Afternoon briefing Wednesday 24th December

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0:36This is the Times afternoon briefing for Wednesday the 24th of December. Volodymyr Zelensky has suggested demilitarized zones could be established in Ukraine's east in the latest draft of a peace plan agreed with the US. The new 20-point plan also involves Kiev holding new elections and keeping its bid to join NATO. It's now been sent to Moscow, where Vladimir Putin has been briefed on the latest proposals. The Conservatives are welcoming the latest government U-turn on inheritance tax for farmers. The threshold where agricultural properties will have to pay it will be increased from£1 million to£2.5 million from April.

1:10But Victoria Adkins, the Shadow Secretary for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, told Times Radio it shouldn't have taken 14 months for the policy to change. It's not only had an enormous economic toll, we know that business investment has plummeted, business confidence has plummeted. This government has seen record farm closures. There is a very, very serious human toll. And so I welcome this U-turn. It is a significant U-turn by this government. But the way they have handled this is utterly shambolic. The US Justice Department has released a second tranche of files on Jeffrey Epstein, with the king's brother Andrew appearing to feature.

1:50And it appears the US president flew on the late pedophile's private jet more often than previously thought. The Times correspondent George Grylls is in Washington. We're only about an eighth of the way through the documents that have actually been uploaded from this kind of huge trove of evidence amassed during the FBI investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. If the current pace of kind of revelations is going to continue, it could be dragged out over weeks, if not months. The US has imposed visa bans on five people, including a former EU commissioner and an ally of Sukir Starmer. Secretary of State Marco Rubio claims the anti-disinformation campaigners led efforts to censor and suppress American viewpoints.

2:29Imran Ahmed, head of the US-based Centre for Countering Digital Hate, faces deportation. The group was set up by Stama aide Morgan McSweeney. More than a million of us will work this Christmas Day. The Trades Union Congress says care workers, nurses and clergy are usually the busiest occupations when most people have the day off. Tim Sharp of the TUC says many working are also low paid. Tens of thousands of those are working tomorrow, particularly in occupations like care, are people who are on zero-hours contracts. So for much of the year, they don't know if they're going to have a shift next week or even tomorrow.

3:07So we think it's really important that we recognise, particularly at Christmas, we see how vital these forms of work are and ensure that people are treated far better in the future. And Christmas Day is looking to be cold and windy, but many of us will see sunny spells. Met Office forecasters say brisk winds will make it feel close to freezing. Despite the frosty conditions, the only place likely to see a white Christmas is Dartmoor in Devon. You can follow The Times News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio Online.

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