Evening briefing Wednesday 8th April

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 Wednesday the 8th of April. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth claims America has decimated Iran's military.

0:45He's been speaking at the Pentagon after the U.S. and Israel agreed to a two-week pause in the fighting as long as the Strait of Hormuz stays open. Iran has been a threat to the United States and the free world for 47 years. Chance of death to America targeting our people, killing Americans, lying and blackmailing their way toward a nuclear weapon, so they thought. No longer. Not on our watch. Meanwhile, Donald Trump says any country supplying weapons to Iran will be immediately taxed 50 % on goods sold to the US. He also claims America is working with Iran to remove what he calls buried nuclear dust, adding there will be no enrichment of uranium.

1:27Lebanon's health ministry claims dozens of people have been killed following Israel's biggest wave of strikes on the country. The IDF says it's hit more than 100 targets linked to the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group. Plumes of smoke can be seen coming out of Beirut. Sakhir Starmer has arrived in Saudi Arabia as he visits Gulf allies after the US and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire. There's work to do and I'm here in Saudi Arabia and neighbouring countries now to carry out that work in support of what we're all seeking, which is that this ceasefire should be not a temporary ceasefire, but a permanent ceasefire.

2:04On top of that, we have to acknowledge that this war wasn't our war, but my job is to protect the UK. The Prime Minister is expected to meet UK military personnel in the region as part of his trip, which was planned before the ceasefire announcement. He's due to return to the UK on Friday. The head of NHS England says resident doctor strikes have been deliberately timed to cause havoc as the six-day walkout entered its second day. Hospitals are struggling to fill rotors, with senior clinicians cancelling leave over the Easter holidays to cover gaps, while public support for the action appears to be falling.

2:41Former doctor and author of This Is Going To Hurt, Adam Kay, told Times Radio that although he backs the strikes, Poor messaging means many patients are growing weary of the disruption. I do not think that their PR has been very good and I think it's sad that they've gone from, I would say, almost universal goodwill towards what they were saying and doing to the point where the public are fed up. The RSPCA says it rescued dozens of dogs from a UK home overrun by more than 250 poodle crosses known as doodles after the owners lost control of breeding. Officials found the property in filthy conditions with unkempt animals and waste covering the floors.

3:22The charity is warning large-scale neglect cases arising sharply. There's more on these stories throughout the day on Times Radio.

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