Evening briefing Tuesday 6th January

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 Tuesday 6th January. A sanctioned Venezuelan oil tanker fleeing a US blockade is being monitored by British aircraft.

0:43The marinara is on course to travel north of the UK. The US is reportedly planning to seize it off-Ireland. More details from Times reporter Emma Yeomans. So this tanker was pursued by the US Coast Guard late last year, who failed to catch up with it, and at that point the tanker rebranded itself, reflagged as a Russian vessel, prompting Russia to ask the US to stop chasing it. It's now crossed most of the way across the Atlantic and is set to pass somewhere north of the UK, probably quite close to Iceland and the Faroe Islands on we think its way to a Russian Arctic port in Murmansk. There are calls for the home secretary to intervene and sack the chief constable of West Midlands Police.

1:23It's over the decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from a football match against Aston Villa. An expert police review published more than two weeks before the fixture found they should have been allowed to attend. Former Labour MP and anti-Semitism campaigner Lord Austin says Chief Constable Craig Guildford should go. I think it's an absolutely extraordinary set of events. I think the evidence that was presented to Parliament today was in some cases scarcely credible, in other cases not credible at all. I'm amazed that the chief constable is still in his job and I think he should be fired. A Swiss bar that caught fire killing 40 people during New Year celebrations had not been inspected since 2019.

2:04The local mayor, Nicolas Ferro, has apologised at a news conference. We have decided to commission a specialized external firm to carry out an inspection of our 128 public buildings in the municipality as quickly as possible. As part of this mandate, the municipality will also request an inspection of materials, even though the law does not require it. Otherwise, the inspection will fail to achieve its objective, which is to enhance safety. The leader of the Lib Dems says there should be a criminal investigation after the AI tool on Elon Musk's ex apparently produced sexualized images. The technology secretary, Liz Kendall, says it's appalling that Grok is creating such pictures, including of children.

2:47She says she would back enforcement action by Ofcom. Lib Dem leader Fred Davies says it's disgusting. The government have now got out very quickly to stop this, probably to reduce access to ex. and I think if the reports turn out to be true, the National Crime Agency needs to launch a criminal investigation into X. They have to be held to account. And you can follow The Times News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio online.

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