Morning briefing Tuesday 3rd 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. This is the Times Radio News Briefing for Tuesday 3rd February. Lord Mandelson's being urged to give evidence in the US about his dealings with Jeffrey Epstein as police look into claims of alleged misconduct in a public office.

0:47He's been accused of leaking sensitive information to the late paedophile when he was business secretary. It comes after Bill and Hillary Clinton agreed to testify in person to Congress, having previously refused. Mary Fetilchian is an attorney representing survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and says anyone with information has a moral duty to appear and that includes Mandelson. If he has information regarding Epstein's trafficking ring or any of the co-conspirators or anyone else you know the right thing to do would be to testify and to reveal that information and to share that information with the proper bodies that can prosecute or investigate that behavior.

1:25So certainly if there are people who have information who had connections I do think it is their moral duty to share that information, but that's a decision that they're going to need to make. Lord Mandelson has previously denied any wrongdoing. A former British ambassador to Iran has cast doubt on how sustainable the outcome of any upcoming Iran-US nuclear talks will be, set against the backdrop of an American military presence in the region. The two countries plan to renew nuclear talks on Friday in the first official discussion since last year. It comes after the US moved fighter jets to within striking distance of Iran.

2:02Steve Whitcoff, the White House Special Envoy, and Abbas Arachi, the Iranian Foreign Minister, are expected to meet in Istanbul in meetings orchestrated with the help of Turkey, Egypt and Qatar. Nicholas Hopton, the former British ambassador to Iran, spoke to Times Radio. How sustainable any outcome would be is debatable, given that it would be made under coercion, a military force from threatened by the US. And of course, the Iranians are almost certainly playing for time. They feel that if they go into talks, they can draw this out. Tension, world attention will also subside and they can live and continue their regime.

2:47A Conservative MP and member of the Tory-led China Research Group has told Times Radio Sir Keir Starmer's visit to China was a missed opportunity to raise important issues with the Asian superpower. Alicia Kearns echoed her party leader's statement on the trip. Kimi Bainock accused Starmer of taking a supine and short-termist approach. I'm afraid this visit has been massively overblown by the Prime Minister and actually what he should have done is taken a far more statesman-like approach a more moderate approach to it. Kirstama accused the Conservatives of isolationism, pointing out he was the first PM to visit the country since 2018.

3:24Russian forces attacked the Ukrainian capital Kiev overnight with missiles reportedly hitting apartment blocks and a number of other buildings. Officials reported Russian air attacks on other Ukrainian regions, including Kharkiv, the country's second largest city, where the regional governor said two people were injured. Young people with cancer in England are going to have their travel to hospital paid for by the government. Ministers say the support will help more than a third of families who currently travel more than an hour. The funding for people aged 24 and under is expected to cost around£10 million a year.

4:02This 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.

5:01They cover things like which travel cards earn their keep and which are just heavy, shiny metal, and the smartest ways to book flights without playing Guess the Cheapest Day. Travel smarter and spend less with help from NerdWallet. Follow Smart Travel wherever you get your podcasts.