Evening Briefing Friday 21st November

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 Hello, this is your Times Evening Breathing for Friday the 21st of November with me, James Kitchen. Vladimir Zelensky says he won't betray Ukraine's national interest as he considers a U.S.-backed peace plan.

0:44In a television address, the Ukrainian president warned his country is facing a choice between losing a key ally or its dignity. It's understood the terms include placing limits on the size of Kiev's military. Donald Trump says he thinks Thursday is an appropriate deadline for Ukraine to accept the plan. Rihar Teras is vice chair of the European Parliament's Defense Committee. Speaking to Times Radio, he accused Washington of blackmail. According to international law, independent countries have their decisions they can make themselves. And that's what is happening right now is just poor blackmailing.

1:20And therefore, I think Europe now needs to show that we are the second biggest economy of the world, with the full 500 million people behind us. Vladimir Putin has said Moscow is ready for a peaceful resolution, but details need to be discussed. Politicians are calling for an investigation into Russian interference in British politics after a former leader of reform in Wales was jailed for taking bribes from Moscow. Nathan Gill has been sentenced to 10 and a half years in prison for accepting£4 ,000 to make pro-Russia statements. He pleaded guilty to eight counts of bribery between December 2018 and July 2019 in September.

2:01The former head of the Russia desk at MI6's Christopher Steele told Times Radio existing laws need to be enforced. There has been a level of naivety, but also a level of conflicts of interest and self-interest in terms of political donations to parties. But I think that is changing now, hopefully. And this case will help to change that, make people more aware both how serious this activity is and what the consequences of it will be if you are caught, because it's clearly an attempt to support our foreign policy, our support for Ukraine, all of these being really key Russian objectives. And it has to be countered robustly.

2:38The Prime Minister is expected to approve a controversial so-called Chinese super embassy in central London. There's concern Beijing could use the new outpost to spy on sensitive cables connecting the capital's financial districts. The Lib Dem MP Luke Taylor has a large Hong Kong community in his Sutton and Chin constituency. Speaking to Times Radio, he warned the government is being taken advantage of. We've also seen transnational repression by the Chinese state against our Hong Kong residents. That is targeting them here in the United Kingdom and then their families and friends back in Hong Kong.

3:11That ability to surveil, that ability to target them, will only be enhanced by this incredibly advanced facility that the government are considering giving permission for. and it really, really worries us that we are capitulating to their demands. The former Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson has pleaded not guilty to bribery and misconduct. The 67-year-old he is alleged to have sent or arranged to have sent threatening letters to himself and to have conspired to arrange special access to council contracts for his son's company. The former Labour politician ran the city between 2012 and 2021. The case has been adjourned until April of 2027.

3:51And the Energy Minister says there's no shortcut to bringing energy bills down. Michael Shanks was reacting to the news the regulators raised the price cap for England, Wales and Scotland by 0.2%. That adds up to about£3 a year. And remember, you can follow The Times News Briefing on Spotify and you can listen live to Times Radio Online.

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