Evening briefing Thursday 7th 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 your Times Evening Briefing for Thursday 7th August. Vladimir Zelensky's insisted Europe will play a major role in the reconstruction of Ukraine after the war ends.

0:44There's no word on when that will be, though, and Vladimir Putin hasn't hinted he's any closer to accepting a deal. The Russian president will meet with Donald Trump as early as next week, however, to discuss ending the war on Ukraine. Daniel Fried is the former coordinator for sanctions policy against Russia. He told Times Radio his expectations for the meeting are under control. It's better if the Ukrainians are involved at all stages. And the idea of great powers doing a deal at Ukraine's expense has a terrible precedent and is a bad idea. There does exist a danger that Trump will do a bad deal, that Putin will sucker him into some kind of bad understanding and that Trump will try to force it down Ukraine.

1:27The Bank of England's cut the interest rate to its lowest level in more than two years. Now at 4%, it's the fifth drop in a year. The decision was a tight one after members of the rate-setting committee had to vote twice to break a deadlock. And there are warnings that rising food prices will cause inflation to jump. Economist Liam Halligan spoke to Times Radio, and he told us he's more concerned about that than lower rates. Inflation is 3.6%. It's way above the Bank of England's 2 % target. It was 3.4 % in May, so increased in June. and even the Bank of England admits it's going up further. And yet we've seen a cut in interest rates.

2:05And as the Bank of England's been lowering interest rates since last summer, actual market interest rates have gone up sharply. The Home Office is expected to launch a campaign to make migrants in northern France aware of the new one-in-one-out deal if they cross the channel illegally. It started on Wednesday and the government insists the first migrants detained could be sent back within weeks. Immigration lawyer Ivan Sampson says the government may face legal challenges trying to enact its law. What this one-in-one-out policy says is if you come across on a boat to claim asylum, you're deemed to be inadmissible.

2:41You can't claim asylum. The Refugee Convention prohibits that. Two men have been arrested in Bolton after a video of Jewish people being sprayed with water pistols. Greater Manchester police say the 26 - and 36-year-old remain in custody on suspicion of racially aggravated common assault. Department store Harrods is ending its partnerships with big-name chefs as it targets new dining habits like people eating earlier. Gordon Ramsay's burger joint and Tom Kerridge's fish and chips outlet at the luxury London store are some of those to go. Harrods says it's focusing instead on all-day and in-house food offerings due to trends.

3:18For more stories like these, listen to Times Radio throughout the day.

3:28Thank you.

3:58This 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

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