Morning briefing Thursday 16th July

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 Thursday the 16th of July. England's wait for a second World Cup success will go on for at least another four years after they suffered more Argentine agony in Atlanta.

0:50It's a familiar story as the full-time whistle blows, but it's a story that's no less painful for its repeated telling. With 85 minutes of the 90 played, England were on course to reach their first World Cup final since 1966 when they led through Anthony Gordon's second half strike, but Lionel Messi was once again Argentina's inspiration and their pressure proved too intense for England, with an equaliser from Enzo Fernandes and a stoppage time winner scored by Lautaro Martinez. Defeat for England was their third in successive World Cup semi-finals, and as was the case in their 2018 encounter against Croatia, England failed to protect a 1-0 lead.

1:33Captain Harry Kane admitted that's something they have consistently failed to address. We've done so well for that kind of 60 minutes, we scored, we deserve to be ahead. And then for one reason or another we struggled to keep the ball, we struggled to put pressure on the ball and it just allowed them to create more momentum, it created more attacks for them in our final third. And then yeah, it's a normal mindset to try and hang on and try and hang on to the one goal lead but it's been probably the missing piece now for the last four or five tournaments. Argentina, however, are likely to be fined by FIFA after their players celebrated their World Cup win by unfurling a banner declaring the Falklands are Argentinian.

2:10One of the players who held it aloft was the Manchester United defender Lissandro Martinez. John Bonfilio is the Times' Latin America correspondent. He says Argentinian politicians will see this tournament as a chance to push their agenda. An opportunity not just with a national fervour that this is whipping up, but also the fact that this is a tournament, a finals, which is taking place in the United States of America and the fact that Argentina has never been as close to the USA and very specifically this Trump administration with its anarcho-libertarian president, Argentine president Javier Millet, to be able to push that particular button.

2:45World football's governing body prohibits all political messaging at matches but any punishment may be deferred until after the World Cup final. Andy Burnham is refusing to rule out imposing a wealth tax and says people may have to pay a little more because of the state of the public finances. Burnham, who'll become Prime Minister on Monday, stressed he did not want to demonise one group or create a new way of dividing people or indeed look like someone coming into Number 10 with grudges and agendas. But he said he would not shy away from making difficult decisions in an attempt to balance the books.

3:19And Pat McFadden, the Work and Pension Secretary, is warning that Britain is facing a significant human and financial cost as more young people risk becoming stuck on benefits. Official figures showed young people are now less likely to get jobs than the over 55s. More than a million young people aren't in employment, education or training, totaling one in eight people who are under the age of 24. There's more on these stories throughout the day on Times Radio.

3:53This 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 Here's a tip for you. There's a podcast out there with fans waiting to be your next customer.

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