Morning briefing Monday 23rd March

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 Monday the 23rd of March. I'm Daryl Jackson. The clock is ticking on Donald Trump's ultimatum to Iran.

0:43Last night, he threatened to target Iran's power sites if they didn't allow the safe passage of oil through the Strait of Hormuz by tonight. Iran, in return, threatened to irreversibly destroy US-linked energy sites if those power plants are targeted. Kenneth Pollack, vice president for policy at the Middle East Institute, told Times Radio that Trump doesn't always follow through on his threats. We've seen President Trump walk away from threats all the time. He was quite determined to conquer Greenland, and then he wasn't. And in this case, you could also imagine that he would do it on a more step-by-step basis.

1:18So for instance, at the expiration of his deadline or somewhere around them, if he really wanted to make good on it, at least partially, he might also pick out a single Iranian power station and destroy that. Zakiya Starmer will hold a COBRA meeting later to address the economic impact of the war in Iran. The Prime Minister has already warned that price rises are inescapable. There are increasing concerns about how the conflict could affect the cost of living here. Britain faces a surge in migrant crossings in the English Channel over the coming weeks as a deal to fund French beach patrols is set to run out within days.

1:53The three-year£475 million deal expires at the end of the month and the latest round of talks ended without agreement on Thursday. The Times' Matt Dathan says the work of the French authorities is crucial. France intercepts around about 37 % of all attempted crossings in the Channel, so stopping the boats before they get in the water because they are being seized by the French police. They cannot at the moment still intervene once the boats are seaborne. We're still awaiting that maritime law change on the French side. It's being reported there will be no funeral service for Soam killer Ian Huntley, The 52-year-old, who died after he was allegedly attacked at a maximum security jail last month, will be cremated and his ashes scattered in secret by his family.

2:39It's also understood that Huntley's family declined to hold a government-funded service out of respect for the families of his victims. The Times has revealed that a former Google executive has been confirmed as the BBC's new Director General. The BBC board approved Matt Britton's appointment at a meeting on Thursday, according to sources involved in the process. The 57-year-old will replace Tim Davey, who is stepping down after announcing his resignation last year over the scandal of Panorama's misleading edit of a President Trump speech. There's more on all of these stories throughout the day on Times Radio.

3:19This 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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