Evening Briefing Monday 18th August

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 Briefing for Monday the 18th of August with me, James Kitchen. Vladimir Zelensky has reiterated he's ready to work productively to reach peace in Ukraine ahead of crunch talks in Washington, D.C.

0:47Meanwhile, Donald Trump has taken to Truth Social, posting, I'm only here to stop the conflict with Russia, not to prosecute it. He adds, I know what I'm doing. Zakir Starmer and other European leaders are arriving at the White House in a show of solidarity with President Zelensky. Gideon Rachman is chief foreign affairs commentator of the Financial Times and author of The Age of the Strongman. He's been assessing the strategy of European leaders as they prepare to meet the US president. I think they've developed a playbook, really, since that disastrous meeting between Zelensky and Trump, the last time the two met in the White House.

1:20And that playbook is never contradict Trump, always play along with him, always talk up the positive. Nobody's going to say what you did in Alaska was a disgrace, even if they privately think that. They're going to say, wonderful, now let's build on it. And what these Europeans say is, take Trump's big statement and then fill in the detail for him in a way we like. Meanwhile, the prime minister insists Western allies must make sure there is a fair and just peace. He says Britain is prepared to put boots on the ground to act as a security guarantee in the event of a deal. Fabrice Potier is the former head of NATO policy planning.

1:53Don't forget one thing. The Ukraine forces is now a pretty formidable European army. They have been holding the Russian forces in check for the past three years. It's not been always successful, but it's not either been dramatically a failure. And the Ukrainian force is actually the most able to fight the Russians. So I think the first line of defense is to give the Ukrainians what they need to hold the line. Then you can have the European forces to come and give extra punch, if you want. Hamas has reportedly agreed to the latest proposal for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal with Israel.

2:29It's understood the proposal from mediators Egypt and Qatar is a comprehensive two-stage plan advanced by the US envoy Steve Wyckoff. It would see Hamas free around half of the 50 remaining Israeli hostages, 20 of whom are believed to be alive in two stages during a 60-day temporary truce. During that time, there would be negotiations on a permanent ceasefire and an Israeli troop withdrawal. The Times' correspondent in Tel Aviv is Gabriel Weineger. We know that Israel's been preparing for this very large invasion of the city, basically what's the heartland of Hamas, of Hamas militants in the capital of Gaza, where one million residents are currently preparing, and some have already evacuated this area during heavy Israeli bombardment and ahead of this round offensive of Israeli troops.

3:13So it's not really clear if Israel's been offensive as almost like a bluff to push Hamas to capitulate and to soften their position in negotiations. A man has been convicted of three counts of attempted murder for his role in a shooting that left a nine-year-old girl with a bullet lodged in her brain. Javon Riley, who's 33, carried out the attack in Dalston in East London last May. And this summer is on track to be one of the warmest, if not the warmest, ever recorded in the UK. Met Office data shows the average temperature between June and August 17th was 16.2 degrees. That's around 1.6 degrees above the normal average.

3:52And remember, you can follow The Times News Briefing on Spotify and you can listen live to Times Radio Online. This 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.

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5:14Thank you.