The 27-year-old woman was arrested on Thursday

A woman has been arrested as part of an attempted murder investigation after an officer was left seriously injured when he was hit by a stolen police car.

The 27-year-old woman was arrested on Thursday, June 11 on suspicion of assisting an offender following the incident which took place on Sunday, May 31, in the Co Down town of Downpatrick.

A PSNI spokesperson said: “Detectives investigating the attempted murder of a police officer in Downpatrick on Sunday, 31st May, have made an arrest.

“A woman aged 27, was arrested today, Thursday 11th June, on suspicion of assisting an offender and remains in police custody.”

Conor Carey, 36, of Glassheena Road in Downpatrick, appeared in court last week in connection with the incident. He has been charged with attempted murder. Carey is also charged with aggravated vehicle taking causing injury on the same date and driving without insurance. He has been remanded in custody.

Meanwhile, Kieran Turley, 27, from Vianstown Road in Downpatrick, also appeared at the town’s magistrates’ court charged with dangerous driving, driving while disqualified and using a motor vehicle with no insurance.

He was remanded in custody to appear in court again later in June.

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Deep in Book VII of Plato’s Republic, Socrates describes prisoners chained inside a cave, mistaking shadows cast on a wall by firelight for reality itself. They name the shadows, debate them and develop expertise about them. The prisoners are completely, sincerely wrong, and they have no idea. The cave isn’t a place of stupidity, it’s a place of convincing, well-organised illusion.

But Plato’s real interest wasn’t the cave, it was in the periagoge – a Greek word meaning the turning of the soul away from shadows and toward the light. For Plato, this was education itself: not the filling of an empty vessel with facts, but a fundamental reorientation of how a person relates to truth and how they come to know that truth.

The shadows persist but today they aren’t cast by firelight, they are generated by machines. Large language models (LLMs), image making and AI-powered search produce outputs that are fluent, confident and immediate.

But here’s the crucial difference from Plato’s original problem, his shadows were at least connected to something real. What AI produces is different in that a language model has no built-in commitment to truth, only a statistical relationship to an enormous quantity of text. When it tells you something, it isn’t reporting, it’s composing.

The outputs can be correct. But they can also be wrong in ways that are structurally indistinguishable from being right. The shadow no longer flutters on a cave wall, it speaks now, and sometimes it speaks beautifully.

This is why periagoge – turning towards the light – matters more now than ever and why AI threatens it so quietly. Knowledge isn’t merely true belief, it’s true belief held for the right reasons, connected to the world through justification, evidence and process.

AI disrupts this at the root. It is useful precisely because it decouples output quality from the slow, demanding work of verification. You don’t need to consult a primary source, triangulate between perspectives, or sit with the discomfort of not yet knowing.

Bypassing learning

GenAI poses many problems for learning. When an AI hands us an answer, we risk bypassing the process through which learning happens. We’ve received a product that looks like knowledge from the outside but is hollow at its core, it’s a shadow that convinces us of something we haven’t actually understood.

GenAI doesn’t just help us think. It thinks instead of us. And there’s growing evidence it’s making us measurably worse at doing it ourselves.

The philosopher Miranda Fricker identified a harm she called “epistemic injustice”, the wrong done when someone is denied the tools to make sense of their own experience. Writing in 2007, she couldn’t have imagined the form that harm might take two decades later.

What we risk now is something adjacent but distinct: epistemic atrophy. Not the theft of knowledge, but the slow erosion of our willingness and capacity to undertake the more demanding work of understanding what is real. In other words, the capacity to ask: how do you know? And the instinct to distrust the fluent answer, and the patience to sit with the discomfort of not-yet-knowing, which is where all the real learning begins.

These capacities can’t be downloaded. They’re built slowly, through exactly the kinds of tasks that AI now makes it easiest to skip, and scientific studies are catching up with what educators already sense. A landmark MIT Media Lab study tracked a group of students writing essays variously with ChatGPT, a search engine, or nothing at all.

Those using LLMs showed the weakest brain connectivity of all three groups, cognitive activity scaled down in direct relation to how much was outsourced. Most couldn’t recall what they’d just written and yet the task was completed. But fundamentally, the learning never happened.

Worse still, the cognitive habits don’t automatically reset. Once we hand the thinking over, our brains don’t automatically take it back. By the end of 2025, a RAND survey of 1200 students found two-thirds believed AI was harming their critical thinking. The students themselves can feel what’s happening to them.

The most important thing educators teach has never been content. It has always been periagoge, the reorientation of the whole person toward truth and the willingness to be wrong, to revise, to trace an idea back to its roots and ask whether it holds.

If we design our curricula, our assessments and our institutions around the assumption that the output is what matters – the essay, the answer, the finished product – then we are not educating.

Plato’s escaped prisoner, having seen the sun, returns to warn the others. They don’t thank him. They find him disorienting, probably dangerous, certainly annoying. In their minds, the shadows they trust are sharper than any daylight he can describe.

Today, the cave is still the cave, but the chains are more comfortable than ever, and the shadows have learned to speak. The question now is whether we are still teaching people to turn around and face the light.

The closures are blamed on customers ‘shifting towards mobile services’

Eight Greater Manchester branches are among nearly 250 banks that are due to close in 2026 as the major banks continue their withdrawal from the high street.

By the start of this month, 138 banks had closed across the UK in 2026. June is set to be the most destructive month so far, with 82 branches due to close this month alone, and more to follow throughout the year.

In total, closure dates have been fixed for 245 branches of the major banks by the end of this year. That includes eight Greater Manchester banks – four in Manchester, two in Trafford, and one each in Rochdale and Tameside.

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Three of those branches closed this month, with the Halifax branch on Wilmslow Road, Didsbury, scheduled to shut today (Wednesday, June 10).

The Lloyds branch in Stamford New Road, Altrincham, was expected to close yesterday (Tuesday, June 9), and the Halifax in Ashton-under-Lyme at the start of this month. All the other closures took place earlier in the year.

You can check whether your local branch is due to close using our interactive map.

The closures affect every part of the UK, with 31 branches due to shutter in Scotland, 16 in Wales, and four in Northern Ireland, with the rest spread across England.

Lloyds customers have been hardest hit, with 82 Lloyds branches already shut or scheduled to close this year, along with 43 branches of Halifax and 28 branches of Bank of Scotland.

That comes after Lloyds Banking Group announced it would close 166 branches in 2026 and 2027, including branches of Halifax, Bank of Scotland, and Lloyds Bank.

The decision was blamed on customers shifting away from in-person banking to using mobile services. Meanwhile, Santander is closing 54 branches this year, and NatWest is closing 35 banks.

Since February 2022, when all major banking groups committed to a voluntary agreement to assess the impact of each closure, a total of 2,167 branches have either shut down or announced plans to close – an average of nearly 10 closures each week.

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The LINK initiative was established to scrutinise each closure. When closures leave communities without any local bank, banking hubs or free ATMs are set up to fill the gap. So far, LINK has recommended the opening of 277 bank hubs.

In May, the Government announced an independent review into access to banking, to be led by Richard Lloyd, the ex-Director General of Which? and the former interim Chair of the Financial Conduct Authority.

As part of the review, Mr Lloyd has launched a consultation on the impact of branch closures and their implications for the future.Currently, closure assessments focus on cash access and the potential gap left by a branch closure.

But this assessment could be extended to include access to banking, which could mean recommending new banking hubs at branches that have already been assessed for closure, as well as at future sites.

Experts believe the previous commitment of 350 hubs could increase to 550 if these changes are implemented.

Nick Quin, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, LINK, said: “More people are choosing to bank and pay for things digitally. Many people rely entirely on their smartphones when they leave the home, and don’t carry cash or even a wallet.

“That means cash use is falling too, but it remains critical, and over £76bn was withdrawn from LINK cash machines last year.

“Whenever a bank branch does close, LINK will assess the impact to see if additional cash services are required. We’re committed to protecting the cash infrastructure for the millions of people who still rely on it.”

The United States flag appeared to be met with loud boos and jeers before the opening game of the World Cup in Mexico City.

Ahead of the big kick-off between Mexico and South Africa, the flags of all 48 teams participating in this summer’s tournament were paraded onto the pitch.

The final three flags to take to the pitch were those of the three North American co-hosts, the United States, Canada and Mexico.

However, there was a marked change in atmosphere when the United States were introduced and their flag was displayed on the stadium’s big screen.

From jubilant roars, the noise of the crowd shifted, with loud boos audible as the flag of the United States was brought forward.

There were then further cheers as the attention quickly turned to Mexico flag, ahead of the start of the co-host’s match at the iconic Azteca Stadium.

The United States will host 78 of the 104 games during this World Cup, three times more than Mexico and Canada combined.

The build-up to the 48-team tournament has been marked with several controversies, most of which involve the United States and president Donald Trump.

Notably, the United States launched strikes against Iran, one of the participating teams, in February.

José Mourinho is set for a sensational return to Real Madrid, 13 years after his initial departure from the Spanish footballing powerhouse.

The club announced on Thursday that the Portuguese coach has signed a three-year contract, with his second tenure officially commencing on 13 July, coinciding with the start of preseason training.

Mourinho’s first spell at the Bernabéu, from 2010 to 2013, was characterised by a managerial style that was both undeniably successful and deeply polarising.

While he guided Madrid to a Spanish league title and a Copa del Rey crown, his time is perhaps more vividly recalled for his confrontational personality, which reportedly fractured his own squad and alienated many beyond the most ardent supporters, alongside a significant portion of the local media.

He now faces the formidable task of inheriting an underperforming team and rejoining a club currently in disarray.

Real Madrid have endured a two-year drought without a major title, despite the high-profile presence of superstar striker Kylian Mbappé.

This season alone has seen the club cycle through two coaches, Xabi Alonso and Álvaro Arbeloa, highlighting the instability Mourinho is tasked with addressing.

Mourinho’s return had been expected after president Florentino Perez was re-elected.

Upon winning, Perez said: “We have won the elections and will continue working to keep winning titles.

“I am still here and I am here to defend Real Madrid. We will continue working so that Real Madrid keeps winning titles, and we will fight until the end to achieve the 16th European Cup. We will continue to take pride in the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, the best stadium in the world.

“Proud to have the best players in the world, proud to welcome back one of the best coaches in the world, a Madridista like Jose Mourinho. And rest assured, with me as president, Real Madrid has been, is, and will always remain owned by its members.”

The YPI National Event 2026, held at Perth Concert Hall, brought together more than 1,100 young people, educators, third-sector leaders, charities, and funding partners.

Pupils from Firpark Secondary School in Motherwell joined more than 1,100 young people, educators, charities and third-sector leaders at Perth Concert Hall for the YPI National Event 2026 – Scotland’s largest celebration of youth philanthropy.

The YPI National Event 2026, held at Perth Concert Hall, brought together more than 1,100 young people, educators, third-sector leaders, charities, and funding partners.

The event, delivered by The Wood Foundation, marked another successful year of the Youth and Philanthropy Initiative (YPI) operating across all 32 Scottish local authorities, with £840,000 directed to grassroots charities in the past 12 months alone.

Representatives from ten local authorities presented on the day, each championing a different charity and cause – from homelessness and domestic abuse to dementia and mental health. These were not issues they had simply read about.

They were causes these young people had engaged with directly: visiting charities, speaking with service users, and conducting months of research before competing to direct a £3,000 grant to the organisation they believed in most.

YPI, delivered and principally funded by The Wood Foundation, has operated since 2008 on a straightforward but ambitious premise: that young people are not simply burdened by Scotland’s deepest challenges, they are ready to lead on solutions to them now. The programme asks secondary school pupils to research the social issues affecting their own communities, identify the charities working to address them, and compete to direct real funding, placing genuine trust and responsibility in their hands.

Keynote speaker Dee Bleakley drew a direct line between the confidence and skills developed through programmes like YPI and the civic leadership Scotland needs from the next generation.

Attendees were also treated to music from sea shanty sensation Nathan Evans and acclaimed musical duo SAINT PHNX, who debuted their new track ‘Home’ ahead of Scotland’s World Cup campaign.

Lizbeth Paul, YPI Director at The Wood Foundation, said: “Our communities thrive when young people are given the platform to lead, and the National Event proved exactly that.

“By immersing themselves in youth advocacy, these young people have shown immense social action and a profound commitment to supporting those in need. The real power of YPI lies in the lifelong skills it builds.

“By tackling local social issues head-on, these young people are preparing themselves with the vision and determination required to lead our country through its greatest challenges in the years ahead.”

Sarah Chew, CEO at The Wood Foundation, added: “At a pivotal time when stimulating good advocacy in our young people is vital YPI offers a new model.

“One that starts in the classroom, reaches into communities, and asks young people not what they think about Scotland’s problems, but what they intend to do about them. When given the platform and the support, they are more than ready to answer.”

Since launching in Scotland in 2008, YPI has seen more than 430,000 young people across all 32 local authorities take responsibility for directing a cumulative £9.3 million to grassroots charities.

Many have gone on to carry that civic responsibility into their adult lives as volunteers, advocates, donors, and community leaders.

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Coronation Street fans are worried that actress Sydney Martin is about to leave her role as Betsy Swain on the ITV soap after two years of melodramatic twists and turns

Coronation Street fans are worried that Betsy Swain is about to leave the ITV soap. The Speed Daal waitress, who has been played by Sydney Martin since 2024, has been through an awful lot during her two years in Weatherfield.

Just over a year ago, Betsy lost boyfriend Mason in a knife attack, was then shot by her own mother DS Lisa Swain, who faced no consequences for her actions, and was landed in a freak situation when her other mother Becky came back from the dead, having faked it as part of a corrupt police coverup.

Following on from all that drama , Betsy recently discovered a dead body that turned out to be that of Theo Silverton (James Cartwright) at the end of the much-hyped Murder Week.

In scenes set to air in the coming days, Betsy confides in best friend Laure (Cait Fitton) that she’s been offered a place at the London College of Fashion but she’s worried about leaving Dylan. It’s yet to be seen just how Dylan will react and, on top of that, Betsy explains that she is yet to inform her mother.

Fans of the world’s longest-running TV soap have instantly started to speculate that Sydney, who appeared in Assassin’s Guild before joining Coronation Street, is set to make a dramatic exit from the ITV soap.

Taking to X, one fan said: “betsy off to london? [sad face emoji],” whilst another posted a picture of Carla, Lisa and Betsy and said: “Don’t spilt them up please #corrie I think Lisa will take this hard and Carla will help both Betsy and Lisa to see it from each others perspective.

Another said: “You can just imagine Carla saying something like oh you’ll be fine Betsy in London I could tell you stories about what me and Michelle got up to, and Betsy saying something like and even to this day they involve the police.”

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Another wondered if this meant some sort of spin-off was on the cards. In the past, the programme has done various spin-offs such as Just Rosie, which followed Rosie Webster (Helen Flanagan) on her quest for a modelling career, whilst a string of DVD releases like A Knight’s Tale and Out Of Africa were issued in the late 2000s.

Posing the theory, the fan wrote on X: “Is there any indication that Betsy going to London could be a limited summer off-shoot series like Hollyoaks Later where all the teens shared a summer house (obviously without the serial killer). But it will be Betsy’s adventures in the big city?”

It all comes after actress Sydney Martin, 24, was revealed to have been cast in a short film titled Favourite earlier this year. Filmmaker Georgia Leigh-Taylor said: “I’m so thrilled to announce the incredible Sydney Martin and the brilliant Isabelle Smith will be playing Mel and Ashley in my upcoming short film called Favourite.

“After graduating from the same acting school, Sydney and Izzy have both been working professionally in television since 2024, building exciting careers for themselves, taking on powerful storylines, and earning well-deserved recognition.

“Favourite is a dual-timeline drama exploring the lives of best friends Mel and Ashley both as teenagers, and as adults.”

Coronation Street airs Monday to Friday at 8:30pm on ITV1 and is available to stream from 7am on ITV X.

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This is the heroic teacher stabbed during a triple knife attack at a high school in Blackley. Counter terrorism police have now taken charge of the investigation, Greater Manchester Police confirmed on Thursday evening (June 11), although it hasn’t been classified as a terrorist incident ‘at this time’.

Courageous Maysum Abdullah, 27, sustained a neck wound in the horrifying episode at Co-op Academy Manchester on Plant Hill Road in Blackley on Tuesday morning (June 9).

He dashed to shield pupils as the school went into lockdown following reports of a student armed with a knife. The youngster was swiftly ‘detained’ by staff, according to school authorities.

Three individuals were injured. A 14 year old girl sustained shoulder injuries; a 14 year old boy suffered ear injuries; and Mr Abdullah received wounds to his neck and hand, reports the Manchester Evening News.

All three are now recuperating at home. None of the injuries were considered serious.

A 14 year old schoolgirl was arrested on suspicion of Section 18 assault, before being sectioned under the Mental Health Act. She has since been returned to police custody following evaluation by healthcare professionals.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the Co-Op Academies Trust, which operates the school, said it was ‘incredibly proud’ of the ‘swift’ and ‘brave’ actions of their staff to ‘quickly detain’ the student. On Thursday, GMP announced that ‘as a result of further enquiries, Counter Terrorism Policing North West have now taken primacy for the investigation with the support of Greater Manchester Police’.

“Searches relating to the investigation remain ongoing and counter terrorism detectives are keeping an open mind to the motivation of the attack,” a statement added.

“At this time, it has not been declared as a terrorist incident.”

The officer leading the investigation disclosed that ‘further information has come to light’, which the force has ‘made Counter Terrorism Policing North West aware of’.

Mr Abdullah, speaking to the Manchester Evening News while recuperating at home with his wife, said he was still ‘trying to process’ what had happened and requested privacy. He consented to his name being published, along with a photograph.

His wife Saima previously posted on TikTok to express gratitude for the support received after the incident. She said: “[On Tuesday] I received the devastating news that my husband had been stabbed whilst trying to protect pupils from a serious knife attack in his classroom.

“No one ever expects to receive a phone call telling them that their loved one has been taken to the hospital after being stabbed. I am grateful that his injuries were not life threatening. The wound on his neck and his hand have been treated, however these physical wounds are only part of what our family is now facing.

“My husband entered teaching to make a positive difference in young people’s lives and he is truly a hero for protecting and safeguarding those children.

“Our prayers are with the other two pupils who also suffered injuries and to all the students and staff who witnessed such a traumatic event.

“Thank you to all colleagues, family, friends, hospital staff, the police and members of the community for their support, kindness and wishes during this difficult time.”

Chief Superintendent David Meeney, Commander for Manchester, spoke out about the incident, stating: “Our local detectives have been investigating this incident at pace ever since we arrested a schoolgirl suspect on Tuesday morning. She remains in custody in Manchester.

“This has included ensuring the suspect is checked by health professionals to make an assessment while under the Mental Health Act, and to explore all available evidence to understand why this incident took place.

“Since our last update, further information has come to light that we have made Counter Terrorism Policing North West aware of.

“I know this update will only continue to make our local community concerned by Tuesday’s events. There is no information to indicate any further threat, and our local officers continue to be in the area. We are here to listen and to act, so please speak to our officers with any concerns.”

In a statement released on Tuesday, the Co-op Academies Trust, which oversees the school, said: “Shortly after the start of the school day, an incident occurred on site involving a pupil with a knife.

“The school was immediately placed into lockdown, and staff acted bravely to quickly detain a student before emergency services arrived.

“Greater Manchester Police arrested the student, who remains in custody. Police have confirmed this was an isolated incident with no wider threat to the public.

“Three people, two pupils and a member of staff sustained injuries. They were taken to hospital as a precautionary measure, where they are in a stable condition with injuries not believed to be serious. We are incredibly proud of the swift actions of our staff and the mature response of our pupils.

“While our policies outline strict screening and search powers in line with Department for Education guidance, weapons can unfortunately be small and easily concealed without prior indicators. We had no reason to conduct a search on any student this morning.”

Jody Riley said she was ‘mid panic attack, when nursery staff told her someone had walked away with her daughter

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A distraught mum experienced ‘every parent’s worst nightmare’, when she was told a stranger had collected her child from nursery.

Jody Riley, 37, was working when she received the call from her daughter Rosie McDonald’s nursery, Kids Planet Crosby.

She said: “My phone rang at around 2.20pm and it took awhile for the staff member to tell me what had happened, but she eventually told me somebody had picked Rosie up and they were still investigating it.

“They let me know she was back at the nursery safe and everything felt like a blur from there. I had a panic attack and I had to try and calm myself down to go and get her.

“Getting that call is every parent’s worst nightmare and I feel like I’ve had a taste of what that is like now.”

Jody said she was told it was another child’s grandad who had picked up her sleeping two-year-old Rosie and driven away with her for at least 10 minutes before the mistake was noticed, reports the Liverpool Echo.

She said: “Rosie is a light sleeper and wakes up when you pick her up so I’ve just been trying to piece everything together because none of it makes much sense to me.

“I don’t understand how he was able to get through two security doors, enter the toddler room, pick up my sleeping child, and then leave the building, strap her into his car and drive off with her without anyone noticing it wasn’t his child.”

Jody and her partner Gary McDonald, 40, are both business owners and normally pick Rosie up from nursery at either 3pm or 5pm.

Jody explained when she collects Rosie, facial recognition technology is used to let her in and then she has to knock on the toddler room in order to collect her daughter.

She said: “You have to walk past the office and they tell you where your child is.

“Apparently his granddaughter was downstairs in the nursery garden so I don’t understand how this has happened or how he’s been able to walk out of the room with no one stopping him or seeing who had picked her up.

“By the time I got to the nursery she was upstairs, back in the room and when they brought her down to see me she was shouting ‘mummy’ and wrapping her arms around me.

“You could just tell she knew something had happened and it definitely wouldn’t have been nice for her because she’s really clingy with me and her dad.”

Jody said she is still waiting for a lot of questions to be answered on how the incident was allowed to happen.

She said: “The staff were shook up and couldn’t apologise enough but they didn’t have any answers for me.

“At that stage I was still mid panic attack and in shock so I wasn’t asking all the questions I could because I just wanted to see my daughter.

“Obviously I knew she was safe which was the main thing, but in a situation like that you start to worry about everything. I just kept thinking about how long she was missing for before either the nursery or the man noticed and I wouldn’t wish that feeling on anyone.

“I barely slept last night and I feel like the more I process it and the more it sinks in the more questions I have. I still can’t figure it out.”

READ MORE: Scots girl, 7, in hospital after council flat ceiling collapses on top of her

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Jody said Rosie won’t be returning to the nursery and she would be looking after her full-time for the foreseeable future.

She said: “She’d only been there for a few months because we really struggled getting her a nursery place. Trying to balance work with looking after her will impact me massively because I won’t be able to get her into another nursery now until at least September.

“At the minute I just want to keep her with me at all times because even though she’s fine and happy, I feel so shaken up. “

A spokesperson for Kids Planet, said: “We can confirm that an incident occurred at our Crosby setting in which a child was mistakenly released to a grandparent who is known to staff, has passed all required security vetting and who is an approved collector for a different child, who was also onsite at the time.

“The child was returned safely to the nursery within minutes, and we are in direct continuous contact with the families involved to offer our sincere apologies and to provide ongoing support while a full investigation takes place.

“The safety and wellbeing of the children in our care is our highest priority, and we take this unprecedented matter extremely seriously, which is why we have implemented immediate measures including supervised working for the team and additional security protocols, as well as working to revise our policies and training.

“In line with our safeguarding procedures, we have made immediate self-referrals to Ofsted and the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) and are cooperating fully with both organisations.

“As this remains an active investigation, we are currently unable to offer further comment.”