Evening briefing Friday 17th April

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. Good evening. Iran has opened the Strait of Hormuz to shipping. Oil and gas prices have fallen 10 % on the news. On his true social platform, Donald Trump also says the US blockade of Iranian ships and ports will remain in full force.

0:48Trump says the US blockade will stay until its negotiations with Iran are 100 % complete. Former Foreign Minister David Miliband. I think there is now a feeling in the Trump administration from the president himself that he wants done with this. And certainly the Iranians feel that they've proved a point. Even in my time, they warned that they had tools at their disposal, most obviously geographic tools related to the Straits of Hormuz. Beyond their wildest dreams, the power of that chokehold, that choke point, has been shown. In Lebanon, a 10-day ceasefire is in effect, but Israel has been accused of breaking it.

1:27This afternoon, Donald Trump said Israel will not be bombing Lebanon any longer. Britain and France have announced they'll lead a peaceful mission to protect ships in the Strait of Hormuz. The Prime Minister's welcomed Iran's claim the vital oil routes opened. The Prime Minister says it's unforgivable and staggering that he wasn't told Peter Mandelson was denied security clearance or that the decision was overturned by the Foreign Office, Criticising officials, Sir Keir Starmer says he's absolutely furious about it. He's facing calls to resign over accusations he misled MPs. Labour MP Graham Stringer says MPs are fuming.

2:09I've looked on WhatsApp groups and Labour MPs vary from being white-hot, incandescent with anger to being in despair about both the country and their own political futures. A man's been found guilty of the rape of a woman in Greater Manchester, for which an innocent man spent 17 years in jail. 60-year-old Andrew Melkinson's conviction was quashed after DNA linking another man to the crime was found. Sex offender Paul Quinn, who's 52, has been convicted of carrying out the attack in Salford in 2003. Police say there's no evidence an alleged rape in Surrey took place as reported after it sparked protests.

2:58A woman in her 20s says she was attacked outside a church in Surrey after leaving a nightclub. The force has been criticised for not providing descriptions of suspects but it says there's limited information and nothing to suggest asylum seekers were involved. Three cases of meningitis B have been confirmed in young people in Weymouth. Antibiotics and vaccines are now being offered to pupils in years 7 to 13 across parts of Dorset. The UK Health Security Agency says the cases were confirmed over the past few weeks. It's a different substrain to the outbreak in Kent, which killed two students. and police are investigating whether items found near the Israeli embassy in London are connected to a video posted by an Iran-linked Islamist group claiming it was going to be attacked.

3:46The video shows a target over an image of the Israeli embassy and people dressed in hazmat suits flying drones. Officers have urged people to avoid Kensington Gardens area. And remember the finest writers from The Times preview and review the week's football on The Game podcast. 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.

4:36PwC turns innovation into implementation so you can accelerate from experiment to scale. Discover more at pwc.co.uk.

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5:27McDonald's at the FIFA World Cup 2026.