Morning briefing Thursday 8th October

0:01This is Times Radio's morning briefing on Thursday 8 October. Israel is expected to close the British consulate in East Jerusalem later in response to the UK's trade ban on settlements in the West Bank. It's understood the consulate's diplomatic status will be removed, meaning around 30 diplomats will be barred from legally operating within the building. Speaking to Times Radio, Israel's former spokesperson to the United Nations, Jonathan Harunov, said diplomatic ties have suffered a severe breakdown. It is very disappointing to see the UK-Israeli relationship reach an adir. And I wonder if had the UK had an Israeli ambassador, someone who's permanent in that position, and being able to be a kind of conduit, someone who's able to help cool these relations, had the relationship taken a different turn.

0:55However, Israel will stop short of expelling the diplomats and sending them home. it believes they should instead work from the British Embassy in Tel Aviv. A daily pill to treat the symptoms of Parkinson's disease has proved successful in the third phase of a clinical trial, raising hopes that patients could see the first significant new class of treatment since the 1960s. In the trial, the drug called Cylindipras reduced the amount of time that patients spent struggling with mobility problems associated with the condition, such as stiffness and tremors. Claire Bale is an Associate Director of Research for Parkinson's UK.

1:32Speaking to Times Radio, she said this latest trial could be the last one that is required before the drug is submitted to the regulatory authorities. The drug company behind Cylentropaz are saying they're going to start discussions with the FDA in the US to prepare the ground for those submissions. We will definitely be getting in touch with them to find out what their plans are in terms of the UK and Europe because we have different regulators here that would need to also approve it so it can be made available on the NHS. Crowds gathered in several major cities in Spain last night following the death of an 87-year-old woman whose eviction from her home of more than 70 years sparked a political row that triggered early elections.

2:20Protesters in Madrid chanted murderers before lighting candles and holding a minute's silence for Maria del Carmen Abascal. She had first moved into her apartment in 1956 when she was a teenager, but last month she was forcibly removed on a stretcher because she was unable to afford rent increases. She subsequently became a national symbol for Spain's housing crisis. And it's goodbye to Winston Churchill and Jane Austen, and hello to the Atlantic Puffin, the Barn Owl and the European Hedgehog, which will all feature on the Bank of England's banknotes. Almost 500 ,000 people responded to a public consultation on which animals to include.

3:01The first denomination from the new series will be launched over the next few years. There's more on these stories throughout the day on Times Radio.