Global News Podcast - Yemen's Houthis launch missile attack on Israel

Episode Date: March 29, 2026

The Houthis in Yemen have carried out a second missile and drone attack on Israel, and have warned they'll keep conducting strikes in the coming days. Earlier on Saturday the Iranian-backed group launched its first attack since the US and Israel began their war on Iran a month ago. Also, thousands of protests against the Trump administration have been taking place in every major city in the US, including New York, Washington DC, and Los Angeles. The organisers said the marches were a call to action against the war on Iran and President Trump’s immigration policies. There have also been large protests against far-right movements in cities across Europe. In Ethiopia some non-essential government workers have been put on leave as the country struggles with a fuel shortage, linked to supply disruptions caused by the conflict in the Middle East. An investigation is launched into the multinational beauty retailer Sephora and the US company Benefit Cosmetics, amid claims they promoted skincare products, including anti-ageing creams to girls as young as ten, using online influencers to reach them. And, the Swiss food giant Nestle, says a truck carrying more than 400,000 Kit Kat bars has gone missing. The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight. Get the news that matters, delivered twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends, plus special bonus episodes reacting to urgent breaking stories. Follow or subscribe now and never miss a moment. Get in touch: [e-mail]

This is the Global News Podcasts from the BBC World Service. 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 attack 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 fuel shortage,

linked to supply disruptions caused by the conflict in the Middle East. Also in this podcast... There's no transponder, no 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, less than a day after it entered the conflict. On Saturday, the Iranian-backed group launched its first attack since the beginning of the war. Emergency sirens and an explosion were heard in the southern coastal city of Eliat, as a drone suspected to be from Yemen was intercepted by the Israel Defence Forces. Israel says that all the strikes launched so far have been intercepted. Brigadier General Yaya Sari is a huthy 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 have warned 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. They are, they're a militia group in Yemen, they're involved in the long-running civil war there, and they were essentially, 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 surprisingly, haven't got involved to this point. We saw Hezbollah, of course, another Iranian ally. They got

involved very quickly once the Supreme Leader Alatollah Ali Hamanai 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 Bab al-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 Bab al-Mandeb 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 insignificance. I don't want to overstate this,

but it could be potentially very serious if they decide to take that action. Now, you say there's been precedence for this before. We haven't had any reaction from Saudi yet. What might they do? What options are open to them? So the Saudis obviously waged a long 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, it is going to be difficult. So when the Houthis tried to shut the Babamandah straight 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 wider diplomacy doesn't seem to be going anywhere. At the moment we have with the Americans talking about talks and saying the Iranians are desperate for a deal. but there's no real evidence of that. Tehran is not making any sounds like they want to compromise. And from 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 and the Israelis obviously started off with an overwhelming military power. But every day that goes by, their 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 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 favour. And that's why I think we're not going to be seeing them rushing to the negotiating table anytime soon, whatever the Americans are saying. Joe Inwood. To Lebanon now, where Israeli strikes show no sign of relenting. State-run media says Israeli warplanes flew over Beirut, skies on Saturday night, with reports that some broke the sound barrier several times. Israel says it's targeting the Iran-backed group Hezbollah. Our Middle East correspondent Hugo Bishiga is in the

Lebanese town of Saksakia, where he attended the funerals of five people killed in Israeli airstrikes on Friday. This war is destroying not only Lebanon's present. It is also taking away part of its future. This was the funeral for Jowad Yunis, killed in an Israeli airstrike as he played football with his cousins. He was 11. His mother, Malak, was devastated. My son is gentle and pure. He loved the idea of martyrdom. And when he grew up, he wanted to be with the resistance.

He wanted to resist the enemy Israel, who killed him. Also killed were Jowad's cousin, Sajid, who was seven, and his uncle, Rakhab, 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 airstrike 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 it attacked 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. And in Lebanon, the Israeli attacks give no respite. Also in the south, in the town of Zaltar and Estuary killed at least five paramedics. Human rights groups say Israel's repeated attacks on healthcare workers in Lebanon could amount to war crimes. Hugo Bishiga in Lebanon. Ukraine's president, Vladimir Zelensky, 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 Vitaly Shivchenko 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 U.S. 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 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 defense 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 Zelenskyy told the BBC that the Ukrainian army had enough fuel for now. Vitaly Shivchenko 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 Tehran 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, Egypt and Turkey. And the discussion will, of course, be about de-escalation in the Middle East. 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, It's not least a conversation that was had between President Donald Trump

and Assam Meneer, Field Marshal Asim Meneer, who's the head of the armed services here in Pakistan, just under a week ago. The 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 fraught 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-Israeli war on Iran. Nearly half of Ethiopia's fuel imports come from the Middle East. Our global affairs reporter Richard Kugoy has the details. Long-cuser 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 hoarding fuel, calling it. economic sabotage. Authorities have already ordered suppliers to prioritize security services, manufacturing and transport. But the impact is being felt 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 Kegoi. Still to come in this podcast? This is the first time as far as I know we've talked about hitting the courts.

Beauty retailer, 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! Large protests against the Trump administration are taking place in cities across the U.S. marking the third iteration of No King's 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 derangement 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? our Washington correspondent Simi Gilaoso 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 the number of people organizing 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 King's 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 King's protest drew crowds of nearly seven 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 charge. some people holding up effigies of President Trump and the Vice President J.D. Vance.

We've heard from Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders. We've seen actors Robert De Niro and even actress Jane Fonder. 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, haven't just taken place in America. We've seen these no-king protests in European cities like Amsterdam, Madrid and even Rome,

where up to 20,000 people showed up. Simi Jula Oso. The multinational beauty retailer, Sephora and the US company Benefit Cosmetics are under investigation amidstasy. 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 orexia, described as a culturally reinforced obsession with having flawless skin. Sally Hughes is from the Guardian Weekend magazine here in the UK, and she says this is the first time European countries have tried to tackle this issue. She's been speaking to Sean Lay. 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 to it. 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 during 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, you know, they're potent active ingredients that 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.

Something I think called Sephora Kids, what's that? Well, Sephora Kids is a 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. Yes. And how lots of adults complain certainly that when they enter those sorts of stores that they are full of kids, spending their pocket money and on a more sort of sinister level, what is being done to monetise, to maximise the profit from this phenomena that really started in COVID.

I think young people became obsessed, particularly obsessed with skin hair during COVID. And since then, the situation has only become more extreme. Sally Hughes from the Guardian Weekend magazine. In a statement, the parent company 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 tonnes of the Kit Kat chocolate bars

that apparently vanished en route between Italy and Poland. The giant Swiss food company Nestle 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 Easter limming, 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, no 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 a table. time, not only an incredibly busy time for the chocolate industry, certainly for 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 a high. Yes, chocolate's been increasing the special last two years

because of climate change and other costs involved with that. The cocoa costs have gone up dramatically in the last couple of 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 KitKat and M&Ms. All trucker prices have gone up in the last two or three years. I suppose that would make it potentially a very attractive

load or 12 tons worth of chocolate to get your hands on. But disposing of it, how easy would that be? Well, you know, I'm estimating it. I'm not the professional. I'm thinking this value of this truck is like $60,000 to $90,000 at wholesale value. Wow.

No, you're not going to be able to take this truck can go to your Mark and Spencer or Aldi or some other large supermarket and say, hey, I 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 they're going to go to the mom and pops and say, hey, you know, penny's on a dollar. Here's a case of Kit Katz.

You know, don't scan it or don't always scan it internally. Yeah. What you in the States called mom and pop stores are the sort of, the little corner shop, the independent business, the kind of place that maybe you might persuade an owner that actually not to ask too many questions. Nonetheless, presumably, this chocolate's got a limited shelf life, so they've got to get rid of it pretty quick. Well, the commercial-produced Kit Katz like this will last at least a year on the shelf. They've 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. You can move Kit Katz, you know. You know, you can go to that corner store, whatever, said, you know, here's the special box, here's special pricing, just like stolen cigarettes, you know, or untaxed 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, do you go, do you want to buy some chocolate? You might be wise to be a little bit cautious, especially if they produce it from an unmarked bag or from under their raincoat. And more seriously, have we had this kind of heist involving chocolate before? Oh, there have been some great heist.

I mean, that's not great heist, but there's some interesting heist in the past. You know, another great heist back in 2014, Lint Chocolate, another big Swiss big chocolate market company. You know, they had over 287,000 tons of chocolate stolen by an Italian mafia gang back in 2014. That, I think it was valued almost $8 million. That was 2014. It's probably almost double by now the value. You've had people in locally in the UK. Someone tries to steal a container of Cadbury Cream Eggs in 2023.

You've had people steal chocolates, 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 win Best International Feature at the Academy Awards.

The film has also become Norway's biggest ever global hit, leading some to declare it a new era for Norwegian film exports. Much of the credit for its success has gone to Stelan Skarsgaard, one of Sweden's greatest living actors, who has a major role in the picture. Tom Brook went to meet him. So we're just waiting for a cup of coffee? I know, I like caffeine, don't you?

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 act, 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 watch 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 too, right?

Right. Sentimental Value was one of my favourite Oscar-nominated films. It was a beautifully crafted story of estrangement 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 worth listening to. and thus more truthful because when you scream you get the suspicion when you hear all the screaming that you've got something to hide you wouldn't scream that much if you did and you wouldn't promote something so hard if it wasn't fake

Stellan Scarsgaard has had a long and varied career in theatre, television and film he can move between big franchise projects in 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 the nuances of your character. Is that something that you're doing consciously? I'm doing it very conscious. I sort of do my own narrative in a way. The character's narrative, and it's an emotional narrative, and it varies. And sometimes it's instantly I invent it.

But it's what interests me is what is going on underneath, what is going on between the lines, what goes on in the pauses. And I love having scenes where I'm just listening to someone. It's not just laziness. He may not have won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, but the movie in which he stars, sentimental value,

made history by becoming the first Norwegian picture ever to win for best international feature. Stellant Scarsgaard's performance definitely contributed to that success. You've had an incredible career. What is it, do you think, that has 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, not what I should do. Stalen Scarsgaard, speaking to Tom Brook. And that's all from us for now. If you want to get in touch, you can email us at global podcast at BBC.co.uk.

You can also find us on X at BBC World 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. This edition of the Global News podcast was mixed by Zabi Hula Karush, and the producers are Carla Conte and Ariane Cochie. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Pete Ross.

Until the next time, goodbye.