Evening briefing Friday 20th March

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

0:35This is the Times Radio evening briefing on Friday the 20th of March. The UK has given the US permission to use British bases for airstrikes on Iranian missile sites that are attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz. It's after Donald Trump ramped up his angry rhetoric against Europe, calling NATO cowards for not helping him fight Iran. He insists the war is going very well for the US. Their leaders are all gone. The next set of leaders are all gone. And the next set of leaders are mostly gone. and now nobody wants to be a leader over there anymore. We're having a hard time. We want to talk to them and there's nobody to talk to.

1:12In Scotland, an Iranian man has been arrested outside the Faslane nuclear submarine base. Police are investigating after two people were seen acting suspiciously near the naval base, which is home to Britain's nuclear deterrent. The Times' executive editor Jeremy Griffin has more. The 34-year-old, who was accompanied by a female of unknown nationality, was in a vehicle. when he approached the gate at HM naval base Clyde, known as Faslane, yesterday. Without the right of passes to enter, they were both turned away, it's understood. However, they were then arrested for acting suspiciously in the vicinity.

1:44The government's borrowing costs have soared past 5 % for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis. It's thought investors are worried about how exposed the British economy is to rising energy costs due to the war in Iran. Gerry Adams has welcomed the collapse of a legal case which accused him of leading the IRA. At times it verts upon a show trial. Anonymous secret agents of the British state hiding behind a screen. It clearly was an unorthodox and strategically important political case taken for that purpose. Three victims of IRA bombings were suing him. All their lawyer has said is they've dropped the case because proceedings developed overnight.

2:25Mr Adams has always denied being a member of the terror group. A volunteer Met Police officer who raped and sexually assaulted a child has been jailed for 24 years. James Bubb, who now identifies as a woman, also raped a woman after pretending to be a 16-year-old girl online. The UK's border security chief will quit after failing to bring down the number of small boat crossings. Martin Hewitt has been border security commander for 18 months. The Sun's Home Affairs editor Julia Atherley broke the story. This was a role which was created by Labour specifically to tackle the issue. I spoke to him when he was very new to the role when he said judge me on the numbers coming down.

3:04Clearly that's not happened. More than 40 ,000 people crossed the channel in small boats last year. And the martial arts star Chuck Norris has died at the age of 86. He worked with and trained the likes of Steve McQueen and Bruce Lee before becoming an actor himself. Don't forget to subscribe to The Times Radio News Briefing on Spotify or listen live to Times Radio online.

3:49Strong 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. PwC turns innovation into implementation so you can accelerate from experiment to scale. Discover more at pwc.co.uk