Afternoon Briefing Tuesday 30th December

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. Hello, this is your Times Afternoon Briefing for Tuesday 30th December with me, James Kitch. Millions of households are to be offered grants to install solar panels and heat pumps as the government tries to win back voters to green energy.

0:46Ed Miliband will set out proposals to allocate up to£13 billion over the next four years to reduce carbon emissions and create so-called zero-bill homes. The Energy Secretary hopes the Warm Homes Fund could see some households pay little or no money for power. The Times' Deputy Property Editor David Byers says there's a notable caveat.

1:24The former Prime Minister of Israel has told Times Radio Benjamin Netanyahu is making every possible effort to postpone the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal. Movement in the negotiations dominated the talks with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago yesterday, which Mr Netanyahu called very productive. But Israel and Hamas have both accused each other of violating the agreement. Speaking to Times Radio, Ehud Olmer warned progress will be slow. I think that there is a gap, a margin between his position and Trump's position, which is somehow disguised by the rhetoric that they make publicly, which can be really hidden.

2:05Trump talks all the time about how rapidly he wants the implementation of second phase, how anxious he is to help the Turks as part of the military force that will take over Gaza, something which is totally unacceptable to Netanyahu. Meanwhile, the US president also revealed he was very angry to hear reports of an alleged Ukrainian drone strike on one of Vladimir Putin's state residences. The Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed Kiev launched the attack on the Novgorod region overnight on Sunday, with all 91 drones shot down by air defences. The Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has hit back against the claims calling them lies.

2:46Former RAF Air Vice Marshal Sean Bell, Cold Times Radio Moscow, is undermining peace efforts. It's just literally within 24 hours of the peace talks happening in Florida. If the strategic objective of those talks was to get Trump slightly more on side with Zelensky and the Western side, which appeared to be the case, it was no great surprise that President Putin wants to rattle the cage again. See, if Putin was genuinely believed that this actually happened, he would find some evidence as well. The Olympic legends Jane Tauville and Christopher Dean say being awarded a Damehood and a Knighthood is the perfect way to end their figure skating careers.

3:25The actor Idris Elba is also made a Sir in the New Year's Honours list for his youth charity work. The former Cabinet Minister Annalisa Dodds is the only sitting MP to be recognised after receiving a damehood. You can find a comprehensive list of all those honoured on thetimes.com, on the app and in the paper too. And the Cabinet Office has blamed an administrative error for journalists being shown documents about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's trade missions. Minutes from meetings two decades ago were redacted before being made public. And remember, you can follow The Times News Briefing on Spotify and you can listen live to Times Radio Online.

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