Morning briefing Wednesday 21st January

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 Wednesday the 21st of January. President Trump is expected to face criticism from fellow NATO leaders at talks in Davos later after his comments on Greenland unsettled relations between Europe and the United States.

0:52French President Emmanuel Macron has accused Mr Trump of creating a world without rules. When asked how far he would go to acquire the Danish territory, the US president replied, you'll find out. Mr Trump also questioned NATO's strength, saying the alliance was only as good as the United States. But he later suggested he was travelling to Switzerland to discuss a possible deal rather than abandon NATO altogether. I think that we will work something out where NATO is going to be very happy and where we're going to be very happy. but we need it for security purposes. We need it for national security and even world security.

1:30It's very important. How about it? A train driver has been killed and at least 37 people injured after a commuter train derailed near Barcelona. It happened when a retaining wall collapsed onto the tracks. Four people are reported to be seriously hurt with dozens taken to hospital. 20 ambulances and dozens of firefighters were sent to the scene. It comes just two days after a separate train collision in southern Spain killed 42 people. Britain's security services have drawn up plans to move critical internet and financial cables away from the site of China's planned new mega-embassy in London, amid concerns about the risk of espionage.

2:10MI5 insists a package of national security mitigations is in place after ministers finally gave the controversial project the go-ahead, following more than a year of deliberations. Baroness Neville-Jones is a conservative peer and former security minister. If you actually look at what the nature of the Chinese threat is, it is largely theft of intellectual property, taking our technologies. It's an electronic threat. Downing Street hopes the decision will help unlock new trade deals with China. Brooklyn Beckham could change his name later this year after the trademark on its expires, raising the prospect of a separate Beckham Peltz brand.

2:53His father David said yesterday you have to let your children make mistakes. He was speaking in Davos, hours after Brooklyn explained on Instagram why he was cutting ties with his family. The 26-year-old said stepping away from his parents had eased his anxiety. Lauren Beeching is a PR crisis management expert at Honest London. There is a perception issue. I mean, Brooklyn and Nicola continue to use the Beckham name professionally and socially. and you're already seeing people, understand me, questioning why he's publicly attacking the family while still benefiting from the name and its status, which fair or not, but that does affect how his message is received.

3:29The family have so far declined to respond directly to Brooklyn's statement. There's more on these stories throughout the day on Times Radio.

3:41This 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 You've got social dialed in. Search is doing its thing.

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