DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ McCarthy, US House hardliners reach deal to allow votes
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( David Morgan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., June 8, 2023. If we don't have that, there are going to be fights," Representative Ralph Norman told reporters after he and several other members of the House of Representatives met with McCarthy. "We had a very productive meeting tonight," McCarthy told reporters after the meeting. The House is scheduled to begin voting on delayed Republican bills on Tuesday, starting with a floor rule governing debate and votes on passage. But the hardliners are also looking to expand their influence over the House Republican agenda.

Persons: Kevin McCarthy, Amanda Andrade, Rhoades, McCarthy, Ralph Norman, Joe Biden, Matt Gaetz, David Morgan, Andy Sullivan, Mary Milliken, Matthew Lewis Organizations: ., Capitol, REUTERS, Republican, Freedom Caucus, Congress, Democratic, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, WASHINGTON, Washington

☆ Matt Fitzpatrick Is Feeling Confused, and He’s Not the Only One
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Bill Pennington | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Golfers had chosen sides in a sport known for individualism, fueling an unfamiliar team-against-team tension. Twelve months later, and days after the seismic news of the American and European tours forming a partnership with LIV Golf, the disruption at the 2022 U.S. Open now seems like an almost inconsequential diversion. Just ask Matt Fitzpatrick, who won that tournament in Brookline, Mass., for his first victory at a major tournament win and also on the PGA Tour. “I seem to remember last year just thinking about the tournament, just the U.S. Open,” Fitzpatrick said on Monday. “It was easier for me to mentally focus on that and be in a better place than obviously all this confusion that’s going on this week.

Persons: LIV, LIV Golf, Matt Fitzpatrick, “, ” Fitzpatrick Organizations: U.S ., PGA Locations: Brookline , Mass

☆ LIV Golf Joins a Club That Will Have It as a Member
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Kurt Streeter | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

They said it was about principles, but it was always about money. Human rights, it turns out, are a bore, and an obstacle. “Sportswashing,” as it is known, is powerful and effective. That’s the message between the lines of the merger between the once venerable PGA Tour and what until Tuesday was its insurgent competition — LIV Golf, born just last year and fueled by billions from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign investment fund, which the oil-rich kingdom uses to gild its global image. It reigns over the morals, values and traditions that the PGA Tour, now swaddled in rank hypocrisy, trumpeted during a seemingly fierce but apparently phony conflict that pitted the biggest names in golf against each other.

Persons: LIV Golf Organizations: PGA Tour Locations: thrall, Saudi Arabia, Saudi

☆ PGA and LIV Merger PGA Tour and LIV Golf Agree to Merger
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Alan Blinder | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

PinnedThe PGA Tour and LIV Golf, the insurgent league bankrolled by billions of dollars from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, said Tuesday that they had agreed to a merger, ending a bitter fight for supremacy of men’s professional golf that had divided top players, everyday fans and corporate sponsors. The governor of the Saudi fund will become chairman of the joined organization. Monahan is expected to be the new group’s chief executive, with Yasir al-Rumayyan, the wealth fund’s governor, installed as its chairman. The PGA Tour, long the dominant force in professional golf, retaliated by banning any players who joined the new tour from its events. But by midday Tuesday, golf’s era of high-dollar brinkmanship had ended, with promises of “a fair and objective process for any players” looking to return to good standing with the PGA Tour or its European counterpart.

Persons: LIV Golf, LIV, we’ve, ” Jay Monahan, LIV . Monahan, Yasir al, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson Organizations: PGA, Saudi, Public Investment Fund, PGA Tour, Public Investment Locations: Saudi

PinnedThe PGA Tour and LIV Golf, the insurgent league bankrolled by billions of dollars from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, said on Tuesday that they had agreed to a merger, ending a bitter and costly fight for supremacy of men’s professional golf that had divided top players, everyday fans and corporate sponsors. Now, by merging with the PGA Tour, it has gained a foothold that guarantees it outsize influence in the game’s future. The PIF also will have right of first refusal on new investments in the merged tour, according to the statement announcing the merger. “Going forward, PIF will have the exclusive right to further invest in the new entity, including a right of first refusal on any capital that may be invested in the new entity, including into the PGA Tour, LIV Golf and DP World Tour.” The PGA Tour will appoint a majority of the board, the statement said, and hold a majority voting interest in the combined entity. In a memorandum to PGA Tour players on Tuesday, Monahan said the wealth fund would have a minority position in the new for-profit company that will control men’s golf.

Persons: LIV Golf, bankrolling LIV, “, PIF, LIV, Jay Monahan, we’ve, LIV . Monahan, Yasir al, Monahan, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, LIV signees, Graeme McDowell, “ It’s, ” Organizations: PGA, Premier League soccer, Public Investment Fund, PGA Tour, ”, Public Investment, U.S Locations: Saudi, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

☆ Opinion: The war on Russia’s doorstep just got uncomfortably close
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Michael Bociurkiw | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Then on Tuesday morning a drone attack on the Russian capital brought the conflict to Russian soil with fresh clarity. The aim here appears not to actually occupy Russian land – but to send a message to Putin and the Russian public that the Ukraine war is a waste of blood and treasure. What is perhaps likely in the short term, is that Russia will use a hybrid strategy to attack Ukraine and make life uncomfortable for the West. It is reasonable to assume that Putin will not end this war voluntarily, by submitting to a ceasefire or peace deal. And with the war he started getting uncomfortably close, I believe Putin’s days in office could be numbered as well.

Persons: Michael Bociurkiw, CNN —, Michael Bociurkiw Chrystia, Volodymyr Zelensky, Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, Putin, David, Goliath, Kyiv’s, ”, Zelensky, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Rather Organizations: Atlantic Council, Organization for Security, Cooperation, CNN, Russia, Putin, Kremlin, Kyiv, Russian Volunteer Corps, of Russia, Ukraine, Legion, Armed Forces of, New York Times, Nazi, Twitter Locations: Odesa, Europe, Iraq, United States, Putin Russian, Belgorod, Ukrainian, Berdiansk, Moscow, Ukraine, ”, Russia, Kyiv, Washington, Armed Forces of Ukraine

☆ After years of war, Assad returns to Arab fold
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

* Aug. 2011 - U.S. President Barack Obama says Assad has lost legitimacy to rule and should surrender power. * Nov. 2011 - The Arab League suspends Syria and urges its army to stop killing civilians. * Sept. 2015 - Russia joins the war on Assad's side, deploying war planes that bomb rebel-held areas - a turning point in the conflict. * March 2022 - Assad visits the United Arab Emirates and meets its leaders, his first trip to an Arab state since 2011. Assad says he will only meet Erdogan when Turkey is ready to withdraw forces from Syria.

☆ Trump’s CNN town hall is a sign of a broader and more traditional campaign strategy
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Kristen Holmes | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —Former President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign is pursuing a strategy of expanding his appeal by reaching out to audiences beyond friendly conservative media outlets, multiple advisers familiar with the strategy said, including a CNN town hall this week. He’s also scaling back larger rallies, a Trump campaign trademark, for more intimate campaign settings and retail stops that allow the former president to engage with voters. Trump’s team also sees the town hall has an opportunity to draw a contrast with Florida Gov. “Trump is already prepared,” one source told CNN, saying the goal for the town hall is to amplify his core message. He ignored the rulings of dozens of courts.”Ongoing investigationsTrump’s town hall also comes as he faces several legal hurdles.

☆ Ukraine's special operators have been 'taking it to the Russians,' the head of US Special Operations Command says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Stavros Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Ukrainian special operators have been putting their US-provided training to use against Russia. Ukrainian special-operations forces will also have a key role in the outcome of those battles. Ukrainian commandos on the jobRomanian, Ukrainian, and US Army Green Berets train in Romania in May 2021. Roxana DavidovitsAs Russian forces poured into the country at the start of the war, Ukrainian special operators went hunting. SOCOM had also incorporated a focus on unconventional warfare, a specialty of US Army Special Forces, into its training.

The seizure was to "thwart the activity" of Islamic State and "impair its ability to further its goals," the NBCTF said on its website. The NBCTF document, which has not been previously reported, did not give any details on the value of the crypto seized, nor how the accounts were connected to Islamic State. Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange by trading volumes, did not respond to Reuters' calls and emails seeking comment. The U.S. Treasury said in a report last year that Islamic State had received crypto donations it later converted to cash, accessing funds via crypto trading platforms. The owner of the two Islamic State-linked Binance accounts seized by Israel was a 28-year old Palestinian called Osama Abuobayda, the NBCTF document shows.

ANKARA/BAGHDAD, May 2 (Reuters) - ISIS leader Abu Hussein al-Qurashi's six-month rule ended when he detonated a suicide vest during a Turkish special forces raid in northwest Syria on Saturday after refusing to surrender, a senior Turkish security official said. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday Qurashi "was neutralized" as part of the intelligence forces' operation. Images of the site provided by the security official showed a red-roofed building with most of the walls on its ground floor blown out. An Iraqi intelligence official said: "The only safe haven for the senior Daesh (ISIS) leaders is in Syria, and specifically in areas bordering Turkey." A Turkish security official declined to comment on any Iraqi intelligence involvement in the operation.

☆ Hakeem Jeffries is enjoying an early honeymoon leading House Democrats. But one day, he'll have to make 'hard commitments.'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

House Democrats say Hakeem Jeffries is a better listener and is more consensus-oriented than Pelosi. There's one big reason for it: House Democrats can't pass any of their own bills right now. Pelosi and Jeffries on the House floor after she announced she would step down from party leadership on November 17, 2022. 'He gets it'Jeffries, 52, has enjoyed a rapid ascent to the top of the Democratic caucus. "There were always very different views within the Democratic caucus on people who voted their district," said Slotkin.

☆ Opinion: Harry Belafonte lived in – and transformed – two worlds
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Opinion Gene Seymour | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Gene Seymour Jeremy Freeman/CNNBut history, as it often does, had other ideas for Belafonte, who died April 25 at 96, having lived a long, full life as both entertainer and activist. The times he lived in paved a smoother way for him than the one faced by his mentor and hero Paul Robeson. On the other hand, there was, relatively speaking, only so much Belafonte could do on the entertainment side. Here, as elsewhere in Belafonte’s life, the activism and the entertainment sides of his public life worked in tandem to buttress, offset and enhance the other. Join us on Twitter and FacebookAnd in a gratifying sense, the push-pull of history’s demands worked in Belafonte’s favor as a screen actor.

☆ Taliban Kill Head of ISIS Cell That Bombed Kabul Airport
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Karoun Demirjian | Eric Schmitt | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON — The Taliban have killed the leader of the Islamic State cell responsible for the suicide bombing at the international airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, in August 2021 that killed 13 U.S. troops and as many as 170 civilians, four senior American officials said on Tuesday. The administration on Monday began calling relatives of the American troops who died in the attack to tell them that the leader of the terrorist cell had been killed by Taliban security forces in recent weeks. The American officials said that U.S. intelligence analysts became aware in early April that the mastermind of the attack, whom they declined to identify, had died in a Taliban operation in Afghanistan. It was unclear whether the Taliban were specifically targeting the insurgent or he was killed in one of the increasing number of attacks between Taliban and Islamic State fighters, the officials said. But the officials offered no evidence to support that conclusion or other details about his purported death.

☆ More women describe having forced abortions in Nigerian Army programme
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +20 min

And both lost their pregnancies after they were taken into custody by Nigerian soldiers and given unidentified pills and injections. Nigerian military leaders previously have adamantly denied the existence of the abortion programme and the deliberate killing of unarmed children. We respect every living soul.”Asked about the military’s comments on the programme, Yau replied: “This happened to me, and they are denying it. After she was put into a room with three other pregnant women, Yau said, army personnel gave her pills and more injections. Reuters was unable to determine if this tally overlapped with others cited in its December story about the abortion programme.

☆ Taliban aim to boost Afghan security forces, anti-aircraft capacity -army chief
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Mohammad Yunus Yawar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

In his remarks on Tuesday, Qari Fasihuddin Fitrat, a Taliban commander from the northern region of Badakhshan and the chief of army staff, condemned incursions by foreign drones into Afghan airspace. Fitrat said a major defence focus was securing Afghan airspace against drones and other incursions. He also stopped short of naming Pakistan, against which the Taliban administration has regularly protested, accusing its neighbour of allowing drones to enter Afghanistan. Ties between the neighbours have occasionally been tense as as Pakistan has accused the Taliban administration of allowing Afghan territory to be used as a haven for militant groups. The Taliban administration denies allowing its territory to be used for attacks on others, however.

☆ Myanmar junta says military carried out deadly attack on rebel ceremony
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

At least 50 people, including children, were killed in Tuesday's air strike in the Sagaing area in northwest Myanmar, according to media reports. Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun told military broadcast channel Myawaddy the attack on the ceremony held by the National Unity Government (NUG), a shadow administration, for their armed People's Defence Force was aimed at restoring peace and stability in the region. They are the ones opposing the government of the country, the people of the country," said Zaw Min Tun. Kyaw Zaw, a spokesman for the NUG, said it believed nearly 100 people were killed in the Tuesday attack when air force jets dropped bombs on villagers and military attack helicopters then followed up, calling it "another senseless, barbaric, brutal attack by the military". The military has ruled Myanmar for most of the past 60 years saying it is the only institution capable of holding the diverse country together.

☆ Pakistan army says 'terrorists' from Iran side kill four soldiers
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

QUETTA, Pakistan, April 1 (Reuters) - Pakistan's army said on Saturday that attackers from Iran killed four of its border patrol soldiers. "A group of terrorists operating from Iranian side attacked a routine border patrol of Pakistani security forces operating along Pakistan-Iran Border," the army said in a statement. The incident took place in Kech district in southwestern Baluchistan province, which shares a long lawless border with Afghanistan and Iran. The army said Pakistani authorities were making contact with Iran to seek ways of preventing such incidents in future. The Baluch groups operate on both side of the border.

☆ India hunts Sikh preacher who has revived calls for homeland
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Krishn Kaushik | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Top Punjab police officer Sukhchain Gill told Reuters that Singh had set up a militia called Anandpur Khalsa Fauj. Singh has said striving for a separate country, that Sikhs call Khalistan, was not an anti-democratic and should not be taboo. Sikh militants complaining of unfair treatment on the part of the central government began agitating for a separate homeland in the 1970s. Singh had become popular through social media during drawn protests in 2020-21 by thousands of farmers from Punjab, many of them Sikh, against agricultural reforms. Sikh militants were blamed for the 1985 bombing of an Air India Boeing 747 flying from Canada to India in which all 329 people on board were killed.

☆ As John Fetterman heals, his Senate staff soldiers on with the help of veteran lawmakers and crisis bonding: 'We all have each other's back'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Sen. John Fetterman has been hospitalized for clinical depression since February 15. Casey is coordinating with Fetterman staff on constituent services issues and legislative priorities, according to recent reports, but doesn't call Fetterman directly so as not to disturb his ongoing recovery. Some of the others working hard to meet that internal standard include legislative assistant Madeleine Marr, a former aide to Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire. Conservative commentator Stephen L. Miller has been more blunt, accusing Fetterman's staff of unduly wielding power in his absence. "John Fetterman's chief of staff is not an elected senator," Miller wrote in an op-ed run by the Delaware Valley Journal.

☆ Factbox: Who has run Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

BAGHDAD, March 16 (Reuters) - The U.S.-led invasion of Iraq was designed to pave the way for a thriving democracy but the mostly ineffective governments elected since 2003 have left many Iraqis disappointed. Sadr led an armed insurgency against the U.S. occupation of Iraq after American and international troops toppled Saddam. But the tables turned in 2003 with the U.S.-led invasion that ushered in Shi’ite dominance leaving Sunnis, vulnerable. Sunnis have been divided by clan and ideological rivalries since 2003, which Sunni voters complain makes them weak against Shi'ite rivals. Halbousi, an engineer from western Iraq, has formed good relations with Shi'ites and Kurds who helped him become speaker.

☆ Syrian woman rescued quake victims, won over those who told her to stay home
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Khalil Ashawi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] Salam Mahmoud, a volunteer at the Syria Civil Defence (White Helmets), looks at her mobile phone as she rides in a vehicle, in Idlib province, Syria March 5, 2023. REUTERS/Khalil AshawiIDLIB PROVINCE, Syria, March 8 (Reuters) - Syrian civil defence volunteer Salam Mahmoud had only one thought when she saw the collapsed buildings after the devastating earthquake that struck Syria and Turkey. Mahmoud is one of around 300 women in the Syria Civil Defence, also called the White Helmets, a rescue service of more than 3,000 people which operates in insurgent-held northwestern Syria. "All night I was thinking: could there still be children calling for us, could there still be women screaming out." Mahmoud has volunteered with the Civil Defence for five years.

☆ Bola Tinubu: From godfather of Lagos to Nigeria's president-elect
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Tim Cocks | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

And since he bowed out as Lagos governor in 2007, Tinubu has picked every subsequent winning candidate to run Africa's biggest city. That power will now be tested as Tinubu attempts to tackle Nigeria's crises and improve on Buhari's lacklustre record. Many of these problems worsened under Buhari, on whose party ticket Tinubu ran. A spokesman for Tinubu's campaign did not respond to repeated requests for comment. A biography on his campaign website says Tinubu was born in Lagos in 1952, to a Muslim family from the Yoruba ethnic group, the majority in southwest Nigeria.

The area, part of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, is a hotbed for fighters of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an umbrella organisation of Sunni Islamist groups. A TTP spokesman, Muhammad Khurasani, told Reuters its main target was Pakistan's military, but the police were standing in the way. "Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa pays a greater price for that" because of its exposure to the Islamist militants, he said. The TTP ended the ceasefire in November 2022, and regrouped militants restarted attacks in Pakistan soon after. Reporting by Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam and Jibran Ahmad in Bara, Pakistan; additional reporting by Saud Mehsud in Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan; editing by David Crawshaw.

Summary Egyptian FM says 'goal of visit primarily humanitarian'And to 'pass on our solidarity' from people of EgyptArab League suspended Syria in 2011DAMASCUS, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Egypt's foreign minister met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Monday in the first visits to Syria and Turkey by a top Egyptian diplomat in a decade. "The goal of the visit is primarily humanitarian, and to pass on our solidarity – from the leadership, the government and the people of Egypt to the people of Syria," Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told reporters in Damascus. "When the foreign minister of Egypt comes to Damascus, he comes to his home, his people, and his country," Mekdad said. Shoukry also visited Turkey, pointing to another shift in Egypt's foreign ties. "Foreign minister offers condolences for the victims of earthquake, affirms solidarity of Egyptian leadership, government and people with Turkey, and asserting continuity of aid for supporting Turkey and its brotherly people," Ahmed Abu Zeid, spokesperson for Egypt's Foreign Ministry, said.

Search resuls for: "Insurgent"

25 mentions found