Afternoon briefing Wednesday 13th August

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0:35This is the Times afternoon briefing for Wednesday the 13th of August. Police are being told to disclose the ethnicity and nationality of suspects in some high-profile cases from today in the hope that it will stop the spread of misinformation. Most recently, two Afghan asylum seekers were accused of the rape of a 12-year-old in Warwickshire. Here's the policing minister, Dame Diana Johnson. But we're also very conscious of the need to make sure that anyone going forward to trial, it doesn't in any way prejudice that trial, because I think all of us want to make sure that victims get justice at a trial.

1:11President Zelensky, who is in Berlin, says Ukraine would not give up the Donbass to Russia ahead of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin's one-to-one meeting in Alaska on Friday. President Trump will join European leaders today, including Zelensky and Keir Starmer, for a virtual summit. German Chancellor Friedrich Mertz has insisted Europe will not accept negotiations to end the war happening over the heads of EU leaders and of Ukraine itself. Dominique Trigon is the former head of the French UN military mission. At the end of this meeting, we are sure of one thing, is that Mr Trump will say it was a marvellous discussion.

1:49It was beautiful and we had a very good discussion. But behind that, it can be, you know, Mr Trump realising that nothing will change with Mr Putin. Ten new facial recognition police vans will soon be deployed on the streets of England and Wales. They have been used already in London and South Wales to scan faces that walk past and check against a list of wanted suspects. On Times Radio, Police and Crime Minister Dame Diana Johnson insisted the technology doesn't violate human rights or data protection laws. but Head of Research and Investigations at Big Brother Watch Jake Hereford has criticised the government for not going through Parliament first.

2:31Police in South Wales and Cardiff trialled it across the entire city centre during a six nations rugby match and it's a step further than CCTV because at least someone has to go through that and justify it. This is performing an ID check, it's an entire street, an entire city at once and that's something I think is way too intrusive for a Western democratic country. Nowhere else in the West, in a democratic nation, uses this kind of surveillance on this kind of scale. The Trump administration, meanwhile, has accused the British government of repeatedly imposing serious restrictions on free speech.

2:59Their report highlighted rises in anti-Semitism and bans on silent prayer and protests outside abortion clinics. And Nicola Sturgeons told Times Radio there's a worrying double standard applied to male and female politicians as she recounted what she described as the ousting of Theresa May by Boris Johnson. If she or any female politician turned up looking like he does or as unprepared as he is, no woman in politics would last five minutes. You can hear the full interview on Jane and Fee on Times Radio at 3.30 this afternoon or on the Off Air with Jane and Fee podcast.

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