Afternoon briefing Monday 7th 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. This is the Times afternoon briefing on Monday 7th July. The 20th anniversary of the 7-7 bombings have been marked in London with minute silences and a memorial service at St Paul's Cathedral.

0:46Members of the royal family have joined survivors and bereaved families, along with the Prime Minister. 52 people were killed and 770 injured in central London when four suicide bombers attacked underground trains and a bus. Among those killed was Miriam Hyman. Her sister Esther and other family members have set up a social cohesion charity in her name. You know, Miriam was a very loving and caring person and it's really a travesty that she was killed in the way that she was. But we feel satisfied that we have done everything that we can within our arm's reach to try to work towards a more peaceful future so that no other families have to go through what we have.

1:30Senior Labour figures are warning the government is facing a fresh backbench revolt over special needs support in schools. The current system costs£12 billion a year and yesterday the Education Secretary Bridget Philipson refused to guarantee legal rights of children to bespoke support. That has led to warnings of a welfare mark 2 rebellion. The Education Minister Stephen Morgan told Times Radio the government wants to bring fairness. We want to make sure that the system is right for every child. You'll remember what the previous government said, it was a lose-lose-lose situation. I know from my own postbag, from the debates and discussions I have in Parliament, from the visits that I do to settings across the country, that parents feel really let down by the current system and we've got to rebuild trust and confidence in the system to make sure children are getting the support that they need.

2:18An Australian woman has been convicted of murdering three of her in-laws with poisoned mushrooms. Erin Patterson fed beef wellington laced with death cap mushrooms to her estranged husband's parents and his aunt and her husband, the latter of whom survived. She's been found guilty of three counts of murder and one of attempted murder. The Times' Bernard Lagan has been covering the trial and explains why it's got such widespread attention. The manner of the dying is a big part of this. I think also in part it's the setting and this quite closed, religious, very conservative community down here.

2:54Not much is written about them. They are sort of outside of mainstream Australia. So I think for those reasons that it has had a huge amount of interest. At least 82 people have been killed in flash flooding in Texas in what Donald Trump has called an unimaginable tragedy. 28 children have already died. Parents who lose a pregnancy before 24 weeks will now also be entitled to bereavement leave. Ministers will amend the Employment Rights Bill so the legal right to time off work is extended to all pregnancy loss. It will cover both parents, who will be entitled to at least a week off work. And in rugby, Andy Farrell has named his strongest side yet for the Lions game against ACT Brumbies on Wednesday.

3:36Maru Itoje returns as captain, while the side also includes Jimmison Gibson Park and Finn Russell at 9-10. There's no place, though, for Farrell's son Owen, who joined the tour last week. Don't forget to subscribe to The Times News Briefing on Spotify or listen live to Times Radio online.

3:58This 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. Hi, I'm Katie Prescott from the Times Tech Podcast.

4:42AI is already changing business and medicine, but could it also change the way we look after our own health? In a special episode in Paid Partnership with Vitality, we look at how AI, wearables and everyday health data could help shift healthcare from treating illness to preventing it. Listen to the Times Tech podcast wherever you get your podcasts.