Daily briefing Sunday 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. Welcome to the Times Radio Daily Briefing on Sunday the 9th of August. Andy Burnham is expected to announce more measures to help with the cost of living this week as he goes on a national tour.

0:44The Prime Minister will also be looking at how high streets can be improved. Officials say he will use the tour to inform a 10-year plan for the country. He's already announced measures on energy bills and bus fares. Matt Pound is a former advisor to Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves. He says the measures Burnham announces this week could come back to haunt him. Every single one of those will have, albeit a small, but it will have a small, what's called in the Treasury, scorecard implication. It means that it affects current balance. And if you don't come up with ways that are going to, if you're not immediately clear about how you're going to pay for those things, the assumption will be tax rises in October.

1:19So I think he's got a bit of a problem if he does announce more small measures that aren't costed. Analysis by the Sunday Times shows universities are accepting pupils with lower grades than previously because lots of international students have left. Students coming here from overseas pay up to seven times more. They've departed because of factors including tighter rules on visas and economic instability. The Sunday Times' education editor Louise Eccles says there are concerns about grade inflation. Most universities will say we want people to complete the courses so we're not taking people that can't finish the courses.

1:53But actually I spoke to one assistant professor at Russell Group University who said that his AAA course had CCC students on it last year because they were trying to fill the spaces and he was worried that they weren't up to all of the content. A state of emergency has been declared in the Canadian province of British Columbia. A wildfire has forced thousands of people to flee their homes. Officials say it occupies more than 36 square miles. The Premier of British Columbia, David Eby, says one firefighter likened the blaze to a bomb going off. Homes have been lost and properties have been destroyed.

2:29Some people became trapped as conditions changed very quickly and needed to be rescued. It remains a very dynamic and threatening situation. Canada's Prime Minister says the federal government stands ready to offer support. And an Irish government jet will bring alleged crime boss Daniel Kinahan back from Dubai today. He was arrested in the UAE in April as part of a bilateral agreement. Security measures being used by the Irish government include bomb-proof vans, decoy vans and signal jammers in prison ceilings. Stephen Breen is the co-author of a book called Kinahan Assassins. Once he is charged, he will then be brought to the maximum security prison in Port Leash.

3:09It already is home to some of his associates and other senior figures with organised crime, also members of dissident Republican groups as well. and it will be incumbent when he does face this charge and when he is remanded in custody. The security and keeping him safe will be the responsibility of the Irish Prison Service. That's something that they are well versed in and something that they have years of experience of. You can follow the Times Radio News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio online. This episode of the Times Radio News Briefing is sponsored by PwC. AI is everywhere.

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