Latest news with #OAPs
Scottish Sun
2 days ago
- Health
- Scottish Sun
Monster supercomputer switched on to help cure cancer, slash NHS waits and keep OAPs independent longer
It will be used to slash NHS waiting times, fast-track green tech, and power life-saving breakthroughs from dementia care to heart disease MEGA MIND Monster supercomputer switched on to help cure cancer, slash NHS waits and keep OAPs independent longer Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A MONSTER supercomputer that could help cure cancer, slash NHS waiting times and even help pensioners stay independent for longer was switched on today. The £225million machine – named Isambard-AI – is now live in Bristol and is powerful enough to process 80 years' worth of calculations in a single second. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 2 Technology Secretary Peter Kyle Credit: Alamy 2 Technology Secretary Peter Kyle with The Sun's political correspondent Martina Bet standing in front of the UK's most powerful supercomputer Credit: Adrian Sherratt - Commissioned by The Sun It will be used to slash NHS waiting times, fast-track green tech, and power life-saving breakthroughs from dementia care to heart disease. Standing in front of the artificial intelligence beast, Tech Secretary Peter Kyle told The Sun his mother, who died of lung cancer, could have been saved by Isambard-AI. He said: 'I am in no doubt whatsoever that if my mum had been scanned today, rather than just over a decade ago, she'd still be alive. 'There is no better connection to what this supercomputer AI and technology is doing than keeping a mum and son together for longer.' READ MORE ON POLITICS S-BLENDED IDEA MasterChef fans start campaign for telly favourite to land hosting spot He added: "Diseases are going to be cured.' The computer is already being used to speed up prostate cancer diagnoses, train AI to detect skin cancer more fairly across all skin tones, and analyse early memory loss in dementia patients by processing personal camera footage in minutes - something that once took weeks. Scientists are also modelling how proteins behave in the body, which could unlock new treatments for cancer and inherited heart conditions. Farmers are getting help too - with AI trained on 24/7 cow surveillance footage to spot illness early, limit infections and even help cut methane emissions. Unlike secretive private data labs, Isambard is publicly run - and ministers will choose who gets to use it. Mr Kyle said: 'My job is to make sure that my department makes wise choices. I won't be sitting there picking and choosing the applications myself, but I am creating the circumstances where the best choices can be made.' The launch comes as the Government unveils its Compute Roadmap, a major strategy to boost the UK's processing power twenty-fold by 2030 – aiming to turn Britain into an 'AI maker, not a taker'. A second public supercomputer – called Dawn – is already operating in Cambridge, and a third is due to open in Edinburgh later this year, where the UK's first National Supercomputing Centre will be based. The plan also includes creating AI Growth Zones in Scotland and Wales, where private investment is expected to pour in, creating thousands of new jobs. These zones will offer fast-track planning for data centres and training hubs, powered by cutting-edge energy sources such as small modular reactors (SMRs). It comes amid growing concern that massive AI infrastructure could hike household bills - with Amazon's new AI hub in Indiana expected to use more power than one million homes. But Mr Kyle insisted Britain would not follow the same path, explaining: "We are not going to do it in a way that will increase the cost of electricity. 'In fact, we are driving down the cost of electricity in the short term, and into the long term.' Isambard-AI, which weighs the same as 25 elephants, is powered entirely by zero-carbon electricity and cooled with liquid pipes instead of fans to keep emissions low. Built in under two years by the University of Bristol and tech firms NVIDIA and HPE, it is the 11st faster supercomputer in the world and 9th for public supercomputing.
South Wales Guardian
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- South Wales Guardian
Trap Show returns for 57th year with new additions
Preparations are underway for the 57th Trap Show, set to take place on Saturday, July 26. Held at Cilmaenllwyd Farm, the event is supported by the entire community and has been a staple for more than half a century. The Trap Show is renowned for its picturesque hilltop venue, near Carreg Cennen Castle, with views of the Black Mountains and surrounding countryside. This year's presidents are local couple Ron and Cherie Williams, both long-time supporters and active committee members. Ron has previously chaired the show, while Cherie has been a co-treasurer of the Domestic Tent for many years. The couple is expected to enjoy this year's show and catch up with friends. The Trap Show offers a wide range of classes on the field, including sheep, horses, vintage, and pet dogs. The domestic and horticulture sections feature cookery, handwork, art, photography, woodwork, sticks, flowers, vegetables, and children's competitions. A new addition this year is the Heritage Craft Revival Section, showcasing age-old crafts that are gaining popularity again. The show also features a family competition to create a scarecrow from recycled materials, to be judged by the presidents on the day. For children, the Caterpillar digger challenge and children's sports have been perennial favourites. The Cornhole competition, introduced last year, will return due to its popularity. Lunches, refreshments, and a bar will be available on the field. Admission is £5 for adults and OAPs, while children can enter for free. The evening entertainment includes an It's a Knockout competition with a £50 prize for the winning team, a quoits and adults' cornhole competition, and a hog roast. There will also be a Knock a Nail competition and live entertainment from singer Jemma Krysa. Admission to the evening entertainment in the marquee is free. The Trap Show promises a full day of activities and entertainment for the whole family, offering good value for money.
Spectator
09-07-2025
- Spectator
The slow delights of an OAP coach tour
Early on Monday mornings, in service stations across the country, armies of the elderly are mustering. These are the OAPs about to embark on motor coach tours to the Norfolk Broads, Cornish fishing villages, the Yorkshire Moors and Welsh ghost towns, organised by men in blazers consulting clipboards, like Kenneth Williams in Carry On Abroad. There will be cream teas, along with river cruises, coastal excursions, scenic drives and jaunts on steam railways. I am a devotee of these charming holidays, as invented by Wallace Arnold, even though when one first catches sight of one's fellow travellers it's a frightening vision of what's up ahead: the sticks, walking-frames, mobility scooters, electric wheelchairs; the bald heads splotched with melanomas; the chemotherapy wigs with alopecia. No one possesses their own hips. Each is older than their teeth. Everyone is deaf, e.g. 'Where have you come from?' 'Uxbridge.' 'Auschwitz?' As the old folk have plenty of time on their hands, much of the first day on my most recent trip was spent heading in the wrong direction – as was the last day, when the zig-zagging put me in mind of an Atlantic convoy avoiding Nazi submarines by going to Lisbon by way of Brazil and Morocco. The old folk would find this nostalgic, like the Vera Lynn songs playing over the bus's Tannoy. I live in Hastings and my destination was Great Yarmouth, so the coach went first to Eastbourne, Lewes and Brighton before stopping at Cobham and, creeping along the M25 and finally the M11, out towards Cambridge and Norwich. It took 11 hours. One woman had been picked up at dawn in Ruislip and three hours later, after collecting the rest of the passengers, the coach was driving past signposts to Ruislip. She laughed, but it was all rather disorientating, and an intimation of dementia – we had no idea quite where we were or where we were heading. Owing to deafness, instructions and mutterings from the driver are misheard in any event. It was fatal to ask the other passengers to repeat information, as this simply added another layer of error and confusion. It was best simply to sit there, look out the window and allow events to unfold. I liked our shabbily elegant hotel, which was run by cheerful Asians. Dinner was at 6 p.m. The bar was open at 5.30. A bit early for me, but I adjusted. Brandon the young barman always had my bottle of filthy Chilean red in readiness, plus a bottle of Moldavian white in an ice bucket, plus double brandies for later on. It was a card-only bar, so my 'contactless' bill got to be vast. Most nights I was sound asleep by nine. I had only one fright. What I thought was the Elephant Man in the bedroom was me in my sleep apnoea mask reflected in the mirror. Tuesday we were up early to visit Sandringham, far away on the other side of Norfolk. It's very flat, isn't it, Norfolk, and the local councils are doing their best to use up the cabbage patches and potato beds to meet the government's exciting building quotas. Every other field is a new housing estate, or else billboards are up announcing the imminent construction of a new housing estate. Bulldozers are fast getting rid of any greenery. Sandringham is something of a film set, with no domestic mess or discarded newspapers, dog baskets or wellies – no sign of anyone inhabiting the place. As the King has access to heaps of houses and palaces, why not let this one out to immigrants and asylum seekers? For the house, surely superfluous, is vast, like a long street of higgledy-piggledy Edwardian villas. The gardens with mature trees, lakes and mazes are the highlight – and in the stable block is the actual car Princess Anne was in when she was nearly kidnapped in the Mall. After a three-hour drive back to our hotel, I was looking forward to a bath – but as in the Soviet Union the plugs had been removed, ensuring showers only. This hot-water-saving policy was matched by a cold-water-saving policy in the restaurant. No jugs. You had to trek the entire length of the room to obtain a small glass. Conversation and overheard remarks roundabout would have made Victoria Wood or Alan Bennett envious. 'I went to Longleat and had a collapsed lung' was a line I cherished. As was: 'My son's got cancer. All he wants is a bigger air fryer.' One chap was very proud to tell everyone: 'I've just had a foot-long hot dog.' Though I perhaps should have gone on the optional excursion to Norwich and signed my books in Waterstones, instead I spent the free day in Great Yarmouth (where there are no bookshops), as I do love piers, model villages, provincial museums and collapsing Victorian seaside pavilions, of which sadly there were plenty. In the evening there was what was described as 'entertainment' – a duff local singer who warbled wartime tunes and 1950s and 1960s classics, which he'd pre-recorded on some sort of amplifier. The audience was sparse. The old folks drifted away. But there was a cadre of perhaps half a dozen old ladies who remained, widows no doubt, who I thought were like what the St Trinian's girls would have looked like 70 years on. After a few gins, their eyes still capable of glinting with naughtiness, they sang along – knowing the lyrics perfectly. In the half-light, their old age and the years melted slightly. Briefly, they were young again. Nobody asks to be old.
Daily Record
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
Sex haven where randy grans are flocking to romp with toyboys
The Gambia has a reputation for Brit pensioners flocking to the African country looking for love. Lusty grans from across the UK are jetting off in the hope of finding holiday romance in Gambia. Gambia, officially known as the Republic of The Gambia, has had a reputation for a long time due to attracting lusty OAPs, who flock to the West African country in search of toyboys. Affordable package holiday deals at the main resorts are certainly part of the draw, but for these mature women, it's the prospect of meeting young men on the sun-kissed beaches that has them packing their bikinis in droves, reports the Mirror. The Gambia has earned an unwelcome nickname over the years - 'The Gran-bia' much to the horror of authorities in the country. For those like Barbara, from Dartford, Kent, a trip to The Gambia is about having "a bit of fun". Speaking previously with The Sun, the 65-year-old said: 'I don't know what all the fuss is about. I'm not doing anything illegal. If you go to somewhere like Thailand you see loads of old men with young girls, but no one talks about that. 'The minute a woman gets together with a younger man, there's an uproar, and we're called cougars and sex tourists and all that. I came here for a bit of fun, and I'm not harming anyone. If I want to take a good-looking bloke to my hotel room, it's no one's business but my own.' There are, however, other Western women who are after something more serious, and say they've genuinely fallen in love with their young Gambian toyboy s. This includes Heidi Hepworth, 51, who even converted to Islam to tie the knot with fiancé Mamadou Salieu Jallow, back in 2018, - ending her 23-year long marriage in the process. During an appearance on ITV's Loose Women at the time, Heidi shared: 'No one imagined this would last, but we love each other and are making plans to marry. I've never been happier. It was daunting at first. I got on the plane and thought 'Oh my God, what have I done?' But then I got there, and he met us off the plane with his brother and friend, and it was alright. It was magical." Channel 4 viewers were shocked by a documentary back in 2020 that was titled Sex On The Beach, which showed bars filled with elderly white women searching for younger Gambian men, in scenes some social media users found "disturbing". One pensioner told reporter Seyi Rhodes that the country was "paradise" as they could have a different man every single night. Among those interviewed was an elderly woman P, who claimed she'd travelled out to The Gambia four times in one year alone. When asked whether she felt immoral about her choices, the 60-year-old responded: "I don't feel morally nothing. It's my noo-noo. I do what I want with my noo-noo. You've got to kiss how many frogs before you find your prince. "I've done it so many times I have a bingey drink, one night stand then say take your socks and everything and go, bye." Reflecting on the scenes he was confronted with, broadcaster Seyi remarked: "What I do find troubling when I see these unequal relationships on the beach is that racial imbalance and the history of this country, the centre of slavery. You can't ignore that. When you speak to people they say over and over again, 'This is only because we're poor'." The Gambia is a stunning country with stunning beaches and parks teeming with wildlife. From delicious cuisine to a rich history and culture, there is plenty here for visitors to enjoy. However, it's feared that the country's reputation as a real-life 'Tinder' for pensioners could be holding it back from becoming a family-friendly destination. Unfortunately, the widespread poverty across The Gambia creates a power gap between the elderly sex tourists and the younger men whose company they seek out. Although sex work is illegal in The Gambia, men who entertain these so-called cougars could well receive potentially "life-changing" financial gifts that could help support their struggling families. Ali Cham has seen first-hand the older women looking for their paramours on the Senegambia Strip, where he plays live music at venues, and says the impoverished men want to accept the opportunity presented to them. Westerners that can support them. 'The men are not working as prostitutes, it's more that the women have a financial advantage that is appealing. The £1,000 they change into local currency is a lot of money here, and that makes these guys want to be with them.'
Daily Mirror
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Sex haven where randy Brit grans are flocking to romp with toyboys
Each year, mature women flock to The Gambia in search of a holiday romance with a local toyboy, leaving authorities to despair over the country's nickname, 'The Gran-bia' As Brits up and down the country jet off in the hope of finding holiday romance, a number of grans have just one destination in mind. The Gambia, officially known as the Republic of The Gambia, has long had a reputation for attracting lusty OAPs, who flock to the West African country in search of toyboys. Affordable package holiday deals at the main resorts are certainly part of the draw, but for these mature women, it's the prospect of meeting young men on the sun-kissed beaches that has them packing their bikinis in droves. To the frustration of authorities, who are working to crack down on geriatric sex tourism, The Gambia has earned an unwelcome nickname over the years - 'The Gran-bia'. For those like Barbara, from Dartford, Kent, a trip to The Gambia is about having "a bit of fun". Speaking previously with The Sun, the 65-year-old said: 'I don't know what all the fuss is about. I'm not doing anything illegal. If you go to somewhere like Thailand you see loads of old men with young girls, but no one talks about that. 'The minute a woman gets together with a younger man, there's an uproar, and we're called cougars and sex tourists and all that. I came here for a bit of fun, and I'm not harming anyone. If I want to take a good-looking bloke to my hotel room, it's no one's business but my own.' There are, however, other Western women who are after something more serious, and say they've genuinely fallen in love with their Gambian toyboy. This includes Heidi Hepworth, 51, who even converted to Islam to tie the knot with fiancé Mamadou Salieu Jallow, back in 2018, even ending her 23-year marriage in the process. During an appearance on ITV's Loose Women at the time, Heidi shared: 'No one imagined this would last, but we love each other and are making plans to marry. I've never been happier. It was daunting at first. I got on the plane and thought 'Oh my God, what have I done?' But then I got there, and he met us off the plane with his brother and friend, and it was alright. It was magical." Back in 2020, Channel 4 viewers were shocked by a documentary titled Sex On The Beach, which showed bars filled with elderly white women searching for younger Gambian men, in scenes some social media users found "disturbing". One pensioner told reporter Seyi Rhodes that the country was "paradise" as they could have a different man every single night. Among those interviewed was P, who claimed she'd travelled out to The Gambia four times in one year alone. When asked whether she felt immoral about her choices, the 60-year-old responded: "I don't feel morally nothing. It's my noo-noo. I do what I want with my noo-noo. You've got to kiss how many frogs before you find your prince. "I've done it so many times I have a bingey drink, one night stand then say take your socks and everything and go, bye." Reflecting on the scenes he was confronted with, broadcaster Seyi remarked: "What I do find troubling when I see these unequal relationships on the beach is that racial imbalance and the history of this country, the centre of slavery. You can't ignore that. When you speak to people they say over and ever again, 'This is only because we're poor'." The Gambia is a stunning country with breathtaking beaches and parks teeming with wildlife. From delicious cuisine to a rich history and culture, there is plenty here for visitors to enjoy. However, it's feared that the country's reputation as a real-life 'Tinder' for pensioners could be holding it back from becoming a family-friendly destination. Unfortunately, the widespread poverty across The Gambia creates a power gap between the elderly sex tourists and the younger men whose company they seek. Although sex work is illegal in The Gambia, men who entertain these so-called cougars could well receive potentially "life-changing" financial gifts that could help support their struggling families. Ali Cham has seen first-hand the older women looking for their paramours on the Senegambia Strip, where he plays at music venues, and says the impoverished men want to accept the opportunity presented to them. The dad-of-five explained: "People are dying at sea in the search of a better life - and it's both men and women trying to escape. Many of those left behind have little choice but to go out and look for Westerners that can support them. 'The men are not working as prostitutes, it's more that the women have a financial advantage that is appealing. The £1,000 they change into local currency is a lot of money here, and that makes these guys want to be with them.'
