The Walt Disney Co. and Hong Kong’s government have struck a deal to expand the Disneyland theme park at a cost of about $465 million. The theme park is a joint venture between Walt Disney and the Hong Kong government.

The deal, in the process since the last couple of year, is a part of an effort to boost the fortunes of the theme park which failed to attract visitors since its opening in the year 2005. As a part of the deal, the theme park will get three new theme areas, as well as 30 new attractions.

According to Rita Lau, Hong Kong’s commerce and economic development secretary, “The expansion will be a catalyst to the park’s long-term development and bring benefits to not just the local tourism industry but also the entire economy.”

For those visiting the Disney Land theme Park, here is another great deal. Get the cheapest hotel deal for your stay at the DisneyLand Hotel, Hong Kong only at ooaha.com. Check this for the maximum benefit!

A report by the US Department of Labor released Thursday said that job losses grew in June this year thus pushing up the unemployment rate to 9.5%, the highest in 26 years.

painting a dismal picture of the economy, the Labor Department report said that payrolls in the US shrank by 467,000 in June, much more than had been predicted by economic analysts. Currently there were 131.7 million jobs in the country which is even lesser than what had been in May 2000 when official statistics reported 131.9 million jobs. Thus the United States now has fewer jobs than it did nine years ago even though its work force has grown larger by 12.5 million people.

Economic experts figure that this is the first time in the post-War period that recession has eaten away all the jobs created in the last business cycle which is calculated from the start of the last recession in March 2001 to the beginning of the current recession in December 2008. While the previous business cycle had led to the creation of 5.7 million jobs, official data shows that the current recession has wiped out as many as 6.5 million jobs.

Thursday’s Labor Department report slammed the brakes on hopes for a quick economic recovery and indicated that a turnaround may take longer than previously expected.

Passengers at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport were forced to go through harrowing delays after a computer glitch at United Airlines check-in counter caused massive delays.

The computer outage occurred at the self-service check-in kiosks of United Airlines in the O’Hare Airport due to which the check-in services shut down unexpectedly. The outage resulted in thousands of flight passengers waiting in queues while half-empty airlines waited on the runway for its passengers. Several flights had to be canceled as delays snowballed and disrupted flight schedules and those that managed to take off were delayed by an average 45 minutes.

Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport were is a major hub of domestic as well as international flights which is why Thursday’s shutdown led to flights being cancelled or delayed at many other airports. United Airlines waived rescheduling costs for all passengers flying out of Chicago on Thursday and also encouraged customers to check in at its website.

Thursday’s outage at the O’Hare International Airport turned out be particularly inconvenient since this was the start of the Fourth of July weekend when travel picks up across airports. Even though this time is not as busy at the Thanksgiving of Christmas weekend, still families take off for vacations or family get-togethers.

Arianespace, a private space company, announced Wednesday that it had launched the “largest commercial communications satellite”, known as TerreStar-1, into space.

According to Arianespace, an Ariane-5 rocket blasted off from the European Space Agency’s launch centre in Kourou, French Guiana on Wednesday at 2.52 pm local time. The rocket carried with it TerreStar-1, billed by the company as the largest commercial communications satellite in the world. The satellite was released into the orbit twenty minutes after launch. The Ariane-5 can carry a payload or upto 10 metric tons.

TerreStar Corp, the company behind the satellite, hopes that with this launch it will be able to provide better hybrid telecommunication services to cellular and satellite handsets throughout United States and Canada. Industry experts estimate that the entire cost of the launch including satellite, ESA services and insurance is sure to have crossed $500 million.

The TerreStar satellite weighed around 6.9 metric tons at take-off and was manufactured by US-based Loral Space & Communications Inc. Wednesday’s launch of TerreStar was the thirty-first straight successful lift-off for Arianespace. Arianespace is a reputed space transport company based in Paris and thirty percent of it is owned by the European space giant EADS.

US bank regulators brought down the shutters on seven financial institutions on Thursday, thus bringing the total number of bank failures to 52 since the onset of the market crisis last year.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp on Thursday closed down seven banks, six of which were controlled by one family in Illinois and followed a similar business model. According to information available on one of its websites, the institutions belonged to the Campbell Group of privately held banks. the FDIC said that the banks had failed because of investments gone bad in collateralized debt instruments.

According to the FDIC, the largest financial institution seized on Thursday was Founders Bank of Worth, Illinois which had around $848.9 million in deposits and whose assets were estimated to be worth about $962.5 million. The PrivateBank and Trust Co of Chicago is slated to take over all the deposits of Founders Bank.

The FDIC is a federal agency which is entrusted with job of monitoring all the problem banks in the country. There has been a sharp rise in the number of bank failures since last year with the deterioration of loan portfolios following the housing market crisis. While there were only three cases of bank collapse in 2007, that number shot to 25 in 2008.

Going on a cruise is one the most luxurious ways to spend a vacation and among the current crop of cruises, the Alaskan cruise is unbeatable for an unforgettable experience.

Alaska is a land of wild beauty – covered with glaciers, ice mountains, endless forests and rare wildlife. Adventure enthusiasts can opt to go for several outdoor offshore excursions which are part of the Alaskan cruise. Activities like dog sledding and fishing are becoming increasingly popular with tourists who wish to experience the thrill of working with great big Alaskan huskies or catching a rare Wild Alaskan Salmon.

Again those who are fond of hiking or camping in the outdoors can experience the Alaskan landscape through many wilderness tours conducted as part of Alaskan cruise expeditions. Guests interested in socio-cultural aspects of Alaska can even visit the mines and learn how the miners lived and worked in Alaska’s unforgiving conditions.

After all the tough work and harsh weather of the offshore excursions, it is now time to head back to the luxuries of the cruise liner. Here you can wine and dine on the greatest delicacies and then head to the dance floor to boogey away the night. Or if gambling is more like your cup of tea, you may want to woo Lady Luck in the casino. Choose an itinerary according to your preferences and check out www.ooaha.com for best Vancouver hotel deals where many Alaskan cruise liners start from.