Morning briefing Thursday 28th August

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0:35This is your Times News Briefing for the morning of Thursday 28th August Two children aged 8 and 10 have been killed and 17 others injured after a gunman opened fire during Mass at a Catholic school in Minneapolis in Minnesota. The suspect was identified by the FBI as 23-year-old Robin Westman. Police said 14 children and three elderly adults were injured but are expected to survive. The FBI's director says they're investigating the shooting as an act of domestic terrorism and hate crime targeting Catholics. Peter Cox is from NPR News in the state. Police say the shooter appeared to do most of the shooting from outside through the windows.

1:14They had a rifle, a shotgun and a pistol. And police say the shooter used all three firing dozens of rounds. They say it appears the shooter died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Sir Tony Blair has been advising Donald Trump on a comprehensive plan to rebuild Gaza after the former U.S. president called for it to be transformed into a Riviera of the Middle East. The former prime minister has reportedly been working with the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, for months on proposals to turn the territory into a trade hub and resort. The White House meeting comes as Britain considers recognizing a Palestinian state at the UN.

1:50Meanwhile, Israel is preparing a fresh military assault, as journalist Nogatana Polsky explains. The Arab language spokesperson for the Israeli army put out a statement telling residents of Gaza that the invasion of their city is, I'm quoting, inevitable. on. Nigel Farage has confirmed that single women arriving illegally in the UK would be deported under a reform government, though he appeared to suffer an earlier talk of mass deportations. The party leader moved to clarify his stance after conflicting statements about plans to remove up to 600 ,000 illegal immigrants in its first parliament.

2:26Meanwhile, reform got its first MSP with a defection from the Scottish Conservatives' Graham Simpson. John Boothman, who is The Times and Sunday Times political correspondent in Scotland, explains that reform's prospects. The conventional wisdom says they take more votes away from the Tories and from Labour than the SNP, therefore would allow the SNP to win. There's no sign at the moment, at least, that reform would win any of these constituencies and they could get a significant presence, probably more than a dozen seats on the party list. Britain's Equality Watchdog says policies letting trans people access same-sex spaces in policing, education and health and social care must be rewritten.

3:09The Equality and Human Rights Commission has launched action against 19 organisations warning they face unlimited fines if policies aren't changed. It follows a review ordered last year by the then-Equality Minister Camry Bait-Nok to look at confusion over the law. Delivery of the weight loss drug Munjaro has been paused in the UK as patients rush to stockpilets ahead of a steep price rise. Manufacturer Eli Lilly has told British wholesalers to stop taking new orders, with prices set to nearly double from September 1. Pharmacists have warned the move could cause real harm to patients who rely on the treatment.

3:44A new report by the British Medical Association found that disabled doctors are facing bullying from colleagues and receiving poor support from the NHS. A survey of more than 800 disabled or neurodivergent doctors and medical students found that a third had suffered bullying or harassment. Over half said they had considered leaving the profession, while most feared being viewed negatively or discriminated against. A new research suggests that the traditional midlife unhappiness hump has vanished, with young adults now reporting more misery than their parents. A survey of millions in the U.S. and tens of thousands in the U.K.

4:18showed today's 22-year-olds experiencing higher levels of despair and anxiety than earlier generations. The site from Dartmouth College in the US found Gen Z are far more prone to misery than their counterparts in previous decades. And that's your Times News Briefing.

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