Evening briefing Friday 1st 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. This is the Times News briefing on Friday the 1st of August. The Treasury says it respects a judgment from the Supreme Court that millions of drivers are not eligible for financial compensation over the Commission on some deals.

0:46Lenders have avoided the claims, which could have run to billions of pounds. President of the Supreme Court, Lord Reid, has been setting out the court's ruling in the case of one customer in particular. The court holds that the relationship between Mr Johnson and the finance company was unfair and that the finance company should pay the amount of a commission to Mr Johnson with interest at a commercial rate from the date of the agreement. For the reasons I've explained, the other customers' claims are rejected. The US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff has visited aid sites operated by the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in Gaza today.

1:29The UN's warned of famine and starvation, with hundreds of people dying attempting to collect aid. President Trump's rejected Benjamin Netanyahu's claim there's no starvation in the territory. Catherine Philp is World Affairs editor at The Times. So Wyckoff has not seen what's been going on for the last few weeks, which is upwards of 50 people killed a day. seeking aid. It sounds to me simply, if you look at the numbers, it's somehow a rather varnished account and proves, in fact, that the level of death that we've seen over the last few weeks is unnecessary. Sir Keir Starmer and Vladimir Zelensky say they both welcome Donald Trump's deadline for Russia to make progress on peace with Ukraine.

2:14The British and Ukrainian prime ministers spoke in a call earlier. The US president says the Kremlin has until next Friday to step up negotiations with Kyiv or face more sanctions and tariffs. The number of foreign prisoners in UK jails have hit the highest level in over a decade. There were almost 11 ,000 foreign criminals and suspects in prison cells in England and Wales at the end of last month. Foreign nationals now make up one in eight of all prisoners. Vanessa Frake is a former prison governor. She says deporting criminals can be difficult. There are always issues around returning foreign nationals.

2:50For a start, if they have no papers and can't prove their citizenship, then where do we send them? And also those countries that they do come from have to agree to accept them. It is costing the British taxpayer money, without a doubt. Anything that can be done to alleviate that must be a good thing. And universities could be fined if they fail to uphold free speech. New legislation requires universities and colleges in England to ensure discussion can take place on campuses without fear of censorship for students, staff or speakers expressing lawful opinions. Assistant Principal Adam Whitlock welcomes the law.

3:28You know, we're in a generation that's creating a fear for saying the wrong thing. And those kind of militant student union organisations that have perhaps done a lot more harm than good, I would say, in terms of hounding out people that have the right to speak. Don't forget you can follow the Times News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio Online.

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