Morning briefing Monday 7th July

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0:34This is the Times Morning Briefing for Monday 7th July. Rescuers are continuing to search for any survivors three days after flash floods devastated Texas. At least 79 people have died since Friday's disaster, including 27 children who were at summer camp. Dozens remain missing across the U.S. state. Dominic Walsh is a reporter with Houston Public Media who's in Kerr County. He's told Time's Radio there are concerns about warnings that came before the flash flood struck. There's definitely questions about the flash flood alarms, when they came in, when they should have come in. The area entered the night with a flash flood watch.

1:17That's kind of the lowest thing on the scale of alerts. It says the ingredients are here for there to be a flash flood. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet President Trump in Washington later as Hamas peace talks continue. There are hopes that an initial 60-day ceasefire will be agreed in the coming days. Israel has also sent a delegation to Qatar for talks on a possible hostage exchange. The king is using the 20th anniversary of the 7-7 bombings to call for the nation to stand firm against those who'd seek to divide us. In a statement issued ahead of today's memorial service to the victims of the attacks, the king sent his heartfelt thought and special prayers to all those whose lives were forever changed on that terrible summer's day in 2005.

2:03Four suicide bombers struck three underground trains and a bus, killing 52 people and injuring more than 770. Azuma Wendowa lost her mother Gladys. My mum was a bit of a cat with nine lives, I always thought. She was always running around doing lots of different things, very, very busy, thinking in and out. And it wasn't until the evening when she didn't come home that we started to be a bit worried. Over the kind of following days, I couldn't get the information. The hospitals were not releasing lists of who they had. And so my family were kind of searching to and from, looking for her, and then it was eventually kind of confirmed by the news that she was two of the first that were confirmed as dead.

2:38The government is refusing to guarantee millions of children the legal right to special needs support in schools, leaving Sir Keir Starmer facing the possibility of a fresh backbench revolt. Education Secretary Bridget Philipson insists that the government is committed to reforming health for children with learning difficulties or disabilities. However, she wouldn't promise that parents would continue to have the same legally enforceable rights to ensure that their children receive bespoke support through education, health and care plans. Oliver Wright is the policy editor at The Times. It could be that they are guaranteed to have a teaching assistant with them.

3:16It could be help for transport in terms of getting to school or it could be a place in a special school. It really depends. They are sort of legally binding documents on councils which set a level of support that someone can expect. And you can follow The Times News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio online.

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