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Sanches has had a breakthrough season at Benfica, only making his senior debut in October but has gone on to establish himself in the first team and become a Portugal international. |
He has signed a five-year deal with Bayern and was the first signing under incoming boss Carlo Ancelotti. |
The Bavarian giants have also completed the signing of Mats Hummels from Borussia Dortmund. |
The world’s most worrisome military flashpoint is arguably not in the Strait of Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula, Iran, Israel, Kashmir or Ukraine. In fact, it cannot be located on any map of Earth, even though it is very easy to find. To see it, just look up into a clear sky, to the no-man’s-land of Earth orbit, where a c... |
The emptiness of outer space might be the last place you’d expect militaries to vie over contested territory, except that outer space isn’t so empty anymore. About 1,300 active satellites wreathe the globe in a crowded nest of orbits, providing worldwide communications, GPS navigation, weather forecasting and planetary... |
The long-simmering tensions are now approaching a boiling point due to several events, including recent and ongoing tests of possible anti-satellite weapons by China and Russia, as well as last month’s failure of tension-easing talks at the United Nations. |
Testifying before Congress earlier this year, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper echoed the concerns held by many senior government officials about the growing threat to U.S. satellites, saying that China and Russia are both “developing capabilities to deny access in a conflict,” such as those that might e... |
There are many ways to disable or destroy satellites beyond provocatively blowing them up with missiles. A spacecraft could simply approach a satellite and spray paint over its optics, or manually snap off its communications antennas, or destabilize its orbit. Lasers can be used to temporarily disable or permanently da... |
In response to these possible threats, the Obama administration has budgeted at least $5 billion to be spent over the next five years to enhance both the defensive and offensive capabilities of the U.S. military space program. The U.S. is also attempting to tackle the problem through diplomacy, although with minimal su... |
The prospect of war in space is not new. Fearing Soviet nuclear weapons launched from orbit, the U.S. began testing anti-satellite weaponry in the late 1950s. It even tested nuclear bombs in space before orbital weapons of mass destruction were banned through the United Nations’ Outer Space Treaty of 1967. After the ba... |
Today, the situation is much more complicated. Low- and high-Earth orbits have become hotbeds of scientific and commercial activity, filled with hundreds upon hundreds of satellites from about 60 different nations. Despite their largely peaceful purposes, each and every satellite is at risk, in part because not all mem... |
Space junk is the greatest threat. Satellites race through space at very high velocities, so the quickest, dirtiest way to kill one is to simply launch something into space to get in its way. Even the impact of an object as small and low-tech as a marble can disable or entirely destroy a billion-dollar satellite. And i... |
In 2007 the risks from debris skyrocketed when China launched a missile that destroyed one of its own weather satellites in low-Earth orbit. That test generated a swarm of long-lived shrapnel that constitutes nearly one-sixth of all the radar-trackable debris in orbit. The U.S. responded in kind in 2008, repurposing a ... |
More recently, China has launched what many experts say are additional tests of ground-based anti-satellite kinetic weapons. None of these subsequent launches have destroyed satellites, but Krepon and other experts say this is because the Chinese are now merely testing to miss, rather than to hit, with the same hostile... |
It was no coincidence that shortly after the May 2013 test, the US declassified details of its secret Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program (GSSAP), a planned set of four satellites capable of monitoring the Earth’s high orbits and even rendezvousing with other satellites to inspect them up-close. The firs... |
“This used to be a black program—something that didn’t even officially exist,” Weeden says. “It was declassified to basically send a message saying, ‘Hey, if you’re doing something funky in and around the geosynchronous belt, we’re going to see.’” An interloper into geosynchronous orbit need not be an explosives-tipped... |
Russia is also developing its own ability to approach, inspect and potentially sabotage or destroy satellites in orbit. Over the past two years, it has included three mysterious payloads in otherwise routine commercial satellite launches, with the latest occurring in March of this year. Radar observations by the U.S. A... |
Chinese officials maintain that their military activities in space are simply peaceful science experiments, while Russian officials have stayed mostly mum. Both nations could be seen as simply responding to what they see as the U.S.’s clandestine development of potential space weapons. Indeed, the U.S.’s ballistic miss... |
“The draft treaty from Russia and China seeks to ban the very things that they are so actively pursuing,” Krepon says. “It serves their interests perfectly. They want freedom of action, and they’re covering that with this proposal to ban space weapons.” Even if the treaty was being offered in good faith, Krepon says, “... |
“Offensive space control” is a clear reference to weapons. “Active defense” is much more nebulous, and refers to undefined offensive countermeasures that could be taken against an attacker, further widening the routes by which space might soon become weaponized. If an imminent threat is perceived, a satellite or its op... |
The space environment, he says, must be protected as a global commons, similar to the Earth’s oceans and atmosphere. Space junk is very easy to make and very hard to clean up, so international efforts should focus on preventing its creation. Beyond the threat of deliberate destruction, the risk of accidental collisions... |
Bring your treasured memories back to life by having Mackeymedia produce a DVD documentary of your life from your old & new photo albums, 8mm film & video, super8 and VHS tapes. This is your opportunity to finally have regular access to your packed away old n' dusty photo albums, films & video on an easily accessable D... |
In her beautiful and heartbreaking novel The White Bone, Barbara Gowdy tells the story of an elephant herd in Africa as it faces vanishing habitat, drought, and poachers. The story is rendered by way of characters such as Mud, She-Swaggers, and Tall-Time. They are on a quest to find the white bone, a sacred object whic... |
"On their own, vehicles prefer to sleep," Mud observes, speaking of jeeps that approach the herd before predations, "but whenever a human burrows inside them they race and roar and discharge a foul odor." |
What must elephants think of zoos? |
"Elephants don't live in zoos," says LA City councilman Tony Cardenas, "they die in zoos." He's referring to the fact that since 1975, thirteen elephants have died in captivity at the Los Angeles Zoo. As of today there is only one elephant left. "His name is Billy," reports the Voices for the Animals Foundation, "a 21-... |
In 1998, the writer Deena Metzger began making pilgrimages to elephant habitat in Africa, learning to sit in council with the beleaguered pachyderms, promising them that she would look after their brothers and sisters. Last spring, she and other concerned citizens made a pilgrimage to the LA Zoo, where they gathered at... |
Today, at 2:30 pm, the Los Angeles City Council is holding a hearing on a motion to close the elephant exhibit at the Los Angeles Zoo and move Billy to a sanctuary. (And, yes, the proposal has celebrity proponents, including Bill Maher, Lily Tomlin, and Cher). "This is about being humane," says Cardenas, who introduced... |
For more information about the hearing, the issue, Billy, and whom to contact if you are unable to attend, click on http://www.vftafoundation.org/lazoowatch.htm. |
And, on a note of full disclosure, Deena Metzger provided an endorsement for my latest book. |
MANCHESTER UNITED have asked about Chelsea star Willian and been offered Mesut Ozil from Arsenal. |
Jose Mourinho is likely to be in the market for reinforcements after falling further behind Manchester City in the title race following their 2-2 draw with Leicester. |
Mourinho is keen on a left-back and wants a new winger with Henrikh Mkhitaryan losing his place at Old Trafford. |
Reports in Italy claim Inter Milan are set to make a loan move for the 28-year-old after he fell out with Mourinho last month. |
And United are said to be considering Willian and Ozil as options to replace Mkhitaryan. |
The Mail On Sunday say United have asked Chelsea to keep them informed about Willian's situation and have also been offered Ozil as a free agent next summer. |
Manchester United's midfield has been under pressure this season – but which midfielders have they been linked with ahead of January? |
Ozil is out of contract at Arsenal at the end of the season, when he could leave the Emirates for nothing. |
When asked about the possibility of signing Ozil before Manchester United beat Arsenal 3-1 earlier this month, Mourinho said: "No comment." |
But he was more expansive when asked about players like Ozil being available for free: "That’s football. |
"They finish their contracts. (Marouane) Fellaini finishes his contract. |
"There are other important players in Europe in other teams that they finish their contracts. Sometimes players decide to go in this direction, which is the right that they have. |
"They gamble because imagine one of these players has a big knee injury, if one of these players has one of these injuries, probably next season, he is without a club. |
"Players have the right to do that and I don’t blame the clubs because the clubs, they try and try, but the players they have the right to go into this type of situation. |
"Many times it is good for them because they sometimes go on a free transfer and they can get huge salaries. Other times, the clubs make an extra effort to keep them and they go with them also to very high salaries. |
"I repeat, I am not speaking about Alexis (Sanchez) or Mesut Ozil, I am speaking about the general situation. Even as managers, some of us prefer to let the contract go until the last year and in the last year we make the decision to stay, to leave. You know, it’s a risk for everyone, but sometimes the risk works and t... |
"The important thing is that the players remain professionals and they remain focused in the clubs where they are and they give everything to the clubs until the last day." |
The gap between increasing demand of infrastructure and shrinking funds poses great challenges to the governments of different levels. These governments are turning more to the private sector to help make projects both large and small to be built. It is suggested that private-public partnership (P3) projects can run mo... |
Because of these challenges, there have been on consensus on the scale of benefits, if at all, related to P3 in literature. To address this challenge, this project proposes to develop a P3 project database to support transportation planning practice and policy analysis. This project will be review existing data in infr... |
1. “Hamilton”: Lin-Manuel Miranda’s blockbuster hip-hop musical knocked socks off at the Orpheum Theatre with a cast every bit as good as the one folks are seeing in New York. |
2. “West Side Story”: Choreographer Maija Garcia rose to the challenge of reinventing the dances for this landmark show, electrifying Guthrie artistic director Joseph Haj’s arresting production. With a razzle-dazzle cast that included Puerto Rican star Ana Isabelle as firebrand Anita, the show sizzled. |
3. “The Wiz”: “American Idol” finalist Paris Bennett, Grammy winner Jamecia Bennett, vocal powerhouse Greta Oglesby and the rest of the all-star cast blew the roof off Children’s Theatre in a thrilling staging by Lou Bellamy. |
4. “Newsies”: Chanhassen Dinner Theatres choreographer Tamara Kangas Erickson and director Michael Brindisi brought high-kicking dances and touching moments to this winning, well-acted and well-sung Disney musical. |
5. “The Wolves”: Playwright Sarah DeLappe’s soccer-themed play orbits a team of young women practicing their sport even as they live fearlessly and honestly in their power. Taut performances by a young, skilled ensemble and Sarah Rasmussen’s propulsive direction made it irresistibly compelling. |
6. “The Royale”: This boxing-themed knockout show played like a piece of music. Moving to an insistent beat, performers David Murray and Santino Craven were beautifully hypnotic in director/choreographer Austene Van’s rhythmic production. |
7. “The Visit”: Director Wendy Knox tapped the Minnesota Transportation Museum’s gritty atmosphere for this stone-cold revenge story about a society losing its moral compass. As a rich woman who returns to her hometown with an empty coffin for the ex-lover who left her, Katherine Ferrand was indelible. |
8. “Hype Man, a Break Beat Play”: Idris Goodwin’s deft writing, Shawn LaCount’s smart direction and an excellent ensemble from Boston-based Company One Theatre made this show stand out in Mixed Blood Theatre’s Prescient Harbingers fest. |
9. “Familiar”: Misunderstandings and cross-cultural attraction exploded into laughter in the Guthrie’s poignant regional premiere of Danai Gurira’s culture-clash comedy. |
10. “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf”: Actors Audrey Park and Sun Mee Chomet brought new colors, and force, to Ntozake Shange’s classic female-empowerment choreopoem at Penumbra. |
Breastfeeding, sleep training, food allergies: Parents navigate an onslaught of decisions, particularly fraught from birth to preschool when their own sleep deprivation and inexperience may come into play. |
David Gavin from Castlebar in Mayo went missing at the end of June. |
David Gavin playing GAA for his club Breaffy. |
THE PARENTS OF a 26-year-old Irishman who is presumed dead after disappearing in the waters of a river in Canada are enduring every family’s worst nightmare, a memorial service heard today. |
David Gavin from Castlebar, Mayo, has not been seen since diving off a bridge near Lake Kinbasket in British Columbia on 30 June. Canadian authorities called off a search last month, although private efforts to find Gavin have continued. |
Local priest Fr John McCormack recounted how tragedy had struck at the picturesque lake resort during a packed service at the Church of the Holy Rosary in Castlebar. |
“Last February, David and his girlfriend, Ciara O’Malley, set out for Canada. They were in love with each other and they quickly fell in love with Canada,” he said. |
Fr McCormack said that the couple, who had been together for nine years, had loved Canada and that life had been “as near to perfect as they could hope for” since moving to Vancouver. |
“Then on the last day of June, tragedy struck,” he continued. |
“David and some of his GAA club mates were on their way to Calgary, playing a tournament. It was a nine or 10-hour journey by car, so there would have to be stops along the way. It was also a very hot day. |
“They stopped off at Kinbasket Lake – a tranquil place surrounded by mountains, rivers, lakes and trees. They decided to go for a swim to cool off. |
“Innocently, some of them walked over to a bridge that overlooked this beautiful place. It was at a height that David was comfortable with. He had often jumped from higher heights before and there was no sign of danger,” said Fr McCormack. |
David was the first to jump but something went wrong. He hit the water, resurfaced, and then disappeared. His friends responded immediately but were unable to save him. What went wrong, we don’t know, and we will never know unless David is found. |
He said that news of the tragedy had reached Gavin’s parents, Michael and Angela, and his younger sister, Aoife, at around 2am on 1 July. |
“That terrible news quickly spread throughout this community and, just as quickly, this community mobilised and offered unbelievable support to the family, both financial and spiritual,” he added. |
Fr McCormack described Gavin as “a wonderful example of humanity at its best” and said that he was adored by his family. |
“David Gavin was gifted. Gifted academically, physically and artistically. David enjoyed developing his talents, he liked to achieve, but he hated to be singled out for special mention. But he did achieve. He was just a gifted, humble, kind, person,” he said. |
Email “'A gifted, humble, kind, person': Memorial to man who went missing after diving into Canadian lake”. |
Feedback on “'A gifted, humble, kind, person': Memorial to man who went missing after diving into Canadian lake”. |
She’s a trooper, that girl! |
Last week, we heard Lea Michele was staying strong with the help of her friends by attending Hollywood parties and remembering the good times with Cory Monteith as much as possible. |
But now we’re learning even more about her current situation. |
The friend also reiterated that she misses him every day and does still talk about him all the time, confirming the report from last week. |
It’s been months since Cory passed, but sometimes it feels even more recent than that as the pain and shock are both still hard to shake. |
His tribute episode aired last Thursday, with a massive ratings hike for Glee. It was intended to help fans mourn along with the cast and crew, but Lea’s scenes were by far the most devastating. |
Rachel Berry has four types of crying, and that was not one of them. That was Lea coming through, and we are still in absolute awe of her courage. |
William Doyle researches the effects of education policy at the state and federal levels. |
A new study shows Ohio ranks in the bottom five of all 50 states in college affordability, and that just over 4 in 10 Ohioans have a post-secondary degree. The author of the report also says if the state doesn’t do more to fix the problem soon, Ohio will fall further behind economically. |
The report issued for the non-profit group Philanthropy Ohio says the state needs to do more to make college affordable. William Doyle with Vanderbilt University says the state needs to make more need based aid available. |
“Families making less than $30,000 a year would need to pay 81 percent of their income to attend a public four-year research institution in Ohio. That’s including the grant aid they receive,” Doyle said. |
The state has set a goal of 65 percent of Ohioans with a degree or certificate in the next eight years. The group says without making college more affordable, the state’s economy will suffer from a lack of skilled workers. |
Sen. Sherrod Brown and Rep. Marcia Fudge joined U.S. Secretary of Education John King Jr. today to hold a roundtable on college affordability. |
The discussion took place at Cuyahoga Community College. |
The politicians heard stories from college students and community members to discuss policy changes. |
Brown says this discussion and the changes recommended are steps toward his goal of two years of free community college for all Americans. |
Democrats around the country plan to talk a lot in the coming months about ways to make college more affordable. Ohio Public Radio’s Jo Ingles reports. |
The Progressive Change Campaign Committee’s Kayla Wingbermuehle says many Democrats are backing a congressional plan to make college debt free by increasing federal aid to students and lowering higher education costs. |
Recent reports and scores from national test results show children in poverty -- and children of color -- often lag behind other students. StateImpact Ohio’s Michelle Faust reports the problem is as persistent in Ohio as it is the rest of the country. |
On average, black eighth graders in Ohio scored 37 points below their white contemporaries on a national science assessment. Latino eighth graders were 22 points behind. |
A man was trapped in the lift of Portsmouth's Spinnaker Tower for more than an hour - on the day the troubled structure finally opened to the public. |
The external glass lift jammed 100ft (30m) up trapping the city council's project manager, David Greenhalgh. |
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