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  • Morning Report from The Week
    Gaza plea, water overhaul, and the Lionesses racism row

     
    today's INTERNATIONAL story

    UK joins condemnation of 'inhumane' Gaza aid killings

    What happened
    David Lammy and the foreign ministers of 27 other countries have accused Israel of depriving Gaza's civilians of "human dignity" in a joint statement condemning the current "dangerous" aid distribution model.

    The declaration came as Israel launched "substantial" ground and air attacks on Deir al-Balah, the main hub for humanitarian efforts in the "devastated" territory, which has seen "an almost daily slaughter" of civilians queuing for aid, said The Guardian.

    Who said what
    The statement, which was also signed by Australia, Canada and most of the EU, condemns the "drip feeding of aid" and "inhumane killing" of those seeking food and water, and says Israel "must comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law". The statement calls plans to corral Palestinians into a so-called humanitarian city "unacceptable".

    Although there have been many international statements condemning Israel during its war in Gaza, this one is "notable for its candour", said the BBC.

    The Israeli government dismissed the statement, saying it was "disconnected from reality" and "sends the wrong message to Hamas".

    What next?
    The UK has committed to sending an extra £40 million of humanitarian assistance to Gaza this year. Announcing the increase, Lammy said although he was "a steadfast supporter of Israel's security and its right to exist", its actions in Gaza were "doing untold damage" to the country's "standing in the world".

     
     
    today's UTILITIES story

    Water regulator Ofwat to be scrapped

    What happened
    Ofwat, England's water regulator, will be dismantled and replaced in the "biggest overhaul of water since privatisation", said ministers. It is one of 88 recommendations put forward in a major review of the sector led by the former deputy governor of the Bank of England, Jon Cunliffe.

    Who said what
    There has been a "culture of underinvestment in infrastructure and financial mismanagement by water companies" since Ofwat was created in 1989, said The Guardian. In its place, Environment Secretary Steve Reed has promised a "single, powerful regulator responsible for the entire water sector" that will "stand firmly on the side of customers, investors and the environment, and prevent the abuses of the past".

    Other suggestions in the "once-in-a-generation" review include mandatory water metering and a social tariff for vulnerable customers, said Sky News.

    What next?
    It remains to be seen how many of the 88 recommendations in the Cunliffe report will make it into the water bill next year. Nationalisation will not be among them, after it was ruled out by Reed.

     
     
    Today's SPORTs story

    Lionesses criticised for ditching anti-racism gesture

    What happened
    The England women's football team is facing a backlash for its decision to not take the knee in the Euro 2025 semi-final against Italy tonight. The Lionesses had performed the anti-racism gesture before kick-off in every match of the tournament so far, but announced that they would would no longer do so after defender Jess Carter was subjected to racial abuse online.

    Who said what
    "It is clear that we and football need to find another way to tackle racism," said the Lionesses in a collective statement. Manager Sarina Wiegman told BBC Sport the gesture was "not enough".

    But Piara Powar, the head of football anti-discrimination body Fare, told The Times that the team were "ditching a powerful action against racism in response to an act that shows it's necessary". He added that Ofcom should use its powers under the new Online Safety Act to take action against social media platforms hosting racial abuse. 

    What next?
    The FA said the police and "appropriate bodies" had been contacted regarding the allegations of racial abuse against Carter.

     
     

    It's not all bad

    Premature babies in the UK will soon receive a jab to protect them from a potentially deadly winter virus. The RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) vaccine is administered in the final trimester of pregnancy and takes several weeks to become fully effective, meaning those born prematurely may miss out. But from September, 9,000 at-risk babies and young children will be offered a dose of nirsevimab, a drug that offers a six-month "protective bubble" against RSV.

     
     
    under the radar

    The biggest hospital abuse scandal you haven't heard of

    Muckamore Abbey Hospital, Northern Ireland, which provides treatment for adults with severe learning disabilities, became "one of the nation's biggest ever crime scenes" in 2017 when hundreds of thousands of hours of CCTV footage revealed that patients had been seriously abused, said the BBC.

    Yet eight years after the footage was discovered, no cases have come to trial, the hospital hasn't been closed and a public inquiry has yet to report its findings.

    In 2017 it transpired that CCTV cameras, installed at the hospital six months earlier and believed to have remained switched off, had in fact been running, capturing a a "staggering" 300,000 hours of footage revealing widespread abuse and neglect. This included patients being "punched, kicked, dragged across floors, tipped off furniture" and subjected to "emotional abuse", said the BBC.

    This is the "largest systemic abuse case uncovered in the UK", Andrew McDonnell, a clinical psychologist with experience of such investigations, told the broadcaster. The "sheer volume and scale" of it "dwarfs anything I've ever seen before".

    There have been 38 arrests to date, said the BBC, but no trials or convictions. In May, seven former members of staff appeared in court charged over the ill-treatment of patients, said the Belfast Telegraph.

    A public inquiry that ended earlier this year is yet to deliver its final report and recommendations. Families claimed that their lawyers weren't allowed to directly ask questions of the witnesses, but the inquiry said it had not received any applications to do so.

     
     
    on this day

    22 July 1992

    Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar escaped police custody. He remained a fugitive until December 1993 when he was killed by law enforcement. Colombia's Congress recently proposed a controversial law that would ban local memorabilia of the criminal, who has gained cult-like status worldwide.

     
     
    Today's newspapers

    'Patients at risk'

    The British Medical Association has cautioned that patients will "not be safe" in NHS hospitals during this week's strike by resident doctors, says The Times. There are "urgent warnings" of "widening starvation" in Gaza, says The Guardian. "End this horror now", says The Mirror, alongside a picture of Palestinians queuing for aid. And Nigel Farage claims that Britain is facing "societal collapse", reports the Daily Mail.
    See the newspaper front pages

     
     
    tall tale

    'Not missing' poster

    A couple in Canada have been inundated with calls from strangers claiming to have "found" their cat – who is in fact safe at home. The baffled pair eventually discovered that their phone number appears on a T-shirt whose design includes a mock-up missing cat poster. "The use of a real number within the art created was not intentional," a customer service representative for clothing brand Wisdumb NY said in an email to CBC News.

     
     

    Morning Report was written and edited by Rebecca Messina, Chas Newkey-Burden, Elliott Goat, Martina Nacach Cowan Ros and Harriet Marsden, with illustrations from Julia Wytrazek.

    Image credits, from top: Eyad Baba / AFP / Getty Images; Chris Ratcliffe / Bloomberg / Getty Images; Alexander Hassenstein / 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
     

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