DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Slovak prime minister starts new pro-Western party for Sept election
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 7 (Reuters) - Slovak caretaker Prime Minister Eduard Heger launched a new pro-Western, liberal centrist party named the Democrats on Tuesday to run in a September election called after his coalition fell from power last year. Heger said pro-Western democratic values and aid to neighbouring Ukraine were the cornerstones of his agenda. Heger said he would not cooperate with far-right nationalists, like Fico's Smer (Direction) nor the Hlas (Voice) party, which itself split from Smer on a more pro-Western platform and now leads opinion polls. Four ministers from the current government, including Defence Minister Jaroslav Nad, have joined Heger's new outfit. Under Heger's leadership, Slovakia shipped military equipment to Ukraine including the S-300 air defence system, and allowed hundreds of thousands refugees across the border after Russia's invasion of Ukraine started in February 2024.

☆ Are left handed people more creative? Brain scans reveal why these individuals might be wired differently
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Erin Heger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

In particular, they display less brain lateralization than right-handers, said Eric Zillmer, a professor of neuropsychology at Drexel University. Because lefties rely less on the left hemisphere, researchers describe this as displaying less brain lateralization, Zillmer said. Zillmer said these differences in brain lateralization may help left-handers think more outside the box and therefore have a more creative edge. "Our creative brain is utilized when we are engaging in new, unfamiliar experiences," Bajaj said. If you want to use your left hand more often, practice.

☆ Analysis: From Meta to Microsoft, AI's big moment is here
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Jeffrey Dastin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/2] A Microsoft logo is seen a day after Microsoft Corp's $26.2 billion purchase of LinkedIn Corp, in Los Angeles, California, U.S. June 14, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File PhotoFeb 3 (Reuters) - Big Tech companies have a new obsession: artificial intelligence. Executives from Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) and Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O), behind the latest big rivalry in tech, took their battle to the conference-call front lines. We can bring those to life using generative (AI) art, which I think is really exciting," he said. "One of my goals for Meta is to build on our research to become a leader in generative AI," said Zuckerberg.

☆ Referendum in Slovakia fails to bring early vote closer
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 22 (Reuters) - A referendum in Slovakia failed to open a path to early elections after most voters avoided the polling stations on Saturday, quashing the opposition's plan to bring the contest forward. Only one popular vote - on joining the European Union - has passed the threshold since Slovakia's independence in 1993. An early election can be held in Slovakia if the constitution is changed to permit parliament's four-year term to be shortened. Such a change of constitution would need approval by a referendum or by at least 90 votes in the 150-seat parliament. Political parties are due to hold another round of talks on Sunday evening, where they will discuss prospects for holding early elections which could take place before the summer or in autumn.

☆ What happens to the human brain during a near-death experience that can trigger vivid memories and bizarre spiritual encounters
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Erin Heger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

But people who have had a near-death experience (NDE) typically report feeling peace, comfort, and calm throughout the ordeal. What a near-death experience feels likeNDEs can trigger a lot of peculiar sensations, including feeling like you're floating above your body or an out-of-body experience. What a near-death experience does to the brainThe temporal lobe, highlighted here, is responsible for language and visual memory, among other things. It might differ based on cultural or spiritual beliefs, but it is essentially the same," San Filippo said. "That leads us to believe that a near-death experience is a transpersonal experience happening outside of the brain."

President Caputova will dismiss the cabinet but ask it to stay on until she at some point appoints a new one. SaS joined a leftist opposition party in bringing the no-confidence vote, accusing the government of not helping people cope with the higher energy costs. The political clash has prevented support for Heger's 2023 budget plan, which includes spending to offset energy prices. Sulik told a televised briefing SaS wanted to back the creation of a new government and did not support calling early elections. The poll-leading opposition party Hlas, though, called early elections the only option.

☆ Dollar kept aloft by higher Fed rates bets, RBA rate hike lifts Aussie
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Joice Alves | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Australian dollar perked up from near one-week lows after the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) raised rates for the eighth time in as many months. After recording its biggest rally in two weeks on Monday, the U.S. dollar index , which measures the currency against six major peers, was 0.1% lower at 105.05 at 1200 GMT. It later reversed course after data showing U.S. services industry activity unexpectedly picked up in November, with employment rebounding. Traders currently expect a half-point hike to a 4.25-4.5% policy band and a terminal rate of just above 5% in May. European Central Bank policymaker Constantinos Herodotou said on Tuesday interest rates will go up again but are now "very near" their neutral level.

The Australian dollar perked up from near one-week lows after the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) raised rates for the eighth time in as many months. The U.S. dollar index , which measures the currency against six major peers, was at 105.24, steady after Monday's 0.7% rally, its biggest since Nov. 21. It later reversed course after data showing U.S. services industry activity unexpectedly picked up in November, with employment rebounding. Traders currently expect a half-point hike to a 4.25-4.5% policy band and a terminal rate of just above 5% in May. Reporting by Joice Alves and Kevin Buckland; Editing by Alexander SmithOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ 'Boomerang CEOs' don't always work out; Disney hopes this one bucks trend
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( David Randall | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

NEW YORK, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Can Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) bank on another hit sequel? That appears to be the hope behind the company's surprise decision to bring back former chief executive Bob Iger to replace Bob Chapek. During his first tenure from 2005 to 2020, Disney's annualised shareholder returns were more than 14%, well above its rival Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O) and the broader stock market, and in total in that period the stock rose more than 400%. Yet there are reasons to think that Disney may have made the right decision in bringing back Iger, Bingham said. “I think this is a game-changer," said Stephanie Link, chief investment strategist and portfolio manager at Hightower Advisors, about Disney.

☆ NATO holds emergency meeting on Poland blast, discusses air defence
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Sabine Siebold | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, Nov 16 (Reuters) - NATO ambassadors held an emergency meeting on Wednesday to discuss a missile that hit Poland close to the Ukrainian border, with at least two alliance members calling for steps to strengthen air defence on the military alliance's eastern wing. It was unclear whether that would still be the case, after a source said Biden told G7 and NATO partners that the missile blast was caused by a Ukrainian air defence missile. The emergency NATO ambassadors' meeting was in any case likely to discuss air defence, Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger said. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said NATO should swiftly deploy more air defences on the Polish-Ukrainian border and the rest of the alliance's eastern flank. The explosion near the Ukrainian border came as Russia unleashed a wave of missiles targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure, attacks that Kyiv said were the heaviest in nearly nine months of war.

☆ ‘Radicalized teenager’ killed two outside Slovakia gay bar, prime minister says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia — A “radicalized teenager” shot dead two people outside a gay bar in Slovakia’s capital, Bratislava, Prime Minister Eduard Heger said. The gunman killed two people and wounded another near the Teplaren bar in the city center Wednesday evening, police said. “I strongly condemn a murder of two young people shot dead in Bratislava last night by a radicalized teenager,” Heger wrote on Twitter. Jaroslav Novak / APSlovak media reported the main suspect had posted messages with the phrases “hate crime” and “gay bar” hashtagged on Twitter. It is hate that does not belong in Slovakia,” she told reporters after visiting the scene of the attack.

☆ 'Radicalised teenager' killed two outside Slovakia gay bar - PM
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

People embrace one another near the site of a shooting in Bratislava, Slovakia October 13, 2022. REUTERS/Radovan StoklasaBRATISLAVA, Oct 13 (Reuters) - A "radicalised teenager" shot dead two people outside a gay bar in Slovakia's capital Bratislava, Prime Minister Eduard Heger said. A gunman killed two people and wounded another near the Teplaren bar in the city centre on Wednesday evening, police said. "I strongly condemn a murder of two young people shot dead in Bratislava last night by a radicalised teenager," Heger wrote on Twitter. Slovak media reported the main suspect had posted messages with the phrases "hate crime" and "gay bar" hashtagged on Twitter.

☆ Slovak parliament approves NATO membership for Finland, Sweden
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Sept 27 (Reuters) - Slovakia's parliament on Tuesday ratified the entry of Finland and Sweden to NATO, becoming one of the last countries to back the military alliance's expansion. Finland and Sweden sought to join NATO this year in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In the 150-seat parliament, 126 lawmakers supported Finland's entry, and 124 voted in favor of Sweden's membership bid. Hungary's parliament has the motion on Finland and Sweden's NATO membership on its agenda, but no date is set as lawmakers return after a summer recess. Russia, which calls its actions in Ukraine "a special military operation", sees the entry of Finland and Sweden as a destabilising move.

☆ Reactions: Britain's pound crumbles to record lows in firesale of UK assets
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

Wads of British Pound Sterling banknotes are stacked in piles at the Money Service Austria company's headquarters in Vienna, Austria, November 16, 2017. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger/File PhotoLONDON, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Britain's pound plunged to record lows on Monday and bonds were slammed for a second day, as investors punished UK assets after the government's mini-budget announcement last week. The presentation of the mini-budget was received quite badly by the markets – sterling literally collapsed. The significant tax cuts announced by the Treasury Secretary cause concerns for the currency markets because of rising government debt." One is the loss of confidence in UK fiscal policy and that won't help sterling.

☆ Slovacia a decis să expulzeze trei diplomaţi ruşi, în semn de solidaritate cu Republica Cehă
▼ + stars: | 2021-04-22 | by ( Publika.Md - Aici Sunt Știrile | ) www.publika.md time to read: +2 min

Slovacia a decis joi să expulzeze trei diplomaţi ruşi, care au la dispoziţie şapte zile pentru a părăsi teritoriul ţării, a anunţat premierul slovac Eduard Heger, potrivit Reuters, citat de agerpres.ro. La scurt timp după decizia Bratislavei, Rusia a ripostat anunţând că va expulza, la rândul său, trei diplomaţi slovaci aflaţi la post la Moscova. Premierul ceh Andrej Babis a declarat că explozia de la Vrbetice (estul Republicii Cehe) în care două persoane au murit a fost ''un atac terorist fără precedent pe teritoriul'' Cehiei. Această deflagraţie a cauzat moartea a două persoane şi a provocat pagube materiale importante. Deflagraţia de la Vrbetice a avut loc în 2014, an în care Rusia a anexat peninsula ucraineană Crimeea, decizie urmată de un conflict între forţele armate ucrainene şi rebelii din estul Ucrainei susţinuţi de Moscova.

Persons: Eduard Heger, Serghei Skripal, Andrej Babis Organizations: GRU Locations: Slovacia, ţării, Bratislava, Republica Cehă, Rusiei, Praga, Bratislavei, Rusia, Moscova, Cehia, ceh, Londra, Republicii Cehe, Cehiei, Vrbetice, Salisbury, Crimeea, Ucrainei susţinuţi

We also wanted to give ourselves more wiggle room in our budget by lowering our monthly mortgage payment in case either of us lost our income. We were able to refinance to a new 3.4% 30-year loan to save $150 a month and more than $30,000 over the life of the loan. Why we decided to refinance nowWe bought our house in April 2017, using a 30-year mortgage at 4.4%. We decided to refinance not only to take advantage of lower mortgage refinance rates, but also as a precaution. A lower monthly mortgage payment gives us some flexibility and more cash flow if we find ourselves with less money coming in.

Organizations: Finance, Service Locations: Wall, Silicon, United States

Search resuls for: "Heger"

16 mentions found