Morning briefing Wednesday 8th July

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 Wednesday the 8th of July. US forces have carried out a series of powerful strikes against Iran in retaliation for the targeting of tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.

0:47The attacks came just hours after Washington withdrew Tehran's license to sell oil, which was only issued last month following an interim ceasefire agreement. The strategic waterway remains a flashpoint in the fragile truce. Three civilian vessels were hit in the strait on Tuesday, the most in a single day since late April, according to the United Nations. General Jack Keane is a former US Army Vice Chief of Staff. Speaking to Times Radio, he accused Iran of having never committed to the memorandum of understanding. They are directing ships where to go, when to go, and if they go into the route that the United States has cleared, at times they're going to interfere and fire at them.

1:28That is not a ceasefire. We're heading towards a path of returning to the reality that the United States will have to open the Straits of Amooz forcibly if this activity continues. Parties across the political spectrum say they won't contest a by-election triggered by Nigel Farage after he said he would resign as the MP for Klaxon on Sea in protest at the scrutiny over unregistered donations of cash and support. The Reform UK leader said he would fight what he said would be a contest between the people and the establishment. In a statement, he insisted he's done nothing wrong and accused Westminster opponents of using sleaze investigations as a political tool.

2:09Speaking to Times Radio, the deputy leader of the Green Party, Rachel Millwood, said the by-election is a stunt that would only serve Farage's personal ambitions. I think he wanted to do it to kind of get six weeks of attention. And he wanted to somehow get ahead and do something dramatic and try and get attention and to kind of rally the troops again. And I think this will end up damaging him. Russian athletes could be allowed to represent their country at the 2028 Olympics. A ban was imposed following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but the International Olympic Committee says the punishment is no longer applicable.

2:4732 athletes from Russia and Belarus competed at the Paris Olympics two years ago as approved neutrals but the next Olympics in Los Angeles could see the return of their flags and anthems. Matt Lawton is the chief sports correspondent for the Times. He says that would be an insult to those Ukrainian athletes who are unable to pursue their Olympic dreams because of the ongoing war. I met a guy that was a high jumper who competed at the London Olympics and was actually back in Ukraine because his wife just had a baby and was given a few days leave before he returned to be an anti-aircraft gunner.

3:23This just seemed like another misstep by the people that we allow to run international sport. And Novak Djokovic remains on course for a record 25th Grand Slam singles title after coming through the longest ever Wimbledon quarterfinal against the third seed Felix Auger Aliassim. After five hours and 15 minutes, the 39-year-old Djokovic wrapped up the win just before the 11pm curfew. There's more on these stories throughout the day on Times Radio.

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