Afternoon briefing Thursday 1st 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

0:36This is the Times afternoon briefing for Thursday, 1st January. A major emergency operation is underway in Switzerland after a popular bar went up in flames. Authorities say dozens are presumed to have died in the blaze at the ski resort of Cran, Montana. They say intensive care units across the country are full. Italian officials say some victims have been unable to be identified because of the severity of their burns. At a press conference, Matthias Reynard, president of Switzerland's State Council, said the response is pulling in people from across the country. We have several hundred people allocated to emergency response, care for the injured and coordination.

1:17We are also going to ask for international coordination. You can imagine that at a ski resort on New Year's Eve, there are many visitors from other countries and that will raise a number of diplomatic issues. Officials didn't provide details of which of several nationalities may be involved. Here, the Foreign Office says it's monitoring the situation and stands ready to help any British nationals caught up in the disaster. The Europe journalist Nina dos Santos was watching that press conference. She says the bar affected has been open for around 40 years. Authorities are saying they're ruling out an attack at this point, but what they aren't ruling out is whether or not pyrotechnic shows inside this facility, this may have sparked some kind of explosion.

2:01It happened at 1.30am, so that was an hour and a half after revellers had been at this party ringing in the new year. And of course, as we know in Swiss ski resorts, it's very cold outside, this is the middle of the night, there'll be a lot of people crammed inside, and the fear here is that that may have caused higher numbers of casualties. There's more on this story throughout the day on Times Radio. In other news, a man has been charged after an intruder broken to Kensington Palace on the Sunday and Tuesday before Christmas. 39-year-old Derek Egan is accused of trespassing in connection with both breaches and has been remanded in custody.

2:38It's understood the Prince and Princess of Wales were not in London at the time. The Home Secretary says that Shemima Begum poses a national security threat. She's promising to fight a legal bid to return to the UK. It follows a European Court of Human Rights request to explain why the UK stripped her of citizenship. Ben Ellery is The Times' deputy chief reporter. The intervention from Strasbourg has reopened a legal debate about whether the UK met its international obligations towards a British child who left for Syria and whether citizenship deprivation can lawfully be used in cases involving potential trafficking.

3:15The European Court will now consider written arguments from both sides before deciding whether the case should proceed further. And some children in England are to be offered vaccination in their own homes as the NHS aims to improve uptake. The£2 million pilot scheme will see struggling families, including those with language barriers or who are reluctant, seen by health visitors. One in five children start primary school with no protection against deadly diseases. You can follow The Times News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio online. This episode of the Times Radio News Briefing is sponsored by PwC.

3:52AI 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. Is your kid's birthday coming up? Don't stress the prep. The Party Shop at Michael's is your one-stop shop for everything from bluey to rodeo.

4:37transform your space into a birthday wonderland with dream worthy tablescapes and decor starting at 99 cents plus get free helium inflation on select balloon styles whether you're crafting a one-of-a-kind bash or grabbing the essentials michael's has everything to make their big day legendary shop now and order ahead for delivery or in-store pickup michael's everything to celebrate anything