Evening briefing Tuesday 28th 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. This is Times Radio's Evening Briefing on Tuesday the 28th of July. Teaching unions have welcomed a major overhaul of the education system, but say they'll need details as soon as possible on how it'll work in practice and be paid for.

0:48From 2028, 14-year-olds will be able to do technical subjects like manufacturing and the creative industries to try to make them more employable. Former Conservative Education Secretary Michael Gove told Times Radio he's worried about the so-called non-academic pupils being thrown on the scrap heap. Are you saying that there are people who are incapable, either because of background or for other reasons, of following a stretching curriculum to the age of 16? Who are we writing off and on what basis? Meanwhile, families that would lose out on benefits by children taking up apprenticeships could get up to£4 ,500 a year.

1:28FIFA has confirmed its consulting on proposals to create a new company to manage the commercial rights to the men's and women's World Cups. The Times has revealed the plans could see private investors by a minority stake, with concerns they could lead to larger or more frequent tournaments. UEFA has criticised the proposals, saying football's governance is not FIFA's to sell. The Times' chief sports reporter Martin Zeigler says FIFA president Gianni Infantino is behind the plan. He wants a bigger share of football for whatever reasons. He wants his new club tournament to be dominant. He wants the World Cup to bring in more and more money and cement his position.

2:08And now he's going to sell off a stake in the World Cup, well he wants to anyway, to private investors. Several people are reported to have died after a powerful earthquake struck southwest Japan. A shopping centre has partially collapsed in Kumamoto, with people trapped inside. Firefighters in southwest France are battling a fresh flare-up in the wildfires near Bordeaux, with soaring temperatures threatening to worsen conditions. Officials say the city itself is not currently under threat, but the blaze remains out of control. Times correspondent David Chazan is with firefighters near the French city.

2:43They're dealing with fires that had either been extinguished or died down, but because of the flaming temperatures have now sort of spontaneously rekindled. In Spain, crews are also fighting major wildfires as another heatwave approaches. The Green Party says Zach Polanski didn't realise there was more to an image she shared on Instagram that's caused Reform UK to report him to the police. It showed a man wearing a T-shirt with a picture of a guillotine and the words, we're only making plans for Nigel. The post has since been unshared. Now, it's not often a regional amateur cricket league makes global headlines, but a cheating row has thrust the North Yorkshire and South Durham Second Division into the limelight.

3:27A player for saltburned seconds has been accused of clicking his finger as the ball flew past an opponent's bat before being caught by the wicketkeeper. The league is investigating after the umpire was convinced by the noise that the batter hit it and said he was out. There's more on these stories throughout the day on Times Radio.

3:51This 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 Quick question. When was the last time a display ad changed your mind?

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