Daily briefing Saturday 2nd August

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 2nd August. President Trump has ordered the deployment of two American nuclear submarines in response to what he called highly provocative threats from Russia.

0:47The comments were made by the former Russian president, Dmitry Miervedev, who warned that his country still has Soviet-era nuclear strike capabilities. Miervedev is now the deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council and a key ally of Vladimir Putin. So I do that on the basis of safety for our people. A threat was made by a former president of Russia, and we're going to protect our people. Yedvedev had warned that Russia could go to war with the United States after Trump threatened to impose sanctions if Moscow did not agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine within 10 or 12 days. Philip Eggman is a politics reporter in the US.

1:27Speaking to Times Radio, he suggested the deployment is a sign of Trump's frustration. If you look at some of these other conflicts around the world, he's been able to use threats of sanctions, promises of opening up global trade to bring some conflicts to the finish line. But when it comes to Russia, they don't want to trade with the United States. They want territorial expansion in Ukraine. The Home Secretary has been accused of ignoring victims by blocking an independent investigation into allegations of rape by South Yorkshire police officers. This week, five women who were exploited by grooming gangs when they were children claimed they were also sexually abused by officers in Rotherham at the time.

2:11The Conservative MP Nick Timothy claims Yvette Cooper has resisted calls to set up an investigation by the National Crime Agency. The political commentator Alan Tolhurst says the government is waiting for the outcome of an internal police inquiry. Allowing this police force to investigate itself and the number of officers involved does not seem like a very palatable way to deal with this. And the whole point about tackling the child sexual abuse situation is to try and have as much openness and transparency and take the kind of responsibility away from those people who failed the victims for many, many years.

2:43Around 3 million people are still waiting for an initial appointment since being referred to a hospital waiting list. MBI Health, which analysed data from NHS England, says the delays will only intensify the pressure on emergency services because patients end up getting worse. The government, however, says its 10-year plan for the NHS will speed up routine operations and appointments. And Elon Musk says he'll appeal a court verdict that found his Tesla company was partly to blame for the death of a young woman who was hit by an electric car on autopilot. The body of Nybel Benavidez was found 22 metres from where she was struck in a wooded area in Florida in 2019.

3:24Tesla has been ordered to pay as much as$243 million in punitive and compensatory damages. You can follow the Times News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio online.

4:01That'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.

4:31finish angle brushes and natural bristles there were too many choices what if i never got my living room painted what if i couldn't figure out what type of paint to use what if i just used thumbtack i can hire a top-rated pro that knows everything about interior paint easily compare prices and read reviews thumbtack knows homes download the app today