Evening briefing Friday 13th February

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 Evening Briefing on Friday the 13th of February. The US Congress has summoned Peter Mandelson to testify as part of its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.

0:44Democrats on the House Oversight Committee have sent the former ambassador a letter. The government says it will appeal a high court ruling that banning Palestine action as a terror group is unlawful. Judges say the ban is disproportionate to the group's actions and they took issue with the way the government reached their decision. The Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, says she's disappointed. The Labour peer Peter Hain opposes the ban and says the government shouldn't bother with its appeal. Palestine action protesters, whether you agree with them or not, are not terrorists. And it's a debasement of the language.

1:15And I think it's wrong politically and governmentally to put them in that bracket. We should be focusing on real criminals and real terrorists. And that's what the police and the court should be doing, not arresting peaceful protesters who object to this prescription. The ban will stay in place to allow for more argument, and police say they will focus on evidence-gathering rather than arrests. Two men have been sentenced to life in prison for plotting a mass shooting of Jewish people in Manchester. Waleed Sadawi and Amar Hussein tried to smuggle four AK-47s into the country after being inspired by Islamic State.

1:50Here's Hussein being interrogated by police. Are you a supporter of ISIS? Do you want to answer? Yes. You are? Yes. OK, tell me about that. No, I don't tell you anything. They are Muslim. That's it. OK. They are Muslim. What is it about them that you support? They are Muslims. They make sharia.

2:13Police say it could have been one of the worst terror attacks in British history if they weren't exposed by an undercover officer. Zakir Starmer is in Munich for a major security conference. He's met leaders from Germany and France. Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy is also attending. The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is leading the American delegation. The Prince of Wales' Earthshot Prize has been reported to the Charity Commission because of one of its founding partners' alleged links to Jeffrey Epstein. Emirati Chairman Sultan Ahmed bin Salayim has been named in Congress as the man Epstein emailed saying he loved a torture video.

2:47He's been fired from his job as Chairman and CEO of DP World. Anti-Monarchy Group Republic has filed the complaint. Earthshot, Prince William and bin Salayim have been approached for comment. And a 25-year-old man has been sentenced to life imprisonment in hospital after trying to kill a uniformed army officer. Anthony Eason repeatedly stabbed Lieutenant Colonel Mark Teaton using two knives near a barracks in Kent in 2024. Lieutenant Colonel Teaton says he now feels the pain of victims' families whenever he sees knife attacks on the news. We are immensely proud of our daughters for their strength and resilience and thankful for the amazing friends and family who have provided immense support over the last 18 months.

3:27Forensic psychiatrists say Eason had schizophrenia. Don't forget to subscribe to the Times Radio News Briefing on Spotify or listen live to Times Radio online.

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