Morning briefing Thursday 19 February

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. Donald Trump has urged Zakir Starmer not to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius a day after the US said it approved of the deal.

0:42In a post on Truth Social, the US president said Zakir Starmer would be making a big mistake if he proceeded with plans to hand over the islands, which are home to a joint US-UK military base. The plans would see the UK lease the base from Mauritius at a cost of£35 billion over the next century. Malcolm Nance is a former Navy officer who's been stationed on Chagos. He says the deal won't further expansion of Chinese influence, as some commentators fear. It's not like China is going to be building a base on the exact same base that we have a footprint on, right? And of course, we have this, if we have this 99-year lease, we determine, that's we, Britain, the United States, by extension, will determine and what activities go on there.

1:28China right now has its own capabilities in other places. But again, you're talking about placing a bet today on what will happen a century from now. Nine police forces are now examining information contained within the Epstein files. Police Scotland became the latest force to announce it was assessing information from the US Department of Justice's mass release of files related to the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. The force is appealing for information about Epstein's use of Edinburgh Airport. The Met Police said it would examine fresh claims that the close protection officers assigned to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor turned a blind eye during visits to Little St James, Epstein's private island.

2:15Well, royal biographer Andrew Loney has told Times Radio it's going to get very serious for the royals. Well I think it's a crisis for them because it's not just Andrew who I think people are beginning to look at, it's looking at other members of the royal family, how much did they know, when did they know it, what did they do and I think if there's any suggestion of a cover-up and that he's been protected then I think this is going to go right up to the king. Well Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has always denied any wrongdoing. Children will have their legal right to special needs support reviewed under stricter criteria when they move to secondary school.

2:52Ministers will announce an overhaul of the special educational needs and disability system. It's to scale back rigid statutory requirements that have led to costs soaring. Peoples in England with less complex needs, including many who have autism and ADHD diagnosed, will no longer be deemed eligible for education, health and care plans. Mark Zuckerberg has been questioned in court about the effect Instagram has on the mental health of its young users in a landmark jury trial against Meta. A Californian woman alleged that Meta and Google has profited off tempting children onto their social media platforms, knowing it could harm their mental health.

3:35Zuckerberg disputes this. It's his first appearance before a jury after years of backlash against Meta. Frances Haugen is a Facebook whistleblower and advocate for social media transparency. The core of the reason I came forward was I was I saw it time and time again across a variety of different domains within the company that Facebook faced conflicts of interest between what was best for the public and what was best for Facebook's bottom line and Facebook consistently resolved those conflicts of interest be it involving destabilizing content be it mental health of children in favour of the bottom line.

4:12And technology firms are being put on notice. It says Sakhir Starmer vowed his government will change the law and order them to remove non-consensual intimate images within 48 hours of being reported. The PM said it's the latest step in the 21st century battle against violence against women and girls online. Don't forget you can set the Times Radio 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?

4:55Strong 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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