Evening briefing on Tuesday 30th December

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 This is your Times Evening Briefing on Tuesday 30th December. Services are gradually resuming through the Channel Tunnel.

0:41A power failure affected one of the busiest international rail corridors at the height of the New Year travel season. Both Le Shuttle, which carries vehicles through the Channel, and Eurostar services have gradually resumed, but the passenger line Eurostar is strongly advising passengers to postpone their journeys. Cathy Adams is Senior Commissioning Editor for Travel at the Times. that it's a very busy time of year to be travelling. This has put a little bit of a kibosh on people's plans. It's good news that, you know, the tunnel has reopened. Things are looking up. But essentially, yeah, Eurostar's telling people do not try and travel for the rest of today.

1:17Try and rebook your ticket for tomorrow. I mean, if you're going away for New Year's Eve, I hope you can get there because, you know, I imagine tomorrow there's going to be hundreds of thousands of people trying to rearrange their trip. Israel says it will suspend more than two dozen humanitarian organisations in Gaza from tomorrow. It's claimed the groups, including Doctors Without Borders, haven't met new vetting rules requiring detailed information on staff, funding and operations. International organisations have criticised the move, calling the rules arbitrary and warning they could put aid workers at risk.

1:50The Foreign Office has launched an internal inquiry after failing to spot social media posts by British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, which included calls for violence against Zionists. El Fatah has apologised for some posts, claiming others were misrepresented. Meanwhile, it's been found his sister praised what she said was the imagination of the October 7th attackers and compared Hamas's actions to Ukrainian resistance against Russia. Aubrey Allegretti is the Times' chief political correspondent and has been looking into El Fatah's further social media posts over the past 24 hours. He'd liked a comment on Facebook which stipulated that there had been a campaign launched against him by, in the words of this poster, Zionists.

2:34The sort of revelation of that cast questions about the extent to which his apology is really particularly sort of contrite and heartfelt, because that was certainly how it was being portrayed by Downing Street yesterday, calling it a fulsome apology and effectively saying there is no more that the government needs to do here, he's been welcomed home and that's it. Britain recorded the worst investment levels in the G7 in the three months to September. It comes as economists predicted a wave of government spending would boost the economy over the next two years. Official figures show the total level of public and private investment was at 18.6 % in the third quarter of the year, remaining bottom of the pile of the world's seven biggest economies.

3:15Britain has recorded the weakest investment levels in the G7 for 23 of the past 31 years. An administrative error is being blamed for the mistaken release of official papers referring to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. They cover royal visits from 2004 and 2005, including those of the then Duke of York. The files have been redacted from public view, with the government accused of a cover-up. Royal commentator Rupert Bell says the royal family have to be transparent. Matters of finances, I think, are something the royal family do need to be very mindful of, because we are living in straightened times.

3:51Everyone's finances are being analysed, taxed, you name it, whatever. and the royal family should not be above the law in many ways. Idris Elba is becoming a Sir. The Luther star is one of those named in the New Year honours list for his services to young people. Three-time London Marathon winner Paula Radcliffe gets an OBE. You can follow the Times News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio online. That's your Times Evening Briefing on Tuesday 30th December.

4:53Transcription by CastingWords 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. Discover more at pwc.co.uk. Hey, it's Nick and Jack from The Best One Yet. If you're a high earner and want a podcast about managing your money, your next dollar is the one. It covers the financial complexity that comes with a higher income, equity compensation, RSUs, tax planning, housing decisions, and figuring out what is actually okay to enjoy your money.

5:38Turns out the more you earn, the more complicated the questions get. And somehow there's even less content built for you until now. So your next dollar covers both sides of the equation, building wealth and spending on what actually matters to you. Because at a certain income level, the question isn't just, should I save more? It's, what should I do with everything I have? Financial advisors from NerdWallet Wealth Partners join the show regularly to discuss the questions they hear from high earners like you, the nuanced real world stuff that generic financial content doesn't cover. If you want help getting more out of every dollar you earn, follow Your Next Dollar wherever you get your podcasts.

6:10Sponsored by Your Next Dollar, a podcast from NerdWallet Wealth Partners, an SEC registered investment advisor. This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not investment, tax, or legal advice.