Afternoon briefing Thursday 25th September

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 Thursday 25th September. The Housing Secretary Steve Reid has told Times Radio speculation about Andy Burnham challenging Sir Keir Starmer to be Labour leader is tittle-tattle.

0:46The Mayor of Greater Manchester says he's been urged to run privately by Labour MPs and says the party is being run in a divisive and factional way. He says he'd be happy to play any role Labour MPs want him to, although he would have to quit his job and become an MP in order to stand for the leadership. Mr Reid says he expects Mr Burnham to stay in his job. Andy is playing a great role already. He's the mayor of Greater Manchester and he's doing an incredible job there. If you look at what they're doing on homelessness and what they're doing working with local health services. And he will keep doing that work because that is the commitment he gave until the end of his term.

1:22The backlog of Crown Court cases in England and Wales has hit a new record. Times Radio's Emma Smith has more. New data from the Ministry of Justice shows the caseload at the end of June was 78 ,329. That is up 2 % on the end of March and is 10 % higher than at the same time last year. More than 19 ,000 cases had been open for at least a year, another record. The Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary, David Lammy, says victims are facing an unacceptable wait for justice. The cooperative group says it will lose earnings of around£120 million because of a cyber attack. All 6.5 million members had their data stolen in April.

2:06Denmark says it's in contact with NATO after a number of drone sightings near airports. Ministers say it's a hybrid attack designed to spread fear and insist it was carried out by a professional actor. They say there isn't evidence at this stage, though, that it is linked to Russia. In an exclusive interview, the First Lady of Ukraine has told The Times she rarely sees her husband and feels responsible for everything and everyone during Russia's invasion of her country. Elena Zelenska has spoken about her efforts to win the support of the US First Lady Melania Trump by writing to her about Russia abducting and indoctrinating Ukrainian children.

2:42Her words have been translated. We need to engage as many people as possible to repatriate, to bring back Ukrainian children. That's the topic that I tried to discuss with the First Lady and Melania Trump. and I hope that as soon as possible we will be able to discuss that not by exchanging letters but in some other form. Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been found guilty of criminal conspiracy over campaign funds from Muammar Gaddafi. Prosecutors say Mr Sarkozy made a deal for the late Libyan dictator to pour millions into his successful presidential campaign in 2007 in exchange for him supporting Libya internationally once elected.

3:24Mr Sarkozy is expected to appeal and was found not guilty of corruption and embezzlement. And England have named an unchanged side for the Women's Rugby World Cup final. The Red Roses take on Canada at Twickenham on Saturday and are aiming to be world champions for the first time since 2014. It's expected to be a sell-out 82 ,000-strong crowd, which would be a record attendance for a women's rugby match. 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. Quick question. When was the last time a display ad changed your mind?

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