Evening briefing Friday 18th July

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 Evening Briefing on Friday the 18th of July. Britain has sanctioned almost 20 Russian military intelligence officers over years of cyber hacking, arson and sabotage.

0:45Spies who targeted the daughter of former double agent Sergei Skripal five years before both were almost killed in the Salisbury-Novichok incident are among them. Fiona Hamilton, the Times' chief reporter, says three units are involved. Two of the units have largely been sanctioned for their cyber campaigns in Ukraine and their cyber hacking. And then the third unit, Unit 26165, has been carrying out allegedly reconnaissance throughout Europe. There's a string of sabotage incidents such as arson and other incidents that they point to there. Serious pollution incidents caused by water companies surged by 60 % last year.

1:28They were caused largely by Thames water, Southern water and Yorkshire water. The Environment Agency found 75 serious incidents, up from 47 in 2023. Several involved swimming spots and protected waters crucial to wildlife. Water campaigner Fergal Sharkey says it's an outrage. Government needs to start taking it seriously, stop playing around the edges. It needs to grab control. And so far, it has singly failed to do that, regardless of how much foot stamping and finger wagging it chooses to do. Steve Reid, the Environment Secretary, has admitted the figures are disgraceful. The former Conservative Defence Secretary Grant Shapps has defended the use of a super injunction over the Afghan data leak.

2:11He says on social media that the truth is simple, secrecy saved lives. He also says the Afghans who helped us could have been executed, the British Special Forces were exposed, and he would make the same call again in a heartbeat. Lord Arbuthnot spent almost a decade as chair of the Defence Select Committee. He's told Times Radio he thinks the injunction was the right call. It's the power of modern technology that such dreadful mistakes have become almost inevitable. And when they happen, you just have to do whatever you can to ensure that you protect the lives of those people who fought alongside us in Afghanistan.

2:57Two people have been arrested after eggs and fireworks were thrown outside a hotel housing migrants in Essex. Eight police officers were hurt. Demonstrations began after a 38-year-old asylum seeker was charged with sexual assault. Neil Hudson, the Conservative MP for Epping Forest, has told Times Radio his constituents must be listened to. We have a community in Epping, a very close-knit, warm community, and they are deeply troubled. We had three alleged sexual assaults last week in Epping, in broad daylight, and that has made people very, very scared, very nervous. And I've called for a meeting with the Home Secretary.

3:38I've urgently met with the Home Office. And we need to get clarity now. We need to get this hotel closed immediately. And you can follow The Times 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. 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.

4:21PwC turns innovation into implementation so you can accelerate from experiment to scale. Discover more at pwc.co.uk.

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