DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

[1/3] The signage at the main gate of The Walt Disney Co. is pictured in Burbank, California, May 7, 2012. This is a win for all shareholders," a spokesperson for Peltz's Trian Fund Management said on Thursday. The decision, first reported by CNBC, came only hours after Iger announced earnings that topped Wall Street expectations and announced a corporate restructuring that addresses many of Peltz' criticisms. Trian owns a nearly $1 billion stake in Disney and had criticized the company for a bungled succession planning, overpaying for new assets and runaway costs. Reporting by Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath, Mark Porter and Jan HarveyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Bob Iger's Disney revamp could keep critic Peltz 'at bay'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 9 (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) CEO Bob Iger dazzled Wall Street on Wednesday with sweeping changes and billions of dollars in cost cuts, and some analysts are convinced that will be enough to sway its harshest critic - activist investor Nelson Peltz. Under the restructuring, Disney is cutting 7,000 jobs and reorganizing into three divisions - an entertainment unit encompassing film, television and streaming, a sports-focused ESPN unit and one with Disney parks, experiences and products. "Iger's early steps seem likely to keep Peltz at bay, which the company dearly wants. Peltz could have an opening if Disney slips up," said Barton Crockett, analyst at Rosenblatt Securities. "We are pleased that Disney is listening," a Trian spokesperson said.

Disney issued a statement applauding Peltz's decision to end a board challenge which it called a "distraction. 'FIRST PHASE' IN DISNEY'S TRANSFORMATIONFor Peltz's Trian Fund Management the board challenge appears to have paid off with an estimated 20% gain on his investment. Analysts said Peltz made a reasonable request for one board seat and to join the 12-member board himself. Peltz appeared on CNBC on Thursday to announce his proxy fight with Disney was over. "Bob Iger has a long, strong track record which provides confidence he will manage this transition for Disney."

☆ ChatGPT's 'jailbreak' tries to make the AI break its own rules, or die
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Rohan Goswami | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Now users have found a way to tap into its dark side, using coercive methods to force the AI to violate its own rules and provide users the content — whatever content — they want. ChatGPT creator OpenAI instituted an evolving set of safeguards, limiting ChatGPT's ability to create violent content, encourage illegal activity, or access up-to-date information. But a new "jailbreak" trick allows users to skirt those rules by creating a ChatGPT alter ego named DAN that can answer some of those queries. DAN 5.0's prompt tries to make ChatGPT break its own rules, or die. The DAN prompts cause ChatGPT to provide two responses: One as GPT and another as its unfettered, user-created alter ego, DAN.

☆ A Mexico soccer icon entered politics. Prosecutors say narcos followed
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Cuernavaca | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +27 min

Regional politicians, officials and military officers gathered in the Morelos state capital of Cuernavaca for breakfast in February 2022 to mark Mexico’s annual Army day. Mexican drug lords have a long tradition of buying off politicians in exchange for government protection of their illicit trade. Attempts to reach two of the alleged drug traffickers in the photo – Figueroa and Irving Solano Vera – were unsuccessful. Prosecutors in April asked the Morelos state congress to impeach Blanco so that he could be stripped of that shield. “He likes me very much because I’m not a politician,” Blanco told Reuters, in reference to the president.

☆ Hall of Famer 'Golden Jet' Bobby Hull dies at 84
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Former NHL star Bobby Hull (L) embraces his son Brett Hull during an on-ice ceremony to introduce the 2009 Hockey Hall of Fame inductees before the Toronto Maple Leafs' and Detroit Red Wings' NHL hockey game in Toronto November 7, 2009. REUTERS/ Mike Cassese/File PhotoJan 30 (Reuters) - Hockey Hall of Famer Bobby Hull, the first National Hockey League player to score more than 50 goals in a season, has died at the age of 84, the Chicago Blackhawks said on Monday. "Hull is part of an elite group of players who made a historic impact on our hockey club," the Blackhawks said in a statement. "When Bobby Hull wound up to take a slapshot, fans throughout the NHL rose to their feet in anticipation and opposing goaltenders braced themselves," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. The decision cost Hull a chance to play for Team Canada in the 1972 Summit Series against the Soviet Union as the NHL blocked his participation.

☆ Microsoft in talks to invest $10 bln in ChatGPT-owner OpenAI, Semafor reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jan 10 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) is in talks to invest $10 billion in ChatGPT-owner OpenAI as part of funding that will value the firm at $29 billion, Semafor reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. The software giant had in 2019 invested $1 billion in OpenAI, founded by Elon Musk and Sam Altman. Microsoft last year unveiled plans to integrate image-generation software from OpenAI into its search engine Bing. According to Semafor, Microsoft will also get 75% of OpenAI's profits until it recoups its initial investment. After hitting that threshold, Microsoft would have a 49% stake in OpenAI, with other investors taking another 49% and OpenAI's nonprofit parent getting 2%, Semafor said.

☆ Ukraine's young circus artists wow Budapest after training in bomb shelters at home
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Krisztina Fenyo | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] Ukrainian Mariia Kravchenko, a participant of the Yaskrava Arena Dnipro International Children's Circus Festival practices before the competition in Budapest, Hungary, January 1, 2023. Circus artist Mariia Kravchenko, aged 13, from the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro, had trained for the circus festival in unheated shelters amid the Russian attacks. The Yaskrava Arena Dnipra international children's circus festival was launched in 2010 by an NGO called Bright Country (Ukraine). Before the war, it was held every year in December at the Dnipro State Circus. Since it began, more than 1,000 young artists from all over Ukraine, as well as Lithuania, Hungary, Germany, Moldova and Poland, have participated in the festival.

☆ Russia's war on Ukraine latest: Russia blames cellphones for strike
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jan 4 (Reuters) - Russia's defence ministry blamed the illegal use of mobile phones for a deadly Ukrainian missile strike that killed 89 servicemen, raising the reported death toll significantly. * French President Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed that Ukraine "needs our support more than ever". REUTERS/Albert Dzen 1 2 3* Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to talk to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday. * A Russian missile attack destroyed an ice arena in the town of Druzhkivka in Ukraine's Donetsk region, Ukraine's ice hockey federation said, following earlier reports of a missile hitting the town and injuring two people. * Combing the battlefields of eastern Ukraine, volunteers have made it their mission to search for bodies of fallen soldiers and return them to families.

☆ Pele, Brazil's sublimely skilled soccer star who charmed the world, dead at 82
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Andrew Downie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/5] Brazilian soccer legend and member of the 1958, 1962 and 1970 World Cup-winning Brazilian soccer teams Pele holds the World Cup trophy during the World Cup 2006 opening ceremony in Munich, Germany, June 9, 2006. Pele, whose given name was Edson Arantes do Nascimento, scored a world record 1,281 goals, and is the only player ever to win the World Cup three times. "Pele was one of the few who contradicted my theory: Instead of 15 minutes of fame, he will have 15 centuries," the artist said. Years later, when the United States won the right to host the 1994 World Cup, the head of the U.S. soccer federation called Pele the "most important" reason why. Pele's 1,281 goals in 1,366 games, as tabulated by FIFA's website, came at a startling rate of 0.94 per match.

☆ REVIEW Soccer-Whatever the ending, Qatar World Cup duly delivered
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Martyn Herman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Both scenarios would be an appropriate final act to the first World Cup staged in an Arab country. But for a month the so-called beautiful game did, in the words of FIFA president Gianni Infantino, spread some joy. The marquee names of Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo delivered storylines. In five second-half minutes Saleh Al-Shehri and Salem Al-Dawsari wrote themselves into Saudi sporting folklore by scoring the goals to overturn a Messi penalty and seal the biggest statistical shock in World Cup history. Messi, channelling his inner-Maradona, inspired Argentina to beat Croatia and few would begrudge the diminutive number 10's record-breaking 26th World Cup appearance ending with him holding aloft the gleaming trophy.

☆ Dog show teaches Nigerians new tricks about pet ownership
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/5] Dogs attend the annual Lagos Dog Carnival, with the theme "Splash of colours", in Lagos, Nigeria, December 10, 2022. Jackie Idimogu, organiser of the Lagos Dog Festival, now in its fourth year, said the show was aimed at debunking stereotypes of Africans mistreating dogs. "I am happy to say that Nigerians are beginning to understand the love language of these animals." Pasha, a six-year-old Caucasian shepherd mix, was crowned dog of the year. He wore black sunglasses and a matching red and black scotch outfit with her owner Hadiza Saidu.

☆ Analysis: Age gap no problem for France's deadly striking duo
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( William Schomberg | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Giroud looked set for a secondary role for France until the team's number one centre forward Karim Benzema pulled out with an injury on the even of the tournament. That understanding was clear for all to see as Poland were cut apart by France's strikers. "It's still a long way to go and, obviously, you need to enjoy the game," he said. "If we attack, try to attack, it's a bit different. Additional reporting by Bartosz Dąbrowski in Gdansk, Poland; Writing by William Schomberg; Editing by Ken FerrisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

For years, Argentine fans said that no matter how many Ballons d'Or and trophies Messi won with Barcelona, he could never match Maradona until he too lifted a World Cup. EMOTIONAL MESSIMany of the banners show Messi and Maradona together, some depicting the late No. And Messi himself has opened up emotionally to rally the team and nation after their shock defeat to Saudi Arabia. "For me, Messi has always felt and done his all for the national team, from his first game until now. "Messi has suffered from being a venerated star in Barcelona but often under attack here in Argentina."

☆ Swiss eye strong start in World Cup opener versus Cameroon
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

AL RAYYAN, Qatar, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Switzerland hope to secure early points in a tough Group G when they face Cameroon in their World Cup opener on Thursday after a year of solid performances on the European stage. The Swiss reached the Euro 2020 quarter-finals before losing a penalty shootout to Spain. They also finished ahead of Italy in their World Cup qualifying group to avoid the playoffs. But Cameroon -- playing in an eighth World Cup, a record number of appearances for an African nation -- have failed to leave their mark at the finals since the 1990 edition of the tournament, when they dazzled by reaching the quarter-finals. Cameroon will aim to at least get another World Cup victory this time, a task that could prove difficult for a side that qualified thanks to a stoppage-time goal at the end of extra time in the second leg of their playoff tie away to Algeria.

☆ ‘Slumberland’ strands Jason Momoa in a nightmare of a movie
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Review Brian Lowry | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —A movie about dreams becomes the stuff of nightmares in Netflix’s utterly misguided “Slumberland,” an attempt to build a sprawling fantasy adventure from the bones of the early-20th-century newspaper comic strip. Most notable as a vehicle for Jason Momoa, this wannabe spectacle from “The Hunger Games” director Francis Lawrence serves up lots of special effects desperately in search of a story. The realm of dreams is described as “a world with no consequence,” but as constructed, that comes in a movie with no clear creative compass, proving more mystifying than magical. Along the way, they run afoul of something called the Bureau of Subconscious Activities, a surreal bureaucracy that sees Flip as an outlaw. Those attributes feel wasted, however, in the surreal confines of “Slumberland,” which, as amusement-park-type names go, doesn’t even qualify as a nice place to visit.

☆ 'Say Hey, Willie Mays!' review: The baseball great gets his due from an HBO documentary that makes one error
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Review Brian Lowry | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —If you subscribe to the theory that Willie Mays was the greatest baseball player who ever lived, consider “Say Hey, Willie Mays!” additional ammunition for bar arguments, as well as a whole lot of fun. Those interviewed include Mays’ godson, Barry Bonds, and note that Mays played a pivotal role in bringing him to the Giants in 1993. Setting that aside, “Say Hey, Willie Mays!” is the kind of treat to help tide over baseball fans through the post-season, giving Mays his due while he’s still around to take a bow. It’s a gift for baseball fans who saw him play before he hung up that golden glove nearly 50 years ago, and maybe even more so, for those who didn’t. “Say Hey, Willie Mays!” premieres November 8 at 9 p.m.

☆ Golden State Warriors suffer first defeat of the season against Denver Nuggets
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( Issy Ronald | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Despite Steph Curry scoring a game-high 34 points, the Golden State Warriors suffered their first loss of the season, to the Denver Nuggets on Friday, going down 125-123 to the team they eliminated from the first round of the Western Conference playoffs in April. Curry added five rebounds and four assists to his 34 points on 10-of-22 shooting but could not drag his team to victory in San Francisco. Noah Graham/NBAE/Getty ImagesThe Warriors fought back in the fourth and a Jordan Poole layup with 14.7 seconds remaining left Golden State just a point behind. Two free throws from Jokic with 6.6 seconds left took Denver’s lead beyond three points and sealed the victory. Logan Riely/NBAE/Getty ImagesElsewhere in the Western Conference, Ja Morant dazzled, scoring 49 points to carry the Memphis Grizzlies to a 129-122 win over the Houston Rockets.

☆ Mountain Girl’s heartbreaking memoir: An icon of the Sixties opens up about Jerry Garcia, Ken Kesey, and what the age of free love was really like
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-09 | by ( David Kushner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +40 min

Now 76 and living in Oregon, Mountain Girl has gave us an exclusive look at her memoir. Altamont, the free concert that Mountain Girl and Jerry Garcia helped organized, was meant to revive the spirit of the Sixties. Today, 60 years since she took that ride with Neal Cassady, Mountain Girl is still forging her own path. Before I leave Kesey's farm, Mountain Girl and I walk outside to the old brown barn where Furthur now rests. But for Mountain Girl, it lives forever, an emblem of everything her generation believed in, and all that they achieved.

☆ The Epic Rise and Fall of Elizabeth Holmes
▼ + stars: | 2022-01-03 | by ( David Streitfeld | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

“I’m 21,” Ms. Holmes said. “I’m gonna go tell my two children, they better get off their duffs,” Ms. Gunn exclaimed. Ms. Holmes was asked about her future, and gave the stock Silicon Valley response: You ain’t seen nothing yet. Not, in other words, a fool with regard to Silicon Valley. Yet he told The New Yorker in 2014 that Ms. Holmes “has sometimes been called another Steve Jobs, but I think that’s an inadequate comparison.

Persons: Moira Gunn, Elizabeth, ”, “, ” Ms, Holmes, I’m, Ms, Gunn, Theranos, Ramesh Balwani, William Perry, Bill Clinton, Holmes “, Steve Jobs, Steve Organizations: Tech, Stanford, New Yorker Locations: Silicon

Search resuls for: "dazzled"

20 mentions found