Evening briefing on Tuesday 24th June

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0:34This is your Times Evening Briefing on Tuesday the 24th of June. The US president says the ceasefire between Israel and Iran is back in effect and nobody will be hurt. The exact terms of the truce aren't clear, though. Announcing it overnight, Donald Trump called it total and complete. Earlier, the president swore in front of cameras as he vented his frustration at both countries for violating the peace deal. I'm not happy with Israel. I'm not happy about that. We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don't know what the f*** they're doing. Do you understand that?

1:07Lina Khatib from the Harvard Kennedy School's Middle East initiative doesn't have confidence the ceasefire will last. I am not betting on it lasting. And that's because we've seen this kind of scenario before in other similar conflict. For example, the Gaza situation saw many, unfortunately, ceasefires that were stop start. So I think, you know, thinking that this one is going to be the end of the war is too, frankly, unrealistic. The Prime Minister has told Welfare Rebel that he will push ahead with disability benefits reforms next week, despite significant opposition on his own backbenches. More than 100 Labour MPs are preparing to rebel against planned changes.

1:50The Work and Pensions Secretary, Liz Kendall, is already in talks with backbenchers in a bid to win over those opposed to the plans. Security Minister Dan Jarvis has told Times Radio if this bill doesn't go through, it will be a missed opportunity. We've got to look at how we can reform welfare. We've got to do something about the system. There is an opportunity to do this through this bill. There are a number of very positive measures contained within it that will make a meaningful difference to people right around the country. We need to keep going with it and we need to have the debate with our colleagues, of course, and I understand the strength of feeling.

2:21But there's a real risk that if this bill doesn't go through, a lot of very meaningful measures that will add a huge amount of difference will fall. Elsewhere, the Prime Minister will promise to boost the UK's spending on defence and security to 5 % of GDP by 2035. He and other world leaders will make the pledge at The Hague where they're gathering for a two-day NATO summit. Vladimir Zelensky has welcomed the target. Russia's neighbour, Lithuania, has long been sounding the alarm about Europe's lack of preparedness. It was the first member to announce it was raising its defence spending to 5%.

2:52Lithuania's defence minister Dovileina Shakalena says spending increases are coming too slowly. Intelligence chiefs all over NATO are quite in agreement regarding Russia's capability to both wage full-scale war in Ukraine and at the same time expand its military capability. And it's obvious that this level of expansion and preparation is definitely not needed only for Ukraine and that they probably also taking into account their threats, could be preparing for something more. Amazon boss Jeff Bezos has been forced to move his wedding party after protests in Venice. Activists have accused Bezos of arrogantly shutting down the city for a private event and are also attacking him for his labour practices and allegedly low tax bill.

3:38Tommaso Cacciari is leader of one of the protest groups and explained why they're so angry. He comes with 95 private jets that will cause problems at the airport of Venice. He will come with five mega yachts. Some newspapers say they are nine. I hope they are wrong. And they are five. That will stop from one end to the other end of the city in all the public mooring spaces. Then they will take all the water taxi, five luxury hotels, all fixed for him. And you can follow the Times News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio online. That's your Times Evening Briefing on Tuesday 24th June.

4:41Thank you.

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