WeekDay AM: 10 Things you need to know this morning
Israeli air strikes, expensive royals, and the rise and fall of Tupperware

 
today's international story

Israeli air strikes on Lebanon kill 492

What happened 
At least 492 people have been killed and another 1,645 wounded in a wave of Israeli air strikes targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon, said the country’s health ministry. According to the ministry's report, 35 children and 58 women were among the dead.

Who said what
Global powers have urged restraint as both sides appear to be "spiralling closer towards all-out war", said the BBC. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israeli Defense Forces were changing the "security balance" along Israel's northern border. Hezbollah has vowed to continue launching rocket strikes on Israel in solidarity with Palestinians and Hamas.

Israel is "playing a high-risk game with its new Hezbollah strategy", said Nick Paton Walsh on CNN. A full-scale ground war between a "tired, divided Israeli military and an experienced, angry Hezbollah" would likely be "disastrous for Israel". It is also "exactly what the militant group is good at and waiting for".

What next? 
The 79th United Nations general assembly will open this morning with Israel and Hezbollah "closer than ever to all-out war despite fevered diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the conflict", said The Guardian.

The US said yesterday it was sending a "small number" of additional troops to the Middle East after thousands were deployed earlier along with warships, fighter jets and air defence systems.

The Israeli government, which is under increasing pressure to ensure the return of Israeli evacuees to the north, has intimated that its next move could be to order a limited ground invasion of Lebanon.

 
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today's monarchy story

Royals cost half a billion a year, say anti-monarchists

What happened
The "true cost" of the royal family to the public purse is £510 million a year, anti-monarchy campaigners have claimed.

Who said what
In a new report analysing existing data, Republic, an organisation that is pushing for an elected head of state, described the current funding for the royals as opaque and secretive, and a "scandalous abuse of public money".

"How can we talk about cutting the winter fuel allowance while wasting half a billion pounds on the royals?" said Republic chief executive Graham Smith.

The £510 million figure includes the royals' annual Sovereign Grant, as well as less straightforward costs, such as the estimated £96 million in lost potential commercial revenue from royal residences.

But as well costing money, there are also "harder-to-measure economic benefits" from the royals, said the BBC, such as "boosting tourism and supporting overseas trade".

What next?
Funding for the royals is set to increase. The latest accounts for the Sovereign Grant, published in July, show state funding for the Royal Household will rise from £86.3 million in 2024-25 to £132 million in 2025-26.

 
 
Today's property story

Nationwide to lend six-times income for first-time buyers

What happened
Britain’s largest building society Nationwide is set to allow first-time buyers to borrow up to six times their household income in a move that "ramps up the mortgage price war", said The Guardian.

Who said what
The Bank of England's August interest rate cut "has led to lenders jostling to cut their rates", said The Guardian. This "eye-catching move" is "a first for a major high street lender", going one step further than Halifax and Lloyds, both of which recently announced loans of up to five-and-a-half times household earnings for first-time buyers.

Lenders have typically capped loans at four-and-a-half times annual income, although some have been offering higher thresholds in recent years.

What next?
From Tuesday the new policy will apply to prospective borrowers with a deposit of at least 5% taking out a five or 10-year mortgage deal with the building society. "Applicants will still have to meet relatively strict affordability criteria, which is assessed individually," said the BBC.

 
 

It's not all bad

Policymakers could accelerate the global shift to clean energy by implementing "positive tipping points", according to a new report. Regulatory mandates in key sectors, such as phasing out coal and requiring zero-emission vehicles, could trigger rapid adoption of clean technologies and cut costs, according to researchers from the University of Exeter. The study suggests that repurposing the term "tipping point" in a more positive context and introducing mandates will be more effective than levying taxes or subsidies, and will help drive innovation across industries and advance the transition to the low-carbon future that is essential for limiting global warming.

 
 
under the radar

The rise and fall of Tupperware

Shares in Tupperware have fallen by more than 50% after the food storage brand filed for bankruptcy last week.

The brand's very name "conjures images of plastic food boxes" and buying parties in "comfortable suburban homes", said the Financial Times. And for the generations of people who grew up with Tupperware as a fact of life, said The New York Times, the news has "unlocked an airtight seal of nostalgia".

The US brand was formed in 1946 by Earl Tupper, who patented the containers' flexible airtight seal. It was a "major innovation", said the BBC, because it kept food fresh for longer. Not only was this "invaluable" at a time when refrigerators were still out of financial reach for many households, it also represented convenience for the growing number of working women looking to batch cooking and leftovers to feed their families.

It was the "pioneering saleswoman" Brownie Wise who turned the brand into a "household name" by promoting "Tupperware parties", where a network of sellers, almost all of them women, hosted informal Tupperware events at their homes.

A "combination of factors dragged the company down", said the Financial Times, including a "patchy global distribution network" and "the increasing anachronism of house party sales in the age of online shopping".

But "no matter what happens with the brand", said The New York Times, "the name Tupperware will never go away" because "many consumers will continue to refer to their resealable food containers as Tupperware" regardless of their actual manufacturer. "That may have been a part of Tupperware's problem", with cheaper competitors encroaching on its territory and benefitting from its name.

 
 
on this day

24 September 1996

Delegates at the UN General Assembly signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), agreeing to ban all nuclear explosions in any context. The landmark treaty has now been signed by 187 countries, but cannot enter into force until 44 select nations ratify it. Eight key countries have yet to do so, including China, Iran, India and the US.

 
 
Today's newspapers

The Mirror leads on Keir Starmer's Hillsborough Law which will ensure victims of major tragedies are given greater powers, including legal aid to tackle officials. The PM will attempt to "cast off the gloom that has dominated his early days in power" in his conference speech, says The Guardian. Meanwhile, Metro says there has been a two-fold rise in e-bike seizures by police. Threats to pedestrians and "links to vicious street crimes" are behind the increase.

See the newspaper front pages

 
 
tall tale

Every little skimps

Tesco's slogan is "every little helps", but the UK's largest supermarket chain may not be putting its money where its customers' mouths are. A "BBC Panorama" investigation has sparked accusations of skimping on ingredients in price-matched products after a survey of 122 items found that nearly a third contained at least 5% less of the main ingredient compared with their Aldi counterparts. Tesco's chicken nuggets contained just 39% chicken compared with 60% in the Aldi version.

 
 

Morning Report was written and edited by Arion McNicoll, Harriet Marsden, Sorcha Bradley and Chas Newkey-Burden, with illustrations by Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: Rabih Daher / AFP via Getty Images; Peter Nicholls / Getty Images; Mike Kemp / In Pictures via Getty Images.