Daily briefing Sunday 8th March

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. Welcome to the Times Radio Daily Briefing on Sunday the 8th of March. Israel's president has told Times Radio that Iran will see Britain's failure to defend RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus as an act of weakness.

0:46Isaac Herzog says it's mind-boggling that a kamikaze drone was allowed to get through last weekend. Attacking a British base in British soil, by the way, Akrotiri's British soil, is mind-boggling and quite shocking. And I think, definitely think, that at least I can tell you from the viewpoint from the Middle East, In the Middle East, there's no mercy for those who don't make it clear that it's unacceptable. And I definitely hope that the Iranians don't interpret it as a sign of weakness. Herzog says the war against Iran is conducted in accordance with international law. The Sunday Times says the drone that hit RAF Akrotiri was equipped with Russian military hardware.

1:27It contained a Russian-made navigation system first seen in drones intercepted by the Ukrainian air defences in December. Amos Faulkner, the minister for the Middle East, has told Times Radio that Moscow's position is pretty clear. The Russians appear to be being straightforward. They're on the side of Iran in this conflict. They have played a malign role across the region. I think many actors in the region can see that Russia is failing. It is supporting some of the most egregious acts of aggression. You've seen the full repudiation of their role in Syria. and I know that our Gulf counterparts are incredibly frustrated with the war that they're playing.

2:07Donald Trump has accused Sir Keir Starmer of joining the war against Iran after the United States had already won. An aircraft carrier, HMS Prince of Wales, is being prepared and could set sail for the Gulf within five days. But in a post on Truth Social, Trump called the UK, our once great ally, and said aircraft carriers are not needed any longer. The Tories' shadow home secretary, Chris Philp, has accused Starmer of a dereliction of duty. He could have moved HMS Dragon three weeks ago. He could have moved the aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales three weeks ago. But he didn't do that. That was a serious dereliction of duty.

2:41And as a result, even as we stand here today, those two ships are sitting in Portsmouth being prepared instead of defending Cyprus and defending Gulf states. The government is to charter a commercial flight out of the UAE. Officials say it will leave Dubai early this week for British nationals who want to return home. Reporter Sally Lockwood, who's in Dubai, says it's far from calm there. Last night was particularly busy. Falling debris from some of those missiles and drones that were intercepted fell on two places. One Dubai Marina, one of the iconic towers in Dubai Marina, a luxury waterfront residential area, caught fire.

3:19And there was also a fire after shrapnel hit a vehicle in the Al Barsha neighbourhood, killing one person. And you can follow The Times Radio News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio online.

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