The Week 1550

There were fears the pandemic would kill off the cinema once and for all – but it seems audiences have not yet fallen out of love with the big screen. Box office revenues in the UK and Ireland exceeded £532m in the first six months of this year, an 18% rise on the same period in 2024, and are forecast to reach £1.2bn by the end of the year. Insiders say that the slow but steady recovery has been powered by a range of hits, from Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy to Disney’s Lilo & Stitch. When Nicholas McCarthy set his sights on becoming a pianist, he faced several obstacles. His parents were not musical; he was already 14 – and he was born with no right hand. The…

What happened Fixing the water industry The Government confirmed on Monday that it would be abolishing Ofwat and replacing it with a new “super regulator” for England and Wales, in accordance with the recommendation of a landmark review of the water industry. Steve Reed, the Environment Secretary, said this would herald the start of a “revolution” in the sector, which would lead to sewage spills into seas, lakes and waterways being halved by 2030. Sir Jon Cunliffe’s 464-page report, which was commissioned by the Labour Government last year, proposed the biggest shake-up of the water industry since privatisation in 1989. It made 88 recommendations in total, including the compulsory installation of smart water meters in homes and the overhaul of more than 100 relevant laws. Cunliffe, a former deputy governor…

What happened Britain joined 27 other countries, including France, Australia and Japan, in condemning the “drip feeding of aid” to Gaza by Israel, and “the inhumane killing of civilians” seeking food and water. The joint statement, issued on Monday, called for an immediate ceasefire. More than 100 people were killed last weekend alone while seeking food, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry. Scores of aid agencies, including Save the Children and Médecins Sans Frontières, warned that “mass starvation” was spreading across the Strip. Gaza’s health ministry said that more than 100 people had already died of malnutrition. Israel’s government insisted that it was acting in accordance with international law – facilitating the entry of aid, while ensuring that it did not reach Hamas. Israeli officials claim that Hamas steals aid,…

Controversy of the week State secrets If the story of the Afghan leak teaches us anything, said Theo Burges in The Guardian, it’s how easy it is “for a government to avoid proper scrutiny when‘national security’ is invoked”. For almost two years, Conservative and Labour governments were able to hide behind an unprecedented court order blocking the disclosure that a soldier had accidentally leaked the names of 18,714 Afghans hoping to escape the Taliban following the fall of Kabul in 2021. The injunction was initially imposed to protect vulnerable Afghans’ lives. But it was extended under the guise of national security to cover up a secret resettlement programme for affected Afghans – in total, up to 7,900 people are expected to come to the UK. Most worrying of all, the…

Gen Z have been accused of being workshy. Now, they are apparently discomfiting older people by using a “stare”, in place of small talk. The New York Times is credited with describing the Gen Z stare as a “blank, emotionally unreadable expression often seen in social or work settings”. According to social media users, you notice it when you greet the staff in a shop or café, and they look at you, saying nothing. Although the stare can seem hostile, in a vague, “unbothered” way, it is not clear that it actually is. Some think that it reflects a new reluctance to engage with stupid questions or in pointless chit-chat; but others say it’s symptomatic of a generation that grew up on screens in lockdown, and is puzzled or alarmed…

Career turns, with the news that Michael Flatley, the creator of Riverdance, is now thinking of running for Ireland’s presidency. Although born in Chicago, Flatley, aka the Lord of the Dance, is also an Irish citizen and so entitled to stand in the race to succeed Michael D. Higgins in the largely ceremonial role. The All England Tennis Club, after a judge ruled that it could go ahead with plans to build 39 new courts and an 8,000-seat show court on the grounds of the old Wimbledon Park Golf Club. Local residents had tried to block the development, arguing that the land should be protected as green belt and kept as an open space. James Cleverly, who was returned to the Tory frontbench in Kemi Badenoch’s first reshuffle of her…