Reuters World News - Barbenheimer buzz, elections in Spain and Cambodia, plus Team USA's World Cup start

Episode Date: July 21, 2023

Spain heads to the polls in a tight contest which could bring unconventional coalitions. No surprises are expected inCambodia’s election – but poll-watchers have an eye on strongman Hun Sen’s son's political debut. Team USA kicks off its World Cup soccer mission in rugby-mad New Zealand. And Barbie and the atomic bomb join forces to save the summer box office. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt-out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, Barbie and the atomic bomb joined forces to save the summer box office. Spain heads to the polls in a tight contest which could bring unconventional coalitions. While a Cambodian strongman looks to cement his political dynasty. And does Rugby Mad New Zealanders, including, of course, Kim, celebrate a historic soccer win, Team USA gets set for its first World Cup game. It's Friday, July 21st. This is Royce's World News, everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes every weekday. I'm Kim Vinal.

And I'm Tara Oaks in London. We start with the top stories from around the world. Fears mount for the US soldier who fled into North Korea as Pyongyang continues to stay silent. The US says it is fully mobilised in trying to contact North Korea about the status of private second class Travis King, but no word yet. COVID restrictions have made the secretive nation even more isolated, stoking concerns that it could take years to negotiate King's release. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's governing conservatives have lost two strategically important

parliamentary seats in by-elections. But Sunak was unexpectedly given some breathing room, as his party retained Boris Johnson's old constituency in a setback for the opposition Labour Party. Russian missiles have hit grain terminals in Odessa for a fourth night straight as wheat prices continue to rise around the world. Moscow says it is carrying out retaliatory strikes after quitting the Black Sea grain deal. It's accused Ukraine of being behind drone blasts on a key bridge to Crimea. Residents in some Berlin neighborhoods have been warned to stay indoors as the hunt continues for a giant cat, believed to be a lioness. No zoos or circuses have reported a missing lioness, so police believe she could be an escaped pet.

And now for what's happening in markets around the world. Futures were edging up slightly in the early US morning with the hope that stocks could regain some ground from Thursday's wild sessions. European markets were flat as traders anticipated earnings and the Spanish election. And tech stocks continue to be in focus after Netflix and Tesla helped send the NASDAQ down more than 2%. Spaniards interrupt their summer holidays on Sunday to vote for a new parliament. No one party has established a decisive lead. Polls show the Conservative People's Party beating Pedro Sanchez's ruling socialists, but failing to secure an absolute parliamentary majority.

The PP would almost certainly have to ally with anti-immigration, anti-feminist Vox, to govern, which would make it the first time the far right would have a right would have role in government since the end of Franco's dictatorship. Ashlyn Lang is our bureau chief for Iberia. So Ashlyn, what accounts for Spain's drift to the right? Well, I think there is a general sense within Europe of the far right gaining prominence. We've seen that in the coalition in Italy, we've seen it in Hungary and we've seen, you know, the emergence of nationalistic parties in other parts of Europe. So this is very much on trend. And a lot of people have become alarmed by what they perceive to be less control on their parts.

And so they do go for these sort of dog whistle policies of parties like Vox that promise more control over their borders, that promise generally taking back control. I think we saw this obviously in the US with Trump, and there is an allure to those kind of promises. If the People's Party falls short of an outright majority, what are the concerns about working with the far-right Vox? Well, in a regional election in May,

we saw the PPP and Vox gain a significant share. of the vote and therefore formed alliances or coalitions. Fox has pushed for some anti-feminist policies, anti-LGBT policies. We've seen the rowing back of some climate protections in some of those agreements. And so that's kind of given Spanish voters a taste of what could be to come. How will the intense heat and storms forecast for this weekend impact voter turnout? Well, we've certainly seen Spaniards horrified by the prospect of a summer election. 2.6 million Spaniards are opting to vote by post this year from the.

beach or from the mountains where it's cooler. Those that are in the cities will be going to vote as normal. What our political correspondent told me this morning is Spaniards hate the rain. They won't vote in the rain, but they will vote in the sun. And on the other side of the world, in Cambodia, the re-election of long-time Prime Minister Han Sen is not in doubt. All opposition parties have been barred. The strongman's grip on power has many election watches instead, focused on the political debut of his eldest son, Han Manette. Claire Baldwin, in Hong Kong, is following the ins and outs of the succession. Claire, what could Han Manette's increased involvement in politics mean for Cambodia?

There's been a lot of discussion about how Manette might share power with his father. His father has been running Cambodia for almost four decades, and has very entrenched and has a lot of networks of influence throughout the country. So that's one question. Another question is whether Manette would be more liberal than his father has been, in terms of opening space for civil society or allowing elections with opposition. That's another question. And then, of course, the third question is how he's going to balance geopolitical power in Cambodia.

There's a lot of interest in the country from both the United States and from China. Two films. One, the story of a blonde doll visiting the real world. Hi, Barbie! Hi, hi, Ken. And the other is about the race to create the atomic bomb. Are we saying there's a chance that when we push that button, we destroy the world? Both films, Barbie and Oppenheimer, opening today, have become star-crossed lovers of the box office,

which has spawned the Barbenheimer meme, with fans of both vowing to book a double feature, including 25-year-old Joey Lipback in L.A. Of course, absolutely. I bought my tickets months ago, as soon as they were available. Yeah, I'm seeing Barbie at 945 right after. Yeah, Barbenheimer. Even Matt Damon, who's in Oppenheimer, said he's into the idea. So I'll definitely go see Barbie opening weekend. And, you know, when the whole thing came out, I think it's great that we're getting good movies back into the theaters and that they're really different.

So can Barbie save the summer box office? I asked our entertainment reporter, Lisa Rich Wine. Lisa, are people really seeing both movies? The AMC theatre chains says they have tens of thousands of people who have bought tickets for both movies. They've purposely spaced them out so you can do both of them. Some people will want to see both. Others, you know, they'll see one or the other. And are we seeing signs this summer that Hollywood is finally recovering from the pandemic?

There were a lot of movies this summer. There were 30% more movies this summer than there were last summer. But the results have been really disappointing for Hollywood Studios. The box office for the summer is down 7%. compared to last year. So the pressure is on Barbie and Oppenheimer to really lift the summer box office sales. Hollywood is counting on this weekend to be one of the biggest weekends for what is normally their biggest season. Is the strike having an impact on the box office? The strike impacts this summer in that the big stars, the actors cannot go out and do publicity, do red carpets and

TV interviews at the moment. So that will hurt the promotion for upcoming movies as long as the strike last. As far as movies into the future, you know, movies take two to three years to make. So we won't see any impact until probably late next year on big releases getting delayed. To the Women's World Cup and a sensational start for co-hosts New Zealand. I'm not being biased, I promise. Let's speak to Amy Tennery now, who is in my homeland, Alter in New Zealand, covering the event. Hi, Amy. Hey, Kim. I'm surprised you're not out dancing in the streets right now. New Zealand has never won a World Cup match period in five previous appearances. They beat Norway. Those were the 1995 champions. What a thrill for the crowd there.

More than 42,000 people showed up at Eden Park. That is the largest crowd ever assembled for a soccer match, men's or women's, in all of New Zealand history. Also a lot of excitement for the US match coming up, what's Saturday, New Zealand time? Yeah, exactly. So that'll be in the afternoon on Saturday, New Zealand time, but it will be in prime time on Friday night for all of our American friends. That's by design. You know, this is a team that's going for an unprecedented third consecutive title, a fifth title overall. The broadcasters want to really get that enthusiasm going for their opening match. And so the USA is playing Vietnam, which is a real unknown for them, a wild card kind of team. Their debutants, to the World Cup, and the U.S. have never played them on the international stage. Now, Amy, I'm sure you know, we New Zealanders, we love rugby. Soccer, you know, that's a whole new ballgame, if you will. And there has been an issue with that, hasn't there? Yeah, you know, it's a rugby country. And while we were seeing these kind of blockbuster ticket

sales in Australia, we weren't seeing that same level in New Zealand. Now, part of that is the fact that the Australian squad is really good. And New Zealand, on the other hand, like I said, their team hasn't really done much on the World Cup stage. So getting people excited to watch them with a little bit of a harder sell. That's it for today's episode of Reuters World News. To make sure you know what's going on in the world, listen in every weekday. And don't forget to subscribe on your favorite podcast player or download the Reuters app.