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Founder of Maternity Safety Alliance says recommendation in Amos report will not solve wider cultural problemsThe appointment of a national maternity commissioner would be “fundamentally dangerous”, a bereaved mother who founded a maternity safety campaign group has warned.Emily Barley, whose daughter Beatrice died because of failings at Barnsley hospital in 2022, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the recommendation for a maternity commissioner in England in the Amos review was “not going to do what we need to move maternity safety forwards”.Maternity triage services – the childbirth equivalent of A&E – need an urgent overhaul, including more staff on duty, so that women’s concerns are acted on more quickly.Families should get the right to seek a fresh, independent investigation when things go wrong if they are not happy with the hospital’s own inquiry.The NHS’s “brutal” and “cruel” system of agreeing compensation with harmed and bereaved families should be replaced by a new process in which hospitals admit errors immediately.The NHS must root out racism and discrimination that is “embedded throughout the maternity and neonatal system”. Continue reading...

Sonderling is filling in as acting secretary after Lori Chavez-DeRemer announced she was leaving in AprilDonald Trump announced he is nominating Keith Sonderling to serve as US secretary of labor, a role he is currently filling as acting secretary after Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s announced her departure in April.“It is my Great Honor to announce that I am nominating Keith E. Sonderling, the outstanding Acting United States Secretary of Labor, to be permanent,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Keith previously served as Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer and, during my First Term, worked at the U.S. Department of Labor as the Acting and Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.” Continue reading...

With more than a third of Welsh parliament seats, Reform MSs have caused tears and walkouts – and voted against their own partyTears, walkouts, own-goal votes: the Welsh parliament has only been sitting for a few weeks, but Reform UK has already made a dramatic first impression in its new role as the official Senedd opposition.Plaid Cymru won May’s historic Welsh elections, ending 100 years of Labour dominance and blocking the momentum of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, which came second. He had been aiming for it to become Wales’s biggest party but it still performed better than any Welsh Conservative result on record, and increased its vote share from 1% in 2021 to 29% in 2026. Continue reading...

• The chairman of the Doha International Center for Interdialogue (DICID) emphasized that dialogue is a strategic necessity for enhancing social cohesion and reducing divisions rooted in religion, identity, and culture. • Speaking in Nicosia, the chairman highlighted how these initiatives promote shared citizenship and peaceful coexistence by framing diversity as a source of human development and cultural enrichment. • This diplomatic push underscores Qatar's broader commitment to international mediation and the reduction of global social tensions.

• GlobalFoundries is expanding its Singapore operations to serve as a primary hub for "physical AI" hardware, focusing on robotics, autonomous systems, and AI-driven infrastructure. • The chipmaker is increasing its investment in manufacturing capacity and developing next-generation semiconductor technologies to support these emerging fields. • This strategic shift aims to capture the growing demand for specialized chips that bridge the gap between digital AI and physical machinery.

Civil service high-flyer caught up in Mandelson vetting row thought to be discussing comeback with Burnham’s teamThe Foreign Office chief who lost his job over the Peter Mandelson vetting scandal is in discussions with Andy Burnham’s team about taking on a security-related role under the likely new prime minister, the Guardian understands.Olly Robbins has had “early exploratory talks” with senior advisers to the newly elected Makerfield MP over a post in his putative Downing Street operation, and insiders suggested he could be appointed national security adviser. Continue reading...

Allies of Reeves lobby to keep her as chancellor as the ‘stable’ choice while Wes Streeting and Ed Miliband also in the pictureUK politics live – latest updatesRachel Reeves has given her support to Andy Burnham to be the next prime minister, despite reports that she is likely to be moved out of the role of chancellor if he becomes the next Labour leader.The chancellor told the BBC she and Burnham were friends and did not appear to rule out accepting a more junior cabinet position. “I’m supporting Andy to be prime minister,” she said. Continue reading...