Continental Airlines Cancels 24 Flights on Sickout

United Continental Holdings Inc. (UAL)’s Continental Airlines unit canceled 24 flights today because of crew shortages, mostly from the carrier’s hub at New Jersey’s Newark airport.

A so-called sickout left the airline with too few pilots to fly its schedule, the Click2Houston.com news website reported. Megan McCarthy, a United Continental spokeswoman, gave the flight totals and locations by telephone while saying the airline wasn’t speculating on the cause of the shortage.

Continental’s chapter of the Air Line Pilots Association union has said that it has a shortfall of at least 200 pilots, and that its members had to fly extra trips to cover the schedule. A union spokeswoman, Amy Flanagan, declined to comment on the flight cancellations.

Swift U.S. action on debt needed in global

The International Monetary Fund on Monday urged the United States to swiftly raise the debt ceiling to ward off risks of a credit downgrade that could damage the global economy.

The IMF appeal was part of a review of U.S. economic prospects in which it concluded a slow-paced recovery can continue with some fiscal tightening while also stressing its concern about getting government debts under control.

"Directors (on the IMF board) highlighted the urgency of raising the federal debt ceiling and agreeing on the specifics of a comprehensive medium-term consolidation program," the global lender said.

Talks between the Obama administration and lawmakers to craft a plan to avoid potential U.S. default seemed to be making scant progress.

Congressman David Wu quits amid 'unwanted sex' scandal

A US Democratic congressman has resigned amid allegations he had an unwanted sexual encounter with the 18-year-old daughter of a campaign donor.

David Wu of Oregon said he would step down following the resolution of the debt limit crisis in Washington.

The Taiwanese-born congressman said he was resigning to protect his family and fight the "serious allegations".

Mr Wu, who is in the process of divorce, is the third US congressman to resign amid a sex scandal this year.

His encounter with the young woman, the daughter of a childhood friend and campaign donor, was reported on Friday by the Oregonian newspaper.

He does not face any criminal charges in the incident, in part because the alleged victim believed there was not enough evidence to press a case, the newspaper reported.

The newspaper said the encounter occurred in the autumn shortly after Mr Wu, 56, was elected to his seventh term.

Republican Representative Christopher Lee of New York stepped down in February after a shirtless photograph surfaced that he had sent to a woman he met on an online classified advert website.

In June, Democrat Anthony Weiner, also of New York, resigned after it was revealed he had sent numerous lewd photographs of himself to women he met online.


Source: bbc.co.uk

Messi and Xavi, candidates for European Player of the Year

FC Barcelona’s Leo Messi and Xavi Hernández have been nominated for UEFA’s award for the best player of the 2010/11 season, along with Cristiano Ronaldo. The award will be presented on August 25 in Monaco before the draw for the Champions League.

               

 

 

The UEFA Club Footballer of the Year  recognises the best player, regardless of nationality, who played in one of the 53 UEFA member states over the previous season. The jury is made up of 53 journalists from each of those nations and announced today that the three short-listed players are Leo Messi and Xavi Hernández of the latest Champions League winners, Barcelona, and Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo. 

Four FCB players in Top 10As well as the top three, the positions of the other players in the top ten were also announced. Two of these were Barça players, Andrés Iniesta, who came fourth, and Gerard Piqué, who cam ninth. 

Voting on August 25The winner will be announced on August 25 at the UEFA Champions League group stage 

draw. The 53 journalists will be casting their votes on the same day as the announcement.

By: Subhan Rathore

Atom smasher closes in on elusive particle

Scientists hoping to puzzle out how the universe began will find a long-sought theoretical particle — or rule out that it exists — by the end of 2012, the director of the world’s largest atom smasher predicted Monday.

Rolf Heuer, director of the European particle physics laboratory near Geneva, said his confidence was based on the latest findings from the $10 billion proton collider under the Swiss-French border.

"I would say we can settle the question, the Shakespearean question — ‘to be or not to be’ — end of next year," he told reporters at a major physics conference in Grenoble.

The Higgs boson isn’t just any particle. It’s the linchpin of the Standard Model of particle physics theory that explains the Big Bang, because it is believed to answer a fundamental question about why matter has mass. The particle itself is thought to give mass to other particles, and thus to objects and creatures in the universe.

This Week in Golf -- July 28th through July 31st

PGA TOUR - THE GREENBRIER CLASSIC, The Old White TPC, White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia - The PGA Tour moves to West Virginia this week for the Greenbrier Classic.

The event gets a boost from a pair of big names as Phil Mickelson and Tom Watson will tee it up on the Old White TPC. 


Mickelson skipped the inaugural event last year, as did Watson, who is the golf professional emeritus at the Greenbrier.

Watson is skipping the U.S. Senior Open to compete in this tournament.

Last year, Stuart Appleby fired the second 59 in less than a month on the PGA Tour to gain the win. Appleby shot his magical score in the final round and he needed every stroke as he beat Jeff Overton by a single shot. 

Asia Inches Higher Despite US Debt Deadlock

Asian shares edged higher on Tuesday, bouncing back from a slide the previous day, after U.S. stocks posted only modest losses in reaction to the worsening deadlock in Washington over raising the debt limit and avoiding a technical bond default.

The dollar fell to a record low against the safe-haven Swiss franc in early trade as President Barack Obama delivered a prime-time address to Americans, warning that a default on U.S. bond obligations would be a "reckless and irresponsible outcome."

The FTSE CNBC Asia 100 Index [.FTFCNBCA  6868.12    26.07  (+0.38%)], which measures markets across Asia, climbed 0.4 percent.

Japan's stock average rose, helped by short-covering after a fall the previous day and buying shares of companies that reported solid quarterly earnings such as Canon and Kao.

The benchmark Nikkei [.N225  10055.71    5.70  (+0.06%)   ] rose 0.3 percent to 10,076.27 while the broader Topix gained 0.3 percent to 864.73.

Canon rose 2 percent after posting better-than-expected quarterly profits and raising its annual forecast after it staged a rapid recovery from supply chain woes sparked by the March 11 earthquake.

Vatican recalls Irish papal envoy after Cloyne report

The Vatican has recalled its special envoy in Ireland after a damning report on the Catholic Church's handling of child abuse by priests.

Papal Nuncio Giuseppe Leanza has been called back to Rome to discuss the impact of the recent Cloyne Report.

It showed how allegations of sex abuse by priests in Cork had been covered up.

The report led to angry condemnation of the Vatican by Prime Minister Enda Kenny in the Irish Parliament.

In a blistering attack, Mr Kenny accused the church of putting its reputation ahead of child rape victims.

Vice-director of the Vatican press office Father Ciro Benedettini said the nuncio's recall "should be interpreted as an expression of the desire of the Holy See for serious and effective collaboration with the (Irish) government".

Amy Winehouse Joins the '27 Club' of Musicians Dying Young

Amy Winehouse, the Grammy winning singer whose styles combined R&B, soul, and jazz, has joined a rather sad group of hard living, troubled musicians who have managed to die at the age of 27.

A report in the U.K. Daily Mail suggests that Winehouse's death may have been brought on by a combination of ecstasy, cocaine, and ketamine which she bought the night before her death. She was also observed to have been drinking heavily. This comes as no surprise, considering that Winehouse has had a long term problem with alcohol and drug addiction, as well as a recent breakup with her former director and lover.

Winehouse is not the only famous musician to have died at 27, however.

China officials close fake Apple stores in Kunming city

China has moved to shut down several fake Apple stores found in Kunming city.

Three of the elaborate fake stores, which mimicked the look of the real thing, came to the world's attention after being exposed on a blog.

Following the publicity, trade officials investigated and found five stores in Kunming posing as official Apple retail outlets.

Two of the five have now been closed as their owners lacked a business licence.

The BirdAbroad blog, written by an American woman living in Kunming, wrote about a visit to one fake Apple store which superficially resembled the official outlets.

In the article, the blogger wrote about conversations with staff, many of whom were convinced they worked for the US electronics firm.