Reuters World News - Putin's landslide win, Bank of Japan and McDonald’s boycott losses

Episode Date: March 18, 2024

Russia’s president Vladimir Putin claims a landslide election win further tightening his grip on power. The Bank of Japan may raise interest rates for the first time since 2007. And a mediation court hears a lawsuit by McDonald’s Malaysia against the Israel boycott movement for over $1 million in damages. 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, Putin wins in a landslide and issues fresh warnings over Ukraine. Malaysia McDonald's takes a boycott Israel group to court. And Japan prepares for an historic change of direction on interest rates. It's Monday, March 18th. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes every weekday. I'm Kim Vinal in London. Vladimir Putin has won a landslide in Russia's election, cementing his tight grip on power. The victory gives him a new six-year term as president, and will see him overtake Joseph Stalin

as Russia's longest-serving leader for more than 200 years, if he completes it. Putin won almost 88% of the vote, the highest ever in Russia's post-Soviet history, according to an exit poll by the Public Opinion Foundation. He told supporters in Moscow that he would prioritize what he calls Russia's special military operation in Ukraine and that he would strengthen the Russian military. He also told the journalists that the presence of Western troops in Ukraine could push the world to the brink of World War III.

He added he did not think that anyone was interested in such. a scenario. The White House said the elections were not free or fair, with Germany calling it a pseudo-election. So what does this mean for Russia and the world? Andrew Osborne has been covering the election. On the face of it, another six years of Putin means more war in Ukraine, because there's no sign at all that Putin wants to stop. In fact, the demands, if anything, the territorial demands seem to be growing. We're also going to see a continuation clearly of this confrontation with the West, which is certainly the most tense it's been since the Cuba missile crisis in 1962, which also means we're going to hear and see a lot more of this

nuclear tension and saber rattling, which is obviously destabilizing and worrying. I think the only wild card in all of this is, of course, the American election, the US election in November, Because if Donald Trump were to win that election, it's quite unclear right now how that could, for example, affect the war in Ukraine. Trump has clearly made some statements suggesting he would not be as supportive of Ukraine as Biden would. And that, of course, could mean that the course of the war is different and therefore that Putin himself might behave in a different way. But that's an unknown and we'll have to wait and see clearly. Over voting weekend, Ukrainian forces killed at least four people in shelling and missile strikes in and around the Russian border city of Belgarod.

Reuters could not independently verify all of those reports. Ukraine, like Russia, says it does not target civilians. But scores of Russian civilians have been killed in Belgarod in the two years of war, and air raid sirens wail almost daily. Here, like in Ukraine, civilian groups collect supplies to send to the front line. Galena is among them. She's collecting hygiene items and tools for digging trenches. And she says that while she wants the water end, she, like many others here, still supports Putin.

Israel is offering a six-week Gaza truce in exchange for 40 homes. It says it will send a delegation to Qatar for talks with Hamas. The negotiations are expected to last two weeks. Meanwhile, Israel has raided Gaza's Al-Shefa hospital, killing several people, according to Palestinian health authorities. An Israeli army spokesperson says the hospital was being used by senior Hamas leaders. The hospital is one of the few remaining health facilities left in the enclave. Vietnam's parliament is set to meet this week amid speculation the president may step down.

The communist-ruled country will hold a special session to discuss, quote, personnel matters, according to a letter seen by Reuters. China's kicked off the week with better than expected economic numbers. Industrial output and retail sales were up in January and February. A bright spot, even as weakness in the property sector, still drags. Beijing is aiming for a full. 5% GDP growth target this year. Across the East China Sea in Japan, a significant economic shakeup is on the cards this week. The Bank of Japan may raise interest rates for the first time

since 2007. If it does, it will mean Sayonara to the world's last negative interest rate and a big jolt for Japan, Inc. Lake Ikahara has been following every twist in turn at the Bank of Japan for some two decades. So Laker, how significant would a rate hike be? Yeah, Japan has been seeing interest rates stuck at essentially zero for a very long time. So people here are so used to not having to pay any money to borrow. So even though the interest rate hikes might be very small, it could have a huge psychological impact on households. or companies because they might fear that their mortgage rates might rise or, you know, their

lending costs might rise. Why is it taking Japan so long to get to this point? Because companies and people are so used to having very low growth and very low wages. But that's finally changing because inflation has been up for a long time and the labor shortage is really intensifying. And companies are now finally on. offering pretty big pay hikes to compensate employees for the rising cost of living. What are the risks for the Bank of Japan and Japan generally from this potential move?

The move could cause a big market reaction and disrupt markets such as pushing down stocks or pushing up the yen, and volatility always isn't very good for companies doing business. Mediation talks are set to continue after a lot of. Brousuit brought by McDonald's Malaysia against the local chapter of the boycott Israel movement, known as BDS. Shortly after the October 7th attack by Hamas, McDonald's locally owned Israeli restaurants donated meals to the Israeli military. But the company says that's up to local branches and it doesn't have a stance in the conflict.

It wants $1.3 million from BDS, saying the boycott has damaged their business. business. A hearing on Monday failed to reach an agreement. Waylon Cunningham covers fast food. Waylon, have these boycotts hurt McDonald's? Yeah, these boycotts have been a really big deal for McDonald's. And the chain actually missed its Wall Street expectations for sales last quarter due in part to what it said were these boycotts in the Middle East and elsewhere. And actually a couple of days ago, its chief financial officer said the company expects its international sales to drop in this current quarter due in part to these boycotts again. What's McDonald's corporate saying about all this?

McDonald's corporate says that they can't really control what their franchises do. McDonald's corporate has tried to really stay out of taking a stance on Israel's military offensive in Gaza, saying that the CEO said that the company abhors violence of any kind. So they're really trying to signal the consumers, investors that they are neutral in it. But McDonald's local franchises have put out statements, clearly putting them on one side. And other Western fast food chains have seen similar boycotts over a perceived pro-Israel stance, especially in some Arab countries. What's the strategy of this campaign?

What's actually interesting is that BDS Malaysia put out a statement recently that said it welcomes the lawsuit because what's more important to a lot of these organizers is raising awareness of their campaign. against Israel's military offensive in Gaza. Any news is good news when it comes to getting this stuff in the headlines. This boycott has been really heavy in countries like Egypt, where political demonstrations in public aren't really feasible due to security concerns. But boycotts are a safe way for consumers to be able to express their dissatisfaction or even just to express a stance about the conflict.

That's it for today's episode. We'll of course be back tomorrow with our daily headline show. If you want to stay ahead of the big news from around the world, listen in for 10 minutes every weekday. And don't forget to subscribe on your favourite podcast player or download the Reuters app.