Sepp Blatter has been called to stand down as FIFA president to avoid damaging the branding, Labour TD Michael McNamara is to vote against the support of the Aer Lingus sale, McIlroy has suffered a nightmare start at the Irish Open and George Clooney and David Beckham have reportedly landed on our shores for the Irish Open. Just some of the latest and most read stories on irishexaminer.com.

Texas is having a tough time of it as heavy rain led to widespread flooding and damage over the Memorial Day weekend.

If you ever want your Americana laid on extra thick, try to catch a baseball game on America’s annual Memorial Day, the last Monday in May and the starting gun of summer.

'Glee' star Jane Lynch is divorcing her wife of three years.

SEPP BLATTER will be elected unopposed for another term as FIFA President in Zurich later today and there’s absolutely nothing you or I can do about it because we’re not part of The Family.

Sarah Palin said she is “still kind of contemplating” a presidential campaign as she and her family set off from the US capital on a bus tour of historical sites that left observers puzzled about what the former Alaska governor planned next – both for her schedule and her career.

SARAH PALIN rumbled through Washington on a Harley as she and her family began an East Coast tour yesterday that renewed speculation that the former Alaska governor would join the Republican presidential nomination contest.

A new memorial garden will be officially opened on Saturday, August 28, in Campile Village, County Wexford to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the bombing of the village.

NATO today launched airstrikes against Taliban insurgents who had forced government forces to abandon a district in eastern Afghanistan.

Intent on showing firm command of the deepening crisis in the Gulf of Mexico, US President Barack Obama flew to coastal Louisiana today for his second in-person update on the country’s most devastating oil spill.

The American military death toll in Afghanistan reached 1,000 today with more casualties expected in a summer offensive against the Taliban.

The Government today called for the catastrophic events of the Great Famine to be properly remembered as a series of engagements got under way in Canada to mark the disaster.

The driver who tried to ram the Dutch royal family’s coach and ended up killing six bystanders had recently been fired and was about to lose his home, it emerged today.

Israelis put aside their many divisions today to remember more than 22,000 fallen soldiers and terror victims, mournfully aware that the strife that led to those deaths is far from over.

US President George Bush paid tribute to the country’s troops who died in battle today on the Memorial Day holiday.

Israel is marking its 60th Independence Day, which began at sunset yesterday, with a great sense of pride but also uncertainty about its future and doubts about prospects for peace with the Palestinians.

Nicole Richie's 'joke' Memorial Day email invitation has been met with further criticism - this time from a healthy weight loss group.

Troubled actress Lindsay Lohan will not be attending tomorrow’s MTV Movie Awards, her publicist says.

Lindsay Lohan's representatives have addressed the actress' return to rehab, pleading with the press to "respect her privacy".

Actress Lindsay Lohan continued to party over the holiday weekend, despite being arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, according to US reports today.

Mischa Barton was rushed to hospital this week, after suffering a bad reaction to medication.

At least eight US soldiers were killed in Iraq’s restive Diyala province north of Baghdad on Memorial Day yesterday , two of the victims in a helicopter that went down, the military reported.

Congressional Democrats and President George Bush’s top aides are entering another round of high-stakes negotiations on funding for the Iraq war in what has become an exhaustive test of wills.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert today said Israel was prepared to make “far-reaching compromises” and “very painful concessions” to achieve peace with its neighbours.

Palestinian militants from Hamas today called for a fresh wave of attacks against Israel after troops killed nine Palestinians in weekend fighting, straining a five-month old ceasefire.

Good Will Hunting star Ben Affleck spent his Memorial Day holiday on Monday, in hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, after developing serious migraine headaches.

An American television news correspondent who had reported on the deteriorating conditions in Iraq for three years was in critical but stable condition at a US military hospital in Germany today, a day after a car bomb killed two of her British colleagues.

US President George Bush yesterday signed into law a bill that restricts protests at military funerals.

Wall Street extended its rebound to a third session today, ending with a moderate advance after personal consumption data bolstered the outlook for the economy and interest rates. The major indexes finished the week with solid gains.

Brent crude oil prices have climbed above $71 (€55.40) per barrel today.

The price of Brent crude oil has little prospect of dropping significantly below $69/bbl (€101.14), as predictions of a bad hurricane season weigh heavily on the US market, according to Paul J. Harris of Bank of Ireland Global Markets.

The US Embassy in Tokyo today said it had received a possible threat against US facilities in Japan and warned American citizens to be on guard against suspicious activity.

Irish people and emigrants abroad should observe a minute’s silence later this month for victims of the Famine, it was claimed today.

The Government must designate an annual day of commemoration to remember the victims of the Famine, it was claimed today.

THERE was a palpable sense of anger in Long Island’s Irish Centre on Saturday night when Kerry woman Mary Brennan took the stage.

OVER the past weekend Americans were commemorating Memorial Day, remembering those who were killed in all the wars.

A surprisingly weak reading on the manufacturing sector sent US stocks mostly lower today as investors feared that the economy has indeed run into a soft patch.

Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz said today that Israel’s security will improve after Israel withdraws from the Gaza Strip this summer – but over time.

America's shellshocked southern coastal states began to clean up after their third hurricane pummelling in five weeks, which could cost a total of up to $20bn (€16.4bn).

RECORD-BREAKING Shrek 2 cast a bigger box-office spell than first imagined, convincing distributor DreamWorks SKG that even grumpy green ogres can live happily ever after — at least for two more sequels.

A renewed rise in oil prices stifled a rally on Wall Street today, leaving stocks mixed and investors worrying that costs will climb further despite Saudi Arabia’s vow to boost production.

A monument to the 16 million US men and women who served during the Second World War opened to the public in Washington today.

Northern Ireland is gearing up for a series of events to mark UK Holocaust Memorial Day on January 27.

UNITED STATES president George W Bush yesterday marked Memorial Day with a wreath-laying at Arlington National Cemetery, paying special tribute to troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.