Daily briefing Saturday 13th 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. This is the Times Daily Briefing for Saturday 13th December. Cancer charities say they are hopeful that the King's announcement about his cancer treatment will persuade more people to accept invitations for NHS screening.

0:47In a video message broadcast on Channel 4, the King said his treatment will be dramatically reduced in the new year. In what is seen as a rare royal intervention on public health matters, the King said he was deeply troubled by the fact that 9 million people had missed their latest checks for breast, bowel and cervical cancer. The royal commentator Rupert Bell says the King's message represents a call for a national effort to improve early diagnosis. Helping people to come forward early on and maybe he's saying everyone can benefit and maybe it's also a quiet nudge to the politicians and people running the NHS.

1:25Make sure you do as much as you can to help people less privileged than I am. The US envoy Steve Witkoff will meet President Zelensky and other European leaders in Berlin this weekend to discuss a deal to end the war in Ukraine. The decision to send Witkow is seen by some observers as evidence of Washington's growing urgency to bridge the remaining gaps with Ukraine over the terms of a peace agreement. Negar Anker is a former senior advisor at the U.S. State Department. Speaking to Times Radio, she said the biggest obstacle for Kiev is the creation of a demilitarized economic zone in the eastern Donbass region.

2:04Handing over heavily fortified Donetsk hubs without any sort of form of airtight guarantees risks setting certain conditions for potential renewed Russian offensives. And so the framework that's being discussed right now within European capitals is this idea of deterring relapse and not just redrawing a new line. Sakiya Starmer's urging resident doctors in England to accept the government's latest offer and avert what he says would be a reckless five-day strike planned for next week. The Prime Minister says it's beyond belief they could go ahead following a significant increase in flu cases. The far-right activist Tommy Robinson is hosting a carol service in London where he'll urge those in attendance to put the Christ back into Christmas.

2:55but the Church of England has criticised those seeking to politicise Christianity with a social media campaign emphasising that Christmas is for everyone. The Right Reverend David Walker is the Bishop of Manchester. I've been taking Christmas services, Advent services for over 40 years as a priest and as a bishop. There is no need to put Christ back into Christmas and there's no need to hijack Christian symbols or Christian traditions to pursue a political agenda. And staff at the company that left thousands of people in Tunbridge Wells without water have been told to keep a low profile at the hotel hosting their Christmas party.

3:32More than 24 ,000 properties in the Kent town were informed by Southeast Water on Friday that they would no longer have to boil water before using it after nine days of disruption. Southeast Water say the party would not be funded through water bill revenue. You can follow the Times News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio online.

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