Morning Briefing Friday 29th August

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 NHS will begin vaccinating all babies against chickenpox from next year. It's as vaccination uptake is at a 15-year low.

0:42As many as one in five children starting primary school this year in England are partially or totally unvaccinated. In some parts of London, it's as many as 50 % who aren't up to date on their jabs. Dr Helen Bedford is a professor of children's health at University College London. She says the problem lies in access. What we see is that in areas where there's a lot of disadvantage, that's where you get low vaccine uptake. And unfortunately, that's where we've also seen measles outbreaks. And this is probably because of difficulties around actually getting appointments made for vaccination and then getting to the appointment at a time or a place that's convenient for parents.

1:27One of the children killed in the Minneapolis school shooting has been named as eight-year-old Fletcher Merkel. Police say the suspected shooter intended to terrorise children who were praying during mass. Investigators say Robin Westman, who's believed to have fired 116 shots into the church, idolised mass murderers. Two children were killed. The city's mayor has called for a ban on assault weapons. President Trump has condemned a Russian airstrike on the Ukrainian capital. Children were among 21 people killed when missiles hit Kiev. British government and EU buildings were damaged in the attack.

2:08Sir Malcolm Rifkin, former foreign secretary, says there's been no mention about the sanctions President Trump talked about. When the President of the United States cannot be believed when he issues a clear threat to a potential aggressor as to what will happen if that aggression happens. How will that be received in Taiwan, facing possible invasion by China and having been promised help and assistance by the United States? Who else will take comfort from that? So there are wider repercussions simply than the impact for Ukraine, important though that is. A lawyer for the Home Office has told the Court of Appeal that the human rights of asylum seekers outweigh the safety concerns of local families in Essex.

2:52The government is challenging an injunction blocking the use of the Bell Hotel in Epping. The Times' chief news correspondent, David Brown, was in court. Yvette Cooper says, if you allow this injunction to stay, we will see similar applications from councils up and down the country. She says, I've got to, under European human rights law, consider the human rights of asylum seekers. and they outweigh the rights of local people to challenge the use of these hotels under planning law. The Court of Appeal will announce its decision later. And a popular weight loss drug will be heavily discounted across UK pharmacies when the official list price soars on Monday.

3:38The makers of Monjaro have announced the maximum dose will cost£247. That's£83 less than expected. Don't forget you can set the Times News Briefing as your flash briefing 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? 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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