Reuters World News - Moscow attack, Israel crisis, Greek evacuations and Musk flips the bird

Episode Date: July 24, 2023

Russia has blamed Ukraine for a “terrorist” attack after two drones hit buildings in central Moscow. 19,000 people have been moved to safety on the Greek islands of Rhodes after massive wildfires threatened tourist resorts and local homes. Plus, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been discharged from hospital ahead of a vote in a controversial judicial overhaul sought by his religious-nationalist coalition.  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, a political showdown in Israel as the fight of judicial reforms goes to a key vote. Spanish voters reject the far right, but now the jostling begins to see who will rule. A nightmare for thousands of European tourists as wildfires rage in Kofu and roads. And Barbies' box office showing boosts Hollywood. It's Monday, July 24th. This is Reuters World News. with everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes every weekday. I'm Kim Vinal in London.

We start with breaking news in Moscow. Russia is blaming Ukraine for a drone attack that hit two buildings in the centre of the city. Russia says the two drones were destroyed and no one was injured. State media reported that debris was found not far from the Defence Ministry's building. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine. Kiev almost never publicly claims responsibility for attacks inside Russia, but has been saying in recent months that destroying Russia's military infrastructure helps their counter-offensive. Andrew Osborne is our Russia chief political correspondent.

Andrew, how much of an escalation is this for Russia? I think it's less about the damage and more about symbolism here, and it shows that either Ukraine or people who support Ukraine are able to reach the very heart of the Russian capital with drones, even if, okay, at this stage they're not doing severe damage. But it's also a warning about what could happen in the future. What about the timing of this? I think the timing is very interesting and I suspect that this is connected with the Russian military's attacks on the Ukrainian port city of Odessa.

And we had Ukrainian president, Volodymy Zelensky, over the weekend, obviously promising retaliation against Russia for those strikes. In particular, the thing that the Ukrainians are extremely angry about is the destruction of this Orthodox church in Odessa. So Ukraine, very keen here, I think, to show Russia that it can strike back. Now, for headlines making news around the world. In Spain, celebrations for some, but political gridlock looms. Right-wing parties failed to fulfil predictions of a victory big enough to push socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez from power. The Conservative People's Party didn't gain the seats necessary for a working majority,

and support for the hard-right Vox Party cratered. Weeks of coalition talks are now expected, and possibly another election. Several members of a school volleyball team are believed to be dead after a gym roof collapsed in China. Authorities say illegally stacked materials on the roof may have caused the cave-in. You can follow the latest developments on this and other breaking stories on Reuters.com or on the app. The United States says it will pause some foreign assistance programs in Cambodia. After an election, it deemed neither free nor fair. Prime Minister Hun Sen was re-elected in elections over the weekend with no credible opposition.

The US said it would also impose visa bans on individuals. By-bye birdie, Elon Musk has unveiled a new logo for Twitter to replace its iconic bluebird. The new branding features a white X on a black background. The change follows Musk's recent admission that advertising revenue remains nearly half of what it once was. Clean-up efforts have begun in Canada's East Coast province of Nova Scotia after torrential rainfall caused devastating floods. A search continued for four people, including two children who went missing during the deluge. It's time now for markets with Carmel, Kermanns and Carmel.

We've got a big week ahead. We certainly do. We've got three of the world's biggest central banks meeting, and we've got China's Polop Bureau, which is the top policy-making body, set to unveil support measures. On top of that, we're expecting results from Microsoft, from Alphabet and Facebook parent meta. So markets are in wait and C mode, waiting to see how this week evolves. Quarter point hikes from both the Fed and the ECB are basically set in stone.

So investors are going to be looking out for what Fed chair Jerome Powell and what ECB chief, Christine Lagarde, say about Outlook. We're expecting the BOJ to keep policy unchanged. And as for China, the Pollup Bureau meets on Friday. we actually aren't expecting major stimulus measures. And as for the results from Silicon Valley, we'll just have to wait and see. Israel faces its worst political crisis in decades. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing government is pushing for Parliament to pass his plan to rein in the Supreme Court.

And the vote is happening just hours after he's been discharged from hospital. Opposition groups have vowed to shut down the country if the vote passes. They fear a curb on the judiciary will damage democracy. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets and protest. In a weekend of high drama, Netanyahu was rushed to hospital and fitted with a pacemaker. Our senior correspondent Dan Williams has been following all the twists and turns. So Dan, Netanyahu is discharged quickly after a pretty major medical procedure to attend this vote. What does that tell us?

It tells us he's determined. It tells us that the attempts by the opposition, even by Israel's main labor union to find some sort of compromise deal that would bring the sides closer together, that they failed. And essentially from Netanyahu's standpoint, he has a clear parliamentary majority. So, of course, he would want to be there to push it through. Now, keep in mind that the Knesset, Israel's parliament, goes on recess on July 30th. So really, there was a clock ticking on getting this done before the next parliamentary session. What do we know about Netanyahu's health? Is there something more serious going on here?

Certainly more serious than was first advertised. That was quite a turn of events given that this week is a critical week for his government's disputed judicial overhaul plan. The first reform is due to be ratified by Parliament. So that apparently threw a spanner in the works. but now we're hearing in his own voice, a video he issued him saying that he's doing excellently. What are we expecting to happen if this vote passes? Well, that's a big unknown. I believe that Netanyahu and his camp are hoping that when everyone disperses from Parliament for the summer holidays, they'll be distracted by other things. However, there is great gusto on the part of the protesters.

They are talking in terms of trying to a national cataclysm. Some have even used the word civil war. So presumably they're going to keep fighting. Thousands of holiday makers have been evacuated from Greece after raging wildfires threatened resorts. In Corfu, dozens of people fled to a beach to be evacuated. And on the island of roads, 19,000 people were moved from homes and hotels as fires tore through forests and reached coastal resorts.

The islands are some of the top destinations with tourists, from Germany and Britain. Tourists have spent the night on the airport floor and roads waiting for repatriation flights. It was getting worse and worse, and we started to hear the helicopters, and then basically you could see the fire, eventually on the mountain top.

Helen Pickering there waiting for a flight back to England. It was chaos, absolutely. The surges towards the two or three buses that arrived, and everyone screaming and shouting and crying, because people couldn't even get on their flights yesterday and were desperate to get home. High winds pushed the blaze across the island, while volunteers jumped in to help strained firefighting forces push back the flames. Nearly half of Greece is under wildfire warnings, its temperatures are expected to reach 45 degrees Celsius or 113 Fahrenheit.

and so is tomorrow and every day from now until forever. Margot Robbie there as Barbie, but the sentiment is probably one shared throughout Hollywood right now. Barbie's debut on the same weekend as Nuclear Bomb Epic Oppenheimer has been a winner for cinema theaters. The movie about the iconic doll was the biggest opener of 2023, hauling in $337 million in ticket sales over the weekend. I contributed to that.

Oppenheimer scored 174 million globally, not bad for a three-hour adult drama about nuclear annihilation. 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 favourite podcast player or download the Reuters app.