DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Britain’s Conservative Party Is Being Held Captive by Bad People - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-09 | by ( Geoffrey Wheatcroft | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

At 3 a.m. one day last December, a 78-year-old volunteer for the British Conservative Party was reportedly woken by a call from Mark Menzies, the Conservative lawmaker she worked for. The volunteer, a former campaign manager for Mr. Menzies, paid the sum out of her own savings. Mr. Menzies, who was suspended from the party last month, denies that allegation and others, which include using £14,000 from party funds for personal medical bills. Yet the affair epitomizes a Conservative Party in crisis. Lord Salisbury, Stanley Baldwin, Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher led the Conservative Party for more or less 15 years.

Persons: Mark Menzies, ”, Menzies, Rishi Sunak, Mr, Sunak, Lord Salisbury, Stanley Baldwin, Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher, — Organizations: British Conservative Party, Conservative, Conservative Party, Tories, Conservatives, Labour Party, Tory Locations: England, Wales

☆ An English Village Hollowed Out for a Train That May Never Come
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-03 | by ( Stephen Castle | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For those that can afford them, the large villas at Whitmore Heath offer the tranquillity of the countryside within striking distance of urban centers like Stoke-on-Trent and Stafford, an hour’s drive north of Birmingham, the largest city in the English Midlands. Yet on Heath Road, where some house prices have exceeded a million pounds (about $1.3 million), padlocked gates and signs warn trespassers of CCTV security monitoring. Outside one house stands a dumpster filled with waste while the roof of another is carpeted with a veneer of moss. Peer through the large windows of a family home, and not a single piece of furniture can be seen inside. This scene of abandonment is a byproduct of a multibillion-dollar rail project that has spanned three decades and six prime ministers — a case study in the problems Britain encounters when planning large-scale infrastructure, and of the scarring that remains when such projects go awry.

Persons: Whitmore Heath, — Locations: Whitmore, Stoke, Trent, Stafford, Birmingham, English Midlands, Heath

☆ Opinion: What to make of Schumer’s scathing speech on Netanyahu
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-17 | by ( Opinion Aaron David Miller | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

So, is Schumer’s speech likely to have a major impact in Israel or on Biden administration policy? One way to read the impact of Schumer’s speech is that it will give the administration the political space to toughen up its policies toward the Netanyahu government. How Schumer’s speech will impact Israel and the US-Israeli relationship is hard to predict. Just look at the Republican reaction to Schumer’s speech. In an interview with CNN, Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell said Schumer’s speech was a contradiction of US policy.

Persons: Aaron David Miller, ” Miller, Chuck Schumer, ” that’s, Howard Beale, Benjamin Netanyahu, ‘, Schumer, Biden, Netanyahu, “ atta, Yair Lapid, Naftali Bennett, ” Benny Gantz, Schumer “, “, ” Gantz, We’re, Donald Trump, Trump, Will Biden, Joe Biden, It’s, that’s, he’s, Israel –, Schumer won’t, George H.W, Bush, State James Baker, Yitzhak Rabin’s, Yitzhak Shamir, Rabin, Bill Clinton, Shimon Peres, Peres, John Boehner, Sen, Itamar Ben Gvir, Bezalel Smotrich, Mitch McConnell, can’t, ” Organizations: Carnegie Endowment, International Peace, Democratic, Republican, CNN, “, Likud, State, Republican Party, Democrat, Hamas, Biden, Israel, White, GOP, Republicans, West Bank Locations: East, Israel, Washington, “, Gaza, Arab, Michigan, Qatar, Iran, Jerusalem, America

☆ Nikolai I. Ryzhkov, Soviet Premier Who Presided Over Economic Chaos, Dies at 94
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Robert D. Mcfadden | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Nikolai I. Ryzhkov, a premier of the Soviet Union who in 1990 took the brunt of the blame for economic chaos that engulfed the last years of Communist rule, leading to the nation’s political collapse and the end of the Cold War, has died. His death was confirmed on Wednesday by Valentina Matvienko, the head of the Federation Council, Russia’s upper chamber of Parliament, in a statement on Telegram. Starting as a welder in a factory in the Urals, Mr. Ryzhkov rose as a party loyalist with economic expertise to peaks of success as a protégé of the last leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail S. Gorbachev. The general secretary of the Communist Party, Mr. Gorbachev in 1985 named Mr. Ryzhkov as chairman of the Council of Ministers — a title more commonly known as premier — the second-most-powerful post in the Soviet hierarchy.

Persons: Nikolai I, Valentina Matvienko, Ryzhkov, Mikhail S, Gorbachev, Ministers — Organizations: Soviet Union, Federation Council, Communist Party, Ministers Locations: Soviet, Urals, Soviet Union

For the seventh time, Taiwan will be represented by Morris Chang, the 92-year-old founder of the world-leading Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. Chang is known as the godfather of the industry that has put Taiwan in the top ranks of high-tech manufacturing and personal electronic devices. Taiwan has participated in APEC since 1991 under the name Chinese Taipei. It began taking part just two years after the group's inception and the same year that China and the semi-autonomous Chinese city of Hong Kong joined. These acts of political intimidation have the potential to wear down the operational resiliency of the island's military equipment and personnel.

Persons: Morris Chang, Chang, —, Finance Chuang Tsui, yun, Janet Yellen, BIDEN, Xi Jinping, John Kirby, Joe Biden, Hong Kong, William Lai, Terry Gou Organizations: —, Economic Cooperation, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, APEC, Finance, U.S, Treasury, BE, Liberation Army, Democratic Progressive Party . U.S . National Security, Nationalist Party, Kuomintang, KMT Locations: TAIPEI, Taiwan, — Taiwan, Asia, San Francisco, China, Taipei, Hong Kong, Beijing, TAIWAN, U.S, Japan, South Korea, Philippines, Pacific, Hong, British, Taiwanese

☆ Eton College Wrestles With Change in a More Modern Britain
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Emma Bubola | More About Emma Bubola | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

At Eton College — the boarding school in the British countryside that has educated princes and 20 prime ministers — students wear tailcoats and white ties to classes. But some have worn waistcoats with the symbol of Black History Month underneath. The students still sleep in ivy-covered stone dormitory buildings, some dating to the 18th century. It’s an all boys school, but there also is a feminism society and a celebration of International Women’s Day. “They’re on the right track,” said Alasdair Campbell, a 19-year-old recent graduate.

Persons: “ They’re, ”, Alasdair Campbell, “, Felix Kirkby Organizations: Eton College —

☆ ‘Dear England’ Review: When Soccer Success Becomes a Moral Victory
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Houman Barekat | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A personal redemption narrative forms a compelling subplot the main story, and it’s a cruel irony that Southgate’s England side also lost the final of Euro 2020 in a penalty shootout on home soil. That Southgate has yet to bag a trophy — the England men’s team still hasn’t won a major tournament since 1966 — remains a powerful trump card for his doubters. Yet “Dear England” is not so much about sports as it is about culture. The technical and tactical foundations of the England team’s revival are conspicuously underplayed in this telling: The team’s on-field improvement is straightforwardly tethered to a shift in moral values, and we are given to understand that correlation equals causation. Dear EnglandThrough Aug. 11 at the National Theater, in London; nationaltheatre.org.uk

Persons: — Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Southgate’s, Southgate, hasn’t, “, nationaltheatre.org.uk Organizations: Conservative, Germany, England men’s, National Theater Locations: London, England

☆ Netanyahu government makes West Bank settlement expansion top priority
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

Palestinian protesters argue with Israeli soldiers during a demonstration against Israeli settlements near Nablus in the West Bank. Nasser Ishtayeh / Sipa USA via APIsrael captured the West Bank in 1967 along with the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem. The Palestinians seek the West Bank as the heartland of a future independent state. Most of the international community considers Israel’s West Bank settlements illegal and an obstacle to peace with the Palestinians. Several of Netanyahu’s key allies, including most of the Religious Zionism party, are ultranationalist West Bank settlers.

☆ A Twitter user poll voted Elon Musk out. Here's how the chaos impacts Tesla
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Hallam Bullock | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

But first, Elon Musk staked his Twitter leadership on a poll and it closed just minutes ago. Elon Musk topped off a turbulent week by launching a poll asking Twitter users whether he should quit as CEO. After SEC filings showed Musk sold about $3.6 billion of Tesla stock, its share price tumbled more than 15% amid a growing view that Twitter is becoming a distraction. This is a developing story and Tesla stock is currently up almost 5% in premarket trading. ICYMI: Phil Rosen, your usual host of this newsletter, discussed the "stunning" state of America's oil industry with Citi's Ed Morse.

☆ New Japan law targets Unification Church fundraising abuses
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Hideyuki Teshigawara, general manager of reform promotion headquarters of the Japan branch of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, widely known as the Unification Church, bows at the beginning of a press conference in Tokyo on Sept. 22, 2022. Japan's parliament on Saturday enacted a law to restrict malicious donation solicitations by religious and other groups, which mainly targets the Unification Church, whose fundraising tactics and cozy ties with the governing party caused public outrage. A revised national security strategy, which is expected to be released later this month, would allow Japan to develop a preemptive strike capability and deploy long-range missiles. "Our ongoing project will involve a major change to our national security and finance policies," Kishida said. The suspect who fatally shot Abe at an outdoor campaign rally in July told police he targeted the former prime minister because of his links to the Unification Church.

Search resuls for: "Ministers —"

10 mentions found