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Bill Maher skillfully navigated the complex challenges people encountered with the introduction of gadgets

A US study has revealed that sexual activity in older people is linked to better cognitive function later. The study by sociologists Shannon Shena from Hope College and Hui Liub from Purdue University, published in The Journal of Sex Research looked at attention, memory, language, conceptual thinking, calculations, and orientation and found that sex is linked to better brain health across all age groups. Those aged 75 to 90 were found to have significantly better cognitive function five years on if they were currently having sex at least once a week. For adults aged 62 to 74, on the other hand, the most important factor for future brain health was the quality of sex being had, in terms of both physical and emotional aspects. "As seen in our sample, promoting sexual quality among younger-old couples may be a way to combat the interruptions which people anticipate to come with aging," Shena and Luib said "and these feelings of sexual quality may manifest in their later cognitive health." Shena and Liub think there are several reasons why these results could be the case. Sex involves physical exercise, which means improved cognitive performance may be due to improved cardiovascular health, which, in turn, can increase blood flow to the brain and reduce inflammation. Sex can also reduce stress, and stress is thought to prevent the neuronal growth in some parts of the brain associated with memory. Finally, sex may improve cognitive function through the release of dopamine, which is a neurotransmitter linked to improved memory. "Our findings help to contextualize a multifaceted understanding of healthy aging and speak to clinical practices and policy decisions regarding cognitive health," Shena and Luib wrote, "and in particular how it may be related to sexual life, an often overlooked area for older adults." Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Find out more about what it is like to live in the Gaza Strip, from the economy to education, health and water.

Gareth Southgate says facing “revitalised” Italy will be a great test of where England are at as they attempt to seal European Championship qualification with two matches to spare. The Euro 2020 runners-up can wrap up their place at next summer’s finals in Germany in Tuesday evening’s mouthwatering Group C clash against the Azzurri at a sold-out Wembley. It will be the nations’ fourth meeting since Italy beat England on spot-kicks in the Euros final just over two years ago but their first reunion under the arch, with their previous meetings coming in Wolverhampton, Milan and Naples. The Azzurri return to Wembley a far different side from when they became continental champions there, with Luciano Spalletti in charge of a new-look team that host Malta on Saturday evening before heading to London. “Italy look revitalised under Spalletti,” Southgate said. “They were excellent against Ukraine last month. They’re a top-10 nation. “We’ve talked about these top-10 games and the importance of them, the challenge of them. “We have the chance to qualify for the European Championships with two games to spare. “But also it’s a great test of where we are as a team and, yeah, it’s a challenge we’re really looking forward to.” The Euro 2024 qualifier completes England’s October doubleheader at Wembley after securing an unconvincing 1-0 friendly win against unfancied Australia on Friday. Returning Ollie Watkins secured Southgate’s much-changed side victory against the surprisingly dangerous Socceroos on a night when stand-in skipper Jordan Henderson was booed off the field. The England boss defended the Al-Ettifaq midfielder and felt his experience was key having taken a risk by making 10 alterations in an experimental line-up against the Aussies. “I don’t think it was a win because of how we played,” Southgate said. “We had enough quality on the pitch to be able to create a couple of important moments. “But we know that all the changes, the inexperience of the team, made it was really tough for the players that played. I set them a really difficult challenge. “It was great that they got the win. It was important to keep winning because if we if we lose the game or you give a goal away at the end then you leave here on a bit of a low. It sets the game up now with Italy. “In the end, it’s very hard to prepare the squad when they know ultimately this week really is about the Italy game and it’s impossible to dress that up any other way. “But for the players that played, for some of them their Wembley debut, for some of them their England debut. Massively important nights for them.” Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah made his England debut as a second-half substitute against Australia, while versatile Chelsea defender Levi Colwill made his bow from the start. “Important first steps for them,” Southgate said of the debutants. “I mean, Levi is a young defender. We know he’s not a left-back first choice, but he’s filling that slot for his club. “What we tried to do is start with a team where everybody was pretty much in the roles they’re playing with their clubs, so that it was as smooth as it could be. “But in the knowledge that we didn’t have a lot of caps on the field, we didn’t have a lot of leadership. “Normally, we’d be putting one or two of those lads in with a lot more experience and a lot more continuity, so it was extremely hard for that group of players.” Southgate came away from a challenging friendly pleased with a number of individual displays, highlighting Trent Alexander-Arnold’s problem-solving as he learns more about being a midfielder. Matchwinner Watkins’ movement and positioning was praised after scoring on his first England appearance since March 2022, while Lewis Dunk’s development continues to impress his boss. The Brighton defender won his third cap in central defence alongside Fikayo Tomori, who was replaced by John Stones in the 62nd minute as he continues his recovery from a hip issue. “Thirty minutes for John Stones was very important for us, to get him onto the pitch,” Southgate said of the Manchester City defender, who made his first Premier League appearance last weekend. “We’re managing that recovery carefully, we’re combining really well with his club on all of that. “But he’s a world-class player, and it was great to get him up and running.” Read More Chelsea defender Levi Colwill looking to build on ‘amazing’ England debut Home advantage key after Turkey shake up group – Wales v Croatia talking points Ollie Watkins credits Unai Emery for helping him return to England squad Talking points as England face Fiji in World Cup quarter-finals Daniel James insists Wales can still qualify for Euro 2024 I feel sorry for the manager – Chiedozie Ogbene sympathises with Stephen Kenny

A group in Massachusetts is pooling their money to leave big tips for shocked servers.

By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Ari Rabinovitch GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Thousands of Palestinians fled the north of the Gaza Strip on Saturday

Igor Sechin, the boss of Russia’s state oil company and longtime associate of Vladimir Putin, celebrated New Year’s

90min looks at whether Luka Modric could leave Real Madrid in the January transfer window after the Croatian midfielder expressed concerns over his lack of playing time.

Hubert Hurkacz served his way into the Shanghai Masters final with a dominant 6-3, 6-4 win over Sebastian Korda

Wondering what channel Ohio State is playing on today against Purdue? Discover where to watch the game and enjoy the action.

Comedian Ed Gamble has opened up about battling his “obsessive” tendencies and the “evil” bathroom scales while discussing losing weight. The stand-up comic and panel show regular lost seven stone in weight in his early twenties, and is now releasing a memoir about his relationship with food titled Glutton: The Multi-Course Life of a Very Greedy Boy. In a new interview with The Times, the comic – who hosts comedy food podcast Off Menu with fellow comedian James Acaster – opened up about the ways losing weight changed his life. “After losing weight, I got more obsessed with my image. You do feel different, wondering, ‘Oh, maybe I’m attractive now.’” Gamble, 37, said that he had developed a fixation on fitness after losing weight, and currently took part in the “cult” of CrossFit. However, the Great British Menu judge – who has Type 1 diabetes – had to watch his more obsessive tendencies when he first began to lose weight after he dropped to 12 stone. At this point, Gamble was weighing himself every day. “That’s not a weight I operate well at,” he recalled. “It means I don’t have a social life; I’m always exercising and thinking about what I eat. “At that point, my mum said, ‘You don’t need to keep doing this. Build in having fun again.’” Gamble said that while had weighing scales in his bathroom at the time, he saw them as “evil”. “You’ve put on 2lb. So what? Stop looking. Go with how you feel,” he said. Growing up as a “posh little boy”, Gamble often used food to prove that he was “like the grown-ups”. Speaking to The Independent in August, Ed Gamble recalled first eating poached salmon when he was three or four years old. “I think it would be easy to serve child me in a restaurant,” he said. “I think you’d think I was weird, possibly, because I’d be sat bold upright at the table, sort of like a mini [food critic] Jay Rayner, just demanding everything.” Glutton: The Multi-Course Life of a Very Greedy Boy is released on 26 October. For anyone struggling with the issues raised in this article, eating disorder charity Beat’s helpline is available 365 days a year on 0808 801 0677. NCFED offers information, resources and counselling for those suffering from eating disorders, as well as their support networks. Visit eating-disorders.org.uk or call 0845 838 2040 Read More Should plus-size travellers be asked to take weight-loss drugs for flights? It’s plane crazy Paloma Faith on her heartbreak and being a single mum: ‘Our relationship ended because we had those children – it was worth it’ Weight-loss jabs linked to ‘severe’ stomach problems – study Some people are born with a ‘talent for happiness’ – so what’s their secret? Presenter Louise Minchin: Menopause conversations are no longer taboo – but we need to keep going Israel-Hamas conflict: How to talk to teenagers about distressing news stories

Lucy Charles-Barclay has provided an insight into her “pretty gruelling” training routine ahead of competing at the Ironman World Championship set to take place today (October 14) in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. The best female triathletes (both professional and age group) from around the world will test their strength and resilience on the 140.6-mile triathlon course - a 2.4-mile ocean swim in Kailua Bay, a 112-mile bicycle race along the Queen Ka’ahumanu Highway, ending with a 26.2-mile run to the Kaliua-Kona finish line. This year’s event marks the first-ever female-only race. After coming second in last year’s race, Charles-Barclay is hoping to do one better and get on the top step of the podium this time round. The 30-year-old British triathlete spoke to Indy100 last week on how she has prepared for the race, the highlights and challenges of her career so far. “I've been here for just over a week. Now kind of the main focus of my training the last week has just been acclimatised in because it's very hot and humid here,” she said, with the average air temperature at a sweltering 27° C. “The main thing is kind of getting the body used to that and then doing my final big sessions before I start to ease off next week. Nearly all of the hard work is done now.” Preparing for this kind of climate is “quite brutal” for Charles-Barclay who has been training for the hot Hawaii weather which includes doing “a lot” of indoor training with heaters, going in the sauna and having hot baths “as much as possible” to get used to the higher temperatures. “That seems to have paid off because it doesn't feel too bad. I mean, it is definitely hot here but I seem to be able to kind of put down some good performances in the training session so far. “So hopefully I'll be able to do that in the race as well,” Charles-Barclay added. Despite this intense heat training, races in warmer countries are the Brit’s preference. “I've raced all over the world but even though I'm from the UK, I definitely prefer hot races. I'm not someone who enjoys being cold so I normally pick races that are in hotter climates,” she explained. For Charles-Barclay, the average workout time to train for this kind of endurance in her three disciplines – swimming, cycling and running – is between three to six hours per day. To further prepare her body to endure the hardest moments of her races, the triathlete trains in a ‘pain cave’ at her husband’s parent’s house that was built by her father-in-law who used to be a professional boxer. Inside the aptly named ‘pain cave’ includes a boxing ring in the middle, a Woodway treadmill (self-powered treadmill, that burns 30% more calories), a Lever Movement anti-gravity running system, a ‘swim bench,’ and “all of the strength equipment.” Also, there is an Endless pool which is “like a treadmill for swimming and you can swim on the spot,” as well as indoor bikes from Oahu and the newly purchased Kickr Move “so it feels more like you're riding outside even [when] indoors.” “Basically, you could do a full triathlon indoors in there and we have done that regularly. But yeah, a lot of pain, sweat and tears goes on in there for sure,” she said. While breaking a sweat in the ‘pain cave’, there is a certain energy drink that helps “draw upon that caffeine” and “get through those really tough workouts that I'm doing regularly.” “It's definitely where Red Bull actually helps quite a lot because when you put three sessions a day, you definitely start to flag at some point.” Music also makes training “so much easier,” with the likes of Imagine Dragons, Eminem, NF as some of her favourite artists listen to, as well as “anything that just is a bit upbeat to get me going,” so of course, some Britney Spears tunes made it to her workout playlist. Out of her three disciplines, swimming is Charles-Barclay’s strength as she started as an elite-level swimmer trying to make the 2012 Olympic Games in the 1500 metres and she also competed in 5k and 10k open water swimming races before switching in 2013 to train as a triathlete. In 2014, she and her husband Reece Barclay completed their first Ironman and were “completely hooked.” “My now-husband and I decided to sign up for an Ironman and kind of have it as this challenge to try and achieve it which at the time, we didn't really know what we were getting ourselves into, but we actually really enjoyed the process.” After meeting as swimmers, Reece “naturally became the coach” that set out training when they both moved into competing in triathlons. Now, Charles-Barclay has Reece along with another coach to assist with her training. “Reece is the one that's there kind of every single day seeing what I'm doing adapting my training plan if we need to. He also was a pro triathlete himself and is now gone full-time assisting and helping me. “I probably definitely wouldn't do it without him. He makes it a lot easier.” The couple both qualified for the World Championships in 2015 as amateur athletes and in 2016, Charles-Barclay got her pro license. She then signed with Red Bull during this time in a partnership that has been “invaluable” to her career. “I guess they kind of took a leap of faith with me and their partnership has been huge to my performance over the years,” she explained. “Starting back in 2017, but kind of over the years, helping me overcome injuries that I've had, taking me out to Austria where they had the Performance Centre there and really diving into everything that it is to be an elite level athlete - whether that be psychology, physiology - just looking at every aspect as an athlete so that I can improve and be better." After almost a decade since her first Ironman, one of Charles-Barclay’s highlights was when she won the Half Ironman World Championships in 2021. “I won it in the best way that I could win it. I was the fastest across every discipline in the race and actually ended up winning by eight minutes,” she recalled. “So it's gonna be pretty hard to top that.” Remaining resilient in the face of injury is also a key quality for a sportswoman like Charles-Barclay to have. This year, she had a freak accident during Ironman 70.3 Kraichgau in Germany, where she broke her foot. “I didn't know that it broke. I just continued racing on it,” she said and an X-ray then showed she had completely broken through the metatarsal during the race. “We're still not really sure where it happened, which I think is one of the hardest things as an athlete, we kind of always look into everything can be sure why something happened so you can stop it [from] happening again.” While at the start of last year, a stress fracture in her femoral neck (a broken hip) impacted her 2022 season. “That was a long time out of racing and out of training. As an athlete, sitting still is our worst nightmare,” she admitted. Another difficulty is coming back from an injury and “trusting your body again” so as not to question, “Is it going to break on [me] again?” During those difficult times, Charles-Barclay received an influx of support from her social media followers (444,000 on Instagram, 90,000 on YouTube), who keep up with her performances as she documents her journey to inspire people to try out the sport for themselves. “One of the biggest things that I do is try and share my journey as much as possible online,” she said. “So via my YouTube channel or just on my social media trying to inspire other people to get involved in the sport as much as possible, particularly young women and girls to try and get them into the sport is kind of a really big thing that I try and push whilst I'm doing this.” The athlete added: “I get a lot of messages a lot of the time saying that. I've inspired them to maybe do their first-ever triathlon that might not be a full Ironman, but even just getting into a sprint distance triathlon. “I think it's an amazing sport to be part of. So the more people I can inspire to do that the better.” Lucy’s top tips on training for an Ironman Give yourself enough time “I think the minimum amount of time would be about six months to training for an Ironman just to complete it. So give yourself enough time to find a workout how long you need to train and how much time you need to dedicate to it.” Have a clear plan and get a coach “Whether you're working full time you might have a family it's quite hard to work around that so really have like a clear plan. And one of the best things you can do is definitely get a coach to help you along the way.” Take on the challenge with a friend "Try and convince some of your friends to do it with you because it can be quite a lonely sport. But if you've got other people to train with and make it more fun, I think that makes it a lot easier." Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.