DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

Residents fleeing their homes in Moulay Brahim, a village near the epicenter of the quake, outside Marrakesh, Morocco, on Saturday. “The current tectonic stresses are therefore only part of the story,” Dr. Hubbard said. Historical earthquakes offer few answers to that question, according to Dr. Hubbard. Another challenging detail to study is an earthquake’s depth, Dr. Hubbard said. The shaking from a deeper earthquakes may not be as strong, but it can be felt across a wider swath of the surface, Dr. Hubbard said.

Persons: Judith Hubbard, ” Dr, Hubbard, ”, Jascha Polet Organizations: Saturday, Earthquakes, San, Cornell University, Geological, Seismological, California State Polytechnic University Locations: Moulay Brahim, Marrakesh, Morocco, Africa, Africa’s, Pacific

The U.S. Geological Survey estimated its magnitude at 6.8, but the Moroccan geological institute put it at 7.2. That would make it more than twice as large, according to the logarithmic scale on which earthquakes are measured. The U.S. agency said local estimates can often be more accurate, but initial readings of magnitude are measured automatically and need to be reviewed by seismologists. But it was clear that the scope of the catastrophe was extensive, with the rural provinces outside of Marrakesh the hardest hit. Moroccan architects say the area near the epicenter has many earthen houses that are not built to withstand an earthquake of this strength.

Persons: Omar Farkhani Organizations: Geological Survey, seismologists, United Nations ’ Office, Humanitarian Affairs, UNESCO, of Architects Locations: U.S, Moroccan, Marrakesh, Marrakesh’s Medina

The earthquake that struck Morocco on Friday night hit near Marrakesh, a popular tourist destination, sending both residents and visitors scrambling for safety. “We didn’t know if we had to stand up, to sit down, to run,” Mr. Ait Chari said. Ms. Lorang and hundreds of others found refuge in a courtyard, where some brought out rugs and blankets to sleep. “It was very chaotic.”Mr. Ait Chari, the tour guide, said he was supposed to pick up more clients on Sunday but was unsure flights would be maintained. Many people were still in shock, he said, but there had also been “great solidarity,” as residents cleared roads.

Persons: “, Jen Lorang, ” Ms, Lorang, “ I’ve, Mr, Ait, ”, Jean, Baptiste Guinet Organizations: Big, ”, UNESCO, Heritage, Tourism, Organization for Economic Cooperation, Development Locations: Morocco, Marrakesh, Ait Chari, Massachusetts, Seattle, San Francisco, ” Morocco, Agadir, ”, Taroudant

☆ Morocco Rescuers Slow to Reach Hardest Hit Areas After Quake
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-09 | by ( Constant Méheut | More About Constant Méheut | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Search and rescue efforts intensified on Saturday in Morocco after a powerful earthquake killed at least 1,000 people and injured hundreds more overnight, with national authorities deploying the military to hard-hit areas and foreign partners promising aid. But it remained unclear how quickly emergency teams would be able to reach the victims and prevent more deaths. The king ordered the country’s armed forces to deploy aircraft, helicopters and troops to help with the rescue efforts, according to a statement from the government. Local television showed images of trucks crammed with soldiers driving toward the devastated areas, in the High Atlas Mountains, in the southwest of the country. Authorities said that about half of the victims were in the Haouz region, a rural area with many mud-brick houses and little earthquake-resistant infrastructure.

Persons: King Mohammed VI Organizations: Local, Authorities Locations: Morocco, Haouz

☆ Blinken, in Kyiv, Says U.S. Will Send $1 Billion More in Aid
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-06 | by ( Constant Méheut | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +6 min

The aid will also include demining assistance to clear Russian land mines and prevent the remnants of war from causing further harm to civilians, Mr. Blinken said. It includes ammunition made with depleted uranium for Abrams tanks, which are scheduled to arrive in Ukraine this fall, Mr. Blinken said. Mr. Blinken traveled by train to Kyiv with Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, according to a State Department statement. He was replaced by Rustem Umerov, who has been the chairman of Ukraine’s State Property Fund. A senior State Department official told reporters traveling with Mr. Blinken that the effort was aimed at “putting global support on a long-term, sustainable path.

Persons: Antony J, Blinken, Biden, Dmytro Kuleba, Volodymyr Zelensky, ” Mr, Zelensky, ”, “, Lynsey Addario, Mr, Mette Frederiksen, Blinken’s, Oleksii, Rustem Umerov, Umerov’s, Tyler Hicks, Putin, Vladimir V, Russia, Erin Mendell, Anushka Patil Organizations: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kyiv, United, Pentagon, The New York Times, Ukraine’s, Department, Property Fund, 22nd Mechanized Brigade, State Department Locations: Kyiv, Ukraine, U.S, United States, matériel, Kostyantynivka, Ukrainian, ”, Russia, “, Denmark, Ukraine’s, Bakhmut, Israel

They said the attack hit an outdoor marketplace at about 2 p.m., when it was busy with vendors and shoppers, while Mr. Blinken was in Kyiv. People who did nothing wrong. Many wounded. Unfortunately, the number of casualties and the injured may rise,” Mr. Zelensky wrote on Telegram. For anyone around the world to continue to deal with Russia, he added, “means turning a blind eye” to atrocities.

Persons: Antony J, Blinken, Voloydmyr Zelensky, “, Mr, Zelensky Locations: Russia, Russian, Kyiv

Ukrainian forces, churning slowly forward after breaching Russia’s initial defensive lines in the occupied south, are turning their attention to breaking through in another heavily defended patch of territory. In recent days, military analysts say, the Ukrainian Army has been battling to break through Russian positions near a village called Verbove, about six miles east of the village of Robotyne, which its fighters retook last week. The Black Bird Group, a volunteer organization that analyzes satellite imagery and social media content from the battlefield, said Monday that Ukrainian soldiers had cleared obstacles to reach Russian infantry fighting positions on the outskirts of Verbove. But analysts said that does not necessarily mean they have secured the territory, in an offensive that has met fierce resistance and made progress in small steps and at a high cost in casualties and equipment.

Organizations: Ukrainian Army, Black Bird Group Locations: Robotyne, Verbove

☆ Daily Blackouts Strain a Poor Spanish Neighborhood. Is Marijuana to Blame?
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-04 | by ( Constant Méheut | More About Constant Méheut | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On a recent morning, Ángel Ortiz Rodríguez was slumped on a sofa in his apartment in Granada, in southern Spain, a tangle of breathing tubes protruding from his nose. Since Mr. Ortiz had a heart attack a few years ago, his life has depended on an electronic breathing machine. Daily blackouts plague the 25,000 inhabitants in this poor district of northern Granada. The blackouts have been a part of life here for more than a decade, but they have grown markedly worse in recent years. Marijuana growers, the company says, illegally connect to the grid and overwhelm it because of the powerful lights and air-conditioning the plants need.

Persons: Ángel Ortiz Rodríguez, Ortiz, Rosa Martin Piñedo, ” Organizations: Food Locations: Granada, Spain, Marijuana

Ukraine’s South Military Command said that at least two civilians were injured and that port infrastructure on the Danube River had been hit in the attack, which lasted more than three hours and involved more than two dozen drones. Ukraine’s Air Force said it shot down 22 out of 25 attack drones and the State Emergency Service posted photos of firefighters in the Odesa region trying to extinguish a blaze. The officials did not specify where exactly the strikes landed but local Ukrainian media reported explosions in the port city of Reni on the Danube, just across the water from Romania. Andriy Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian president’s office, condemned the overnight attack. In a statement on the Telegram messaging app, he accused Russian forces of targeting port infrastructure “in the hope of provoking a food crisis and famine in the world.”

Persons: Andriy Yermak, ” Organizations: Military Command, Ukraine’s Air Force, State Emergency Service Locations: Odesa, Ukraine, Moscow, Reni, Romania, Russian

After piercing a daunting line of Russian defenses around the southern village of Robotyne, Ukrainian forces are now seeking to take the next step in their arduous counteroffensive, waging a fierce battle a few miles farther to the east, according to Ukrainian military commanders and U.S. officials. The intense fighting on Thursday comes amid weeks of brutal battles that have resulted in small but significant advances that Ukrainian forces are trying to exploit, with the broader goal of driving a wedge into the so-called land bridge between Russia and occupied Crimea, which is vital to the Russian military’s supply routes. The Ukrainian 46th Brigade, which is participating in the fighting in the area, said that its assault units were attacking Russian positions near the village of Verbove, nine miles east of Robotyne. The move toward Verbove is notable because it shows that Ukraine is confident enough in its hold on Robotyne that it believes its troops can try to press forward.

Organizations: Ukrainian 46th Brigade Locations: Robotyne, Russia, Crimea, Verbove, Ukraine

☆ Russia and North Korea in ‘Actively Advancing’ Talks on Weapons, U.S. Says
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-30 | by ( Constant Méheut | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

The White House has accused North Korea of supplying rockets and missiles to Russia for use in Ukraine, which Pyongyang has denied. North Korea and Iran are largely cut off from international commerce because of American and international sanctions, meaning neither country has much to lose by making deals with Russia. “What we’re seeing in this counteroffensive is it’s a gunfight and both sides are blazing away with artillery,” Mr. Kirby said. Putin has achieved — let me count it — zero of his strategic goals in Ukraine,” Mr. Kirby said. Also on Wednesday, North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles toward the sea, apparently a reaction to joint military drills by the United States and South Korea.

Persons: John F, Kirby, Vladimir V, Putin, Kim Jong, ” Mr, “, Mr, Kirby’s, Iran —, Biden, Kim, “ Mr, Linda Thomas, Greenfield, ” Organizations: National Security Council, North Korean, ”, United, United States, Slovakian, United Nations Locations: States, Russia, North Korea, Moscow, Ukraine, Pyongyang, United States, Iran, U.S, Korea, China, Beijing, Ukrainian, South Korea, Japan, Britain

☆ Ukraine Steps Up Evacuation Calls as Russia Attacks in Northeast
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-29 | by ( Constant Méheut | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Ukrainian forces retook it in a lightning counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region last September. But since then, Russian forces have constantly pounded the area with artillery, making it practically impossible to go back to everyday life. Farther south, in the eastern Donetsk region, Ukrainian officials said on Tuesday that five people died in Russian strikes. The prosecutor’s office of the Donetsk region said on Telegram that Russian forces had most likely used cluster munitions in their attack. Both Russia and Ukraine have used the controversial weapons, which are known to cause indiscriminate harm to civilians.

Persons: Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy, Oleh Syniehubov, Mr, Syniehubov, Emile Ducke, Pavlo Kyrylenko, Thomas Gibbons, Neff Organizations: Reuters, The New York Times, RUSSIA Kyiv Kharkiv Kupiansk Locations: Kupiansk, Ukraine, Russian, Ukrainian, Kharkiv, RUSSIA, RUSSIA Kyiv Kharkiv Kupiansk Dnipro R, UKRAINE Volgograd, Azov CRIMEA, Donetsk, Russia

☆ With Multiple Battles, Russia and Ukraine Puzzle Over Where to Put Troops
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-29 | by ( Constant Méheut | More About Constant Méheut | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Russian forces have drawn closer to Kupiansk, in northeastern Ukraine, prompting stepped-up calls for civilians to flee and reflecting the hard choices both sides must make about where to send reinforcements along a front that stretches for hundreds of miles. Kupiansk, a small city about 25 miles from the border with Russia, has been under regular Russian artillery bombardment for months, and a 45-year-old civilian was killed on Tuesday when the meat processing plant where he worked as a security guard was struck, officials said. Russia’s military has put Kupiansk, already battered and mostly depopulated, in its cross hairs, hoping to prompt Ukraine to come to the city’s defense by siphoning soldiers away from its own counteroffensive in the South and Southeast. Ukrainian commanders, in turn, hope that the slow gains they are making in that counteroffensive will force the Russians to redeploy forces from Kupiansk to those battlefields.

Locations: Kupiansk, Ukraine, Russia, South

☆ Ukraine Says It Retook a Village, a Win That Highlights the Rough Going
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( Constant Méheut | More About Constant Méheut | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ukraine’s military said on Monday that its forces had retaken the southern village of Robotyne, a tactical victory that underlines the immense challenge Kyiv’s counteroffensive faces in punching through deep and dense Russian defenses. The capture of Robotyne would mean that Ukrainian forces have penetrated the first layer of minefields, tank traps, trenches and bunkers installed by the Russians since they invaded, military analysts say, potentially creating new strategic opportunities. The ultimate target of the thrust to Robotyne is the city of Melitopol, about 45 miles farther south, and more layers of Russian defenses lie in the way. “Robotyne has been liberated,” said Hanna Malyar, a Ukrainian deputy defense minister. She told the Military Media Center, a platform for Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense, that Ukrainian forces were now advancing southeast toward the villages of Novoprokopivka and Ocheretuvato despite “fierce resistance” from Russian forces.

Persons: “ Robotyne, ”, Hanna Malyar Organizations: Military Media Center, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense Locations: Robotyne, Melitopol, Ukrainian, Novoprokopivka

Russia said Ukraine fired a string of drones over the weekend in an attempt to attack border regions and the capital, Moscow, in the latest strikes deep inside Russian borders. Russia’s Ministry of Defense said Sunday that its forces had intercepted Ukrainian drones overnight in the regions of Bryansk and Kursk, both of which border Ukraine. A drone crashed into an apartment building in Kursk but did not cause any injuries, the regional governor said on the Telegram messaging app. The border region of Belgorod also was attacked by drones over the weekend, according to the Russian authorities. The Russian claims had not been independently verified and Ukrainian officials did not immediately comment, as is their general custom on attacks inside Russia.

Persons: Vyacheslav Gladkov Organizations: Russia’s Ministry of Defense Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Moscow, Russia’s, Bryansk, Kursk, Belgorod, Shchetinovka

☆ Russia Officially Confirms Prigozhin’s Death
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-27 | by ( Constant Méheut | More About Constant Méheut | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Russian authorities have officially confirmed the death of the Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, with investigators saying on Sunday that genetic testing showed that the victims of a plane crash last week matched all the names on the jet’s manifest. Mr. Prigozhin was presumed to have died in the crash on Wednesday, an incident that came two months after he launched a failed mutiny against Russia’s military leadership and which U.S. and Western officials believe was the result of an explosion on board. However, the Russian authorities had said they were awaiting the results of an investigation before confirming the identities of those on board. President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Thursday, in his first comments on the crash, spoke obliquely of Mr. Prigozhin’s death, referring to him in the past tense, but did not confirm it. “He made some serious mistakes in life, but he also achieved necessary results,” Mr. Putin said.

Persons: Wagner, Yevgeny V, Prigozhin, Svetlana Petrenko, Vladimir V, Putin, Prigozhin’s, ” Mr Locations: Russia

☆ Russian Confirms Prigozhin’s Death: Live Updates
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-27 | by ( Constant Méheut | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Image An informal memorial for Wagner leader Yevgeny V. Prigozhin next to the former ‘PMC Wagner Centre’ in St. Petersburg, Russia. However, the Russian authorities had said they were awaiting the results of an investigation before confirming the identities of those on board. President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Thursday, in his first comments on the crash, spoke obliquely of Mr. Prigozhin’s death, referring to him in the past tense, but did not confirm it. “He made some serious mistakes in life, but he also achieved necessary results,” Mr. Putin said. Some European leaders, many Western news outlets and people close to Mr. Prigozhin’s Wagner paramilitary force have speculated that Mr. Putin had Mr. Prigozhin killed in retaliation for his brief mutiny in June — suggestions the Kremlin on Friday dismissed as an “absolute lie.”Show more

Persons: Wagner, Yevgeny V, Prigozhin, Anton Matrosov, Svetlana Petrenko, Vladimir V, Putin, Prigozhin’s, ” Mr, Prigozhin’s Wagner, Mr Organizations: PMC Wagner Locations: St . Petersburg, Russia

☆ A Kiss After Spain’s World Cup Win Prompts Many to Cry Foul
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-20 | by ( Constant Méheut | More About Constant Méheut | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Spaniards celebrated their country’s first Women’s World Cup victory on Sunday afternoon by holding dance parties in the streets and sharing their giddy delight. But it was a kiss seen around the world that was the talk of social media. Amid the national jubilation, many were jolted by an impromptu kiss planted on the Spanish forward Jennifer Hermoso by the president of Spain’s soccer federation, Luis Rubiales, during the medals ceremony, an unpleasant reminder to many of the sexism scandals that have plagued Spanish women’s soccer. After the Spanish players defeated England 1-0 and lined up onstage in Sydney, Australia, to collect their medals before lifting the World Cup trophy, Mr. Rubiales enthusiastically grabbed Ms. Hermoso, kissed her on the cheeks and then kissed her fully on the lips, video of the encounter showed. Spain’s Queen Letizia was onstage at the time.

Persons: Jennifer Hermoso, Luis Rubiales, Rubiales, Hermoso, Letizia Organizations: soccer, England Locations: Spanish, Sydney, Australia

In the game’s last seconds, Ona Sánchez couldn’t sit still. Then, when the referee finally blew the whistle to confirm that Spain had won the Women’s World Cup, she and the crowd around her — girls, boys, parents and other fans who had gathered to watch the match in Sant Pere de Ribes, near Barcelona — erupted in cheers. Olé, olé, olé!” Ona and her friend Laura Solorzano, both 11, and draped together in a Spanish flag, sang in the small town’s central cobblestone square as other supporters splashed water from a nearby fountain. The two friends, both players in a local soccer club, said they couldn’t have hoped for a better ending. “It was the first time I watched a World Cup,” Ona said, emerging from a group of dancing children.

Persons: Ona Sánchez couldn’t, “, ” Ona, Laura Solorzano, ” Locations: Spain, Sant Pere, Ribes, Barcelona

☆ For a Trendy Night Out in Paris, How About a Climate Change Workshop?
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-19 | by ( Constant Méheut | More About Constant Méheut | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On a recent summer evening in central Paris, a handful of people trickled into a trendy Brazilian bar blasting bossa nova, passed customers toasting with caipirinhas and headed for a wooden staircase in the back. They emerged into a small room featuring a table strewn with large printed cards that showed charts explaining the science behind climate change. The group was taking part in a “Climate Fresk,” a workshop run by a nonprofit of the same name, that teaches the basics of global warming and highlights possible solutions. The events have become a trendy night out in France, with more than a million participants. The popularity of the Climate Fresks, named for the “fresco” that participants create with the cards, comes as much of Europe faces hotter summers associated with climate change.

Persons: ”, “ We’re Locations: Paris, Brazilian, France, Europe

☆ A Self-Portrait of the Roma, Without the Stereotypes
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Constant Méheut | More About Constant Méheut | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When Gabi Jimenez, a French Spanish Romani painter, first heard several years ago that a major museum in France was planning an exhibition on Romani culture and history, he said he thought it would be “a mess.”The story of the Roma, Jimenez said, has long been told by outsiders who depict them at best as itinerant slackers and at worst as unhygienic thieves. Past shows about Romani people have typically featured pictures of bedraggled children and women breastfeeding near caravans. “I told myself: ‘We’re going to get all the stereotypes again,’” he said. Except this time, Romani people were shaping the narrative. The exhibition — which runs through Sept. 4 at the Museum of Civilizations of Europe and the Mediterranean, in Marseille, France, and features some 200 artworks and objects — is billed as the first of its kind, bringing together contributions from multiple Romani artists and curators who share their culture on their own terms.

Persons: Gabi Jimenez, Jimenez, “, ‘, ’ ” Organizations: Roma, of Civilizations of Locations: Spanish, France, of Civilizations of Europe, Marseille

☆ Spain Votes on Sunday: Here’s What to Know
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-23 | by ( Constant Méheut | More About Constant Méheut | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

This outcome would have no major consequences if the Popular Party, which is leading the polls with about 34 percent of voting intentions, did not need Vox’s support to govern. But most studies suggest that it would, meaning that the far right could enter the Spanish government for the first time since the return of democracy in the 1970s. The Popular Party has refrained from saying whether it would seek to govern with Vox. But it has already forged several local coalition agreements with the far right after the May elections, in a move that many saw as a harbinger of a broader national alliance. The vote, Mr. Sánchez said, “will clarify if Spaniards want a government on the side of Joe Biden or Donald Trump, of Lula da Silva or Jair Bolsonaro.”

Persons: Sánchez, Vox, “, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Lula da Silva, Jair, ” Organizations: Popular Party, Vox

☆ What to Read to Understand the Unrest in France
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Amanda Taub | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Severe unrest has roiled France in recent weeks, with riots in multiple cities after a police officer fatally shot Nahel Merzouk, a French teenager of Algerian and Moroccan descent, in a suburb of Paris. This is part of a longstanding pattern, my Times colleagues Catherine Porter and Constant Méheut report. And although many politicians have promised change, many French people have found meaningful change to be elusive. As always, Times coverage is the best way to understand the news. Here is an explainer on the recent unrest, and here is a story that delves into why so many people in France identified with the young man who was shot.

Persons: Nahel, Catherine Porter, Constant, “, ” Locations: France, Algerian, Paris, Marseille

☆ What Do You Call a German Siesta? An Answer to the Europe Heat, Some Say.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Constant Méheut | More About Constant Méheut | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The heat — temperatures in Germany were around 90 degrees Fahrenheit this week — is forcing people to rethink their way of life and look to southern countries as examples of how to adapt to rising temperatures. “We should follow the work practices of southern countries during heat,” Johannes Niessen, the chairman of Germany’s leading national association of doctors, said in an interview with the news outlet RND this week. “Getting up early, working productively in the morning, and taking a siesta at midday is a concept that we should adopt in the summer months.”The origins of Spain’s famous siesta are a matter of debate. Another explanation is that the disjointed day emerged in post-Civil War Spain, when many people worked two jobs, one in the morning and the other in the late afternoon. The siesta has typified Spanish life for decades, although it is less common among many urban Spaniards today.

Persons: ” Johannes Niessen, “, ” Locations: Germany, Spain, Granada, Valencia

☆ Theme Park’s Selective History Appeals to a New Spanish Nationalism
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Constant Méheut | More About Constant Méheut | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Moving through the darkened holds of a replica of Christopher Columbus’s ship, visitors on a recent afternoon marveled at the tangle of compasses, cordage and barrels. At last, a voice shouted “Land!” and the white sands of America appeared. May it be for the greater glory of God,” Columbus was then heard telling Queen Isabella I of Castile. The popularity of the park has come as a surprise in a country that has long been shy about celebrating its history. Nationalist sentiments were largely taboo after the dictatorship of Gen. Francisco Franco, who died in the 1970s.

Persons: Christopher Columbus’s, “, ” Columbus, Queen Isabella I of Castile, Fou, Gen, Francisco Franco Locations: America, Spain

Search resuls for: "Constant Méheut"

25 mentions found