Evening briefing Thursday 17th 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. Welcome to the Times Evening Briefing on Thursday, the 17th of July. More than 100 British special forces, MI6 spies and military officers were named in the data leak, which put up to 100 ,000 Afghans at risk.

0:46Defence sources say the data set contains personal information belonging to brigadiers and major generals who vouched for Afghans trying to come to the UK. Emails of government officials are also included as well as email exchanges. Lord Beamish, who chairs the Intelligence and Security Committee, has told Times Radio it's shocking. It's absolutely unprecedented. The danger, not only just those individuals, but to the security services broader is imaginable. The problem we have here is this has just been leaked out. We on the Intelligence Security Committee get regular reports from all our agencies.

1:24This has not been across our desk at all. An Israeli tank is reported to have fired on the only Catholic church in Gaza, killing three people. There's been condemnation from the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem while the Pope has called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Gabrielle Vinegar, Times correspondent in Israel, has more details. Israel hasn't commented on whether this was an airstrike or an artillery shell. The witnesses are saying that this was tank fire, very close to the only Catholic Church in Gaza. Several people were also injured, including a close confidant of the former Pope, Pope Francis, and the parish priest, Gabriel Romanelli, And he was in charge of looking after around 600 displaced people who were sheltering in that church.

2:09Access to e-gates, train services to Berlin and visa-free school group travel are part of a new treaty between Britain and Germany. The Prime Minister and Chancellor Friedrich Mertz signed the deal earlier, which also includes cooperation on security and defence. Sir Keir Starmer has called it a statement of intent. Crucially, we're also working together on illegal migration. And I want to thank Friedrich for his leadership on this, pledging decisive action to strengthen German law this year so that small boats being stored or transported in Germany could be seized, disrupting the route to the UK.

2:48And it's a clear sign that we mean business. 16 - and 17-year-olds will be able to vote at the next general election. that was part of Labour's manifesto. Currently they can vote in devolved elections in Scotland and Wales. Jess Blair works with the Electoral Reform Society in Wales. She's told Times Radio it's been a positive move. What we've seen with the extension of the franchise here is the ability to kind of have better conversations about democratic education in schools. You know, it's set in train quite a lot of ways of supporting young people to kind of enter their journey into democracy and ensure that young people, when they cast their vote for the first time, and more informed than ever.

3:26It's also something that we know is quite habit-forming. And you can follow The Times News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio online.

3:36This 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? 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