Afternoon briefing Monday 18th November

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See tomorrow, clearly, with big-picture banking. To read the survey results and gain valuable insights that could support your business, visit BarclaysCorporate.com. This is the Times' afternoon briefing for Monday, 18th November. The Kremlin has criticized a Washington's decision to authorize the Ukrainian use of American-supplied long-range missiles to attack targets within Russia, saying it will herald a new round of tension.

President Biden's intervention could see the weapons used initially in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops have launched an incursion into Russian territory, and where Moscow has bolstered its defenses with troops from North Korea. The Shadow Defense Secretary James Cartlidge says it will raise expectations in Ukraine that the UK will extend the mission for its Storm Shadow missiles to be employed by Kyiv. Mr. Cartlidge says North Korea's presence in Western Russia is an escalatory development.

Strategically, that is a very significant development. It's escalatory by any measure. And in those circumstances, when we remember that Russia is the aggressor, an unprovoked legal invasion, it is right that we do or we can to support Ukraine. The authorities in the Ukrainian city of Sumi say 11 people, including two children, have been killed in a Russian strike on a residential building overnight.

Ukraine's first lady, Olayna Zelenska, described the attack as a strike against the very concepts of humanity, and a Russian strike on a desert has killed eight people. Two metropolitan police officers have each been charged with four counts of sexual assault against a woman in central London while they were off duty. PCs Jerome Beasley, who's 41 and 39-year-old Luke Robinson are both currently suspended from duty.

The Education Secretary says she's trying to handle the conversation around the assisted dying vote in a responsible way, as she indicated she will not support the latest bill. Speaking to Times Radio, Bridget Phillips said she has not changed her mind since voting against previous proposed legislation in 2015. A number of Cabinet members have stated their voting intentions ahead of the debate on the 29th of November, with the Health Secretary West treating facing criticism for his comments.

It's a free vault for MPs who will decide how to vault in line with their conscience. It's a matter for individual members of Parliament. When this matter was lost in front of Parliament in 2015, I vaulted against and my position hasn't changed. The Education Secretary has also told Times Radio that the government will crack down on care providers making excessive profit when she announces reforms to children's social care.

The overhaul will enable the Education Watchdog Offstead to investigate those companies running multiple children's homes and requiring councils to establish multi-agency safeguarding teams. Bridget Phillipsen said it's unacceptable that local government spending on looked after children has increased by more than 100 per cent since 2009 to £7 billion in 2022-23.

And the Premier League footballer, Rodrigo Bentancur, has been banned for seven matches by the Football Association for using a racial slur about his Tottenham teammates, Son Hyung Min. Bentancur was charged by the FA in September for comments he made about the South Korean player, while appearing on TV in his home country of Uruguay. You can follow the Times news briefing on Spotify, and you can listen live to Times Radio online.