Afternoon Briefing Friday 13th June

0:00Hello, this is your Times Afternoon briefing for Friday the 13th June with me, James Kitchen. Donald Trump's urged Iran to make a deal before it's too late after Tehran was hit by Israeli airstrikes overnight. The IDF says it was targeting nuclear facilities and military sites. The Revolutionary Guard Chief Hossein Salami was killed along with a number of other commanders and leading scientists. Iran's supreme leader warned of severe punishment. The country's already launched 100 drones, which have been intercepted by Israeli forces. The UK industry Ministry Minister Sarah Jones told Times Radio the government is pushing for urgent de-escalation.

0:36Of course, Iran is disabling the region. No one would question that. But we have to do what we can. And David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary and the Prime Minister, will say more on this in due course. But we have to do what we can now to push for de-escalation and restraint in a calm and measured way. And that's what the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary will be doing. One of two black boxes have been recovered from the site where an Air India plane came down yesterday. More than 240 people were killed when the jet crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad Airport. The airline consultant Anita Menderata told Times Radio there are many unanswered questions.

1:18Why was it a situation where so close after the acceleration and thrust into the air, the aircraft was unable to get the height that it was required? Why was the mayday call put through? and then ultimately what happened after that. The magnitude of the damage was ultimately increased because of the fact that at the beginning of a flight, you're looking at about 130 tons of jet fuel in the aircraft itself. So any reason for that to spark would just cause absolute devastation. 22 police officers have been injured during a fourth consecutive night of unrest in Northern Ireland. Missiles were thrown at officers at a protest in Porter Down following disorder early in the week.

2:00in Ballymena. The unrest was triggered when a teenage girl was allegedly sexually assaulted. The former police service of Northern Ireland chief John Burrows told Times Radio the operational response is now in full swing. It started to pick up intelligence, started to make arrests, started to get its plans and tactics right. And also they started to get a feed of information and intelligence. So for example, they anticipated there would be disorder yesterday and poured it down and And therefore they had a very large police presence with specialist officers from the TSGs, the public order team.

2:31So they were able to contain what happened last night. Independent schools, pupils and their parents have lost a high court challenge over the government's decision to impose VAT on private school fees. The group, supported by the Independent Schools Council, claimed the tax is discriminatory and a breach of human rights law. But three senior judges backed the minister's ability to bring in the policy. And parts of eastern England could reach 30 degrees later, but the Met Office has also issued multiple warnings for thunderstorms. Torrential downpours look set to hit the UK this weekend. There are four yellow weather warnings in place covering southern England, Wales and southern Scotland.

3:08And remember, you can follow the Times News Briefing on Spotify and you can listen live to Times Radio Online.