Legendary actor 'Sir Donald Sinden' dies aged 90

Theatre, film and TV actor Sir Donald Sinden has died at his home aged 90 following a long illness, his son has confirmed.

He made his name on stage as a Shakespearean actor and appeared in more than 70 film and TV productions.

He had been suffering from prostate cancer for several years, and died of the disease at his home in Kent.

Sir Donald's family described his death as a "huge loss" and asked for their privacy to be respected.

He was appointed a CBE in 1979 and then knighted in 1997 for his services to drama.

Although renowned for his theatre work, he was arguably best known to the masses for his TV appearances - in the sitcom Never the Twain and the BBC crime drama Judge John Deed.

His son, actor Marc Sinden, said that his career was "probably unique in our business".

"He worked out that he only had a total of five weeks' unemployment between 1942 and 2008," said Mr Sinden of his father.

"Even though his death was expected, it is still a huge loss to his family and we, his brother, his son, his four grandchildren and great-grandchild will all miss his humour and knowledge.

"We would all like to share our appreciation for the Pilgrims Hospice and the carers that looked after him and us with such dignity, consideration and care until the end."

According to Marc Sinden, Sir Donald was the last person living to have known Oscar Wilde's lover Lord Alfred Douglas and was one of only two people to attend his funeral.

Sir Donald trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Arts in London.

He made his film debut in 1953 with The Cruel Sea and went on to make about 30 films.

He also performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company in leading roles such as King Lear and Malvolio in Twelfth Night.

Sir Roger Moore was among those to pay tribute to "a wonderful actor" with whom he had worked on 1975 film That Lucky Touch.

"Sad to wake up to news another mate has left us," wrote the former James Bond star on Twitter. "Awful week."

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Radamel Falcao: I hope to stay many years at Manchester United and make history

Manchester United striker Radamel Falcao has set his sights on earning a permanent deal at Old Trafford and aims to stay at the club for the best years of his career and make history in England.

Falcao, 28. has joined the former Premier League champions on a season-long loan and United have the option to purchase him after that.

The former River Plate, Porto and Atletico Madrid forward is playing for his fifth club since 2009 and said in a news conference: "I hope to stay many years at Manchester United and make history at this club.

"When I was in Porto and Atletico Madrid, I always want to improve and I dream of playing in a team like this and now I want to stay here for many years.

"I believe in this project. I think Manchester United is the best club for my style of play and I am sure about my decision. This project in the future will be great for us."

He added: "I think Manchester United build a big team this season and in future seasons and I would like to be here and part of his project. I am happy to be here."

Falcao has a record of starting well with new clubs and believes it will not take him long to adapt to life at Old Trafford.

He explained: "I don't think I will need too much time because Manchester United have very good players and [for] that reason [it] is easier to play football and I am used to life in cities like this. I think I don't have a problem for adaptation.

"I have had a great welcome. When you talk about a settling-in period when you are surrounded by top players it makes settling in all the easier."

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A Solar Storm Is Heading Towards Earth- NASA

A giant solar flare that arced off the sun on Wednesday afternoon is heading for Earth, and scientists say it could disrupt our planet's power and communication grids when it crosses our path on Friday and Saturday. It's the largest solar storm in years.

NASA has issued a geomagnetic storm watch, cautioning that the flare could affect unprepared electrical systems. Though the flare was classified as an ominous-sounding "X-class" event (an X1.6, in the high-intensity category), you can relax: NOAA space weather forecaster Bill Murtagh told the media that though the event is expected to cause "geomagnetic storm levels in the G2 (moderate) and G3 (strong) range," problems with power grids on that scale are "typically very manageable." Satellite operators may have to deal with increased interference.

Still, CNN meteorologist Chad Myers said, "This is a pretty strong solar storm, and we just won't know until it gets here." NASA released an ominous video of the solar flare, which is both gorgeous and not exactly reassuring.

Solar flares, the European Space Agency explains, are formed when "energy stored in 'twisted' magnetic fields (usually above sunspots) is suddenly released." The resulting flare is supercharged with radiation of every sort; Tech Times' Rhodi Lee writes that the most intense flares can carry up to six times the energy being emitted by the sun at any given second. The current storm also triggered a coronal mass ejection (CME), which the ESA describes as "huge bubbles of gas threaded with magnetic field lines that are ejected from the Sun over the course of several hours." 

"There's been a giant magnetic explosion on the sun," Tom Berger, director of the Space Weather Prediction Center, explained to the Associated Press. "Because it's pointed right at us, we'll at least catch some of the cloud." But he added, "We're not scared of this one."

The largest flares may have the potential to knock out unhardened satellites and bring down infrastructure all around the planet; NASA scientists have concluded that another occurrence of the largest flare in recorded history, the 1859 Carrington Event, could cause $2 trillion in damage and take years to repair critical equipment. The chance of such a scenario occurring between 2012 and 2022 was around 12%, and the planet barely dodged a flare that could have reached similar proportions in 2012.

"Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth's atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground," NASA said in a statement. "However — when intense enough — they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel."

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Arsene Wenger gave reason he chose to spend transfer deadline day in Rome

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has revealed he opted to spend transfer deadline day in Rome as he had a long-standing appointment to meet the Pope Francis at the Vatican.

Wenger was criticized for taking part in a charity football match in the Italian capital on a day when so much transfer activity takes place for top Premier League clubs, but he still managed to sign Danny Welbeck from Manchester United despite his day trip to Italy.

The Frenchman suggested the fact he was out of bed early to catch his flight to Rome helped him to set up the deal for Welbeck, but it was clear that his eagerness to have an audience with the head of the Catholic church was important to him.

"Meeting the Pope was an experience I did not want to miss," Wenger told reporters, of a match that was supported by Pope Francis. "I am a Catholic, so it was an experience, and one I accepted a long time ago.

"On top of that it was a game for peace and multi-religion understanding. I thought today where we are a bit in front of an international religious war [in Gaza], it was a very important game.

"He is a great person. He shows humility and is available to meet for everybody, has a word with everybody.

"He is also a football fan. He is a supporter of San Lorenzo in Argentina. You cannot be born in Argentina and not be a football fan. He spoke with many Argentinians, so I wanted to be discreet and say, 'It was nice to meet you and bye-bye.'"

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