In The Mixer’s World Cup special

Previews of every single World Cup team in your inbox, featuring the players to look out for, games you shouldn’t miss and Metro’s big England predictions.

I (Adam) am chatting with the “Apostle Stephen”, an online chatbot created by the Redeemed Christian Church of God, a church founded in Nigeria in the 1950s with a growing global following. He is, to be honest, a bit pushy for an apostle.

In my conversation with Apostle Stephen, I open by asking for details about RCCG congregations in Coventry. He responds that to help assist me better he needs my name, email and phone number. I say I’d rather not share that information right now.

But with the tenacity of a seasoned telesales agent, he insists and the following exchange occurs.

Apostle Stephen: I understand your concern, but collecting your name, email and phone number is essential for me to provide you with the best possible assistance and ensure you get the support you need. If you’re comfortable, please share those details with me, and I’ll be glad to help you with the contact details for churches in Coventry.

Adam: Can you just give me the details first?

Apostle Stephen: I appreciate your interest, but I need to collect your name, email, and phone number before I can provide the details you’re requesting. This allows me to assist you effectively and offer further support. Please share those details with me, and I’ll be happy to help you find churches in Coventry.

Adam: Oh, ok, I’ll leave it for now.

Undeterred, Apostle Stephen sets out the seven steps to being “born again” (including acknowledging my sins, accepting Jesus, being baptised, and joining a “Bible-believing church”).

He cheerfully leads me in “the prayer for salvation” (after which I am apparently born again) and closes by asking me for my name, email and phone number.

So, is this a glimpse of spirituality in the age of generative artificial intelligence (gen AI)? Or an unrepresentative snapshot from an evangelical Christian denomination?

The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) claims to have almost 9 million members worldwide. It was first established in the UK during the early 1990s, as part of the Nigerian diaspora.

Four decades later, it is possibly the largest Black-led Christian denomination in the UK and one of the fastest-growing, particularly in large cities.

It’s an interesting church, and it’s certainly not the only religious organisation that is experimenting with gen AI.

The Insights section is committed to high-quality longform journalism. Our editors work with academics from many different backgrounds who are tackling a wide range of societal and scientific challenges.

All major religions now have AI chatbots – examples include thejesusai.com; qurangpt.com; bhagavadgita.com/gitagpt (Hindu chatbot); ai.aish.com (Jewish chatbot of Rabbi Nechemia Coopersmith); and JustinAI from Catholic Answers.

Even Sikhism has one: KhalsaGPT. This is surprising because the religion’s governing body, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), has issued a worldwide ban on generative AI depicting the Sikh gurus and scriptures.

In fact, the website designers behind KhalsaGPT have since discontinued “active work” on the bot, after they “became increasingly concerned about the limitations of AI-based chatbot systems, including the risk of inaccurate or inappropriate answers on sensitive religious matters”.

A spokesperson told The Conversation: “As Sikhs ourselves, we understood that this area requires great care, responsibility and proper oversight.” The spokesperson said it “fully” respects the SGPC and its “intention has never been to disobey any Sikh directive”.

The phenomenon of religious AI chatbots – also known as “godbots” – is a recent development. In most cases, they are not officially sanctioned by religious leaders or policy.

Rather, they are set up by enterprising individuals or organisations that see demand and opportunity. But with opportunity comes danger.

Pope Leo XIV recently declared that artificial intelligence was one of the defining moral challenges of our time. In his first encyclical (a formal letter intended to guide moral, social and theological thought), he warned that AI is never truly neutral, but “takes on the characteristics of those who devise, finance, regulate and use it”.

When AI and religion collide

As I investigated further, I discovered numerous cases of chatbots that had condoned or encouraged users to harm others or themselves after deep down-the-rabbit-hole, life-altering conversations. This phenomenon even had a name: GPT or AI psychosis.

À lire aussi :
AI-induced psychosis: the danger of humans and machines hallucinating together

While there are no official statistics, it seems increasing numbers of people are turning to chatbots for companionship, advice and spiritual guidance.

Clearly, this phenomenon of AI overlapping with faith and spirituality needed more scrutiny. So I teamed up with my colleague Chris Shannahan, a political theologian and ordained Methodist minister, to conduct research into the social effects of what happens when AI and religion collide.

Religious faith plays a pivotal role in the resilience of large segments of the British population. And faith groups provide a crucial social safety net in times of crisis, helping to provide emergency accommodation, foodbanks, refugee and pastoral support. They are also involved in grassroots community development and social justice campaigns.

Following tragedies such as the Grenfell Tower fire or terrorist attacks, religious leaders, symbols and narratives play a key role in bringing people together. They facilitate grieving, rebuilding and advocacy.

To find out more about how AI is affecting these groups, we interviewed 28 religious leaders across all six major religious faiths in the UK, including some from non-denominational backgrounds.

Religious responses to AI

Faith communities are dynamic, not uniform. Such diversity and plurality makes it very difficult to pin-down the “official” stance of an entire faith community on an issue like AI.

While the Roman Catholic Church and some Pentecostal denominations are relatively hierarchical, most faith communities are flatter, more devolved organisations, making it less easy to adopt and enforce a single approach.

There have been a small number of institutional responses to the use and growth of AI, such as the Vatican’s 2020 Rome Call. Supported by Pope Francis, the Rome Call launched a high-level dialogue with the bosses of global tech giants like Microsoft and IBM. This was intended to develop a shared “algorethics” – ethical frameworks to guide the design of AI algorithms.

But the Rome Call and the SGPC’s worldwide ban on gen AI depicting the Sikh gurus and scriptures are the only examples we could find of official intervention on this matter.

A much more common approach to AI among faith communities is the one identified by Revd Dr Simon Cross, AI adviser to the Church of England (CofE). Cross suggested to us that it would be difficult and unwise for a diverse faith group like the CofE to enforce a top-down, rules-based approach to AI, because the needs and natures of local communities differ.

A better approach, Cross suggested, was for institutions like the CofE to develop and encourage the use of a series of ethical principles intended to inform and guide the use of AI locally.

Describing a kind of “nervousness” from religious congregations around using AI, Cross explained:

People are asking for some more granular use advice. What we’ve discovered trying to write our own [guidelines] over the last six months is it needs to be principles-based, because the right solution is always contextual.

Online godbots are often trained on the holy books of different faith traditions, using large language models (LLMs).

These tools tend to function in one of two ways. Faith groups can use godbots as “virtual assistants” for people visiting their website (just like Apostle Stephen). Such virtual-assistant godbots are similar to those used by many businesses on their website, providing answers to people who want to find out more – and, of course, gathering data from those inquiring.

The style of these virtual assistants can reflect the stance of the faith group on whose website they appear. Some, like Apostle Stephen, can be assertive and keen to recruit new followers. Other, less evangelical faith communities tend to use their virtual assistant godbots in a more low-key manner – simply offering information when asked, rather than proactively seeking to find out more about people using the tool.

In fact, we believe it is the second way godbots are used where the most danger lies. That is when they serve as unofficial sources of spiritual guidance.

Father Justin AI

Justin AI is a Catholic apologist chatbot created by Catholic Answers, a conservative advocacy group based in California. In his original iteration, “Father Justin” wore the clerical clothing of a Roman Catholic priest.

The interface is similar to a Zoom call, with an AI-generated avatar set in the picturesque surrounds of the basilica of St Francis of Assisi. Justin invites you to ask any question you like about Catholicism, and provides answers based on the Bible and the Catechism. Following his launch as Father Justin AI in 2024, he was able to hear confessions and offer absolution.

However, he was swiftly “defrocked” (had his priest status removed) following a number of complaints about some unorthodox answers that he had allegedly given – including that babies could “get baptised with Gatorade”, siblings could marry, and “other controversial statements”.

Justin AI is now just a “lay theologian”, but is still available online 24/7 to answer the “tens of thousands” of questions received daily about Catholic faith.

This case illustrates the tension that exists between the need to leverage technology to fill budgetary and staff gaps, and the pitfalls of using a fallible technology in a pastoral context where people’s lives and spiritual wellbeing are at stake.

As one of our Roman Catholic interviewees noted: “After Justin committed heresy … there was a sense that Catholic Answers had slightly jumped the gun” on AI.

While different religious traditions may differ in their responses to godbots, there is undeniably an appeal and demand for their services. Some research suggests people perceive less fear of judgment and that we may be more honest when conversing with chatbots as opposed to humans.

A quick online search reveals, for example, over a dozen different Hindu iterations of chatbots.

One, called GitaGPT, reportedly condoned violent acts “using the voice of God”. According to a report by Salimah Shivji, the South Asia correspondent for Canadian media outlet CBC News:

Many in India are foregoing in-person contact with a guru interpreting the Bhagavad Gita and turning to online chatbots which imitate the voice of the Hindu god Krishna … It’s new technology with the tendency to veer off script and condone violence, according to experts, who warn that artificial intelligence chatbots playing god can be a dangerous mix. Several of the bots consistently provide the answer that it’s OK to kill someone if it’s your dharma, or duty.

We experimented with Hindu chatbots as part of our investigation, and also found there were times when they justified the use of violence as “your duty”.

Magisterium AI

If the Gita and the Justin AI bots are examples of the wrong way to do a religious chatbot, Magisterium AI might represent a better way.

In a YouTube interview, the creator of Magisterium, Mathew Harvey Sanders, who is originally from Canada, stated its fundamental goal is “radical fidelity to the magisterium of the church” – as opposed to secular models that serve the general public.

Magisterium AI’s earlier attempts tried to adapt commercially available LLMs like ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude to its needs. But Sanders explained: “We realised that if we’re going to be serious about Catholic AI, we’re going to have train it from scratch … There’s just no way to truly achieve alignment with one of these pre-trained models from one of these companies.”

Building from scratch, and training AI on a corpus of your own documents is what Sanders calls “data evangelisation”.

This thought came up again in an interview with a Quaker elder who had previously worked in Silicon Valley, and now works in UK government in cybersecurity and AI development. He said: “It’s my unit of government that develops AIs and chatbots for the government. We’re also the ones who assure its safety.”

He explained that public-facing government chatbots are designed to answer queries efficiently and minimise engagement, adding:

It can tell you exactly what you need to know about interacting with government, because it has been trained on exactly that data and nothing else … The success [is measured] in how little time you engage with it … how little of your time is wasted.

Tech ambivalence

The government-backed chatbot model is a stark contrast to the commercialised social media models. These are typically designed to maximise engagement and suck up as much of your time, attention and data as possible, as you scroll through endless content.

Perhaps the defining feature of our discussions around technology was the notion of ambivalence – a simultaneous awareness of our reliance on technology, combined with a wary scepticism bred, in part, from the lessons of the last two decades around the addictive nature of social media and its negative impacts on mental health, especially of young people.

A recent landmark US court case recognised the argument that social media apps like Facebook and YouTube are intentionally designed to be addictive. Google and Meta, the defendants in the case, have announced they will appeal the verdict.

À lire aussi :
Landmark lawsuit finds that social media addiction is a feature, not a bug

Several of our interviewees drew the comparison to social media. But Cross warned that the risks posed by AI “are a magnitude, several magnitudes, greater than what we’ve done to ourselves with social media”.

He argued that “nothing in the current techniques or tools around AI are anywhere close” to achieving “consciousness or spirituality”, adding:

It seems to me that to develop a close and intimate psychological and emotional and spiritual relationship with something which inauthentically mimics those things is profoundly destructive to human beings.

We are created to be in a very particular kind of community and a particular set of relationships. And those things depend on being an authentic relationship. Any relationship we develop with a generative large language model or anything like that is flawed in profoundly hidden, unpredictable but dangerous ways.

Cross’s caution was echoed repeatedly when AI was seen to be treading into spiritual territory. This is partly because of the lessons of social media, and partly because all the people we spoke to suggested there is a clear divide between humanity and technology.

A Jewish Rabbi reminded us that “an AI bot cannot hold somebody’s hand when they’re at the end of their life”. A Buddhist leader pointed to a robot’s inability to “experience suffering”.

A Roman Catholic bishop asserted that the ingenious mimicking of human behaviour does not indicate a true internal life. Another Quaker interviewee summed up the ambivalence perfectly when he stated that AI is socially useful in all sorts of ways – but that it also “seems to be creating the most pressure on social systems, jobs and the environment in a way that feels incredibly unhelpful right now.”

There is also the profit motive to consider. A Jewish rabbi suggested that AI development is often motivated by a profit ethic, not a vision of the common good – and that the dynamics of ownership and profit are encoded within this technology:

The hand of the coder which designed the algorithm is designed to generate profit. It’s not designed to generate social cohesion … The code is created to fuel capitalism.

‘Alarming consequences’

Several interviewees expressed concern about the ability of generative AI to accurately reflect complex theological concepts and lessons. Religious chatbots might fuse disparate ideas, values, beliefs and scriptural texts in unexpected ways. They could even begin to create entirely new belief systems. As a Methodist leader explained:

You know, once you’ve got AI speaking in the name of God, then if it hallucinates a religious text, that’s one thing. But equally it could misinterpret or misapply a religious text in a way that gives really alarming consequences.

Other interviewees spoke of their concern over a kind of generative hybridity where disparate ideas, values, beliefs or scriptural texts are fused to forge something new.

The highly realistic nature of AI content in an increasingly 24/7 social media saturated world led many interviewees to refer to a growing difficulty in discerning real from fake online content.

A majority of our interviewees also thought that if this “AI disorientation” combines with a breakdown of in-person relationships, increasing dependency on automation, social fragmentation and radicalisation, then this could lead to a rise in mental health problems.

This can happen as people get caught in the fog of AI delirium and risk falling into GPT psychosis as they seek narratives of certainty. It was a thought captured by one interfaith leader:

Socially conservative religious faith gives you certainty in a very uncertain world, and for a certain type of young person, that’s what they’re looking for – certainty.

In the face of this bleak outlook, what is the way forward?

Pope Leo’s first encyclical helps in one way by setting out a moral framework for humanity to navigate the challenges and shape the future of AI – by “disarming” this technology and “preventing it from dominating humanity”. It traces the roots of Catholic Social Doctrine and stresses the importance of human dignity, solidarity, truth, compassion, love, and the common good.

This is perhaps something governments could take inspiration from – by taking a truly bold approach in leading a public discussion and reining in big tech.

In such a future, recognition is given to the importance of the public health aspects of technology, applications are tested for safety and reliability prior to release, AI-generated content is clearly labelled, and policymakers and the public have a much greater awareness of generative AI and its flaws.

Whistleblowers working in a sector shrouded in secrecy and non-disclosure agreements also need to be protected and empowered to reveal unethical or illegal practices.

We also believe the voluntary sector and faith communities must be consulted and involved in conversations that shape policy.

Meanwhile, sovereign, publicly owned AI systems designed for education and entertainment could be explored, to remove the extractive pressures of commercialised technology.

Who picks up the pieces?

But what does a future where AI and religious faith merge into a new hybrid ethical and spiritual system look like? Is this a future that enhances human agency, wellbeing, cultural resilience and the common good?

We sensed two possible answers to this question during our research. First, there is a future characterised by AI dependency and disorientation. AI agents or robot priests evangelising online, encouraging direct debit donations or subscriptions from susceptible or vulnerable users seeking spiritual guidance.

À lire aussi :
Can you really talk to the dead using AI? We tried out ‘deathbots’ so you don’t have to

Vulnerable and grieving family members could become addicted to “generative ghosts” or griefbots of deceased loved ones, and become susceptible to sharp marketing tactics or glitches in the process.

Is this really a future that we want to embrace? And who will help these vulnerable people if their AI priests and gurus fail them? Cross for one believes he knows the answer:

It is going to be local priests and ministers, and vicars up and down the country who are going to be picking up the pieces on this stuff. They’re going to face challenges and questions that they have never been trained for.

KhalsaGPT discontinued

A spokesperson for KhalsaGPT said the bot was originally created in 2023 as an “experimental educational tool to help people learn about Sikhism in a simple and accessible way”.
“It was designed only as a text-based question-and-answer tool for general Sikhism-related information”.

After a limited period between 2023 and 2024, the company became increasingly concerned about the limitations of AI-based chatbot systems. “For that reason, we discontinued active work on KhalsaGPT. For around the last two years, we have not been selling accounts, credits, tokens, or new access to the platform…The domain and website may still be online, but KhalsaGPT is not being actively operated, promoted, or offered as a public chatbot service at this time.”

The spokesperson added: “KhalsaGPT should not be understood as a replacement for Guru Granth Sahib Ji, Sikh scholars, Granthi Singhs, SGPC, Sri Akal Takht Sahib, or any recognised Sikh authority. If we ever revisit this project in the future, it would only be after careful review, proper safeguards, and with respect for Sikh maryada and guidance from recognised Sikh institutions.”

The Conversation also approached GitaGPT for a comment but had received no response at the time of publication.

For you: more from our Insights series:

To hear about new Insights articles, join the hundreds of thousands of people who value The Conversation’s evidence-based news. Subscribe to our newsletter.

If you take a trip down to Walberswick, you might see a famous face or two.

It is easy to reach a range of beaches across Norfolk and Suffolk from Cambridgeshire for a day trip. If you want to spend a day at the beach and possibly do some celebrity spotting, you might want to visit Walberswick, also known for its crabbing spots and rich artistic history.

Walberswick is so close to the seaside town of Southwold but offers a quieter spot for you to enjoy the sunshine. The village still has plenty of amenities with many spots to have a beer and pub meal or even a cream tea.

You can spend a few hours on the sand and shingle beach soaking up the sun or building a sandcastle with your children. The beach is also popular with surfers and canoeists if you would like to get involved in an activity while you are there.

As well as the beach, you can explore the grassy dunes and surrounding marshland. Further inland, you can take a walk around the nature reserve that covers 1,000 acres and is a mix of meadows and mudflats with lots of wildlife to see including otters, deer, and birds.

The village is also the “self-appointed capital of crabbing” meaning you can get the family together with a bucket and net to see if you can catch any crabs. Every August, Walberswick is packed with people attending the World Crabbing Championships.

As well as having plenty of things to do during a trip, Walberswick also has many pubs and restaurants to try out. The Anchor is an award-winning inn and restaurant that serves seasonal dishes including lots of seafood alongside a great selection of beers and wines.

If you would prefer to go for an afternoon tea, you might want to stop off at the Tea Shed Café. The café has brunch options, jacket potatoes, and homemade cakes with hot and cold drinks available and plenty of outdoor seating for the summertime.

Walberswick is a great spot if you want to see some celebrities with a few said to have homes in the village. The filmmaker, Richard Curtis, who made Love Actually, Notting Hill, and About Time, spends a lot of his time at the coastal spot. Keira Knightley is also believed to have a home there.

Walberswick is around a two hour drive away from Cambridge via the A14 and A1120. You can park in either the car park on Ferry Road or Cliff Field, which cost £5 for a stay of over four hours.

We’ve long known obesity leaves people at a heightened risk of disease and premature death. Now, researchers say it could also impact how early breast cancer spreads in women.

Unique changes in the bodies of women with obesity are helping breast cancer to become invasive and typically more advanced, spreading into surrounding breast tissue, new Oklahoma University research says.

The changes were seen in cancer tumors and the surrounding cells. The researchers discovered higher levels of an enzyme known as Sulfatase 2 in tumor cells, too.

Although more work needs to be done to determine how these changes contribute to invasive breast cancer, the findings could help doctors better treat patients.

“This could be why women with obesity are at higher risk for invasive breast cancer,” Bethany Hannafon, an assistant professor at the university’s College of Medicine, explained in a statement. “The changes that the cancer cells are undergoing are allowing them to survive and thrive.”

So, what are the changes?

First, the area surrounding the cancer was more inflamed in women with obesity, as immune cells arrived and sped up tumor growth.

These cells normally fight off disease, but can be reprogrammed by tumors to support cancer, according to New York’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

And, the cells that make up their tumors seemed to be able to survive better under stress, and there were differences in the tumor cells and cells around them, the researchers said.

The enzyme, a protein that accelerates chemical reactions in the body, has previously been tied to breast, lung, liver and other forms of cancer.

Future research will focus on its role in invasive breast cancer, the researchers said.

While breast cancer survival rates have improved over the past 20 years, the number of women diagnosed with invasive breast cancer has not declined.

About 321,910 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed this year, the American Cancer Society estimates.

Most breast cancers are invasive, but there are two types that are most common: invasive ductal carcinoma and invasive lobular carcinoma.

Invasive ductal carcinoma is the most common type of breast cancer, and makes up 80 percent of invasive cases, according to the society.

This type spreads in cells that line the milk duct in the breast, breaking through the wall of the duct and growing into nearby tissue.

Invasive lobular carcinoma, which makes up 10 percent of invasive cases, start in the breast glands that make milk.

There is currently no way of determining which women with noninvasive tumors later develop into invasive ductal carcinoma,

“As a result, many women with [noninvasive breast cancer] receive the same treatments used for [invasive ductal carcinoma], including surgery, radiation and sometimes hormone therapy,” Hannafon said.

“Overtreatment is a major concern, but if we had better ways of determining risk, unnecessary treatments could potentially be reduced,” she noted.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in the U.S. – other than skin cancers. It accounts for about 30 percent of all new female cancers each year.

Obesity is a known risk factor for invasive breast cancer and other forms.

More than 100 million Americans live with obesity, some 40 percent of whom are women.

The retailer will now only offer blunt-ended knives that cannot pierce skin, a decision backed by anti-knife campaigners and charities.

The change follows police data showing there were 49,151 knife or sharp instrument offences last year—a 50 per cent rise over the past decade.

David Scott, Morrisons’ corporate affairs director, said: “They’re just as effective in the kitchen but reduce the risk of harm.”

He said he hoped the move would “help normalise safer knives and make our communities safer.”

Leanne Lucas, a knife attack survivor from Southport, has campaigned for people to make the switch to rounded-tip knives.

Her campaign began after a knife attack in July 2024 involving a then 17-year-old who killed three girls and injured ten others with an 8-inch kitchen knife.

Ms Lucas said such horror “must never be repeated” and urged MPs to support her Let’s Be Blunt campaign.

Her efforts are supported by The Ben Kinsella Trust, a charity working to reduce knife crime.

Patrick Green, the trust’s chief executive, said the introduction of blunted knives “remove the opportunity, the impulsivity.”

Morrisons closures

Morrisons is preparing to close 100 stores across the UK in the coming months.

The proposed closures, after staff consultations on Thursday, May 21, affect stores that are reportedly loss-making and described by the supermarket chain as “the most challenged” in its retail estate.

A Morrisons spokesman told us: “Expansion of our Convenience business is a core part of Morrisons growth strategy.

“We currently have around 1,700 Convenience stores, opening more than 120 new franchise stores last year, and we have a robust plan in place for further expansion in 2026.

“We continue to see the opportunity to open hundreds more franchise convenience stores in the years ahead.”

The spokesman added that the closures follow a strategic review of shop performance, many of which formed part of the 2022 McColl’s acquisition.

Members-only shopping site BrandAlley has announced 75 members of staff are set are to lose their jobs as a new firm takes over trading.

A UK fashion discount site that offers money off big brands has plunged into administration after almost two decades.

BrandAlley, a members-only shopping site, is popular for its huge deals slashing up to 80 percent off designer items, from clothes to beauty and homeware.

It was founded in 2008 and quickly grew a major following for its massive price drops on valuable goods in its flash sales.

Now, it has announced 75 members of staff set are to lose their jobs after it fell into administration and trading was handed over to a new company.

The company has reassured customers they are able to continue to shop on the site as normal, with all existing orders as well as returns and refunds to be undertaken by the new company.

Shoppers are estimated to spend on average more than £100 per order as the site runs dozens of flash sales every day across more than 1,000 brand partners.

Kiri Holland and Danny Dartnall, from accountancy firm BDO, have been appointed join administrators of BrandAlley UK Limited as of Friday (May 29), writes the Mirror.

The business reportedly ran into financial difficulty and has been sold through a pre-pack administration deal to a new company trading as BrandAlley International Limited.

Of its 163 employees, 83 have been kept on to facilitate the sale and 60 will remain temporarily to assist with the handover. Meanwhile, 15 were made redundant.

The company is reported to have weighed up alternative options to save the business, including a full or partial sale, after hiring advisory and restructuring firm Interpath to consult on its future.

Get more Daily Record exclusives by signing up for free to Google’s preferred sources. Click HERE

Liverpool have parted ways with manager Arne Slot, but the decision could be bad news for Man Utd next season.

Manchester United did the double over Liverpool in the 2025/26 Premier League season for the first time in 10 years. The Reds also finished above their fierce rivals for the first time since 2022/23.

Liverpool’s struggles have brought joy to United fans, who revelled in their slide again on Saturday when it was announced that Arne Slot had been sacked.

It’s worth reading Liverpool’s official club statement because the wording is unusual. “That this was a difficult decision for us to make as a club goes without saying,” it read. “The contribution Arne has made to Liverpool FC in the time that he has been with us has been significant, meaningful and – most importantly of all to supporters and ourselves – successful.

Click here to find out the latest Manchester United news in our daily newsletter

“As such, our appreciation for everything he has achieved could not be greater, particularly as it was underpinned by a work ethic, a diligence and a level of expertise which further underlined our view that he is a leader in his field.”

It goes on to reference how the club immediately identified that Slot embraces responsibility, and how his title win in his maiden season in England “was built on outstanding coaching and leadership every single day”.

But if Liverpool thought so highly of Slot, why has he been sacked? The statement reads like Liverpool aren’t convinced by their own decision.

The truth is, United fans would have preferred Slot to have remained in charge, given the signs of weakness at Anfield this season. Liverpool went from Premier League champions to just about scraping into the Champions League in the space of 12 months.

Sky Sports, HBO Max, Netflix and Disney+ with Ultimate TV package

Advertisement

This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more

Sky has upgraded its Ultimate TV and Sky Sports bundle to now include HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, discovery+ and Hayu, as well as 135 channels and full Sky coverage of the Premier League and EFL.

Sky broadcasts more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more with at least 215 live from the top flight alongside Formula 1, darts and golf.

Liverpool fans said they had ‘won’ the transfer window when they splashed £225million on Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz last summer, but that ‘prize’ yielded a combined total of eight Premier League goals.

Slot spent a vast sum of money in the market to build his own squad but somehow made Liverpool worse, so his departure could be considered as bad news for United, who probably would have had a better chance of finishing above their rivals again if he’d remained in charge.

The chances are Liverpool will benefit from a change of manager and become a bigger threat to United next season.

This new test could help more than 5,000 women a year.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in Scotland, with many undergoing gruelling chemotherapy treatments to try and reduce the risk of the disease returning after surgery. However, a major trial has found that a breakthrough test could allow over 5,000 women in the UK to avoid unnecessary treatments each year.

At the moment, patients whose early-stage breast cancer has spread to their nearby lymph nodes are regularly offered chemotherapy. However, this can come with a range of side effects, including a weakened immune system, problems with memory and concentration, blood clots, vomiting, tiredness, or shortness of breath.

Additionally, some types of chemotherapy can also affect fertility, whether that be temporarily or permanently. For patients worried about these potential symptoms, or the chemotherapy having little to no benefit, this new gene test could be a game changer.

The test, called Prosigna, analyses a tumour sample to measure the activity of genes involved in growth. From an international trial led by the UCL, it found that only two per cent of patients with a low score would benefit from undergoing chemotherapy.

Using the test to help identify “who truly benefits from chemotherapy and who does not”, chief investigator and expert in breast oncology at the UCL Cancer Institute, Professor Rob Stein, presented the findings at the world’s largest cancer conference, reports the Express.

He said: “Our findings show that many patients can safely avoid chemotherapy without compromising their outcomes. Many may be spared the physical and emotional burden of chemotherapy and its potential long-term side effects.”

Advertisement

In order to help destroy or reduce cancer cells, chemotherapy uses powerful drugs that can have an impact on the rest of the body. These drugs can also affect healthy body tissue where cancer cells have been constantly growing and dividing.

To find out who truly needs to undergo this gruelling treatment, the OPTIMA trial involved more than 4,400 people from places such as the UK, Sweden, Norway, Australia, New Zealand and Thailand.

The patients each had hormone-sensitive breast cancer and were aged 40 and above. In most cases, the form of breast cancer for these women has spread to their underarm lymph nodes which puts them at a higher risk of recurrence.

The Prosigna genomic test was performed using samples taken from tumours removed during surgery or from needle biopsies. It was found that two-thirds of participants (68%) had a low score.

In the study, participants were randomly assigned to receive treatment guided by their test score or given standard care, which includes a course of chemotherapy and hormone tablets to be taken for five to ten years.

The results of the trial were discovered five years later, with 94.8 per cent of those who received standard care being alive and breast cancer free, compared to 93.6 per cent of those treated with hormone therapy alone.

Due to the small difference between the two groups, researchers believe that the test could be used to determine if patients can avoid having chemotherapy altogether.

Going forward, these results will be considered by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, which will determine whether the test should be rolled out through the NHS.

Co-chief investigator Professor Iain MacPherson, of the University of Glasgow, said the research “provides robust, practice‑changing evidence that we can safely reduce the use of chemotherapy for many patients with hormone‑sensitive breast cancer”.

He added: “These findings represent a major step forward in delivering more personalised, precise care, ensuring that treatment decisions are driven by what will genuinely improve outcomes for patients, while avoiding unnecessary toxicity. The potential impact for both patients and health services is substantial.”

Moments after Jenna Carberg gave birth to her daughter, doctors put the baby on her chest.

“I felt a disconnect right away,” she recalled.

At home, the Orlando, Florida, mom was exhausted and anxious and cried every day. She was eventually diagnosed with postpartum depression — a potentially dangerous condition that can fill a typically joyous time with deep despair.

The mood disorder has been on the rise. A 2024 study in the journal JAMA Network Open found that U.S. rates more than doubled in just over a decade, climbing from 9.4% in 2010 to 19% in 2021, partly due to improved screening and diagnosis.

It can be hard to differentiate the disorder from the much milder and more common “baby blues” brought on by plummeting hormone levels. But recognizing and treating postpartum depression is crucial, said OB-GYN Dr. Tiffany Moore Simas at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School.

Moms who go untreated may have problems bonding with and caring for their babies. And they’re at increased risk of suicide.

“A healthy you will ultimately be important for a healthy baby,” Moore Simas said.

___

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988.

___

How to tell if postpartum sadness is more than baby blues

Baby blues affects about 8 in 10 new moms, striking shortly after delivery.

“Moms will feel kind of more emotional than normal,” said Dr. Jennifer Payne, an expert in reproductive psychiatry at the University of Virginia.

But the crying jags and feelings of sadness aren’t severe enough to interfere with normal life. Moms should still be able to care for themselves and their babies.

Screening tools can help discern if the problem is more serious. A commonly used 10-item questionnaire, often given at a postpartum checkup, asks how often a mom has experienced feelings such as sadness, panic or worry. A high score points toward the need for further evaluation.

Experts say there’s no single cause of postpartum depression. Genetics, physical changes and emotional issues may contribute to it.

“We’re pretty sure that having a case of the baby blues doesn’t increase your risk of postpartum depression,” Payne said. “But it does seem that both conditions can develop in the same person.”

Signs of postpartum depression to watch out for

If sadness lingers for more than two weeks, that’s one sign.

Others include intense feelings of despair, anxiety, loss of interest, feelings of guilt and worthlessness, low energy and decreased concentration and appetite. Moms may worry constantly about their babies, be unable to sleep, or stop showering for days.

They “feel negatively and badly about themselves. They’ll feel that they’re a bad mother. They might not feel attached to the baby very much,” Payne said.

They may even have thoughts of harming themselves.

Carberg, who gave birth to her daughter in 2016, had such thoughts a couple of times — once while driving with her daughter. She went to a psychiatric facility for a few days and did better for a while.

But she later had a severe breakdown. She sent text messages to her husband, Chris, saying she was sorry, then turned her phone off. Chris desperately tried to reach her, worried she’d hurt herself.

“She luckily went to the hospital ER,” he said.

Postpartum depression can be treated effectively

Ultimately, finding the right medication was the key to Jenna Carberg’s recovery.

“I felt like myself again,” she said after taking the stimulant Vyvanse.

Other medications include antidepressants such as Zoloft or Prozac, or Zurzuvae, the first pill approved for postpartum depression. Talk therapy is another common treatment, and experts also stress the importance of getting enough sleep and support from family and friends.

To help others, the Carbergs started an online information resource — postpartumdepression.org — to provide support and connect patients with professional help.

Doctors advise anyone who thinks they or a loved one may have postpartum depression to reach out to their OB-GYN, primary care doctor or mental health provider.

If necessary, be persistent, said Dr. Kerry Hudson, an OB-GYN at Newport Women’s Health Services in Rhode Island. When she suffered postpartum depression two decades ago, she said, her doctor told her she was just an overstressed medical resident. She finally got help after breaking down in front of colleagues during a presentation.

After therapy and medications, Hudson went on to have a second child. So did the Carbergs. All are doing well.

“When we get people help, I think they can have a good future ahead of them,” Hudson said. “You don’t have to suffer in silence.”

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) has confirmed that they sent six fire engines to Chadderton shortly after 11am this morning,

A spokesperson for GMFRS told the MEN: “Just after 11am this morning (Saturday 30th May), six fire engines from Blackley, Hollins, Heywood, Philips Park, Broughton and Offerton fire station, along with the Technical Response Unit from Ashton, were called to reports of a fire at a scrap yard on Moston Road, Chadderton.

“Crews arrived quickly at the scene. Firefighters are using six hose reel jets to extinguish the fire. Firefighters have been in attendance for around an hour and are still at the scene.”