Daily Briefing Saturday 9th 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. Hello, this is your Times Daily Briefing for Saturday 9th August with me, James Kitchen. Vladimir Zelensky says Ukraine will not give land to the occupier after Donald Trump told the country to prepare for the swapping of territory with Russia.

0:47The US president has announced his highly anticipated meeting with Vladimir Putin will take place next Friday in Alaska. He warned Mr. Zelensky to get ready to sign something. But the Ukrainian leader says any solutions that exclude Kiev are against peace. The former UK ambassador to the US, Sir Peter Westmacott, told Times Radio the summit is a gift of President Putin. He is the aggressor. He is the one who is murdering hundreds of thousands of people, his own ones as well as Ukrainians. And here he is coming to America for a visit with the President of the United States at which the Ukrainians will not be present at all to discuss the future of Ukraine.

1:24And I think he's probably spinning this out for as long as he can. And he thinks that he's got much more staying power than the Ukrainians have. And he's offered nothing in the way of a concession. British travellers arriving in the EU will have to prove they have medical insurance and a return ticket under strict new rules. The digital entry-exit system, which comes into force within weeks, will also see visitors having their fingerprints and photograph taken the first time they use it. Officials in Brussels were forced to delay the scheme's introduction last year over fears of long queues and teething problems.

1:58Israel has strongly rejected criticism from world leaders after its security cabinet approved a plan to take control of Gaza City. The defence minister Israel Katz says countries condemning Israel and threatening sanctions would not weaken our resolve. Meanwhile, hundreds of protesters are expected to risk arrest as they descend on London later to show support for Palestine action after the group was prescribed under anti-terror laws. The Metropolitan Police says it's drafted in officers from other forces to help. More than 500 people are expected to hold placards supporting the group in Parliament Square.

2:34The former special branch member Chris Hobbs says officers have learned lessons from policing large-scale extinction rebellion protests. Police were caught on the hop initially. They couldn't deal with the volume of prisoners who were breaking the law. but they've developed techniques in terms of custody suites and processing people who are arrested. So I think they're pretty confident they're going to be able to cope, but there's no doubt about it, they'd much rather not be dealing with a potential 500 passive protesters who need to be arrested. Nicola Sturgeon says she thought of disappearing into the North Sea after being arrested two years ago as part of a probe into the SNP's finances.

3:16In an excerpt from her memoir, which has been published in The Times, the former Scottish First Minister described the investigation as mental torture. She was cleared of wrongdoing in March. Her ex-husband, Peter Murrell, has been charged with embezzlement. And the retired astronaut and commander of the famous 1970 Apollo 13 mission Jim Lovell has died at the age of 97. He helped turn the failed trip to the moon into a triumph by managing to get safely back to Earth after an oxygen tank explosion. Lovell will also be remembered for uttering these now famous words. OK, Houston, we've had a problem here.

3:53This is Houston, say again, please. Houston, we've had a problem. We've had a main beat, but wonderful. OK, stand by 13, we're looking at it. And remember, you can follow the Times News Briefing on Spotify and you can listen live to Times Radio Online. This episode of the Times Radio News Briefing is sponsored by PwC. AI is everywhere. In the news, in our hands, but return on investment, not so much. So how do you get beyond the hype and deliver AI that powers reinvention and growth across your business? Strong foundations unlock AI's potential. That's why PwC takes you further with tech, strengthening the data quality, processes and workflows that shape how well AI performs.

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