Afternoon briefing Friday 2nd January

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 afternoon briefing for Friday the 2nd of January. Tributes are being paid to the first victim of the Swiss ski resort fire to be named. He was Emanuele Gallipini, a teenage golfer from Italy. The Italian Golf Federation described him as a promising young talent. Switzerland has begun five days of mourning, with the president calling it one of the country's worst tragedies. Robert Stewart works for the local tourism authority. It's been a shocking 24 hours for everybody in Cromontana. waking up on New Year's morning, a community in shock. And everybody I spoke to yesterday, you know, this is something which was just unthinkable, something unthinkable that could happen.

1:18A former Downing Street insider has told Times Radio the government's agenda risks being blown off course by civil servants. Paul Ovendon left his role as director of strategy in September and says Whitehall officials would often raise issues of little interest to ordinary voters, including the Egyptian democracy campaigner Alaa Abdel Fattah. He says the power structures need to be changed. What's really happening is a sort of structural thing where over decades politicians and politics has given away lots of the power that it has basically to mitigate against risk but whether that is to arm's length bodies or quangos we might call them whether that is through regulatory frameworks or through legal frameworks the basics kind of emasculated itself in doing so.

2:01Baroness Mohn can keep£15 ,000 in rent from a Belgravia mansion despite a freezing order. The former Conservative peer is under investigation over a COVID PPE scandal. Documents seen by the Times show a judge amended the block on her assets at a secret hearing. The£25 million property can't be sold while proceedings continue. The US president is warning Iran against a violent crackdown on protesters. On social media, Donald Trump said the US is locked and loaded to come to their rescue. Several people have died in days of escalating violent clashes between security forces and protesters sparked by a currency collapse.

2:39Neger Angha is a specialist in Iran's security policy who worked in the Biden White House. She told Times Radio the regime is trying to de-escalate. But when bazaars and campuses come together, which is what's happening right now, it signals this cross-class and demographic frustrations. That doesn't necessarily mean imminent collapse, but it does mean that the state will have to spend more authority and money and coercion to govern the same space. House prices suffered a surprise drop last month as part of a softer end to 2025. The Nationwide Building Society says annual price growth slowed to 0.6%.

3:16However, they say the resilient market will see rises of between 2 % and 4 % this year. And the blue-chip FTSE 100 index has started the year, breaking through the symbolic 10 ,000 points mark that's trading opened this morning. It follows a record 2025 for the 100 most valuable companies on the London Stock Exchange, ending more than 20 % up. You can follow The Times News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio Online.

3:44This episode of The Times Radio News Briefing is sponsored by PwC. AI is everywhere. In the news, in our hands, but return on investment, not so much. So how do you get beyond the hype and deliver AI that powers reinvention and growth across your business? Strong foundations unlock AI's potential. That's why PwC takes you further with tech, strengthening the data quality, processes and workflows that shape how well AI performs. PwC turns innovation into implementation so you can accelerate from experiment to scale. Discover more at pwc.co.uk.

4:27Laminya Mal steps into McDonald's, looks left, sees Pulisic, looks right, sees Jimenez. Gives a nod to Ronaldinho in the corner with a FIFA World Cup meal. Ronaldinho sees Son in the booth. Son finds Beckham going for extra Big Mac sauce. He's got Davies at the table just behind him. Davies going for his collectible cup. A steal by Henry, who pulls his own collectible cup. Collect one of nine legendary cups with a FIFA World Cup meal. At participating McDonald's for a limited time. While supplies last. All rights reserved. 2026 McDonald's at FIFA World Cup 2026.