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Calmy recaptures the presidential palace in Khartoum and the former boss of ABachrombi and Fitch is accused of abuse by 40 men.
Also in the podcast. There's only been three maids.
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ET goes under the hammer.
Every day, around 230 ,000 passengers travelled through Heathrow in West London, making it the busiest airport in Europe.
But today its runways are quiet, with no planes coming or going, after a big fire knocked out the electricity supply nearby.
More than 1 ,300 flights are affected and aviation consultant John Strickland says it could be some time before services return to normal.
The way this is going to play out is really a small version of what we saw with the 9 -11 terror attacks, way back more than 20 years ago, and while that was a much more widespread challenge, for Heathrow this is exactly the same because the airport being closed entirely means many, many long -haul flights were already on their way to Heathrow, and there will be frantic efforts by airline staff to get other aircraft diverted to other places.
Lucy Adler is stuck at Delhi Airport, back where she started, after nine hours in the So, I was on a 5am flight out of Delhi, which was supposed to land at Heathrow for sort of 10am.
And literally, exactly halfway through, Captain woke us all up and kind of said, hey, there's been a problem.
There's been a fire at Heathrow, and actually, you know, we're going to need to...
And we all thought he was going to, say, land at a different airport.
And what he actually said was, turn around and go back to Delhi.
so yeah it's um it was a bit of a shock to the system to here we were like flying a whole nine hours to end up back where we start our correspondent at Heathrow Airport Charlotte Gallagher told us more about how this all happened well it was a pretty dramatic fire there were essentially flames shooting out of the top of this substation which isn't at Heathrow Airport but it's pretty close by and it supplies the majority of Heathrow Airport's power and people People living near the substation said it sounded like an explosion and their houses were rocking around 100 people had to be evacuated from their
homes. And actually, when we arrived this morning, we could smell the smoke, it was pretty strong.
So there was obviously this huge concern about the fire.
And then now, of course, there's this huge issue with Heathrow Airport, it should be incredibly busy at the moment.
Where I am now, it's deserted.
There aren't even any cars being allowed near the airport.
The only cars are police cars and they're here to turn people away and tell them to go back home.
Yeah I mean what does that mean for passengers not just here in the UK but around the world?
Well because this airport is so crucial it deals with hundreds of thousands of passengers every day and 1300 flights every day it's having a huge knock -on effect because the aircraft aren't where they're supposed to be.
So they've not taken off from Heathrow to go to various airports around the world airplanes that are stuck at various airports to come to Heathrow they're stuck there so it's this huge strategic mess basically they don't know where to put people at the moment and some airplanes have been able to land nearby airports like Gatwick Airport others have gone to Munich they've gone to Paris they've gone to Shannon and Ireland but it's having this massive effect and even though the airport will be hopefully back open at midnight tonight there's not going to be this magic wand that means everything's
going going to go back to normal and the schedule be up and running because the aircraft simply aren't where they're supposed to be so there's going to be a couple of days of really significant disruption at Heathrow Airport and other airports across the world.
And presumably quite a lot of costs, who will pay that, will it be the airport itself or airlines?
It really depends. So some airlines will be paying compensation to their passengers but some airlines won't be covered by the same sort of rules and then of course the airlines will be approaching Heathrow Airport and saying hang on a second you know this isn't our problem that you didn't have the power and we're out of pocket probably by millions of dollars so that will have to be sorted out and of course as well in the coming days there'll be this huge inquest into finding out how a fire could take out Europe's busiest airport and cause all this disruption.
And of course they'll want to find out how it happened and how it can never happen again Charlotte Gallagher at Heathrow will the police investigation into the blaze is being led by counter -terror officers, although the authorities say there's currently no indication of foul play, as we heard from our Home Affairs correspondent Daniel Sandford. Clearly there is a huge amount of concern that a fire at a single electricity substation kind of taken out one of the world's biggest hub airports and that is causing great concern and it's because of that the impact that this fire has had that rather than this,
the course of the fire just being investigated by the London fire brigade and specialist fire investigators, counter -terrorism police are involved.
It's not because at this stage anyone's seen anything to suggest that the fire was deliberately caused and was sabotaged, but it's because of the possibility in the back of people's minds.
Well, could some hostile state or a terrorist group have spotted this vulnerability and decided to target it?
Counter -terrorism police are leading the police side of the investigation.
They're quite clear that this stage there's no evidence of foul play, but they'd be foolish not to look for it, and so that's what they're doing.
And also, if at some point down the line it does become clear that this was a deliberately caused fire, you wouldn't want the counterterrorism of police officers to then get involved, you know, several days down the line, you want them to be involved from the start.
Daniil Sanford. When civil war broke out in Sudan nearly two years ago, the Rapid Support Forces captured Most of the capital Khartoum including the Presidential Palace, now after months of fierce fighting the army has taken it back Footage from inside the palace showed troops and volunteer fighters waving flags and wandering around rooms littered with rubble a spokesman for the Sudanese army Nabil Abdalah said they now controlled key parts of the capital In the name of God the most gracious, the most merciful, in a timeless heroic battle our forces crowned their successes today in Khartoum where they
were able to crush the remnants of the terrorist militia of Dagalot, in the areas of central Khartoum, the Arab market and the buildings of the Republican palace, a symbol of the sovereignty, pride and dignity of the Sudanese people, and in the buildings of the ministries.
It marks a big victory for the armed forces, though the RSF say the battle is not over yet and a drone strike is reported to have killed a number of journalists and army officials.
I got the latest from our correspondent in Sudan, Barbara Plattussia.
There has been a lot of celebration at the palace because the Sudanese army recaptured it early on Friday morning.
The soldiers entered the complex, it's been a real moment of victory for the army, this has been a goal that they've been wanting to achieve for a very long time, the military objective is is sort of obvious really, it's to reclaim the capital, but not just parts of the capital, the centre where the seat of power is and the Palace is a potent symbol of that.
It's not clear though where the front lines are and how much the RSF has been pushed back, the army said it had regained several key locations in central Khartoum around the Palace, but the RSF has said that the battle isn't over and after the soldiers entered the palace.
It responded with a drone strike, what they call a suicide drone strike, that is only one way, it has only one impact.
The rapid support forces claimed to have killed dozens.
What we know is that a number of journalists who were there from Sudan State Television were killed, as well as several senior media liaison officers from Sudan's army.
So this is a way for the RSF to say we're still here, and that even if we've been pushed out physically, Basically, we can still attack remotely.
But nevertheless, is this still a big victory for the armed forces?
Yes, it is, because losing the capital was a big defeat for the Sudanese government.
RSF took it over very early in the war.
And the Sudanese government and Army had to move their operations essentially to port Sudan.
They are the de facto government, but they're not in the capital.
and the Khartoum is centrally located.
Khartoum has all of the strategic institutions and as long as the RSF was holding it, it was holding more than its natural homeland, its natural base, which is the west of the country, Darfur.
So for all those reasons, it's a very important step for the Army to be able to take back the capital.
Now as I said, there will still be fighting as the RSF fighters are still in the city, they do control an area to the south and the military has indicated that the offensive will continue to push them out.
But the overall picture is that the Army is slowly pushing back the RSF across the country.
The Army has made significant gains in certain parts of the country, especially in central Sudan, this was Jazira state, which the RSF took over sort of a surprise attack because it's really outside of its natural range of control.
the army took that back a couple of months ago, and since then it has really been on the forward foot pushing from the central Sudan towards Khartoum, coming towards Khartoum from the north as well, coming at it from all different sides.
Clearing the districts of the city and then culminating in the center, squeezing the RSF there and trapping them there in order to get control.
So they have taken back large parts of Sudan.
Having said that the But RRSF has the west of Sudan and also parts of the South, so what you're seeing actually is a hardening of divisions between zones of control of the Army and the RRSF.
Barbara Plettashe talking to me from Port Sudan.
More than 40 men have now come forward to accuse the former Chief Executive of Abercrombie and Fitch of rape, sexual assault or drugging.
Mike Jeffries, who was charged with sex trafficking in October, is facing multiple lawsuits, alleging he assaulted men under the pretext of offering them possible modelling opportunities.
The BBC's Rihanna Croxford broke the original story and has continued with her investigation.
Lawyers have told me that these allegations now span 22 years, from 1992 when Mike Jeffries became Chief executive of Abercrombie and Fitch all the way to 2015, shortly after he stepped down.
Now these claims have been brought by former models but for the first time they've also been brought by former employees or people who were employees of the company at the time.
Now some men have said that they were assaulted during photo shoots or while auditioning to be on Abercrombie campaigns and this really matters because it raises serious questions for the company about what steps were taken to protect staff but also to hold Mike Jeffrey's to account.
He was both chief executive and chairman during this time.
He wielded extraordinary power so what checks and balances were in place.
We're talking about holding him to account, these are civil claims but is he also facing criminal charges.
That's right if you remember back in October he was arrested and charged with running an international sex trafficking and prostitution business and he was arrested alongside his British partner Matthew Smith and a middleman for the couple and it followed a podcast series and a documentary that the BBC did called The Abercrombie Guys which revealed that they were behind a highly organized operation scouting young men for sex around the world.
Now they've all pled not guilty to those charges they're now out under house arrest and waiting to hear about a trial but they've always denied the allegations.
And what has the company Abercrombie & Fitch said?
So Abercrombie didn't respond to our requests for comment but they have previously said that they are appalled and disgusted by the allegations.
But it's quite a tough time for the company they're also facing lawsuits accusing it of negligence and just last week a court ruled that the company had to pay for Mike Jefferies legal fees as he defends these criminal charges and also these civil lawsuits.
And that's a bill that's likely to run into millions.
And it matters because Abercrombie is a public company, it's got shareholders, it's accountable to who could take legal action if they're unhappy about how their money is spent but it's also got paying customers around the world.
It's got 750 stores worldwide so lots of questions this could have big ramifications.
Yeah I mean what does happen next?
On the criminal side as I said we're still waiting to hear about a trial.
I understand that prosecutors are still interviewing potential witnesses.
On the civil side well we have to wait and see it might be that these lawsuits also go to trial but they might also settle and if there is a settlement that's going to be a hugely expensive process and a hugely expensive outcome.
Rihanna Croxford. The authorities here in the UK say South American drug gangs are dropping cocaine in the sea off the British coast to be picked up by smaller boats and broad ashore.
The consignments are attached to flotation devices equipped with trackers as our correspondent Angus Crawford found out when he went out with the UK Border Force.
So you can hear that?
It's Flash, the sniffer dog and his handler.
Paws sound on metal as they search below decks on a container ship.
Flash stops, sits and points with his nose.
He's just made the find of his life.
Cocaine, almost one and a half tonnes, the street value tens of millions of dollars, all hidden inside a shipment of bananas from South America.
America. I met Flash last week at sea on a Border Force patrol boat.
He and his team have been busy with record seizures of cocaine, especially in British coastal waters, pointing to a worrying tactic used by criminals.
Charlie Eastore from Border Force explains.
They are bundled into around 30 kilogram blocks with life jackets which would then be inflated attached to them.
They're all tied together and that would be thrown over board and then collected.
We also found Bluetooth trackers attached to the drugs which we often see.
Criminals here with satellite phones are told exactly where to go by drugs gangs in South Officers even have a name for it.
The ASDO, which stands for at sea drop off.
It's become clear just by virtue of the number of seizures and the multiple tons of cocaine that we seized over the last two years that this is a significant and persistent threat.
However, I'm confident that we are able to identify, track, locate, seize and ultimately prosecute and imprison those who are involved.
Just off the starboard side of this border force cutter is another named Ego and beyond that one of the fastboats they use in enforcement action.
2024 was a record year for cocaine seizures but with hundreds of miles of coastline to patrol the smugglers, well they just keep trying.
Which is why they need the fastboats jet -powered, a vital tool when it comes to intercepting shipments With millions of pounds of drugs floating in the water, it can be a race between smugglers and border forces to see who gets there first. But with super -fast boats like this, it gives the authorities the upper hand.
Bags full of drugs routinely wash up on the beaches of southern Britain, the result of failed drop offs.
Consignments are now also routinely stopped by law enforcement.
Just Just last week, a court heard how four men tried to bring in a ton of cocaine they'd picked up at sea.
Two were hired just for their boat handling skills.
Despite the fast boats, new tactics and record seizures, the drugs do still get through.
Recent figures show cocaine deaths in England and Wales at a 30 -year high.
The authorities say they adapt to any change in tactic by the smugglers.
Border force officers stand ready to counter new threats – with flash too, of course.
Legal KTM. I believe I got you know that's lovely.
Thank you, Sir traffic cleared to enter, following the centre space, at 1, 2, and 3, 0...
That report from sea by Angus Crawford. And still to come on the Global News Podcast. There are a lot of floods, for example, happening because of melting of glaciers.
The livelihoods are changed, people tend to migrate from one place to another, so when you ask me how many people are actually impacted it's really everyone.
Stark warnings about the planet's melting glaciers.
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Now… Namibia's first woman, President Ntumbo Nandi Ndaitua, has been sworn in at a ceremony in the capital, Windhoek.
The 72 -year -old is a former freedom fighter and veteran of the governing South West Africa Peoples' organisation, SWAPO.
The BBC's Mpoh Lhakaje asked her about land reform, and the challenges of being a woman politician.
The whole issue is not that you were elected because you are female.
It was on your merit that the people who nominate and supported looked at you, of course, because in the world, including Africa, we have very few women presidents.
That's why it has been advocated in that way.
But it's a good thing that we, as countries, we are realizing that just as men, women can also hold the position of authority in our respective countries.
We saw what recently happened in Nigeria, Sineta Natasha Akhpoti Adwaagan says she's been facing sexual harassment at work.
So, I wonder what goes through your mind when you hear stories like these, especially in relation to this particular topic, in relation to female leaders.
You know, I am a woman activist. And I will continue to fight gender -based violence.
that is not a unique story coming from Nigeria we are hearing it all over the world that women are being sexually victimized you are hearing women being asked sex favour in order maybe to be employed or to be promoted and of course it's a very very difficult issue to deal with because not all the victims are ready to come out, but definitely we have to fight it.
One of the elements that is put in our Constitution is the land rights, that the land belong to the state except that one is privately owned, which can be expropriated with fair compensation.
We then say, fine, we will not go to outright expropriation, but let us have a policy of willing via willing seller so that the government can buy the land from those who privately owned it, knowing also that the way they got it is through colonial occupation.
But here we have to respect our constitution.
So then we start to have now the land tax that those who have it, they have to be taxed.
that to a certain extent is pushing some to sell it so that we have landed with distribution.
Natumbo Nandi Ndaitua, Namibia's first woman president.
2025 has been declared year of the glacia by the United Nations to try to focus attention on the threat to the world's ice fields.
The UN is warning that many glaciers will not survive the century, putting hundreds of millions of people at risk of drought, water shortages and flooding.
Imogen Folks reports from Switzerland.
I'm high in the Swiss Alps, 3 ,300 meters above sea level.
People come from all over the world to see these views, soaring snow -capped peaks and the blue ice of glaciers.
But it's a billion tonnes of ice is disappearing every year.
Michael Ksemp, the world classier monitoring service, says we're already feeling the effects in rising sea levels.
Currently glaciers are contributing to sea level by about 1 millimeter a year.
That sounds nothing 1 millimeter right?
But it has a huge impact, small number, huge impact.
Every millimeter of additional sea level rise is going to flood another two to three hundred thousand persons every year.
Glass years are also a crucial source of fresh water.
They store the winter's snow and release it in spring and summer for crops and drinking water.
Less ice means disrupted water supplies, flooding and landslides.
Sulania Mishra of the World Meteorological Organization says the consequences will affect us all.
There are a lot of floods, for example, happening because of melting of glaciers.
The livelihoods are changed.
People tend to migrate from one place to another.
So when you ask me how many people are actually impacted, it's really everyone.
Every slight increase in the earth's temperature speeds up the thaw.
If we don't act to limit global warming, scientists say.
Most of the glaciers I can see up here will be gone by the end of this century.
and if that happens they warn we will lose so much more than a beautiful view.
Imogen folks reporting from Switzerland.
There's growing concern over a viral AI tool that makes people appear overweight.
Critics say the Chubby filter as it's known should be banned from TikTok.
Jessica Sherwood from the BBC News social team has been investigating.
The trend is quite big on TikTok but it comes via a tool called CapCut so anybody can make them and then the filter goes into TikTok and then everyone can use it.
So basically you upload a picture of yourself and then the filter will turn you quote -unquote chubby and there's also another filter where you can put a picture of yourself in and it will make you incredibly skinny and people online were saying that they were going to use it for like Summer Fitts ball and then for the chubby filter they were kind of like mocking it and saying that they didn't want to look like that and yeah it's gotten a lot of backlash basically on social media for people using the filters.
Yeah why would you want to post pictures of yourself looking fatter?
I think a lot of the people doing it, were doing it for what they would say was a laugh, like they would put it on there and poke fun at themselves.
I can't believe I look like this.
I would never let myself get like this.
And then, obviously understandably, people had then taken to social media and said, this is really quite harmful, that you would post something like this, and that it's body shaming.
Yeah, I mean, critics are obviously going to have a field day because there have been plenty of concerns, on social media, about how it affects people's view of their own appearance.
Obviously body image and body shaming, it's nothing new, it's been going on for a decade.
But on TikTok specifically, now that we've got the introduction of AI, it's not just comparing yourself to celebrities or influencers, you can now actually compare yourself to a hyper unrealistic version of yourself one way or the other.
Which is obviously quite dangerous and very harmful as well.
Well, Jessica Sherwood...
The original model of the friendly alien from Steven Spielberg's 1982 hit E .T.
is being auctioned at Sotheby's in New York.
It is a metre tall and is expected to fetch nearly a million dollars.
Film memorabilia expert Harry Malcolm says it is worth it.
It is incredibly rare and the provenance is unbelievable because it's come from the Carlo Ramboldi estate.
The guy was a designer.
He also worked on King Kong and Krull and Dune and others.
I think that with commission it will exceed a million dollars.
ET especially because it's been highly documented that there's only been three made.
One was probably done for rehearsal, one for the actual filming and one for commercial.
So incredibly rare.
But the whole memorabilia prop environment at the moment is a really, really strong marketplace.
You only have to look at last year Paul Newman's Tag How I Watched from Le Mans sold for $15 .5 million.
Harry Malcolm. Just before we go, as you may know, we did a special Q &A podcast on Ukraine a couple of weeks ago, but we are still getting emails, so we're going to do it all over again at the beginning of April.
If you'd like to get involved, please do.
Send us your questions on the war, peace negotiations, Donald Trump's intervention and anything else.
Our email address is Global Podcast at bbc .co .uk.
And if possible, please record your question as a voice note.
Thank you. And that is all from us for now, but the Global News podcast will be back very soon.
This edition was mixed by Rebecca Miller and produced by Richard Hamilton, our editors, Karen Martin.
I'm Oliver Conway. until next time goodbye With the best all inclusive vacation deals to Mexico and the Caribbean Booking your getaway with cheap caribbean vacations means you have more freedom to do your deal whether you want to enjoy Snorkeling endless margaritas and more or simply soak up the Sun and sand in a tropical paradise Nice cheap Caribbean vacations has your deal for that plain and book the exact getaway you want at exactly the right price for you By using our exclusive budget beachfinder or find a featured all -inclusive package to reuse a grill and do your deal at cheap Caribbean
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