Morning briefing Thursday 18th December

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 the Times Morning Briefing for Thursday 18th December. police have arrested two people after they allegedly shouted slogans calling for a global intifada an Arabic word for rebellion five people in total were arrested at a pro-palestinian demonstration in central London the arrests were made just hours after the Metropolitan and Greater Manchester police forces said the context of using the word intifada had changed following Sunday's mass shooting at a celebration of the Jewish festival Hanukkah in Australia The chief constable of Greater Manchester Police, Stephen Watson, says it's now time to re-examine the day-to-day protection of British Jews.

1:13Our Jewish communities put up with a way of life in our country that nobody else has to put up with. And we all, I think, need to question ourselves afresh as the dynamic continues to change as to whether what we are doing continues to be adequate. The former owner of Chelsea football club Roman Abramovich is expected to defy Zakir Starmer's order to hand over£2.5 billion to assist Ukraine. The Russian oligarch, who is subject to UK sanctions, believes he has a watertight case to ensure the proceeds from his sale of Chelsea in 2022 will be donated on his terms. President Zelensky will meet with European leaders in Brussels later in an effort to secure frozen Russian assets worth more than$200 billion.

2:04Edward Lucas is a Times columnist specialising in European and transatlantic security. There's an enormous drama playing out in Brussels right now about whether this is going to be kiboshed partly by Russian threats and direct Russian intimidation, but also by Donald Trump, who has been putting pressure on the pro-Trump government in Europe to derail this because he would like a slice of the money for his own purposes. Boys as young as 11 will be sent on anti-misogyny courses designed to stamp out violence against women and girls under government plans to be announced today. Some pupils will be signed up to behaviour change programmes in which the focus will be on challenging deep-rooted misogynist influences.

2:48It's part of the government's long-awaited strategy to halve violence against women and girls. And President Trump has been reflecting on the first full year of his second term of office, amid polling that shows most Americans are frustrated with his handling of the economy. Inflation has picked up, with his tariffs having raised prices, but Trump began his address to the nation by pinning the blame on his predecessor Joe Biden. Matthew Bartlett, a Republican strategist who served in the State Department during Trump's first term, has been analysing the speech. A notion of explaining to the country that they inherited a mess from the Biden administration and again promised that things will get better.

3:31This seems to be nothing more than a political pep talk, if you will, coming out of the Oval Office. President Trump, however, did not mention anything about energy prices, which are still relatively high for most customers. You can follow the Times News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio online.

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