Morning Briefing Friday 17th October

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 Good morning. The boss of MI5 says a plot linked to China has been disrupted in the past week. It's amid a rise in state-sponsored threats.

0:41Sir Ken McCullums also admitted he's frustrated at the collapse of a trial of two men accused of spying for Beijing. The Crown Prosecution Service dropped the case, saying it couldn't prove ministers thought China was a threat. Ian Duncan-Smith is co-chair of the Interparliamentary Alliance on China. China is our most significant threat on a global basis. They're not just our threat, they're a threat to the whole of the free world and also particularly to the United States as well. So, you know, he's dealing with what is reality. And many of us already know this reality and it's governments at the end of the day that are the hardest to get across the line to recognise this, particularly this present government at the moment, which has got this ridiculous policy of desperately trying to get a trade arrangement with China.

1:27Meanwhile, the timeline on deciding whether to permit China's new super embassy in London has been pushed back until December. The US and Russian presidents have agreed to meet in Hungary for another face-to-face meeting during a two-hour long phone call. The conversation comes ahead of a visit to the White House later by Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, who wants Donald Trump to supply longer-range missiles to hit targets in Russia. Former US ambassador to NATO Kurt Volker told Times Radio what Trump wants to achieve. Trump will have the meeting a bit better prepared by having Rubio meet with a Russian delegation in advance.

2:04Remember, Alaska was so short notice, they just showed up. And a little bit misconstrued. Steve Woodcoff misunderstood what he heard or what he thought he heard from Vladimir Putin. He thought they were making progress when, in fact, they were going backwards. I think Rubio will do a better job of trying to shape what the conversation will be. The Prime Minister has called the ban on Maghbi Tel Aviv supporters from travelling to Birmingham next month the wrong decision. It's after West Midlands police said they couldn't be sure they'd be able to protect fans going to the Europa League clash with Aston Villa as protests are possible.

2:40Donald Trump's threatened to kill Hamas unless reports of executions in Gaza stop. Witnesses say there have been summary killings and gunfights in the territory as rival factions battle for power in areas where Israeli troops have withdrawn. Nogatana Polsky is a journalist based in Jerusalem. It was just two days ago that he was comparing Hamas positively to his own National Guard that he, you know, dispatched to Washington, D.C. and said that Hamas was doing a good job getting rid of these awful, awful gangs. and that's what he wants to do with the National Guard in Washington, D.C. So I think we do, of course, have to listen to every word that an American president says, but in this case it may depend a bit on what he's just seen on TV or who is the last person who's spoken to him.

3:29Rachel Reeves has signaled that she will look at further taxes on people with assets, saying those with the broadest shoulders should pay more. The Chancellor ruled out an annual levy on assets such as property, land or pensions, but suggested she wants to find other ways of raising money from wealthy people. Don't forget you can set The Times News Briefing as your news service on Alexa. 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?

4:08Strong 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.

4:33In 2016, a 22-year-old known as Posh George was jailed in the US for wire fraud. Standing by his side when he was arrested was Nigel Farage. Join me, Gabriel Pogan, from The Sunday Times for a wild ride through the worlds of politics, crypto and crime. It's in our new podcast series, Posh George, the criminal behind Farage. search for posgeorge the times wherever you get your podcasts