Andy Burnham has said an £8.4 billion investment in nuclear submarines will bolster UK security and jobs in his latest policy announcement.

Keir Starmer’s government actually agreed this funding as part of the £15 billion uplift for the UK’s defence and nuclear budget in the Defence Investment Plan.

But Burnham is suggesting this money will help “reindustrialise” Britain by supporting apprenticeships and jobs.

He said: “Security is not only about what we build, it is about who builds it, and who benefits from it.

“The submarines produced in Barrow will protect Britain for decades to come, and the 47,000 jobs and apprenticeships will change lives both in this town and in dozens of places like it.

“British money, spent on British workers, British firms and British skills, in the places that were written off for 40 years.”

The project will look at replacing existing nuclear submarines and getting them ready for service.

Defence secretary Wes Streeting said: “Our nuclear-armed submarines are essential to keeping the UK secure, acting as the ultimate deterrent to our adversaries in an increasingly dangerous world.

“This milestone investment breathes new life into Barrow’s historic traditions and secures our commitment to deliver Dreadnought Class submarines by backing British industry.

“Supporting thousands of skilled, local jobs, we are fusing Barrow’s proud heritage with modern technology to build our security for the future, supporting the next generation to keep our country safe as their parents and grandparents did.”

Burnham has made delivering “security and growth in every postcode” central to his mission to help tackle the cost of living.

The prime minister will be visiting Barrow-in-Furness on Thursday to unveil a new BAE apprentice scheme which will train 30 apprentices over the next three years.

The prime minister previously suggested it was time to put a nuclear deterrent at the centre of a reindustrialised Britain.

Questions over whether the Burnham government still intend to spend 3% of GDP (gross domestic product) on defence by 2030 remain, though.

The prime minister dodged the query on Wednesday during his announcement on social care and instead promised to honour Nato’s goal of reach 3.5% of GDP on defence by 2035.

Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge said while this was a “re-announcement of funding previously confirmed in the DIP” it was still welcomed by the Tories.

However, the party pointed out that Burnham is adding to the uncertainty by failing to commit to the 3% target.

The Liberal Democrats also supported the announcement but warned more needed to be done to help the military sector.

Defence spokesperson James MacCleary said: “Our nuclear deterrent is the ultimate guarantor of Britain’s national security.

“The prime minister is right to focus on securing its next generation, but he can’t turn a blind eye to the damage done to the rest of our military by years of Conservative negligence and cuts.

“With [Vladimir] Putin expanding his aggression and an unreliable partner in the White House, we need to invest properly in the regeneration of our Army, Navy and Air Force.

“This is a real missed opportunity for Andy Burnham to have heeded Liberal Democrat calls for defence bonds, and raise dedicated funding to rebuild capabilities across the whole of the Armed Forces.”

Reform UK’s Danny Kruger accused Burnham of focusing on “press releases instead of strategic decisions”.

“This rehashed spending plan does nothing to address the crisis in the UK’s nuclear programme, which needs vision, grip, and sustained funding – not a re-announcement to plug a gap in the new PM’s summer grid,” the MP said.

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Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey was partly inspired by translator and classical studies professor Emily Wilson’s version of the millennia-old poem.

But writing in the London Review of Books, Wilson, while flattered, didn’t seem as keen on his interpretation.

She said that while she was “humbled” the director had cited her version of the first line of the poem, “Tell me about a complicated man,” she added she’d “be ashamed to have written any part of this script”.

According to Wilson, the film had “nothing convincing to say about time, memory, history, war, or about the relationship between one warrior’s glorious return and the lives of his family, adversaries, comrades, friends and neighbours”.

So, despite calling the blockbuster an “event to celebrate” and lauding its director for “doing his best to get the general public reading again”, it’s safe to say most people have read Wilson’s review as pretty scathing.

Author Joyce Carol Oates seems to have been one of them – but she had harsh words for the translator herself on X.

The writer, known for her sometimes-controversial social media posts, wrote: “[Wilson’s] tone of dismissal [and] haughty superiority strike a sour note. rather than disagreeing with interpretations of Homer in a collegial manner, this person, who has benefited enormously from Nolan’s film, speaks in the crude language of MAGA folks attacking someone with ideas that differ from hers.

“Within the world of translators this seems all the more surprising since all translations are, presumably, subjective [and] not equivalent to the original text. One would expect a translator, of all people, beholden to a text, in service to a text, to be just a wee bit more thoughtful [and] respectful of others who are acting in good faith just as (she would claim) she is.”

In her London Review of Books entry, Wilson had also written: “The writing is abysmal. None of the characters has a convincing motivation for their actions or words. There are no sex scenes, and all the food looks horrible.”

Speaking to Empire previously, Nolan had listed Wilson’s translation among his sources of inspiration for the record-breaking film.

In the first weeks after giving birth to my daughter, I thought I was losing it – mostly because every time I’d have a shower, I would hear her cry.

I’d dash out of the shower and rush into our bedroom – traipsing shampoo and wet footprints across the carpet – and find our baby in her bedside crib, silent as a mouse, her tiny chest rising and falling, her eyes clamped shut.

I experienced this for months and months. I don’t recall exactly when it stopped, but it was probably about the three to four months mark.

And it turns out I’m definitely not alone in my experience. It’s very much A Thing.

Mothers have reported hearing phantom cries in the shower, but also throughout the night and while their baby is napping. You could be in another room doing the ironing and swear you hear them cry, only to find them fast asleep in their Moses basket.

Like many things involving women – and indeed, mothers – it’s not particularly well-researched, but doctors insist it’s a pretty normal occurrence that happens after having a baby.

Dr Kiran Rahim, a paediatric doctor, told HuffPost UK: “Phantom crying is a fairly common phenomenon experienced by most mothers. Whilst we don’t fully understand it, we do know that having a baby changes the brain cells and the neural connections in a mother’s brain.”

And this probably has a lot to do with why we’re hearing sounds that aren’t there all of a sudden.

As Megan Gray, an ob-gyn with Orlando Health Physician Associates, told Popsugar: “It most likely has to do with a highly stimulated maternal brain that is being wired to be cued by baby’s cries, leading to a heightened awareness to sound.”

Similar changes occur in dads’ brains as well, but likely on a lesser scale, according to Robert Froemke, associate professor at New York University Langone.

On top of that, our brains are adapting to some pretty big life changes. We’re no longer sleeping properly, we’re on high alert trying to keep a baby alive, our routines and lifestyle choices (exercise, eating a healthy diet, self-care) have been completely thrown out of the window.

“In those first few months of having a new baby, some of these connections in the brain can get a bit criss-crossed so that you hear crying, when in fact, your baby is asleep,” suggested Dr Rahim.

“Most parents are in a ‘permanent’ state of stress in the early days which wears the body down and places parents in a ‘hyper alert’ state, perpetually ready to respond to even the slightest stress.”

Phantom crying is also – in the most unsurprising news ever – linked to sleep deprivation and postnatal mental health, particularly anxiety and depression, according to Dr Rahim.

“Up to one in five women develop postnatal mental health problems, so phantom crying is more common than we might think,” she said.

The good news is that generally it settles after three to six months, as parents ease into their new normal.

But if you’re experiencing a lot of phantom crying, it might be worth making some changes. For instance, can you get extra help with the night feeds and nappy changes so you can get some more sleep?

And if phantom cries are affecting your day-to-day life, it’s well worth speaking to a professional – whether that’s a midwife, GP or therapist – who can offer further support.

Travellers heading to Mexico have been warned to take precautions to reduce their risk of picking up a nasty, explosive diarrhoea infection.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has noted a “sharp rise” in cyclospora infections among travellers returning to the UK from Mexico.

The health body said 67 cases have been reported in returning travellers between 30 April and 15 July this year – of these, 48 had travelled to Mexico.

As a result, it’s urging holidaymakers to maintain good food and water hygiene while abroad.

You might’ve seen headlines in the news about an explosive diarrhoea outbreak sweeping the United States. Per the BBC, more than 18,000 people may have been infected – with Michigan hit hardest.

Cyclospora is a parasite that causes explosive diarrhoea. Contaminated food – especially herbs, salad and soft fruit – are common sources of outbreaks and infections.

The UKHSA noted that cyclospora doesn’t naturally occur in the UK and there is no risk of spread from person to person.

If you do happen to consume something that’s contaminated with the parasite, symptoms of infection can include frequent (and sometimes explosive) watery diarrhoea, abdominal cramping, bloating, nausea, flatulence, low-grade fever, loss of appetite and weight loss.

While cyclosporiasis is usually mild and most people improve typically in a few days without any treatment, infections can be more serious or prolonged in people who are immunocompromised. In this instance, antibiotics may be needed.

The UKHSA said it anticipates a rise in travel-associated cases linked to increased summer travel to Mexico and a potential increase in cases linked to travel to the USA, where a widespread outbreak has also been reported.

Dr Philip Veal, consultant in travel health at UKHSA, said travellers to Mexico and other areas where the infection is more common can reduce their risk by “following good food and water hygiene measures, including drinking bottled water and eating thoroughly cooked food, even when staying in high-end all-inclusive resorts”.

“We also advise avoiding certain foods such as fresh uncooked berries and herbs, unpeeled fruit and salad items,” he added.

If you develop symptoms after returning from travel, seek medical attention and inform your healthcare provider of your travel history, the expert advised.