Afternoon briefing Thursday 7th May

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 7th March. The UK Health Security Agency has told Times Radio that contact tracing is taking place for those who might have sat next to passengers from a virus-infected cruise ship.

0:49The pair has not developed symptoms and is self-isolating in the UK voluntarily after leaving the cruise ship on which three people later developed hantavirus and then died. UK HSA Interim Chief Scientific Officer Robin May told us what they're doing. We've also done contact tracing for people who have been in close contact, So that would be people on the shore in the different countries where the crews visited prior to the last couple of days. And, for example, people who were sat next to the two returning passengers on the long haul flight they took. So they've all been reached and we're working with them.

1:22As I said, though, the risks to someone being up secondarily from an asymptomatic person who might be on the cruise are very, very small. Oil company Shell has reported a 24 % increase in its profits compared to last year because of the war with Iran triggering high oil prices. Its underlying earnings were$6.9 billion in the first quarter of this year. Times Radio's business correspondent Dominic O 'Connell has more. The most interesting thing is that Shell is the joint owner of a thing called Pearl, which takes gas and turns it into oil and other petroleum products like naphtha as well. It's enormous and it was attacked by Iran right back at the start, actually in the first week of the conflict.

2:05Shell said this morning that that one that was damaged would take a year to repair. Seven train companies in the south of England have been hit by delays of up to an hour and a half and cancellations. It includes trains to Gatwick Airport, the London Overground and trains in and out of the capital. The fault has been resolved but is still causing delays. The US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, has shaken hands with the Pope in Rome, following Donald Trump making a series of criticisms of him. The head of the Catholic Church has previously tried to draw attention to the suffering of innocent people in Iran, saying it's his job to preach peace.

2:38The US president's accused him of being weak. Sir Keir Starmer will make the case for closer relations with the EU next week as part of an attempt to secure his premiership. The Times understands he'll make the case that closer relations are crucial to tackling the cost of living crisis. Olly Cole from the Times newsroom has more. The speech, set to be delivered on Monday, is part of a move to shore up the Prime Minister's position in the face of any leadership challenges on the horizon. After a tough few weeks for party relations, Sakhir Starmer will set out how closer ties with the EU could bolster both economic and national security, arguing the war in Iran shows the UK can no longer afford to ignore Brussels.

3:15He'll insist his Brexit red lines aren't moving, with no return to free movement, the single market and customs union. For more stories like this, listen throughout the day to Times Radio.

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4:25Buy your car online. Really?