Evening briefing Monday 23rd March

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 Good evening. Iran's denied talking to the US despite Donald Trump claiming they want to make a deal after productive negotiations.

0:40He suggested Tehran may give up plans for a nuclear weapons programme. Aria Culver, journalist in Tel Aviv, says Israel understand talks have taken place between the US and Iran too. Israeli sources are telling the media they knew about this, that they know who this mystery man is that Trump has been supposedly talking with. Mohammed Baga Galibaf, who's the Speaker of the Iranian Majlis, the Parliament. Galibaf himself is saying this is all nonsense. But, you know, Israeli media being brief, they were seeing the Americans organising potentially a summit in Islamabad, invited this guy to Islamabad to meet with J.D.

1:17Vance in the next couple of days. The president's postponed strikes on Iranian power plants, which caused a dip in surging oil prices. US presidents claiming oil prices will drop like a rock as soon as a deal's made with Iran. Costs have risen, with tankers effectively blocked in a key shipping route as a result of the war in the Middle East. But they fell sharply in response to Donald Trump postponing strikes on Iranian power plants following productive talks. Zakir Starmer says the government will bear down on energy market profiteering. The warship HMS Dragon has finally arrived in the eastern Mediterranean.

1:53The Defence Secretary told MPs that it would begin operational integration into Cyprus Defence today. Jerome Starkey is the Defence Editor of The Sun. It's taken three weeks for that warship to get to the eastern Mediterranean. That is no fault of the crew. It was in dry dock midway through repairs when RF Akrotiri was hit by an Iranian drone on March 1st. But it has nonetheless exposed, I think as a gaping capability gap for British forces because Zaria Fat Kratiri was hit, because the Royal Navy did not have a single warship between Gibraltar and Singapore, as this enormous conflict engulfed the Gulf region.

2:34The Prime Minister's called an anti-Semitic arson attack on four Jewish volunteer ambulances in North London simply horrendous. No one was injured and counter-terror police are looking for three suspects. Ben Ellery is the Times deputy chief reporter. At the scene now, there's still a police presence. Forensics officers are combing through the area, desperately trying to find any clues as to exactly who these three men were and how they arrived at the scene, how they left the scene. They're looking at CCTV from traffic cameras for any details which will help them find out exactly who is behind this attack.

3:18Homeowners' choice of mortgage deals has shrunk by almost a fifth in the past few weeks. This morning, there were almost 1 ,500 fewer options available compared to two weeks ago. 744 deals have disappeared since last Thursday, when the Bank of England held the base rate of interest at 3.75%. And don't forget, you can set the Times Radio News Briefing as your flash briefing on Alexa. 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?

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