All posts tagged: sacks

Politics Home | Keir Starmer Sacks Foreign Office Permanent Secretary Over Mandelson Vetting Row

Politics Home | Keir Starmer Sacks Foreign Office Permanent Secretary Over Mandelson Vetting Row

Published by Sam Flores

2 min read49 min The most senior civil servant in the Foreign Office is leaving his role over the Lord Mandelson vetting row. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper have lost confidence in Olly Robbins, who will be standing down as the department’s permanent secretary as a result, PoliticsHome understands. His departure comes after The Guardian reported on Thursday that Mandelson was appointed the UK ambassador to the US in 2024 despite failing his security vetting. No 10 later released a statement saying that the Foreign Office was responsible for the vetting process and went ahead with appointing Mandelson to the job in Washington despite the failure, without telling the Prime Minister or any other minister. Downing Street added that Starmer had been first made aware earlier this week. The Prime Minister is expected to make a statement to the House of Commons on Monday to correct previous statements he has made about the process by which Mandelson was appointed. He is expected to tell MPs that he did not unknowingly mislead Parliament when …

Reform UK Sacks Housing Spokesman Over 'Shameful' Grenfell Tragedy Comments

Reform UK Sacks Housing Spokesman Over 'Shameful' Grenfell Tragedy Comments

Published by Sam Flores

A view of the memorial wall by the remains of the Grenfell Tower after a fire in June, 2017, in London, Monday, Sept. 2, 2024, in which 72 people were killed. ((AP Photo/Kin Cheung) Reform UK has the party’s housing spokesman over his “disgraceful” comments about the Grenfell Tower tragedy. Nigel Farage said Simon Dudley no longer speaks for the party on the issue following a furious backlash. Dudley said “everyone dies in the end” and “fires happen” as he said there was now too much regulation in the building industry. A huge fire at the 24-storey west London tower block killed 72 people in 2017. The tragedy led to a major overhaul of building regulations to prevent it happening again. But in an interview with the trade publication Inside Housing, Dudley said the pendulum had “swung too far the wrong way”. He said the Grenfell fire was a “tragedy” but added: “Sadly, you know, everyone dies in the end. It’s just how you go, right?” Dudley went on: “Extracting Grenfell from the statistics, actually …

David Sacks is done as AI czar — here’s what he’s doing instead

David Sacks is done as AI czar — here’s what he’s doing instead

Published by skeptic

David Sacks has used up his days as Donald Trump’s AI and crypto czar. Speaking with Bloomberg on Thursday, the longtime entrepreneur, investor, and podcaster, confirmed that his non-consecutive 130-day stint as a special government employee is over and that he’s moving on to co-chair the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) alongside senior White House technology adviser Michael Kratsios.  “I think moving forward as co-chair of PCAST, I can now make recommendations on not just AI but an expanded range of technology topics,” he told Bloomberg via a video interview. “So yes, this is how I’ll be involved moving forward.” What that means in practice is Sacks will be much further from power center in Washington than since the outset of this second Trump administration. As AI czar, Sacks had a direct line to Trump and a hand in shaping policy. PCAST is a federal advisory body, so while it studies issues, produces reports, and sends recommendations up the chain, it doesn’t make policy. The council has existed in some form …

A Billionaire-Backed Startup Wants to Grow ‘Organ Sacks’ to Replace Animal Testing

A Billionaire-Backed Startup Wants to Grow ‘Organ Sacks’ to Replace Animal Testing

Published by skeptic

As the Trump administration phases out the use of animal experimentation across the federal government, a biotech startup has a bold idea for an alternative to animal testing: nonsentient “organ sacks.” Bay Area-based R3 Bio has been quietly pitching the idea to investors and in industry publications as a way to replace lab animals without the ethical issues that come with living organisms. That’s because these structures would contain all of the typical organs—except a brain, rendering them unable to think or feel pain. The company’s long-term goal, cofounder Alice Gilman says, is to make human versions that could be used as a source of tissues and organs for people who need them. For Immortal Dragons, a Singapore-based longevity fund that’s invested in R3, the idea of replacement is a core strategy for human longevity. “We think replacement is probably better than repair when it comes to treating diseases or regulating the aging process in the human body,” says CEO Boyang Wang. “If we can create a nonsentient, headless bodyoid for a human being, that …

Law Firm Sacks Hundreds of Employees Amid Pivot to AI

Law Firm Sacks Hundreds of Employees Amid Pivot to AI

Published by José Betancourt

Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins / Futurism. Source: Getty Images The Chicago based multinational law firm Baker McKenzie is laying off up to a thousand employees as part of its pivot to embracing AI, the legal hub RollOnFriday reports. In what might be an augury of how further AI related cuts could sweep other industries, it’s not the lawyers getting the axe, but instead hundreds of their support staff. These include “dozens of roles in London and Belfast,” and hundreds across functions including know-how, research, marketing, and secretarial, according to the reporting. The cuts, which could affect up to ten percent of its global workforce, or between 600 to 1,000 people, were conducted after the company “undertook a careful review” of its “business professionals functions,” a spokesperson told ROF, with AI explicitly mentioned as a factor in the decision. “This review was aimed at rethinking the ways in which we work, including through our use of AI, introducing efficiencies, and investing in those roles that best serve our clients’ needs,” the spokesperson added. The law firm’s …

Robert Jenrick defects to Reform after Tory leader Kemi Badenoch sacks him | Politics News

Robert Jenrick defects to Reform after Tory leader Kemi Badenoch sacks him | Politics News

Published by Sam Flores

Former senior Tory Robert Jenrick has defected to Reform UK after being sacked by Kemi Badenoch. The ex-Conservative leadership hopeful was dramatically ousted as shadow justice secretary and suspended from the Tory party on Thursday morning. Politics latest: Jenrick reveals why he defected There was instant speculation Mr Jenrick was defecting to Reform, but he remained quiet until moments before a Thursday afternoon Nigel Farage news conference, just posting on X: “It’s time for the truth.” Mr Farage then announced Mr Jenrick was defecting to Reform, although he said he did not know that was going to happen hours before, as he thanked Ms Badenoch for speeding up his defection. He welcomed Mr Jenrick to the stage, however, he did not appear straight away, and there were a few awkward minutes before he did. Image: Mr Jenrick and Mr Farage were all smiles The newest former Tory MP member of Reform then launched a scathing attack on the Tories, saying they “don’t have the stomach for the radical change this country needs”. He said both …

Kemi Badenoch Sacks Robert Jenrick Over Secret Plot To Defect To Reform UK

Kemi Badenoch Sacks Robert Jenrick Over Secret Plot To Defect To Reform UK

Published by Sam Flores

Britain’s Member of Parliament Kemi Badenoch right, shakes hands with losing candidate Robert Jenrick, left, after being elected as the new leader of the opposition Conservative Party, in London, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali) Kemi Badenoch has sacked Robert Jenrick from the shadow cabinet after it emerged he was plotting to defect to Reform UK. The Tory leader said she was “presented with clear, irrefutable evidence” that the shadow justice secretary was planning to jump ship to Nigel Farage’s party. Jenrick, who was defeated by Badenoch in the 2024 Conservative leadership contest, has also had his party membership suspended. Announcing the stunning move on X, she said: “I have sacked Robert Jenrick from the Shadow Cabinet, removed the whip and suspended his party membership with immediate effect. “I was presented with clear, irrefutable evidence that he was plotting in secret to defect in a way designed to be as damaging as possible to his Shadow Cabinet colleagues and the wider Conservative Party. “The British public are tired of political psychodrama and so am I. …

Gabon government sacks Aubameyang, suspends national team at AFCON 2025 | Africa Cup of Nations News

Gabon government sacks Aubameyang, suspends national team at AFCON 2025 | Africa Cup of Nations News

Published by Sam Flores

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and one other played banned after Gabon eliminated from Africa Cup of Nations group stage. Published On 1 Jan 20261 Jan 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Gabon’s government has suspended the national team, sacking  the coach and kicking star forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang off the squad in the wake of three defeats at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals. Gabon’s acting Sports Minister Simplice-Desire Mamboula on Wednesday announced the suspension ⁠of the national team on television after they finished last in their group and ​were eliminated from the tournament in Morocco. Recommended Stories list of 2 itemsend of list “Given the Panthers’ disgraceful ‍performance at the Africa Cup of Nations, the government has decided to dissolve the coaching staff, suspend the national team until further notice, and exclude players Bruno ‍Ecuele Manga ⁠and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang,” Mamboula said after a 3-2 loss to the Ivory Coast in Marrakesh. Gabon, coached by former defender Thierry Mouyouma, had already been eliminated after losing their opening pair of Group F fixtures to …