Afternoon Briefing Monday 27th July

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. Hello, this is your Times Radio afternoon briefing for Monday the 27th of July with me, James Kitchen. The next 24 hours have been called crucial as a wildfire races towards the French city of Bordeaux.

0:46The flames are now 11 kilometers, or seven miles, away from the city. More than 360 ,000 people have been evacuated from their homes across both France and Spain. Minister Eleanor Carreau is a deputy in the French National Assembly and told Times Radio the wildfire should act as a wake-up call. These mega-fires have to alert us all as to the reality of global warming and the impact of human activity on the climate. I do hope that it helps us make our case, but I wish we didn't have to go through these terrible, terrible tragedies to state the obvious and for people to understand it. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, is holding a crisis cabinet meeting.

1:26Meanwhile, emergency services in the UK are preparing for further wildfires as the country's fourth heatwave of the summer kicks in. At the height of the last heatwave in mid-July, firefighters battled 19 wildfires across England and Wales. Parts of southern England are expected to see highs of at least 32 degrees by Wednesday. Three people have died after getting into trouble in the water at two of the UK's most popular seaside destinations. One man was pulled from the water yesterday afternoon in West Wittering in Sussex, while a man and a woman drowned off Fistral Beach in Newquay last night.

2:02Andy Burnham says he may increase the conditions on people required to receive benefits. The Prime Minister told the BBC he believed there are people out there who, with the right support, can go into work. It comes as The Times reveals teenagers claiming sickness benefits for anxiety receive£100 a week more than those who take a part-time job on the minimum wage. The Times columnist Fraser Nelson says the system is broken and work is not rewarded. It's just cash. There isn't any conditions at all. And quite often what people want is help. If you're a kid, for example, that you want to try to get a mental health appointment, then there is a waiting list, something like half of them.

2:41I've been waiting more than a year to get a simple mental health appointment. So we've got one part of the system broken in that way through lack of funding and lack of resources, while the other part of the system is giving cash payments. Andy Burnham will host Vladimir Zelensky later, his first international visitor since taking office a week ago. The prime minister is expected to say he'll maintain Sakhir Starmer's unwavering support for Ukraine in the conflict with Russia. The two leaders will visit a naval base where hundreds of Ukrainian military personnel have spent weeks training. Victims have gathered outside Hull Crown Court as a fraudulent funeral director awaits sentencing.

3:2048-year-old Robert Bush, who's been described as a monster, has pleaded guilty to 67 offences. It's thought more than 200 victims were affected after bodies were not buried, families were given the wrong ashes, and charity donations were stolen. The wildlife presenter and comedian Bill Oddie has died at the age of 85. His agent paid tribute to the intelligence and wit of Britain's best-loved birder. Remember, you can follow The Times Radio News Briefing on Spotify and you can listen live to Times Radio Online.

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