Afternoon Briefing Wednesday 18th June

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1:21Welcome to the Times Afternoon Briefing on Wednesday the 18th of June. The Iranian Foreign Ministry says any American intervention in the Middle East would be a recipe for all-out war in the region. The ministry spokesman made the comments to Al Jazeera. Donald Trump is said to be considering a strike on Iran which continues to battle Israel. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, a friend of the US president, thinks America will get involved to help Israel target Iranian nuclear plants. The one thing that we do know with the two big nuclear facilities is that a lot of the kit's underground. It's going to take this MOAB, the mother of all bombs that the Americans have, to take that out.

2:01There's a risk of what comes next. Of course there is. But I actually think that Trump will intervene. Military analyst Professor Michael Clarke has more details on the US bunker buster bomb. It's called the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, the MOP. There's only one aircraft in the world that carries it, which is the B-2 American bomb. That's the one that looks like a flying wing because it's very stealthy. The B-52 could carry it, but it's not cleared for it because the B-52 has got a radar signature like a herd of elephants, so they don't use it for that purpose. Britain is moving military hardware to the Middle East.

2:35Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook has been updating Times Radio. We are sending military assets to the region to support regional security in general terms prior to contingency port throughout the Middle East should the escalation of the conflict continue. And we obviously already have RAF jets in the region as part of our operation against Daesh. So it's right that they're protected. So we have already sent military assets to the region. Women will no longer be prosecuted for having a late-term abortion following a landmark vote by MPs. Women who terminate a pregnancy after 24 weeks will no longer be charged, sentenced or imprisoned.

3:11A termination will still require the approval of two doctors, but pro-life activist Aisling Goodison doesn't think that is good enough. I'm feeling quite heartbroken because I'm six months pregnant at the moment. But if I wanted to, I could order pills by post, no-one would have to know, and administer them to myself. I'm feeling my baby kicking at the moment. Cause myself harm. Police have admitted failing a motorcyclist who died after being hit by a car on the wrong side of the road. A report has found they prioritised the welfare of the woman suspected of killing Harry Dunn in Northamptonshire in 2019.

3:45Anne Sekoulas left the UK under diplomatic immunity laws days later, but was eventually convicted of causing death by careless driving in 2022. Emma James is Assistant Chief Constable of Northamptonshire Police. Our organisational response resulted in a loss of trust and confidence on the part of Harry's family. First and foremost, on behalf of Northamptonshire Police, I want to apologise to Harry's family for a clear failure on our part to do the very best for Harry and his family. And you can follow the Times News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio online.