DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ ‘A Very Slow Game:’ Why the Pace of Israel’s Ground Operation Counts
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-30 | by ( Mark Landler | More About Mark Landler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In the 23 harrowing days since Hamas attacked Israeli civilians and soldiers, Israel’s Western allies have had to perform a delicate balancing act: expressing steadfast support for the country during its darkest hours, while navigating the growing public anger on their streets over the intensifying bombardment of Gaza. Israel’s neighbors in the Middle East have walked a different tightrope: managing outraged populations and, in some cases, proxy militant groups, which threaten to drag them into a broader war with Israel that they may not seek. For both, Israel’s unfolding ground invasion of the densely populated Gaza Strip has complicated their calculations. The phased nature of the operation has lacked the thunderous impact of an all-out infantry and tank assault, something Israel’s rivals had warned against, given the likelihood that it would cause untold civilian casualties. And yet the growing Palestinian death toll — more than 8,000, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry — and the prospect that the fighting might go on for months, has already drawn thousands of protesters into the streets from London to Istanbul, demanding a cease-fire.

Persons: Israel’s Locations: Gaza, Israel, London, Istanbul

☆ In Kenya, King Charles Will ‘Walk a Tightrope’ on Britain’s Past
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-29 | by ( Mark Landler | More About Mark Landler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But Charles has no plans for a sentimental pilgrimage to Treetops. History will hang heavily over the king’s visit, in any event. Buckingham Palace said Charles “would acknowledge the more painful aspects of the U.K. and Kenya’s shared history,” specifically Britain’s brutal suppression of the Mau Mau rebellion from 1952 to 1960, which left tens of thousands of people dead. Royal visits to former colonies have long been delicate, but in the aftermath of the Black Lives Matter movement, they have become fraught. Protesters and local government officials regularly demand apologies and sometimes reparations for colonial-era abuses, including economic exploitation and Britain’s role in the slave trade.

Persons: King Charles III, Elizabeth, George VI, Charles, Buckingham, Charles “, Kenya’s Locations: Kenya, Treetops, British

☆ After Brutal Attacks and Fierce Debate, U.K. to Ban ‘American Bully XL’ Dogs
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( Mark Landler | More About Mark Landler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The video, shot from a passing bus and lasting barely a minute, is harrowing. A powerful young dog bites an 11-year-old girl in front of a grocery store in Birmingham, England. Posted on social media last week, the footage inflamed a debate in Britain over the American bully XL, a relatively new dog breed that has become highly popular, even as it has been blamed for a string of dangerous attacks. Activists claim the animals are responsible for more than 40 percent of all dog attacks in the country and a disproportionate number of fatalities. Pit bulls, from which the bully XL is likely descended, were outlawed in Britain but remain mostly legal in the United States, even if some cities impose restrictions on them.

Persons: XL, Rishi Sunak Locations: Birmingham, England, Britain, United States

☆ U.K.’s Arrest of Suspected Spy Fuels Calls for Tougher Stance on China
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( Mark Landler | More About Mark Landler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Even by the prolific standards of China’s foreign influence operations, it would represent a sensational case of infiltration. A 28-year-old British man who worked as a researcher deep inside Britain’s Parliament was arrested in March on suspicion of working for the Chinese government. “The Chinese are infiltrating across the board; they go for anything and everything,” said Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute in London. The men, whose identities were not released by police, have yet to be charged, and lawmakers were asked not to prejudice the investigation by naming them. Little has been disclosed about the second man, except that he is reported to be in his 30s.

Persons: ”, Steve Tsang, Little Organizations: Conservative Party, SOAS China Institute, Metropolitan Police, Sunday Times Locations: China, London, Beijing

☆ Former Soldier Who Escaped From a British Prison Is Recaptured in London
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-09 | by ( Mark Landler | More About Mark Landler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Three days after a former British Army soldier facing terrorism charges engineered an audacious escape from a London prison, setting off an intense nationwide manhunt, he was captured by the police on Saturday morning only a few miles way. The Metropolitan Police Service said the fugitive, Daniel Abed Khalife, was apprehended just before 11 a.m. in the residential London district of Chiswick. He broke out of Wandsworth prison on Wednesday morning by strapping himself to the bottom of a food delivery van, according to government officials. Mr. Khalife, 21, is scheduled to go on trial in November on charges that he left fake bombs at a military base to stir fears of a terrorist attack. He is also accused of gathering information that could benefit a foreign enemy, reported to be Iran.

Persons: Daniel Abed Khalife, strapping, Khalife Organizations: British Army, Metropolitan Police Service Locations: London, Chiswick, Wandsworth, Iran

☆ U.K. Police Hunt Terror Suspect Who Escaped London Prison
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-06 | by ( Mark Landler | More About Mark Landler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

There were reports on social media of long lines forming at airports in London, Manchester and Glasgow as police and border control officers checked the identification of passengers. The BBC reported that Mr. Khalife may have fled the prison by strapping himself to the underside of a food delivery van. It said that he was reported to have been working in the prison kitchens and that he may have been dressed in a chef’s uniform. Wandsworth is classified as a Category B prison, one level below maximum security. (Category A prisons are typically used to house prisoners charged with terrorism or whose escape would pose extreme danger to public safety or national security.)

Persons: “, ”, Dominic Murphy, Murphy, Khalife, strapping Organizations: BBC Locations: Britain, London , Manchester, Glasgow, Wandsworth

☆ In U.K. Crisis Over Unsafe Schools, Ex-Official Pins Blame on Sunak
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-04 | by ( Mark Landler | More About Mark Landler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faced a mounting crisis over Britain’s crumbling schools after a former government official said on Monday that Mr. Sunak had refused to rebuild more schools while he was head of the Treasury, despite warnings that lightweight concrete used in hundreds of buildings was a risk to life. The former official, Jonathan Slater, who held one of the most senior roles in the Department of Education, said that in 2021, when Mr. Sunak was chancellor of the Exchequer, he cut in half an internal recommendation to rebuild 100 schools every year. That number had already been scaled back from the department’s original recommendation in 2018 that the government rebuild 300 to 400 schools a year. “We weren’t just saying there was a significant risk of fatality,” Mr. Slater said on BBC Radio 4’s Today program. “We were saying there was a critical risk to life if this program is not funded.”

Persons: Rishi Sunak, Sunak, Jonathan Slater, Mr, Slater Organizations: Department of Education, BBC, ”

☆ Rishi Sunak, Behind in U.K. Polls, Embraces Divisive Politics
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-04 | by ( Mark Landler | More About Mark Landler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When Greenpeace activists draped Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s baronial country house in black fabric last month to protest his energy policies, public reaction focused on the troubling lapse in security. But on another level, the stunt showed that Mr. Sunak’s brand of hard-edge politics was hitting home in Britain. Greenpeace said it was outraged by the government’s decision to issue new licenses for oil and gas exploration in the North Sea — part of a broader retreat on climate policy that is edging Britain away from its ambitious commitments to phase out fossil fuels. Mr. Sunak, who was out of the country at the time, won sympathy from many who said the tactics of the activists had gotten out of control. Climate policy is one of several fronts where Britain’s beleaguered Conservative government is drawing sharp lines on emotive issues, hoping to set itself apart from the opposition Labour Party, which, after years of Tory scandals and economic setbacks, has built a double-digit lead in polls and now increasingly behaves like a government in waiting.

Persons: Rishi, Sunak Organizations: Greenpeace, Conservative, Labour Party Locations: Britain

☆ For U.K. Defense Secretary: Exit the Ex-Soldier. Enter the Political Operative.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( Mark Landler | More About Mark Landler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON — When Rishi Sunak replaced Liz Truss as British prime minister last fall, White House officials said they didn’t worry about his support for Ukraine because he left in place the respected soldier-turned-defense secretary Ben Wallace, who had orchestrated Britain’s unstinting military support of the Ukrainians. Now Mr. Wallace has stepped down, and in his place Mr. Sunak has appointed Grant Shapps, a politically savvy Conservative Party operative and close personal ally of the prime minister, but a man with little foreign policy and no battlefield experience. Mr. Shapps, who has held no fewer than four ministerial posts in the past year, vowed to continue the “U.K.’s support for Ukraine in their fight against Putin’s barbaric invasion.” But as Britain faces a general election in 2024, the shift from Mr. Wallace to Mr. Shapps could augur a new, more politicized phase in its involvement in Ukraine. Conservative leaders “perceive him as one of their great communicators,” said Jill Rutter, a senior research fellow at the U.K. in a Changing Europe, a think tank in London. “It may signal that they see defense as a sort of battleground.”

Persons: Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss, Ben Wallace, Britain’s, Wallace, Sunak, Grant Shapps, Shapps, Mr, “, ”, Jill Rutter Organizations: White, Ukraine, Conservative Party, Conservative Locations: Britain, Ukraine, London

☆ U.K. Replaces Defense Secretary Ben Wallace With Grant Shapps
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( Mark Landler | More About Mark Landler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

His replacement, Grant Shapps, a politically astute Conservative Party operative, has signaled that he would maintain Britain’s support for Ukraine. Mr. Shapps has held multiple cabinet posts and is a close ally of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, though he has far less foreign policy and security experience than Mr. Wallace. Mr. Wallace’s departure has been long in the works — he was floated by Downing Street in an unsuccessful bid for NATO secretary general — but Mr. Shapps’ appointment was a surprise. Mr. Shapps has already held no fewer than four ministerial posts in the past year, a tumultuous stretch for Britain’s government. Mr. Sunak’s predecessor, Liz Truss, named him home secretary in the chaotic final days of her tenure.

Persons: Ben Wallace, Grant Shapps, Shapps, Rishi Sunak, Wallace, Mr, Wallace’s, —, Sunak’s, Liz Truss, Truss’s, Boris Johnson Organizations: White House, Pentagon, Ukraine, Russia, Conservative Party, NATO Locations: Ukraine

☆ A Resurgent Labour Party Sees Scotland as a Springboard to Power
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( Mark Landler | More About Mark Landler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For Britain’s opposition Labour Party, the road to 10 Downing Street is likely to run through Scotland. Ms. Scott, 18, a geography student who studies in Edinburgh, enthusiastically supported the Scottish National Party in past ballots. representative, Margaret Ferrier, who was forced out of her seat on Aug. 1 after violating lockdown rules during the coronavirus pandemic. She also thinks the Labour Party has better proposals to cope with a grinding cost-of-living crisis that has left people fed up and exhausted. Ms. Scott signed a petition to recall Ms. Ferrier, which triggered this by-election, and now said she was “leaning slightly toward Labour, based on how proactive they’ve been.”

Persons: Cara Scott, Scott, Margaret Ferrier, Ferrier, ” Organizations: Labour Party, Labour, Scottish National Party Locations: Scotland, Glasgow, Edinburgh

☆ At World Cup, England’s Lionesses Aim to Show Men’s Team How It’s Done
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-19 | by ( Mark Landler | More About Mark Landler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In London, theatergoers have flocked to “Dear England,” a hit play that chronicles the drama and anguish of the men’s national soccer team in its long quest for another World Cup title, now at 57 years and counting. In Sydney on Sunday, the England women’s team might finally get the job done. England will face off against Spain in the Women’s World Cup final, the first for either team. While they are closely matched, England’s impressive march through the tournament has spurred hopes that “football’s coming home,” in the ever-optimistic words of “The Three Lions,” the unofficial anthem of the men’s team. If anything, it makes them look even less formidable and more culpable, if women do the job.”

Persons: theatergoers, ”, “, —, John Williams Organizations: soccer team, England, Spain, Lions, University of Leicester Locations: London, “, England, Sydney, Germany

☆ Rishi Sunak’s Vacation: Taylor Swift and Disneyland. (The Rest is a Secret.)
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( Mark Landler | More About Mark Landler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Just last year, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s political fortunes almost collapsed over his wealthy wife’s privileged tax status in Britain. Yet last week, when Mr. Sunak and his family spent a 10-day vacation at their multimillion-dollar penthouse apartment in Santa Monica, Calif., there was scarcely a peep about it in the British papers. The difference, analysts said, attests both to evolving views of Mr. Sunak, a onetime hedge fund manager who became prime minister last October, and to Downing Street’s shrewd media management of the Sunak family’s American vacation. The family stayed largely under the radar, emerging only for a carefully staged photo opportunity at an amusement park on the Santa Monica Pier, playing games on what was Mr. Sunak’s first vacation in nearly four years. He and his wife, Akshata Murty, also took their two young daughters, Krishna and Anoushka, to Disneyland, where, he said, he was excited to try a “Star Wars”-themed ride.

Persons: Rishi, Sunak, Downing, Santa Monica Pier, Sunak’s, Akshata Murty, Krishna Organizations: Santa Locations: Britain, United States, California, Santa Monica, Calif

Britain, blanketed by cool, damp weather, has seemed like one of the few places in the Northern Hemisphere not sweltering this summer. Yet a fierce political debate over how to curb climate change has suddenly erupted, fueled by economic hardship and a recent election surprise. The Conservatives successfully used the emission zone plan as a wedge issue to prevail in a district they were forecast to lose. Britain’s Conservative government is now calling into question its commitment to an array of ambitious emissions-reduction targets. Tory critics say these goals would impose an unfair burden on Britons who are suffering because of a cost-of-living crisis.

Organizations: Conservative Party, Conservatives, Britain’s Conservative Locations: Britain, Northern, London, Uxbridge, South Ruislip

☆ A Brexit Champion’s Feud With His Elite Bank Brings a C.E.O. Down
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Mark Landler | More About Mark Landler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When Nigel Farage campaigned for a fellow populist, Donald J. Trump, in Arizona in 2020, he seemed like a faded star seeking the spotlight abroad after it had swung past him at home. Having helped mobilize the pro-Brexit vote in 2016, Mr. Farage was marginalized in Britain, then consumed by the pandemic. No longer: For three weeks, Mr. Farage, has been back on the front pages of British papers, with an attention-grabbing claim that his exclusive private bank, Coutts, dropped him as a customer because of his polarizing politics. Early on Wednesday, after Mr. Farage’s allegations were largely vindicated, the chief executive of his bank’s parent, NatWest Group, resigned after she admitted improperly discussing his bank account with a BBC journalist. It was a striking turn of events for a political insurgent who became, for many, a reviled symbol of Brexit, and later, a culture warrior on right-wing television.

Persons: Nigel Farage, Donald J, Trump, Farage, Coutts, Alison Rose Organizations: NatWest Group, BBC Locations: Arizona, Britain

Hobbled by Britain’s faltering economy and the serial scandals in his party, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had been viewed as the leader of a zombie government, destined for defeat by the opposition Labour Party. The election results don’t alter that negative prognosis, but the unexpected Conservative victory in Uxbridge and South Ruislip, formerly represented by Boris Johnson, strips Labour of its invincible veneer. Mr. Sunak got relief on the economic front as well this week, with the announcement that the inflation rate, while still high, had fallen more than expected in June. That opens the door to the prime minister achieving one of his government’s key targets: cutting the inflation rate in half by the end of this year.

Persons: Rishi Sunak, Boris Johnson, Sunak Organizations: Labour Party, Conservative, Labour Locations: Uxbridge, South Ruislip

Britain’s governing Conservative Party suffered crushing defeats in the race for what had been two safe seats in Parliament, but narrowly avoided losing a third contest, according to the results early Friday for by-elections viewed as a critical test of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s popularity. The main opposition Labour Party won in Selby and Ainsty, in Yorkshire in the north of England, in one of its biggest ever by-election victories, overturning a large Conservative majority and winning 16,456 votes to the Tories’ 12,295. The small, centrist, Liberal Democrats party also scored an emphatic victory in the electoral district of Somerton and Frome, in the southwest of England, another former stronghold for the Tories. The Liberal Democrats received 21,187 votes, and the Conservatives 10,790. There, the final count was 13,965 votes for Steve Tuckwell of the Conservative Party, and 13,470 for Labour’s Danny Beales.

Persons: Rishi, Sunak, Boris Johnson, Steve Tuckwell, Danny Beales Organizations: Conservative Party, Labour Party, Conservative, Tories, Liberal Democrats, Liberal, Conservatives, Labour Locations: Selby, Ainsty, Yorkshire, England, Somerton, Frome, Uxbridge, South Ruislip, London

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hopes to hold onto power by selling himself as the repairman for a broken Britain. But with inflation still high, debt ballooning and growth sputtering to a halt, economic woes may prove to be Mr. Sunak’s undoing. Mr. Sunak’s challenges could become more difficult on Wednesday when Britain’s inflation rate for June is announced, with analysts saying it could remain above 8 percent. That would put at risk one of the five targets Mr. Sunak set for his government: to halve the inflation rate by the end of 2023. Britain’s annual inflation rate is higher than that of its European neighbors and twice that of the United States.

Persons: Rishi Sunak, Sunak Organizations: Conservative Party Locations: Britain, —, United States

☆ A National Treasure, Tarnished: Can Britain Fix Its Health Service?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-16 | by ( Mark Landler | More About Mark Landler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

That level of improvement shows that adjustments on the fly can produce a quick fix, but there is usually another problem waiting around the corner. At the King George, doctors cannot discharge patients quickly enough because there is nowhere to send them for longer-term therapy. In Britain, local councils, not the National Health Service, are responsible for social care. Given the need to overhaul primary care and social care, some experts argue the best thing the N.H.S. At Queen’s, even with the recent improvements, patients suffering from mental health issues can be stranded in the emergency room for more than 36 hours.

Persons: Merritt, King George, Mr, Edwards, ” Organizations: National Health Service Locations: E.R, Queen’s, Britain

☆ The BBC Aired Saturation Coverage of Anchor’s Behavior. Was It Too Much?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Mark Landler | More About Mark Landler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

There were urgent NATO meetings about the war in Ukraine, raging floods from India to Vermont, and a record heat wave across America. But this week the BBC wound up airing wall-to-wall coverage of a different story: itself. The confirmation that Huw Edwards, a prominent BBC anchor, was the unnamed person at the heart of allegations of sexual misconduct ended days of breathless speculation that consumed Britain’s public broadcaster. Yet it left a lingering sense of unease about the role of the British news media — and its even more intrusive cousin, social media — in the unmasking of a public figure. The allegations were salacious, to be sure — catnip for the British press — and the BBC was trying to show journalistic integrity by not shying away from embarrassing news about a member of its own staff.

Persons: Huw Edwards, Edwards Organizations: BBC Locations: Ukraine, India, Vermont, America

☆ Top News Anchor Identified as Person Suspended by the BBC
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Mark Landler | More About Mark Landler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The BBC staff member suspended on allegations of sexual misconduct was identified by his wife on Wednesday as Huw Edwards, an anchor on the BBC’s flagship nightly news program and one of its most prominent and distinguished figures. At the same time, London police said there was no evidence that Mr. Edwards had committed a crime, following a newspaper report last week that an unnamed BBC personality paid more than £35,000, or almost $45,000, to a teenager in exchange for explicit images over a period of several years that began when the person was 17 years old. Mr. Edwards’s wife, Vicky Flind, issued a statement on her husband’s behalf late Wednesday, saying he had been hospitalized with “serious mental health issues” and would respond to the allegations when he had recovered. “The events of the last few days have greatly worsened matters,” Ms. Flind said. “He has suffered another serious episode and is now receiving inpatient care, where he’ll stay for the foreseeable future.”

Persons: Huw Edwards, Edwards, Edwards’s, Vicky Flind, Ms, Flind, “, ” Organizations: BBC, London

The two men — the American president and the British king — waited decades for their dream jobs, projecting a sense of normalcy and unity when they finally reached their thrones. They both prefer to ditch executive palaces for their respective retreats. The men, the 80-year-old President Biden and the 74-year-old King Charles III, are also united by their challenges. And they both battle skepticism over whether they are the right people to lead the increasingly diverse groups over which they preside. They are issues that Charles has been warning about since the 1970s and that Mr. Biden has made a central focus of his presidency.

Persons: —, Biden, King Charles III, ”, Arianne Chernock, Charles Organizations: Boston University, Windsor Locations: Britain, London

☆ With the Stone of Destiny and Mary’s Crown, Scotland Names Charles King
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Mark Landler | More About Mark Landler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But not for King Charles III, sovereign of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. On Wednesday, he took part in a second ceremony in Scotland that bore all the regal trappings of a coronation, if not the same legal status. Charles was presented with a scepter, sword of state and the crown first worn at a coronation by Mary Queen of Scots in 1543. He and Queen Camilla participated in a solemn religious service at St. Giles’ Cathedral, gazing at the ancient Stone of Destiny, used in the inauguration of Scottish kings. Scotland has not been a kingdom since 1707, when the Act of Union brought it together with England.

Persons: King Charles III, Charles, Mary Queen of Scots, Queen Camilla, Giles ’ Organizations: Royal Air Force, of Union Locations: United Kingdom of Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Scotland, St, England, Scottish

Search resuls for: "More About Mark Landler"

23 mentions found