Daily Briefing Sunday 18th January

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 Radio Daily Briefing for Sunday the 18th of January with me, James Kitchen. Sir Keir Starmer has condemned Donald Trump's threat to impose tariffs on Britain for opposing an American takeover of Greenland.

0:45The Prime Minister called the move completely wrong, insisting the Arctic Islands' future is a matter for Denmark and Greenlanders. The US president blindsided NATO allies when he announced levies of 10 % on eight European countries from February. In a post on Truth Social, Mr Trump warned it was time for Denmark to give back as world peace is at stake. The former UK national security adviser, Lord Ricketts, told Times Radio Britain should take a transactional approach with Washington. That social post by Trump felt to me like a spasm of anger and frustration that he was not being given what he wanted, which is control of Greenland.

1:23After Venezuela, I think he feels he's on a roll and he can do anything he likes. And with Trump, normally tariffs are the start of a conversation. They're a start of a negotiation. Everything's transactional with him. And I think that's how we have to play it now. The Sunday Times has obtained a report from Doctors in Iran, which reveals more than 16 ,000 protesters have died and 330 ,000 injured in the regime's crackdown on demonstrations. It comes after the country's supreme leader publicly acknowledged for the first time that thousands of people have been killed. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei directed the blame towards the US, calling President Trump a criminal.

2:03A leaked media plan suggests Robert Jenrick planned to call himself the new sheriff in town after he jumped ship to Reform UK. The Sunday Times reveals the former Conservative would have branded it the biggest affection story for Nigel Farage's party. Mr Jenrick joined Reform on Thursday after being sacked from the Shadow Cabinet by his once-leadership rival, Kemi Badenov. Britain's leading doctors and medical experts are highlighting the negative impact of screen time and harmful online content on children's well-being. The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges has written to ministers declaring the situation a public health emergency.

2:38It comes after a meeting of medics revealed the scale of the damage witnessed every day in NHS clinics and A &E departments. Daisy Greenwell from the campaign group Smartphone Free Childhood told Times Radio she would support a social media ban for under-16s. Governments have been trying for years and years now to get them to clean up their act to make it safe for kids and it's just not possible. And you think about the numbers of people that are posting every second, billions and billions of posts all over the world. How can you moderate that and make it safe for kids? And these spaces were never designed with children in mind.

3:09And now 20 % of five-year-olds in the UK are using social media. And NASA's mega rocket has reached the launch pad at Cape Canaveral, marking the final phase of preparations for the first crewed moon mission in more than 50 years. It was transported from the Assembly Building during a 12-hour journey and is now undergoing final tests. The Artemis 2 mission, which will see four astronauts travel around the moon, could lift off as early as the 6th of February. The Times' Jackie Goddard is following the story from Florida where NASA's staff and their families witnessed the momentous occasion. These are the people who, over the years, have put in so much work, as they described it to me, that blood, sweat and tears.

3:49And seeing the side of this enormous building open up and this rocket being rolled out was really not only a moment, a bit of pride for them, but enormous emotion as well, seeing the fruits of all their labours finally being rolled out. And remember, you can follow the Times Radio News Briefing on Spotify and you can listen live to Times Radio Online.

4:16This 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. PwC turns innovation into implementation so you can accelerate from experiment to scale. Discover more at pwc.co.uk You've got social dialed in. Search is doing its thing.

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