Morning briefing Tuesday 14th April

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 Tuesday the 14th of April. The former US ambassador to NATO, Kurt Volker, says the escalating confrontation between the United States and Iran is entering a dangerous phase.

0:48It follows a warning from President Trump that Tehran's attack ships will be eliminated if they come anywhere close to US warships in the Straits of Hormuz. Trump announced the blockade of Iran's ports and coastal regions in a measure designed to seize back the initiative amid rising oil prices. Speaking to Times Radio, Volker described the situation as a significant gamble by Washington, with only two terrible choices remaining. This is really now a test of wills. Ultimately, we either have to go all the way now for regime change. We have to be pushing for the removal of this regime and something entirely different that is an Iranian national unity government.

1:28Or we end up negotiating with this regime and they have some stake and some say over shipping in the Persian Gulf. I don't see any in between. The US Vice President J.D. Vance has accused the Iranian regime of engaging in economic terrorism. In an interview on Fox News, Vance said Tukin play that game and that the US has a military and economic advantage over Iran. The Irish government will face a motion of no confidence later, it's been put forward by Ireland's largest opposition party Sinn Féin after a week of disruption caused by fuel protests. Many people working in the haulage and farming industries say increased oil prices could cause them to go out of business.

2:12Demonstrators blockaded ports as well as Ireland's only oil refinery. The MP for Southport is calling for the overhaul of agency structure after a report found that the murders of three girls in the town could have been prevented. The Enquiry's chair, Sir Adrian Fulford, said Axel Rudukabana should have been detained before he walked into a school holiday dance class in July of 2024. Sir Adrian said a merry-go-round of referrals and assessments meant no agency fully understood the danger he posed. The MP Patrick Hurley is now leading the demands for a unified approach. Each agency, each arm of the state had one piece of the jigsaw, but nobody had the full picture.

2:54There needs to be an approach where there is ownership of a problem and ownership of a case like this by one organisation that can oversee and manage and coordinate and collate the information. And the Manchester United manager Michael Carrick says the club would consider appealing what he says was one of the worst decisions he's seen after Lissandro Martinez was sent off for tugging the ponytail of the lead striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin. The offence was deemed violent conduct, meaning Martinez will be suspended for three matches. It baffles me, it really does, because I don't know if that's the way we're going.

3:31As soon as you touch the back, he didn't even pull, he wasn't aggressive, he didn't jolt, he wasn't nothing like that. It was just to literally touch his hair. Come on, that's a red card then. The game's gone. Leeds 2-1 win means they are now six points above the Premier League's relegation zone. There's more on these stories throughout the day on Times Radio.

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