Evening briefing Monday 6th July

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. Migrant workers are still bringing in family members at a ratio as high as 15 for every worker. That's despite new restrictions set in 2024.

0:43Home office figures show 12 health and care workers from Cameroon sponsored a total of 180 family members to join them in Britain in the year to March. Former Home Secretary Lord Blanket told Times Radio more should be done to enforce the rules. But if people are taking the mick, I put it no stronger than that, then we should come down like a ton of bricks. And the rules were changed both by the Conservatives and more recently by the Labour government. They are pretty tough rules. And my question back to everybody is who's enforcing them? US President Donald Trump says he personally intervened to try and get US football players World Cup suspension overturned.

1:24Trump called FIFA president Yanni Infantino about striker Fularin Balogun's red card, calling the referee's decision to send him off unfair. Former football manager Harry Redknapp's not impressed. It's embarrassing, isn't it? You know, England get a man sent off. Is the king going to ring up FIFA or whoever and ask him if they can rescind the decision? I mean, to have the president of the United States, he admits he doesn't even know what a red card is and what an offence is really that he got sent off for. It's just using power and, you know, unfortunately, we know that's what that is, how things are in the world.

2:03It's not just in football. Zakir Starmer attends the NATO summit in Turkey tomorrow. Tensions remain high between NATO allies, as President Trump has repeatedly hit out at Europe for the scale of its defence spending. Former NATO Deputy Supreme Allied Commander for Europe, General Sir Richard Sherratt says the PMs let the country down on spending. He's also talked very eloquently in NATO circles and internationally about the need for nations to step up, member states to step up in defence terms to meet the threats of the age, particularly the threat from Russia. And he's demonstrated that he's fallen short.

2:41So I'm afraid no sympathy. A Russian spy plane has repeatedly approached the UK's flagship aircraft carrier in the Norwegian Sea. It's said to have flown unnecessarily close, dropping a large number of sonar devices. An eighth Afghan asylum seeker has been charged as part of an investigation into alleged child sexual exploitation in Norwich. The 20-year-old appeared in court after being returned to the UK from Ireland. He faces rape and conspiracy to rape charges. Seven other men have already been charged and deny all offences. An inquiry has been launched into the care of a man arrested after a three-year-old boy was allegedly thrown into a crocodile enclosure at a Cambridgeshire zoo.

3:24The child remains in hospital in a stable condition after suffering serious injuries. And Prince Harry will not stay at Buckingham Palace during his trip to the UK. Royal sources say he didn't respond in time to their offer and the appropriate staffing provision is no longer available. A spokesman for the Duke of Sussex says it's disappointing. Don't forget you can set the Times 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?

4:08Strong 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.