Morning briefing Tuesday 9th June

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 the Times Radio Morning News Briefing on Tuesday 9th June. Donald Trump says he's warned Benjamin Netanyahu he could end up fighting alone if Israel goes back to war with Iran.

0:45Israel responded to Iranian missile strikes on Sunday, which Iran said came in response to attacks on Lebanon. Mick Mulroy is a former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East under President Trump. He claims Tehran is failing to rein in Hezbollah. It just indicates to me that Iran does not want to see a seafarer. they think this economic war of attrition that they're waging with the strait, for example, is working. And they can see that the US has elections coming up. And this is an incredibly unpopular war. And it's likely only going to get worse by the time that a member rolls around.

1:21So to me, it looks like Iran simply is playing this out. Seven women have made accusations of sexually exploitative and predatory behavior by the billionaire owner of West Ham United Football club David Sullivan. A joint investigation by the Times and the BBC has unearthed allegations dating back to the 1980s. The Times investigation correspondent Charlotte Wace has been looking into the story for two years. Several who shared their accounts accused Sullivan of abusing his power to try and get models to have sex with him. One claimed he offered her preferential treatment if she would be one of his special friends.

1:56She says that when she refused his advances and tried to leave the bedroom. She says she found the door of the room they were in was locked. David Sullivan says he categorically denies all the allegations. He stepped down as West Ham's chairman at the weekend, saying he'll focus all his energy on fighting them. He said he won't be making further public comments at this stage and reserves all legal rights in relation to any false or defamatory allegations. The White House says a ban on social media for under-16s in the UK could harm freedom of speech. The government's expected to announce one next week as part of a push to improve online safety for children.

2:33Labour MP Tony Vaughan's told Times Radio he supports the measure. There is an issue about whether the technology is enough. I know in Australia they've got a ban but there's reports of children evading age verification but whether or not you have the rules is one question and the question of how you enforce it is another and I think we need to be ambitious with this. Kemi Baden-Ock's promising to remove identity politics from the public sector. She says a Conservative government would scrap rules which compel police officers, nurses and teachers to consider equality issues in their day-to-day work.

3:05An investigation started to try to work out what caused a major fire at a recycling centre in south-east London. Crews were called out in Bermondsey yesterday evening and have been at the scene overnight. And Ben Stokes' future as England captain is in doubt. The ECB has referred him and team-mate Gus Atkinson to cricket's independent regulator over a breach of team protocols. There are reports of an altercation in the nightclub yesterday morning, hours after their first test win over New Zealand. You can follow the Times Radio News Briefing on Spotify and listen live to Times Radio online. This episode of the Times Radio News Briefing is sponsored by PwC.

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4:47We'll be right back. McDonald's at FIFA World Cup 2026.