting against the war in Iran. So we've seen large crowds chanting some people holding up effigies of President Trump and the Vice President JD Vance. We've heard from Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders. We've seen actors Robert De Niro and even actress Jane Fonda. You mentioned the war in Iran there. I mean, the timing of these protests is pretty significant,

right? The White House has a lot on its place at the moment, not least the war in Iran.

“Do you think that has had any impact on the numbers of people attending?”

The war in Iran definitely has a part to play in how many people have turned up, and also the fact that these anti-Trump protests as some have called it,

cities, like Amsterdam, Madrid, and even Rome, where up to 20,000 people showed up. Similar also. The multinational beauty retailer, Safoda and the U.S. company benefit cosmetics are under investigation amid claims the company's promoted skin care products, including anti-aging creams to girls as young as 10, using online influencers to reach them. The Italian competition and market authority says the marketing may have encouraged what's being

called cosmetic arrexium described as a culturally reinforced obsession with having flawless skin. Sally here's us from the Guardian weekend magazine here in the UK, and she says this is

the first time you'd appear in countries have tried to tackle this issue. She's been speaking

to Sean Lee. There has been much talk of this across Europe in the past. I would say two to three years about the sort of pitfalls of potentially marketing at young people and their response to that, but this is the first time, as far as I know, we've talked about hitting the courts.

“What is the potential risk of using products like anti-aging creams at such a young age?”

If indeed that is what has resulted from this? Well, I think there are two problems. There is a moral problem. I don't think any of us wants to think about very young people thinking about preventing signs of aging in their skin, or even being that preoccupied with how they look full-stop. So there is that aspect here. But the other is whether these ingredients in those sorts of creams have the potential to

cause lasting or even temporary damage to kids. So ingredients like retinoids, for example, in a young person would only ever be prescribed by a doctor for things like acne, doing teenage years, but all over the counter retinoids pretty much are there for the purpose of preventing or reversing signs of aging in skin. And they're potent. They're potent active ingredients. They can cause temporary inflammation, irritation, and so on, and make your skin

more sun sensitive. So these are obviously things we would never want to see in a young person.

“There's only, I think, called Sephora Kids. What's that?”

Well, Sephora Kids is sort of slang term used by people in the industry to describe this possibly sort of disturbing phenomena of kids going into Sephora and other stores like it and spending their pocket money on things to improve their skin. I use the term improve subjective, but it improves their skin and their appearance. And lots of adults complain certainly that when they enter those sorts of stores that they are for of kids, spending their

pocket money, and on a more sort of sinister level, what is being done to monetize, to maximise the profit from this phenomenon that really started in COVID. I think young people became obsessed particularly obsessed with skin here during COVID, and since then, the situation has only become more extreme. Sally Hughes from the Guardian Weekend magazine. In a statement, the parent companies of Sephora and Benefit, LVMH, perfumes and cosmetics, said that they operate in strict

“compliance with the applicable regulations and will fully cooperate with the authorities.”

Authorities here in Europe say they're on the hunt for a missing truck carrying 12 tons of the Kit Kat chocolate bars that apparently vanished on route between Italy and Poland. The giant Swiss food company Nestley says almost 414,000 bars were on board when it disappeared. In a statement, they said that whilst we appreciate the criminal's exceptional taste, the fact remains that cargo theft is an escalating issue for businesses of all sizes. With Easterlimming, the company added

that some consumers in Europe may struggle to find Kit Kat ahead of Easter. Adam Levy runs a website called the Chocolate Professor in New York City and has been closely following this story.

Basically, a truck was stolen, which surprises me that there's no transponder or RFID,

they can't find the truck, they can't find the supplies, it's quite shocking, actually. It is shocking, and I suppose it comes at the time not only and incredibly busy time for the chocolate industry, even manufacturers to get their products to the shelves in time for Easter. But also a time when the actual value of chocolate has reached quite high. Yes, the chocolate's been increasing the special last two years because the climate change

and other costs of all for that. The cocoa costs have gone up dramatically in the last couple years, and it's definitely affecting whether it's the high end being to bar people, the 70% the gourmet stuff, as well as the Kit Kat and Eminem's. All chocolate prices have gone up the last two or three years. I suppose that would make it potentially a very attractive load of 12 tons of worth of chocolate to get your hands on, but disposing of it, how are you

see with that be? Well, you know, I'm estimating, I'm not the professional. I think this value

this truck and go to your market Spencer or Aldi or some other large supermarket and say, hey,

“you've got a truck for you. You know, there are certain rules. They scan certain things. They're”

going to say, oh, this is stolen. So this is going to be moved by organized crime, just like they move everything else, whether it's liquor or cheese or anything else. So you're going to go through the mom and pops and say, hey, you know, pennies on a dollar, here's a case of Kit Kat's, you know,

don't scan it or don't we always scan it internally? Yeah, what are you doing in the states called

Mom and Pop stores of this sort of the little corner shop, the independent business, the kind of place that may be you might persuade an owner that actually not to ask too many questions. Nonetheless, presumably these this truck that's got a limited shelf life. So they've got to they've got to get rid of it pretty quick. Oh, the commercial produced Kit Kat's like this will last at least the year and I'm going to show them they got time to move it. And, you know,

this is a thing you can easily move. We're not talking, you know, a couple cars with RFID chips and everything else that you can move Kit Kat, you know, you can go to that corner store, whatever it's said,

you know, here's the special case, here's special pricing, just like stolen cigarettes, you know,

or untack cigarettes, you know, there's a network out there to move things like that. That's small cash, movable, yes. So if somebody comes up to you and you want to buy some chocolate, you might be wise to be a little bit cautious, especially if they produce it from an unmarked value from under their raincoat. And more seriously, have we had this kind of high-stirvolving chocolate before? Oh, there have been some great highs. I mean, that's not great highs, but there's

some interesting highs in the past, you know, another great highs back in 2014, Lynch chocolate, another big Swiss big chocolate mark company, you know, they had over 287,000 tons

“of chocolate stolen by an Italian mafia gang. Back in 2014, that I think was value of $8 million,”

that was 2014's price, almost double by now the value. You've had people locally in the UK, you had someone try to still a container of Cadbury cream eggs in 2023. You've had people still chocolate, you know, in Austria and other places. So yeah, chocolate is something you can move, and it's a skin, it's an affordable luxury, so people will buy it. Adam Levy talking to Sean Lee. Almost two weeks since the Oscars, some film lovers in Scandinavian countries are probably

still basking in the glory of the film's sentimental value, becoming the first Norwegian movie

ever, to in best international feature at the Academy Awards. The film has also become Norway's biggest ever global hits leading some to declare it a new era for Norwegian film exports, much of the credit for its success has gone to Stella and Scar's guard, one of Sweden's greatest living actors, who has a major role in the picture. Tom Brook went to meet him. I interviewed this Swedish actor in New York a few weeks ago, from the moment we met,

I could tell we were going to get along. He is a class actor, very easy to talk to, not at all, intimidating. He immediately got on my good side telling me he watches BBC News every morning, from Stockholm. And I wash you frequently. Oh good. Do you feel morally uplifted after you watch

“me? Yeah, I feel like if he can do it, I can do it too, right?”

Settlemental value was one of my favourite Oscar-nominated films. It was a beautifully crafted story of a strangement within a family. What do you hope your film sentimental value can give audiences right now in the midst of this very tumultuous time in which we live? It's an important voice. It's a weak voice. It's someone whispering when everybody else is screaming and that's the worst listening to. And that's more truthful. Because when you scream, you get this

suspicion when you hear all the screaming that you've got something to hide. You wouldn't scream that much if you, if you did. And you wouldn't promote something so hard if it wasn't fake. Still in Skarsgard has had a long and varied career in theatre, television and film. He can move between big franchise projects and small budget European films as well as experimental cinema. He is without doubt one of Sweden's greatest actors. One of the things that I find

very interesting watching you is you have a lot of presence on screen. And you appear to do things which seem very authentic and very subtle in conveying nuances of your character. Is that something that you're doing consciously? I'm doing very conscious. I sort of do my own narrative in a way. The characters narrative and it's an emotional narrative and it's in sometimes it's

on between the lines, what goes on in the process and I love having scenes where I'm just listening

“to summer. It's not just laziness. He may not have won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor,”

but the movie in which he starts and the mental value made history by becoming the first Norwegian

picture ever to win for Best International feature. Stellan Skard's God's performance definitely

“contributed to that success. You've had an incredible career. What is it you think that there's”

enabled you to have such longevity? I've never had any ambition. Number one, because ambition is very

dangerous to you. I've had the ambition of being a good actor and I make sure that I have fun all the time. As you see my CV is rather eclectic and it is because I do what I want to do right now.

“That's what I should do. Stellan Skard's God's speaking to Tom Brook.”

And that's all from us for now. If you want to get in touch you can email us at [email protected]. You can also find us on x@bbcworld service. Use the hashtag global newspod. And don't forget our sister podcast, the global story, which goes in depth and beyond the headlines on one big story. The tradition of the global newspodcast was mixed by Zabi Hula Karush and the producers are Karla Konte and Adrien Kochi. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Pete Ross, until the next time. Goodbye.