Afternoon briefing Thursday 25th June

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 your Times Radio news briefing for the afternoon of Thursday 25th June. The Chancellor's said she supports Andy Burnham and has not presumed that she will be in the same role in a few weeks' time, but that she was proud of her time as Chancellor.

0:50Speaking at the British Chambers of Commerce conference, Rachel Reeves has said appointing a cabinet is up to him and that they'd been friends for many years. Work very closely together on devolution and regional investment, but probably I think the area where there's certainly unfinished business is on fiscal devolution. and I set out in last year's budget a consultation, for example, on the visitor levy, moving us more in line with the US and Europe that have small visitor levies on hotel bookings, for example, and then that money being vested in the local area. The Times understands that Andy Burnham is considering Ed Miliband, Shabana Mahmood or Wes Streeting for Chancellor.

1:32He's also thought to be wanting to move part of his prime ministerial operation to the north, away from Westminster. South East Water has instigated a hosepipe ban for people in Kent due to high temperatures and record demand for water. 24 ,000 of their customers lost full access to water last year. A red warning for extreme heat remains in place until tonight in some places, particularly for the Bristol area where it will be hottest. But it's even worse in France. Adam Sage, Paris correspondent at The Times, is there. In the Jardin de Luxembourg by the Senate yesterday, it was measured at 42.2 degrees in Paris.

2:09In the west of the country, in a little village called Chantonnay, 44.6, and in Saumur in the Loire Valley, 44.4. I mean, these are absolutely unprecedented temperatures. Record after record is falling this week. The mayor of Paris has said no one is invulnerable and that joggers were being irresponsible. At least 33 people have died in Venezuela from two major earthquakes, with the death toll expected to increase considerably, potentially up to the thousands. Countries have rushed to offer support, including Donald Trump, who's posted to say, the USA stands ready, willing and able to help. We will be there for our new and great friends.

2:48Latin America correspondent John Bonfilio told Times Radio there was politics behind his offer. The Venezuelan project now is the US project. I mean, it's pretty clear that we've got got that level of investment, co-investment in Venezuela, whatever happens in Venezuela now will be seen as being an indicator of not just the Trump administration's efficacy in the US, but also this expansion, this sort of multi-layer expansion that's been undertaking across Latin America. The BBC has secured the rights to show Wimbledon for the next seven years. The men and women's finals are Group A-listed events according to Ofcom, which means they must be shown on terrestrial free-to-air TV.

3:29Wimbledon has previously demanded a significant revamp in the coverage over a feeling that it had become formulaic. For more stories like this, listen throughout the day to Times Radio.

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