The results are in, and both “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” are box-office hits.
The unlikely blockbuster double act was dubbed “Barbenheimer” after opening on the same day and together fuelling one of the biggest box-office weekends in history. Christopher Nolan’s biopic about physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, the so-called father of the atomic bomb, raked in $180 million over the three days from 21 July.
Sadiq Khan is also dividing opinion with his new “say maaate to a mate” campaign. The London mayor’s initiative is intended to tackle sexism by encouraging men to call out their friends, but has been derided as an ineffective PR stunt.
The row comes after Labour’s by-election defeat in Uxbridge and South Ruislip was blamed on opposition to one of Khan’s flagship green policies. As Khan bids to win a historic third term at City Hall in next year’s mayoral election, both his party and the Tories are debating whether to water down their green agendas.
To find out how closely you’ve been paying attention to the latest developments in the news and other global events, put your knowledge to the test with our Quiz of The Week.
1. Which music legend turned 80 this week?
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Keith Richards
Mick Jagger
Paul McCartney
Bruce Springsteen
2. A swimwear trend known as what is taking hold on China’s beaches?
4. A large piece of what was discovered on a beach in Australia?
Space debris
Rotting whale
Missing aeroplane
Meteorite
5. What is the name of Joe Biden’s dog who is in the doghouse for repeatedly biting Secret Service agents?
Commander
Major
General
Sergeant
6. Gregg Wallace presented what alleged food innovation to combat the cost-of-living crisis in a newly aired TV satire?
Engineered human meat
Lab-grown chicken/cow hybrids
Fingernail crisps
Insect formula milk
7. Which islands were at the centre of a diplomat spat this week between the EU and the UK?
The Shetland Islands
The Falkland Islands
The Channel Islands
The Balearic Islands
8. Saudi Arabian football club Al Hilal put in a record £259 million transfer bid for which French player?
Eduardo Camavinga
Olivier Giroud
Kylian Mbappé
Antoine Griezmann
9. The leader of which southeast Asian country is handing power to his eldest son after ruling for almost four decades?
Vietnam
Laos
Malaysia
Cambodia
10.How much did “Barbie” take at the global box office in the new film’s opening weekend?
$221 million
$294 million
$356 million
$392 million
1. Mick Jagger
The Rolling Stones frontman celebrated his 80th birthday, on 26 July, with a star-studded party in London.
2. Facekinis
The face coverings are made of UV-resistant material and are designed to protect the wearer’s head, face and neck from sun exposure. For more odd and unexpected news, sign up to the Tall Tales newsletter.
3. X
Musk announced this week that his company’s logo would change from the well-known blue bird to a black X. The billionaire’s controversial rebrand was widely ridiculed, with Forbes criticising him for “setting something on fire he paid $44 billion for”.
4. Space debris
The unidentified debris is about the size of a small car and was found washed up on a remote beach some 150 miles north of Perth. Debris has been accruing in space around our planet since the first rocket launches in the late 1950s, with an estimated 36,500 objects greater than 10cm in near-Earth orbit, according to the European Space Agency (ESA).
5. Commander
According to a report from a conservative watchdog group, the US president’s dog has bitten Secret Service agents at least 10 times. The 22-month-old German Shepherd, a gift from Biden’s brother James, has been given “additional leashing protocols” following the incidents.
6. Engineered human meat
In Channel 4’s “Gregg Wallace: The British Miracle Meat”, the MasterChef co-host claimed to be visiting a company that sold “engineered human meat” grown from slices of flesh surgically harvested from real people. The mockumentary has sparked complaints to Ofcom from viewers who believed Wallace really was promoting human steaks as a way to combat the cost-of-living crisis.
7. The Falkland Islands
A row broke out after the bloc referred to the Falkland Islands by the Argentine name, “Islas Malvinas”, in a communiqué signed in Brussels by 60 EU and Latin American nations. Rishi Sunak criticised the “regrettable choice of words”, which apparently endorsed Argentina’s claim to the archipelago, a British overseas territory.
8. Kylian Mbappé
The 24-year-old striker’s club Paris Saint-Germain reportedly gave the Saudi Pro League side permission to speak to him after receiving the offer, but French media claimed Mbappé had refused to enter negotiations. His contract with the French side is due to expire next June.
Harriet Marsden is a senior staff writer and podcast panellist for The Week, covering world news and writing the weekly Global Digest newsletter. Before joining the site in 2023, she was a freelance journalist for seven years, working for The Guardian, The Times and The Independent among others, and regularly appearing on radio shows. In 2021, she was awarded the “journalist-at-large” fellowship by the Local Trust charity, and spent a year travelling independently to some of England’s most deprived areas to write about community activism. She has a master’s in international journalism from City University, and has also worked in Bolivia, Colombia and Spain.
