Morning briefing Wednesday 26th August

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 26th August. I'm Daryl Jackson. Dolly Parton's publicist has revealed the American country singer died after a brief battle with cancer at the age of 80.

0:47A statement said that she died at the Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Centre surrounded by loved ones. She was forced to postpone her Las Vegas residency at the end of last year due to unspecified health issues. Music journalist Matt Charlton told Times Radio the star had spoken about her health recently. She spoke to People magazine on Friday saying that she was dealing with some health issues. Even though we knew that she'd been dealing with stuff, it still always comes as a shock when we lose a musician because of the joy they bring to the world. But also in this particular instance, and it's easy to go to hyperbole when we lose someone, but she was a true giant of her genre.

1:26She was such an influence, such an overarching influence over so many years. Dolly Parton was instrumental in transforming literacy across America and parts of the world and also endorsed the Times' very own Get Britain Reading campaign. Catherine Fidler is digital commissioning and production editor for the Sunday Times Special Projects team. She has been a huge supporter of literacy around the world through her own charity, Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. It sends free books to children from birth to five years in five countries, America, the UK, Canada, Australia and Ireland. Regardless of their income, she was really passionate about getting children to read and parents could sign up and they received a free book every month for those first five years.

2:10In other news, the Prime Minister Andy Burnham's poised to announce robust sanctions on Israeli settlements in the West Bank. It's in response to plans to open tenders for the construction of 1 ,200 settler homes there. Ed Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, says Israel's plans would effectively cut the West Bank in two and destroy any hope of a two-state solution. Nicholas Hopton, former British ambassador to Iran, was one of 102 diplomats calling on their countries to jointly issue sanctions. He told Times Radio the plan shouldn't be allowed to happen. There is a great deal of disquiet among people who have served in the region on behalf of Britain and France and a recognition that this is a very significant moment where the British government and the French government need to take concrete steps to prevent business supporting and engaging with this illegal action.

2:59A murder investigation has begun after a young man was stabbed at a Council's headquarters close to Wembley Stadium. Emergency services were called to Brent Civic Centre in North London yesterday afternoon, but the victim was pronounced dead at the scene. The Civic Centre, home to Brent Council's headquarters and library, was evacuated and is now closed until further notice. No arrests have been made. And strong thunderstorms and heavy rain are forecast across much of England and Wales from today. The Met Office has issued a yellow warning which is in place until 10pm across much of England. Areas affected include London and the South East, the Midlands, East Anglia and parts of the North West and South West.

3:40Eastern parts of Wales are also under the warning. And you can hear more on all of those stories throughout the day on Times Radio.

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