Afternoon briefing Friday 10th April

0:00This episode of the Times Radio News Briefing is sponsored by PwCWC. Staying competitive means getting ahead, not just keeping up. So how do business leaders cut through the noise and focus on what really matters? PwC takes you further with tech, from optimising the systems that put your data to work, to scaling AI from proof of concept to competitive edge. PwC helps you meet tomorrow's tech demands, so you can compete at a speed that rewrites the rules. Discover more at pwc.co.uk

0:35This is the Times Radio afternoon briefing on Friday the 10th of April. Sir Keir Starmer says he's fed up with Donald Trump comparing the US president with Vladimir Putin. In an interview, the Prime Minister criticised the effect both men are having on energy bills. He told ITV that expanding renewable energy would help Britain deal with what he's called an increasingly volatile and dangerous world. We have to have energy independence. I'm fed up with the fact that families across the country see their bills go up and down on energy. Businesses' bills go up and down on energy because of the actions of Putin or Trump across the world.

1:16Soon after his comments, the Prime Minister spoke with Donald Trump about establishing a practical plan for getting ships moving through the Strait of Hormuz. Stephen Swinford is the Times political editor. There has been a massive falling out of the special relationship here, which is broader than Trump. So this is going to be a problem for Britain potentially for years to come. It feels to me like Stammer is slightly getting to the end of his tether. A domestic abuser has been jailed for eight years after his wife died by suicide jumping from a bridge. Lee Milne was found guilty last month of culpable homicide, the first prosecution of its kind in Scotland.

1:52Prosecutors say Kimberly Milne faced an 18-month campaign of abuse, continuing up until the day she died. Police patrols are to be increased around places of worship in London and Manchester following recent anti-Semitic attacks in both cities. The Home Office says an extra£5 million will be made available as part of a wider plan to protect faith sites. The proportion of the UK's national income spent on international aid has fallen to its lowest level in nearly two decades. Provisional government figures show official development assistance stood at 0.43 % in 2025, the same level as in 2008. The OECD says the poorest countries will be hit hardest by the decline.

2:32Melania Trump says rumors linking her to Jeffrey Epstein are lies and damaging to her reputation. In a real-life televised address from the White House, the U.S. First Lady denied ever having a relationship with the late sex offender. The Times' assistant U.S. editor David Charter says the statement came as a surprise to many in Washington. She looked pretty angry. She refused to take any of the questions that were shouted at her by the people who were there, immediately turning on her heel and walking away after this prepared statement. You can take from that that she had something she very much wanted to get off her chest.

3:08In the Gulf, Rory McIlroy has made an impressive start to the defence of his master's title. The Northern Irishman, who completed the Korea Grand Slam at Augusta last year, hit a five-under-par score of 67 to share the clubhouse lead. He says he's enjoying being defending champion. Winning a Masters makes it easier to win your second one. You have to just stand up and commit to making a good swing and not worry about really where it goes. You can follow the Times Radio News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio online. This episode of the Times Radio News Briefing is sponsored by PwC.

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