Afternoon briefing Tuesday 25th November

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 Tuesday 25th November. The CEO of the retailer AO has told Times Radio the government is making life more difficult for businesses in every way.

0:45John Roberts says the speculation about tomorrow's budget has been harmful on top of tax rises last year and Labour's employment rights package. They make it more complicated and they make it more expensive and more difficult. So, you know, if you take workers' rights as an example, you know, as a business, you need flexibility on how you can take people on. And the more difficult and the more expensive you make that for business, well, the less will take the risk. The business secretary has insisted he will listen to boss's concerns on workers' rights. Ukraine's national security chief says Volodymyr Zelenskyy could travel to the US in the next few days.

1:22Rustem Umarov says the president would go to make a deal with Donald Trump on a peace framework. Former Ukrainian defence adviser Yuri Sack told Times Radio he thinks his country will still be fighting in a year's time. Everything Russia does demonstrates, regardless of how many versions of a peace agreement we will offer to them, they are not interested in peace because anything short of full and complete capitulation of Ukraine will not satisfy Russian maximalistic demands. Their objective is the destruction of Ukraine's statehood. The father tech creator Graham Linehan has been cleared of harassing a transgender activist.

2:00A judge has found the comedy writer guilty of criminal damage to Sophia Brooks' mobile phone last year, though. EasyJet's profits have gone up 9 % for the year to September. It says its airline profits dropped slightly, but that was made up for by demand for its package holidays. The cricketer Graham Thorpe would still be alive, according to his widow, if England had offered more support after sacking him as a coach. The batter played 100 tests for his country before turning to coaching. He took his own life last year, two years after being dismissed over a failed ashes tour. Our reporter Will Hobbs has this report after speaking exclusively to Amanda Thorpe.

2:37Graham Thorpe was sacked as an assistant coach with England while already in a fragile mental state. He'd been receiving months of treatment for depression. Amanda Thorpe says the cliff edge of losing the world he'd known for 30 years was too much. Though the ECB extended Thorpe's medical insurance to cover 10 online counselling sessions, she believes it was too little. It's just woeful isn't it? It was clear that he wasn't coping and we really did ask for help. I knew he needed more help than that and it wasn't forthcoming. The ECB says it gave full support to the inquest into Graham's suicide and has met with Amanda to discuss her concerns.

3:15The coroner noted the additional care extended to Thorpe and made no criticism of the way he was sacked. For Amanda though those crucial months have not been properly scrutinised. For the full investigation, find Head Before Wicket, an episode of TalkSport's Following On podcast. And an Italian man has been arrested after allegedly disguising himself as his dead mother to try to claim her pension. Police then found his mother's body mummified and wrapped in bedsheets at his home. She has reportedly been dead for years. Don't forget to subscribe to The Times News Briefing on Spotify or listen live to Times Radio online.

3:56This 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. Do you keep hearing podcast ads like this one, for example, but always wonder how you actually get involved with them for your own brand or organization?

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