Morning briefing Friday 12th June

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 morning briefing on Friday the 12th of June. A former chair of the Defence Select Committee says the new Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis is in an unenviable position after his appointment as John Healy's successor.

0:47Lord Arbuthnot said he fully supports Healy's decision to resign after he said the government's long-delayed defence investment plan failed to provide what is required for the country at a dangerous time. The plan's already been delayed by nine months, but Downing Street is apparently hoping to push ahead with an announcement on Monday. Speaking to Times Radio, Lord Arbuthnot said the UK had become too reliant on NATO and the United States. The point about defence is that it is cheaper to deter than to fight. And things have changed since the war in Ukraine. But that hasn't brought about the fundamental shift we need to see in either the attitude of the Treasury or the attitude of the country.

1:34Jarvis' appointments also follows last night's resignation of the Armed Forces Minister Al Qans. President Trump has called off another round of military strikes on Iran because he says a peace deal with the country's senior leadership is close. Iran, however, says it hasn't reached a final decision on any agreement with the United States. Its foreign ministry spokesman was quoted by Iranian media as saying the text of the proposed deal was being reviewed. David Dunn is a professor of international politics at Birmingham University. He says the world will treat Trump's latest announcement with a high degree of scepticism.

2:09He has cried wolf so many times on this that his credibility is shot. He says things to move the markets and it may well be that actually his main motivation for calling a halt to these planned strikes that he talked about with the markets are more than any breakthrough in diplomacy. Immigration protests in some areas of Northern Ireland last night passed off without incident following a police response. The police service of Northern Ireland said additional officers had been deployed amid concerns about a potential third night of violence. World Cup history was made last night as the co-host Mexico beat South Africa 2-0 in the tournament's opener.

2:49It was the first World Cup match this century to feature three straight red cards, including one for Mexico's captain César Montes. The last World Cup in Qatar had only four red cards in the entire tournament. It also means South Africa's coach, Hugo Boros, will be without two of his players for their next match against Czechia. It's not nice for both players if you get a red card in the first game of the World Cup. But we have two players now who can play in the next game, but we have still other players. And again, if we can show the same mentality, I'm sure that we will have good results in the next two games.

3:27And the government is promising what it says will be a zebra crossing revolution as part of plans to promote walking and cycling for local journeys. The ambition is for England to have an extra 10 ,000 crossings on its streets during the next four years. Chris Boardman, the former Olympic cyclist, is backing the scheme, which is expected to see investments of around£4.5 billion. There's more on these stories throughout the day on Times Radio.

3:56This 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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