Evening briefing Monday 17th August

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0:34This is the Times Radio evening briefing for Monday the 17th of August. I'm Will Hobbs. The government's defended its decision to send out a national emergency warning about wildfires. Critics argue it was over the top and there was no immediate threat to life. Nick Ross is the chairman of the Board of Trustees at the National Fire Chiefs Council. He says we needed to be warned about the dangers, but the emergency alert was too much. We are, as a society, not good at protecting ourselves from what we regard as small risks, even though the consequences are vast. And you only need to look at what's happened in Spain and in France to recognise just how catastrophic wildfires can be.

1:14We don't have the tanker aircraft that they do to put out these big fires. So yes, in one sense, we desperately need to be warned. A decision on whether to allow more drilling in the North Sea could be made within in weeks. Consultations on developments at Rosebank west of Shetland and Jackdaw off the coast of Aberdeen have now closed. Environmental campaigners are warning of more extreme weather events if they get the go ahead. Neil McCulloch is the chief executive of Adjura which is behind both projects. Both fields have been approved in the past. They were both fully consented. Jackdaw is essentially complete.

1:49It's 99 % complete. The facilities for Rosebank are already in place. If the fields weren't to be consented, all that would have to be removed. A chief banker and economist at a Kremlin-owned state development corporation has been fired after warning that Russia is heading for a social crisis over the war in Ukraine. Andrei Klepak, who had been in the post since 2014, also described the problems facing the Russian economy as unprecedented since the Second World War. He predicted that Moscow would not be able to keep pace with Western countries. The office of the Israeli prime minister says it's had constructive discussions with Tony Blair and Jared Kushner over the future of Gaza.

2:29Benjamin Netanyahu's office says the two sides agreed to establish two working groups. One group will focus on the disarmament and demilitarization of Gaza. The second will focus on sanitation, clean water and other public health issues. Our Middle East correspondent Yotam Konfino has told us a stalemate still remains. Israeli media are reporting that Netanyahu told Kushner that under no circumstances will Israel halt the targeted assassinations until Hamas has been completely disarmed. And on Hamas' side, we know exactly where they stand because they've said this all along. They will disarm the minute Israel leaves Gaza.

3:07As of now, no real progress, really, because both sides continue to stand their ground. but at least according to Prime Minister Netanyahu's office, there's two working groups that have been established. And a Labour MP has been suspended as he faces questions about taxpayer-funded COVID business loans. The Times has reported Bioaliba tried to wind up one of his firms before making a settlement. It says he's now repaying both bounce-back loans. The MP for Southend East and Rochford says he's wholeheartedly committed to ensuring the liability is met in full. He's promising to cooperate fully with the investigations process.

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