Daily briefing Sunday 25th 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. This is the Times Radio Daily Briefing on Sunday the 25th of January. Andy Burnham has announced his intention to run for Parliament.

0:41The Mayor of Greater Manchester wants to stand in the by-election in the Labour seat of Gorton and Denton after months of speculation that he's been planning to return as an MP in order to challenge Sir Keir Starmer for the Labour leadership. The Prime Minister and a group of senior Labour figures now must decide whether to allow him to stand. The Energy Secretary Ed Miliband thinks they should. I think Andy has done an outstanding job in Greater Manchester. I think he'll be a massive asset in Parliament. So my view on this is that I very much hope that the local party will have the option of picking Andy as a candidate.

1:23Andy Burnham insists he's running to support the government, not to undermine it. But the Labour MP John Slinger told Times Radio it will be damaging if he does run. Well, I have a lot of respect for Andy. I think he's doing an absolutely brilliant job in Manchester. But I am disappointed, actually, that he's put his name forward. It can only lead to speculation about the leadership of the Labour Party. And that just can't be a good thing, domestically or internationally, to have that kind of speculation. Donald Trump has backtracked on comments playing down the role of NATO soldiers in the war in Afghanistan.

1:58Prince Harry, the Prime Minister, former servicemen and women and bereaved families were among those who criticised the President for suggesting European soldiers stayed a little back from the front line. Now President Trump has called the UK soldiers, 457 of whom died, great and very brave in a social media post. The Conservative Shadow Foreign Secretary Priti Patel told Times Radio his original comments were deeply insensitive. Our troops have fought with immense bravery. I mean, we can't even find the right language to describe the bravery and the courage. Fighting, yes, alongside American troops and other NATO allies as well.

2:36Iraq, Afghanistan and many other joint missions since, including in Syria. So President Trump's comments were completely wrong. Federal and local officials are putting forward conflicting versions of events about what led to a man being shot dead by immigration agents in the US state of Minnesota. Republican federal officials say Alex Preti was armed and threatening officers, something disputed by Democrats and eyewitnesses. He's the second person protesting immigration raids who's been shot and killed by agents in Minneapolis this month. National policing units will be brought into one body to create an organisation described as a British version of the FBI.

3:12The National Police Service will be made up of bodies like the National Crime Agency, regional crime units and counter-terrorism, which is currently run by the Metropolitan Police. The government says it's necessary to modernise policing, but Conservatives say it should not come at the expense of local forces. And a man has climbed one of the world's tallest buildings without ropes. 40-year-old Alex Honnold took just an hour and a half to climb 508 metres up the side of Taipei Tower in Taiwan. Don't forget to subscribe to the Times Radio News Briefing on Spotify or listen live to Times Radio Online.

3:46This 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

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