Morning briefing Thursday 30th 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 30th of July. The Prime Minister is expected to unveil sweeping devolution plans tomorrow, handing England's regional mayors a greater share of the tax raised in their areas.

0:49Andy Burnham says the changes will give local leaders more power to invest in growth and public services. But some Conservative and Reform mayors want to use the new freedoms to offer tax rebates instead. The Times political correspondent Constance Kampfner told Times Radio why Mr Burnham wants to overhaul the system. At the moment, Britain is one of the most centralised countries when it comes to taxation. 95p in every pound goes directly to the Treasury. So this is a long-standing gripe of Andy Burnham's and something that we're expecting to see some kind of major change in. The US military says it's launched fresh strikes on Iran.

1:28It says it's in response to yesterday's attempted Iranian attacks on American forces in the Middle East. Iranian state media has reported explosions at several locations in the south of the country. A major incident's been declared on the Suffolk coast after a large wildfire broke out. Dozens of firefighters have been deployed to tackle the blaze which broke out at Dunwich Heath last night. Half of England is now said to be in drought, increasing pressure on water supplies, rivers and wildlife. With millions already facing hosepipe bans, conservation groups say urgent action is needed to improve how water is managed.

2:04Water Policy Manager at the Wildlife Trust's Ali Morse told Times Radio people should try to conserve water, even if hosepipe restrictions haven't yet been introduced in their area. The more we take out of the environment, the more water we're using as a society, the less it's available for nature. So this is really helping our wildlife to withstand these dry conditions. Greek police have identified the body of a British woman found in a suitcase in an abandoned building in Athens as 38-year-old Elizabeth Jane Ross. Detectives are investigating her movements before her death. MPs have condemned the Ministry of Defence's handling of a data breach that exposed the personal details of thousands of Afghans who worked alongside British forces.

2:48They've described it as a foreseeable systemic failure. A cross-party committee says the mistakes have damaged public trust and left many people still at risk from the Taliban. Defence Committee Chair Tan Daisy told Times Radio the failures should never have happened. This is much more than just about the processes or about a short period of secrecy, which was what was envisaged at the beginning. This is about human lives, and it's about how people have been impacted in the here and now. Many of those who bravely helped our forces, they cannot actually relocate for themselves. And scientists say limiting sugar during the first two years of life could reduce the risk of developing dementia.

3:31Researchers found people who were toddlers during post-war sugar rationing were around a fifth less likely to develop the condition. There's more on these stories throughout the day on Times Radio.

3:58This 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. Hi, I'm Katie Prescott from the Times Tech Podcast, which is currently sponsored by IBM.

4:45IBM has worked with Wimbledon for more than 30 years, helping the championships use data and AI to create more engaging digital experiences for fans. That includes tools like Match Chat, which can answer questions during play, and Likelihood to Win, which uses live match data to offer near real-time predictions. It's a practical example of AI in action, helping fans follow the tournament more closely while showing how organizations can turn data into useful insight. To learn more about how IBM helps create smarter business, visit ibm.com.