The Week The Week
flag of US
US
flag of UK
UK
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/skoGBi9qKFoUtnNWkovjJQ.jpg

SUBSCRIBE

Try 6 Free Issues

Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • The Explainer
  • Talking Points
  • The Week Recommends
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletters
  • From the Magazine
  • The Week Junior
  • More
    • Politics
    • World News
    • Business
    • Health
    • Science
    • Food & Drink
    • Travel
    • Culture
    • History
    • Personal Finance
    • Puzzles
    • Photos
    • The Blend
    • All Categories
  • Newsletter sign up Newsletter
  • Morning Report from The Week
    Essex 'thuggery', Japan's PM under pressure, and 'shocking' maternity failings

     
    today's UK story

    Police arrest six during Essex anti-migrant protest

    What happened
    Six people were taken into custody by officers during the latest protest outside a hotel used to house asylum seekers in Essex. The demonstrators chanted "send them home" and "save our kids", said The Guardian, as flares and bottles were hurled towards police vans outside the Bell Hotel in Epping. A man was charged with violent disorder and criminal damage on Sunday afternoon following clashes outside the hotel last week.

    Who said what
    The protest began "peacefully", but descended into "mindless thuggery", said Chief Superintendent Simon Anslow. He denied "inflammatory" claims that police were favouring an anti-racism counter protest.

    "Overall", the evening was "peaceful", said Dan Whitehead on Sky News, and residents are "simply angry about events that have unfolded here in recent weeks". The "trigger" was an alleged sexual assault by a migrant, said Laurie Wastell in The Spectator, and a feeling that the people of Epping are "being ignored".

    What next?
    Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, from Ethiopia, who denies charges of sexual assault, will face a two-day trial next month at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court. Local police have imposed a Section 35 dispersal order to "prevent further crime or anti-social behaviour".

     
     
    today's international story

    Japanese PM under pressure to quit after losing majority

    What happened
    Shigeru Ishiba (pictured above) has vowed to remain prime minister of Japan despite exit polls indicating that his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has lost its majority in the country's upper house. The coalition had already surrendered its majority in the lower house last year and the defeat in yesterday's tightly contested election could further undermine its influence.

    Who said what
    There is "frustration" with Ishiba, the LDP and its coalition partner Kometio over rising prices, inflation, a "string of political scandals" and "the threat of US tariffs", said the BBC. Ishiba is "considered not conservative enough by many supporters" of former prime minister and LDP leader Shinzo Abe, said Jeffrey Hall, special lecturer in Japanese Studies at the Kanda University of International Studies. The results also represented "a dramatic surge by a right-wing, anti-foreigner party", Sanseito, said The Times.

    What next?
    Ishiba said he "solemnly" accepted the "harsh result", but would focus on trade. A new leader would "almost certainly unleash political drama", said the BBC, "and destabilise Japan's government at a pivotal moment in US-Japan trade negotiations".

     
     
    Today's Health story

    NHS faces 'shocking' legal bill over maternity failures 

    What happened
    The NHS is staring at a potential £27 billion bill for maternity negligence in England after a series of scandals triggered a record level of legal claims. The number of families taking action over errors rose to nearly 1,400 a year in 2023, double the number in 2007. Last year the cost of settling all maternity-related claims was £37.5 billion, according to NHS Resolution's latest annual report, published last week – more than the total cost of running maternity services.

    Who said what
    The figures are "absolutely shocking", said Labour MP Paulette Hamilton, acting chair of the Commons health and social care select committee. They represent a "devastatingly high number of deaths and injuries of mothers and babies". The Department of Health and Social Care said the NHS was "paying billions for its mistakes, rather than fixing them".

    What next?
    The government has launched a national inquiry into "failing" services. Of 131 NHS maternity units across England, two-thirds were classed as "inadequate" or "requiring improvement" between 2022 and last year. NHS England said it was taking steps to monitor those trusts.

     
     

    It's not all bad

    Carbon dioxide "usually floats away into the sky", said Earth, but a "tiny soil bacterium" has a "different plan". Scientists have discovered that, under the right conditions, the impressively named bacillus megaterium converts the gas into solid limestone, which could then be used for buildings. This could drastically reduce the carbon footprint of cement production. "Challenges remain", said the website, but none of them look "insurmountable".

     
     
    under the radar

    Thailand is rolling back its legal cannabis empire

    When Thailand became the first country in Asia to decriminalise cannabis in 2022 it sparked a major tourism boom – and launched a domestic industry now worth $1 billion. But now the government is "harshing that buzz", said Time magazine.

    Last month it imposed rules "designed to rein in the country's 'green rush'" and reclassify cannabis as a controlled herb, said CNN. Citizens now need a doctor's prescription to buy the drug, restricting consumption to medical purposes. The public health minister also said he would "recriminalise cannabis as a narcotic", according to the broadcaster, which would be a "major reversal from Thailand's liberal approach".

    The country has about 11,000 registered dispensaries. In parts of Bangkok it is "impossible to escape the lurid green glare of their neon signs and the constant smell of people smoking", said the BBC's Southeast Asia correspondent Jonathan Head. This has "flooded the market and driven the price down".

    Some describe the "free-wheeling" market as "out of control". A promised regulatory framework was never implemented and the result is a "weed wild west", with foreign drug syndicates "hiding behind Thai nominees". There has also been a "flood" of cannabis smuggled out of the country, often by young people "lured" by those syndicates.

    The government's "major" reversal has plunged the industry into "a state of confusion", said The Guardian. Shops are "scrambling" to comply with the new restrictions and owners fear the changes will "unfairly push out smaller businesses" that can't afford to adapt to the rules.

    And with "stricter controls on sales and distribution" imminent, said Bloomberg, communities in the "lush northern countryside" where the plants grow are "bracing for real pain".

     
     
    on this day

    21 July 2007

    The final book in the Harry Potter series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", was released. Work on the new HBO TV adaptation of J.K. Rowling's beloved novels began last week, with producers unveiling a photo of 11-year-old Dominic McLaughlin dressed as the eponymous boy wizard.

     
     
    Today's newspapers

    'Farage's jails plan'

    Nigel Farage is to announce a plan to "build more jails to clean up the streets", says The Daily Telegraph. The Reform leader is due to give a speech today to brand his party as "the toughest party on law and order that this country has ever seen". "We stand with Jess", says The Mirror, after England defender Jess Carter was racially abused online following the Euros quarter-final. The comments were "disgusting", say FA bosses, and her teammates will not take the knee at the next match as it's "not working".
    See the newspaper front pages

     
     
    tall tale

    Ground zero

    Ground squirrels are "taking over" a US city, according to The Associated Press, and one expert says locals may not be able to fight back. A "ferocious tunneller", the breed is "exasperating" the people of Minot, North Dakota by "burrowing everywhere". They damage driveways, pavements and lawns, create tripping hazards with their holes, and spread disease. Joshua Herman, of Herman Pest Control Services, claims that trying to control the rodents is like "one guy standing against a massive storm".

     
     

    Morning Report was written and edited by Holden Frith, Chas Newkey-Burden, Martina Nacach Cowan Ros, Harriet Marsden and Jamie Timson, with illustrations from Julia Wytrazek.

    Image credits, from top: Carl Court / Getty Images; Toru Hanai / Bloomberg / Getty Images; Abraham Gonzalez Fernandez / Getty Images; Illustration by Julia Wytrazek / Getty Images.

    Morning Report and Evening Review were named Newsletter of the Year at the Publisher Newsletter Awards 2025
     

    Recent editions

    • Evening Review

      Are we facing a summer of riots?

    • Morning Report

      Gaza aid killings 'inhumane'

    • Evening Review

      Votes at 16: will it shake up the electorate?

    VIEW ALL
    TheWeek
    • About Us
    • Contact Future's experts
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Cookie Policy
    • Advertise With Us

    The Week UK is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

    © Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.