Evening briefing on Wednesday 13th 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 This is The Times Evening Briefing on Wednesday the 13th of August. I'm Laura Cook. The Prime Minister says there's a viable chance a ceasefire in Ukraine can be reached, but Britain's ready to increase pressure on Russia if necessary.

0:47Various meetings have happened today before Donald Trump meets Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday. German Chancellor Friedrich Mertz hosted a virtual call between Ukraine, the US and other European leaders. Catherine Philp, World Affairs Editor for The Times, doesn't believe any new ground has been broken and gave some of the reasons. Now, one of the critical points is the sequencing. Zelensky is very clear that a ceasefire must come before proper negotiations, so before a peace deal. Now, Russia has absolutely ruled that out. Secondly, Zelensky has said there is no question of Ukraine surrendering the Donbass.

1:24So I think really what we see here is Europe trying to provide some sucker for Zelensky to show that they are behind him as they go into this. Meanwhile, the Times can exclusively reveal the US and Russia are planning on a West Bank-style occupation of Ukraine. A source close to the US National Security Council says Russia seeks to have complete military and economic control of the areas it currently occupies, but Ukraine's borders won't change. The idea imitates Israel's de facto rule of Palestinian territory seized from Jordan in 1967. The Times' assistant US editor David Charter explains the thinking behind it.

2:02Russia is not going to withdraw from most of the territory that it's fought over in eastern Ukraine. And the top priority of the Americans has been to get the ceasefire to end the killing. And they agree actually with the Russians that a solution that can end the killing at least is an occupation. The White House has yet to comment. The daughter of an elderly dog walker who was killed by a teenage boy says she's disappointed the Court of Appeal refused to increase his seven-year sentence. Vim Coley was punched, kicked and racially abused in Franklin Park near Leicester last September. His 15-year-old attacker was convicted of manslaughter and his legal team failed in their effort to bring the term down.

2:47Kemi Badenock is to appoint the Olympic medal-winning swimmer and gender-critical campaigner Sharon Davis as a Conservative peer. The Conservative leader has nominated Davis alongside the columnist Simon Heffer and the Tory treasurer Graham Edwards for the next round of House of Lords appointments that are due to be announced in the autumn. And Nicola Sturgeon has told Times Radio there's a worrying double standard applied to male and female politicians. She recounted what she's described as the ousting of Theresa May by Boris Johnson. If she or any female politician turned up looking like he does or as unprepared as he is, no woman in politics would last five minutes.

3:28And yet we normalise it with men. And I think over the last couple of years, we are normalising it more and more and more. That that is becoming the model of a successful politician. And I think that is deeply concerning. The former SNP First Minister has been speaking ahead of the publication of her autobiography. You can hear the full interview on the Off Air with Jane and Fee podcast. And you can follow the Times News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio Online. That's your Times Evening Briefing on Wednesday the 13th of August.

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