DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Paris 2024: Olympic Opening Ceremony capacity slashed in half to ensure security
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-06 | by ( Joseph Ataman | Pierre Bairin | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —Attendance capacity at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games’ Opening Ceremony – the first to be held along a river – will be halved due to security reasons, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said Tuesday in an interview with French broadcaster France 2. French officials had boasted for years that some 600,000 people would be able to attend the Opening Ceremony. Jacques Demarthon/AFP/Getty ImagesHosting the ceremony outside a traditional stadium was central to the organizers’ vision of a more inclusive Olympic Games. An “anti-terrorist security perimeter” will be put in place in the days leading up to the Opening Ceremony around the Seine, with public access limited, he added. ET) – on the evening of the Opening Ceremony to prevent any disruption to the event, Darmanin added.

Persons: Gérald Darmanin, Darmanin, Alexander, Jacques Demarthon Organizations: CNN, Paris, France, Olympic, Paralympic Games, Getty, Stade de France, Qatar Locations: Paris, AFP

☆ Storm Ciarán: At least six dead and several missing as torrential rain and strong winds lash Italy
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Barbie Latza Nadeau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Rome, Italy CNN —At least six people have died in Tuscany, according to the region’s president, after torrential rain and strong winds from Storm Ciarán swept northern and central Italy overnight Thursday. A man walks in the mud in Montemurlo, near Prato, after torrential rain hit the area, on November 3, 2023. It asked people to leave nearby areas and remove vehicles near river banks. Helicopters, land vehicles, water pumps, buses and also the Comsubin [submarine search vehicles] for search and rescue activities,” he said in a statement Friday morning. Storm Ciarán has pummeled parts of western Europe since Wednesday night with strong winds and torrential rain.

Persons: Storm Ciarán, Eugenio Giani, Giani, Federico Scoppa, Arno, Guido Crosetto, ”, Olivier Véran, Friederike Otto, CNN’s Laura Paddison, Pierre Bairin, James Frater, Delal Mawad, Eve Brennan Organizations: Italy CNN —, Storm, Getty, CNN, Defense, Armed Forces, Belgium —, Grantham Institute, Imperial College London Locations: Rome, Italy, Tuscany, Veneto, Prato, Florence, Montemurlo, AFP, Pontedera, Pisa, Milan, Como, Sardinia, Lazio, Europe, France, Belgium

But – and this is the point – it costs Russian forces just as much to destroy with a drone strike as the real thing. “After each hit, the military gives us trophy wreckage,” explains the company’s spokesman, “We collect them. But as the war has worn on and the weaponry arriving in the country has grown ever more sophisticated, so too have Metinvest’s decoys. It shows, hanging from a tree somewhere in Ukraine, a life-size effigy of Russian President Vladimir Putin. It is also the work of his men, he says with satisfaction, and like the weapons, he hopes, soon a thing of the past.

Persons: Metinvest, doesn’t, “, ”, –, CNN “, Vladimir Putin Organizations: CNN, Russian Locations: Ukrainian, Ukraine

☆ Robotyne: How US-built Bradley fighting vehicles helped Ukraine take a strategically important village
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( Melissa Bell Daria Tarasova-Markina Pierre Bairin | Melissa Bell | Daria Tarasova-Markina | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Yet southward progress is precisely what the Ukrainian soldiers with the call signs Karatsupa, Pan and Taba seek, driving their American-made Bradley Fighting Vehicles down a road that is also, they believe, the road to Ukrainian victory. Without the mines, we would already be in Tokmak.”Much has been made of the strategic importance of Robotyne for Ukraine’s three-month-long southern counteroffensive. And Karatsupa, Pan and Taba now carry with them not only pride at what they’ve achieved but also grief at what they’ve lost. Some of the men with whom they captured Robotyne last week have since been killed in a direct hit on their Bradley. A reminder that however important the gain of Robotyne is to the counteroffensive, there is far more loss ahead, further down the road to hell.

Persons: “ I’ve, I’ve, ”, he’d, Bradley, Pierre Bairin, “, Robotyne, ” Karatsupa, they’ve Organizations: Ukraine CNN, 47th Mechanized Brigade, Bradley Fighting Vehicles, 47th Brigade, Ukraine's 47th Mechanized Brigade, CNN, Armed Forces Locations: Ukraine, Zaporizhzhia, Orikhiv, Robotyne, Tokmak, Ukraine's, Russia

CNN —The African Union has suspended Niger following the takeover of the West African country by a military junta on July 26. The council will review an assessment of the “economic, social and security implications of deploying a Standby Force in Niger,” it said. ECOWAS chiefs had initially given the junta a seven-day ultimatum to restore power or face consequences, including military action. That planned action did not happen as many attempts at dialogue and diplomacy have been made by ECOWAS and allies such as US and the European Union. The African Union affirmed its “solidarity” with ECOWAS’s efforts to restore constitutional order in Niger “through diplomatic means,” it said.

Persons: –, “, Security Abdel, Fatau Musah, General Abdourahamane Tchiani, Mohamed Bazoum, ” Organizations: CNN, African Union, Security, West, Economic, West African States, Force, European Union, Political Affairs, Peace, Union Locations: Niger, West, Republic of Niger, ”, Ghana

Paris CNN —At least nine people were killed and two are missing after a fire broke out at a vacation home in eastern France early Wednesday morning, authorities said. Christophe Marot, a senior official in Haut Rhin, told CNN affiliate BFMTV that those inside the building could not escape from the blaze. “It’s very tragic.”The 500 square-meter (5,400 square-foot) house had been hosting people with disabilities during the summer holidays. Authorities do not have any leads on what caused the blaze, but an investigation has been opened, Hauwiller said. Sebastien Bozon/AFP/Getty ImagesOne official said that those inside the building could not escape from the blaze.

Persons: Firefighters, Philippe Hauwiller, Hauwiller, hadn’t, Christophe Marot, ” Marot, “, Leroy, Sebastien Bozon, Gerald Darmanin, Emmanuel Macron, Elisabeth Borne, ” Organizations: Paris CNN —, Authorities, CNN, BFMTV, Getty, Getty Images, Solidarity Locations: France, Wintzenheim, Paris, Haut Rhin, Nancy, AFP

CNN —Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed to Wagner Group fighters that a senior mercenary named Andrey Troshev now command the private military group, according to comments the Russian leader made to the Kommersant newspaper. Who is Andrey Troshev? “Andrey Troshev is directly involved in the military operations of the Wagner Group in Syria. Troshev is also associated with Wagner group commanders Aleksandr Sergeevich Kuznetsov and Andrey Bogatov. Members of Wagner group sit atop of a tank in a street in the city of Rostov-on-Don, on June 24, 2023.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Andrey Troshev, Putin, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, –, ‘, ” Putin, Troshev, “ Andrey Troshev, Bashar al, “ Andrey Nikolaevich Troshev, ”, Dimitriy Utkin, Aleksandr Sergeevich Kuznetsov, Andrey Bogatov, Roman Romokhov, Prigozhin, Alexander Lukashenko Organizations: CNN, Wagner Group, Kommersant, Prigozhin, Wagner, European Union, Soviet Union, Federal District, Red Star, Courage, Merit, Fatherland, Kremlin, Getty, Troshev, Belarusian Locations: Russian, France, Syria, Leningrad, Deir, United Kingdom, Chechnya, Afghanistan, Soviet Union, Rostov, AFP, Ukraine, Belarus, Belarusian, Russia, St . Petersburg

☆ These Iranian activists fled for freedom. But the regime still managed to find them.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Salma Abdelaziz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

“Whatever actions you take against the Islamic Republic, there in France, is a crime,” the man is heard saying. They have done nothing wrong.”Massi Kamari, an Iranian activist living in Paris, says Iranian intelligence threatened to send her family to Tehran's Evin prison if she continued her activism against the regime abroad. I mean these criminals were hired by the Islamic Republic. So, you see the Islamic Republic itself is a criminal organization. “But even the week after I received the call (from Iranian intelligence officials), I was out doing my political work.

Paris/London CNN —Demonstrators forced their way into the building that houses BlackRock’s office in Paris Thursday, taking their protest against the government’s pension reforms to the world’s biggest money manager. Videos shared on social media showed protesters entering the Centorial office block, located near the Opéra Garnier opera house, holding red flares and firing smoke bombs. BlackRock’s office is located on the third floor. Workers invade the Centorial building that houses BlackRock's office in Paris on April 6, 2023. BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, has played no part in the pension reforms.

☆ France pension reform protests turn violent following national day of action
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Aurore Laborie Dalal Mawad Oliver Briscoe Allegra Goodwin Pierre Bairin Helen Regan | Aurore Laborie | Dalal Mawad | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Paris CNN —More than a million people took to the streets across France on Thursday with protests turning violent in some areas as demonstrators voiced their fury at proposed pension reforms. At least 80 people were arrested and 123 police officers injured in France on Thursday during the nationwide protests, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said. The gate of the Bordeaux city hall after it was set on fire during a demonstration on a national day of action, on March 23 in Bordeaux, southwestern France. French riot police apprehend a protester amid clashes during a demonstration against pension reform in Paris on March 23, 2023. It rammed the legislation through the French National Assembly last week using a constitutional clause that allows the government to bypass a vote.

Air France said about 20% of short-haul flights would be canceled, but long-haul services would be maintained. The reforms will gradually increase the age at which most French citizens can draw a state pension to 64, from 62. A record 1.3 million people took part in demonstrations on January 19, which brought the country to a standstill and shuttered the Eiffel Tower to visitors. The government has said the pension legislation is necessary to tackle a funding deficit, but the reforms have angered workers at a time when living costs are rising. The legislation is currently before French lawmakers, with a vote on the final version of the text expected later this month.

Paris/London CNN —French schools and transportation networks were heavily disrupted Tuesday for the second time this month, as unions staged another mass strike against government plans to raise the retirement age for most workers. Strikes that day brought the transportation network to a standstill and shuttered the Eiffel Tower to visitors. Air France (AFLYY) canceled 10% of short-haul flights but said strikes would not affect long-haul services. On Sunday, Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne said raising the retirement age was “not negotiable,” during an interview on domestic television station France Info. Raising the retirement age to 64 will keep France below the norm in Europe and in many other developed economies, where the age at which full pension benefits vest is 65 and increasingly moving towards 67.

Paris CNN —Some 28.5% – nearly one third – of gas stations in mainland France are out of stock of at least one fuel, French Energy Transition Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher told journalists Friday. A source from the office of the French prime minister on Friday blamed the long lines and exhausted stocks at French gas stations this week on panic buying, rather than just supply problems. This is despite gas companies providing between a 30% and 50% increase in supply of gas to pumps this week, compared to a normal week, the source said. Earlier this week, the French government ordered staff at an ExxonMobil refinery in Normandy to return to work, a highly unusual step. Meanwhile, on Friday, French energy giant TotalEnergies struck a deal with two French trade unions, CFE-CGC and the CFDT, to increase salaries for 2023.

☆ France tries to break oil refinery strike as drivers line up for gas
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Under French law, workers who ignore such an order could face a €10,000 ($9,700) fine or six months imprisonment. The rarely used measure can be imposed by the government when the country’s national security is at risk because of strike action. Striking workers have blockaded ExxonMobil and TotalEnergies (TOT) refineries for several weeks, disrupting supply to thousands of gas stations. Nearly one in three gas stations reported difficulties with supplies on Monday, according to France’s energy minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher. CNN affiliate BFMTV reported miles-long tailbacks at gas stations, with drivers at one site on the edge of Paris queuing for nearly two miles earlier this week.

☆ Flight AF447: Airbus and Air France charged with involuntary homicide for Rio-Paris crash in 2009
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Jim Bittermann | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Paris CNN Business —The trial of two of France’s biggest companies began Monday over the crash of Air France flight 447 in 2009 that killed 228 passengers and crew. Air France denied the company was responsible for the crash and said the charges should again be dismissed. The Air France A330 aircraft plunged into the Atlantic Ocean in June 2009. It was a problem that had affected a few Airbus aircraft in the past, but one which the company had not corrected. Air France stands accused of failing to train pilots on how to respond to the kind of situation the crew faced.

☆ Flight AF447: Airbus and Air France stand trial over 2009 crash
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Jim Bittermann | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Paris CNN Business —The trial of two of France’s biggest companies begins Monday over the crash of Air France flight 447 in 2009 that killed 228 passengers and crew. Air France denied the company was responsible for the crash and said the charges should again be dismissed. The Air France A330 aircraft plunged into the Atlantic Ocean in June 2009. It was a problem that had affected a few Airbus aircraft in the past, but one which the company had not corrected. Air France stands accused of failing to train pilots on how to respond to the kind of situation the crew faced.

Search resuls for: "Pierre Bairin"

16 mentions found