Evening briefing Wednesday 22nd 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. Hello, this is your Times Radio Evening Briefing for Wednesday the 22nd of July with me, James Kitchen. The widow of police officer Andrew Harper says it's deplorable two of his killers could be released from prison early.

0:46It comes as Andy Burnham is to review the government's early release policy designed to ease overcrowding in jails. P.C. Harper died in Berkshire in 2019 after being dragged along behind a car. The Times' newsroom reporter Olly Cole says the Prime Minister has a small political window in which to act. At the moment, there's around 3 ,000 spare prison places on the prison estate, and that's after years of the estate running really hot, being up at sort of 98%, 99 % capacity pretty much month on month. So there is a slight potential political window here for Andy Burnham to look at that again, which is what he's promised to do today.

1:21The former head of Southern Water has been charged with conspiracy to defraud authorities over allegations the firm manipulated water quality tests. Matthew Wright and three other ex-employees are accused of plotting extensive fraud and dishonesty. The case has been brought by the Environment Agency. Donald Trump has signed a deal with Saudi Arabia to build a civil nuclear plant in the kingdom and possibly enrich uranium. The agreement has been under negotiation for years and may provoke opposition in Congress. Speaking to Times Radio, the former U.S. Middle East negotiator Aaron David Miller described the policy as wrongheaded.

1:57BILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO THE NUCLEAR INDUSTRY IN THE UNITED STATES. THERE'S A FORTUNE TO BE MADE. THAT 'LL BE MORE MONEY IN THE AMERICAN ECONOMY, MORE, PRESUMABLY MORE JOBS. AND DONALD TRUMP CLEARLY WANTS TO REINVIGORATE THE NUCLEAR INDUSTRY. MY CONCERN REALLY IS NOT THAT SAUDI ARABIA WILL GET A WEAPON. I JUST THINK IT THROWS OPEN AT A TIME WHEN WE'RE TRYING TO STOP PROLIFERATION, THE PROSPECTS OF OTHERS BEING VERY INTERESTING IN CONTROLLING THEIR OWN FUEL CYCLE. Meanwhile, Donald Trump has warned Iran that the U.S. will destroy one bridge or power plant for every ship attacked in the Strait of Hormuz.

2:35The American president has made the announcement on social media, saying the policy applies with immediate effect. There have been 11 consecutive nights of American airstrikes on Iran, which have increasingly targeted civilian infrastructure. It's emerged a rogue AI agent escaped its testing environment and autonomously hacked into a major tech platform. The attack by the open AI model on hugging face has been described as unprecedented and will accelerate the cybersecurity fears over powerful software. The former head of the National Cyber Security Center, Kieran Martin, told Times Radio there are important lessons to be learned for business leaders.

3:13If you're one of these CEOs who's thinking, I'm going to lay off most of my workforce because I'm going to get AI agents to do it. Well, think about the lessons of this because that's crazy because what this shows is the immaturity of some of these things. Was it thinking? Sort of. But it was just a very single-minded, I need to do anything to pursue this goal that I've been programmed to do. So taking that human out of the loop is a bit mad. Donald Trump is considering backing Gianni Infantino to head the United Nations, claiming the FIFA president is respected by everyone around the world. The move would break with UN precedent and is unlikely to be successful.

3:49The current Secretary General, Antonio Gutierrez, will step down from the role in December. Remember, you can follow the Times Radio News Briefing on Spotify and you can listen live to Times Radio Online. This 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.

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