Evening briefing Friday 24th 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. This is the Times Radio evening briefing on Friday 24th April. Downing Street says the UK's control of the Falkland Islands is not in question amid reports the US could withdraw support for British sovereignty.

0:46An email from the Pentagon suggests the US could change its position as part of an attempt to punish NATO allies for a perceived lack of support against Iran. Simon Weston, who fought in the Falklands War, told Times Radio Donald Trump has no say. Look, if he wants to change his opinion on whether the Falklands is a British sovereign territory, that's up to him. It's none of his business, in truth. You can't keep telling people what to do. We're all independent countries and we have our right to our own opinion and the way we deal with things. If he doesn't like it, well, tough on him. He can't be a schoolyard bully forever.

1:21A US official says Donald Trump's envoy and son-in-law will go to Pakistan to negotiate with Iran's foreign minister. Steve Wyckoff and Jared Kushner are heading to Islamabad after Iran's Abbas Araqchi announced that he'll be travelling there. There haven't been talks mediated by Pakistan for nearly two weeks. The EU's Anti-Fraud Office is formally investigating Peter Mandelson. It's looking into allegations of misconduct during his four years as the EU's Trade Commissioner between 2004 and 2008. Lord Mandelson hasn't commented on this investigation but has always denied any wrongdoing in relation to Jeffrey Epstein.

1:56Supporters of the assisted dying bill say the House of Lords has denied democracy by missing a deadline to vote it into law. Friday afternoon was the last chance to pass the bill, which has twice been approved by MPs. The Lords were still debating amendments though, 800 of which were tabled by just seven peers. The MP Kim Leadbeater, who proposed the bill, told Times Radio the unelected chamber shouldn't block the will of MPs. Sadly, because of the multiplicity of amendments that have been tabled and the hours and hours of repetitious debate that have taken place by a number of people, a small number of people, and we have to get this in perspective, but many of whom are fundamentally opposed to a change in the law, a position which I am very respectful of.

2:36but it's ended up with the bill falling today. However, former Paralympian Tanny Gray-Thompson, who's become a high-profile opponent in the House of Lords, says the draft law is dangerous. My lords, I am very clear on my role. It has not been pleasant to sit here to be targeted by so many people to say we are doing a bad job. But my lords, our job is to protect everyone in British society. This bill does not do that. A man's been jailed for at least 14 years for raping a Sikh woman in a racially motivated attack in Walsall in the West Midlands. In October, 32-year-old John Ashby shouted racist and anti-Muslim abuse at the woman, who he didn't know, and then followed her home where he attacked her.

3:16Landmark analysis suggests almost a third of the British population has lost their religious beliefs since they were children. The Pew Research Centre says around 45 % of people brought up either Catholic or Protestant had lost their faith by adulthood. And an investigation is underway in the Australian Outback, where a tourist has been trapped waist-deep in human faeces because the toilet collapsed. She was stuck for three hours before she was rescued by a passing workman who lowered a rope into the pit to get her out. Don't forget you can subscribe to the Times Radio News Briefing on Spotify or listen live to Times Radio online.

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