Evening briefing Friday 9th January

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 9th January. Iran is largely cut off from the outside world after authorities blocked internet access to try to curb growing unrest.

0:45Video footage shows buildings on fire amid protests in several cities across the country. Human rights groups have documented dozens of deaths. Foreign Affairs commentator Tim Marshall says this uprising is different to previous ones because the Iranian economy is in deep trouble. But he says the Revolutionary Guard is likely to back the regime. If the Ayatollahs go down, the Revolutionary Guards might go down with them and lose their money. Not only that, they have killed, murdered tens of thousands of Iranians. And the Iranian people are not going to forget this. So they can't just say, well, I tell you what, we'll go home, because people will come after them.

1:22And so I think they would fight. The government says X could be banned in the UK if the social media site fails to stop its AI tool producing deep fake sexual images of women and girls. The Prime Minister's office says a measure introduced by the company to tackle the issue, it's only now available to subscribers, is not a solution. Dame Caroline Dynage chairs the Commons Culture Committee. She's told Times Radio that X's actions are perplexing. The response from X today has been really puzzling. You know, that effectively what they've done is just turned off the image generation capabilities for Grok, for people who aren't subscribers.

1:59So basically all this has effectively done is turn perverts into exes paying customers. The former first sea lord has told Times Radio we are living through extremely dangerous times. I've never known such a perilous time in my whole time in the Navy. I'm still on the active list. So that's 60 years. But I mean, it is very, very perilous indeed. And every day you see other things happening. I mean, it's almost, we've almost overtaken the media. I feel sorry for the media. they can't keep up with all the things that are happening and so many of them are risky. Lord West was responding to news from the Times, revealing that the MOD budget is£28 billion short over the next four years.

2:40The US Coast Guard boarded a fifth oil tanker today. And more than 50 ,000 homes are still without power because of Storm Garetti. Strong winds brought down trees and power lines while large parts of Wales and central England have been blanketed with snow. Trains, flights and roads have been affected. A huge tree came down on this man's house and cars in Troro in Cornwall. These three trees came down about 8 o 'clock last night. Obviously laid into the house. All three cars have been damaged. This car is my son's car's have raced off. The attic on both sides has been compromised. And you can follow The Times News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio online.

3:20This 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. PwC turns innovation into implementation so you can accelerate from experiment to scale. Discover more at pwc.co.uk

4:26or just stop by. Grainger, for the ones who get it done.