DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Twice WNBA MVP Parker signing with Las Vegas Aces
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 28 (Reuters) - Twice WNBA MVP Candace Parker is signing with the Las Vegas Aces, the double Olympic champion said on social media on Saturday after two seasons with hometown team Chicago Sky. "While Chicago will always be my home, my family’s home is on the west coast. To play for a championship close to home is the perfect situation for us." "I’m looking forward to continuing the journey this summer in Las Vegas," said Parker. Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Ken FerrisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Storm to retire four-time WNBA champion Bird's number 10 jersey
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 19 (Reuters) - The Seattle Storm will retire four-times WNBA champion Sue Bird's No. 10 jersey, the team said on Thursday, months after the 42-year-old called time on one of the most decorated careers in basketball. "When Sue came to Seattle, they embraced her and obviously she embraced Seattle back," said former team mate Breanna Stewart. The five-time Olympic gold medalist earned a record 13 WNBA All-Star selections during her career and is only the second Storm player to have her number retired after Australian three-time WNBA MVP Lauren Jackson. Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York, editing by Pritha SarkarOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Jan 18 (Reuters) - The NBA returns to Paris on Thursday for the first time in three years amid growing optimism in France that the men's national team could win Olympic gold on home soil next year. "The French have a phenomenal basketball culture and over the years they have developed great players, great clubs and very good national teams," Aivazoglou told Reuters. "He's one of the biggest prospects in many decades if not among the top ones of all time," Aivazoglou said. "Basketball is a sport the French are already super excited about and Wembanyama just adds to it." "We're looking at where we are going to play our regular season game next year and we anticipate that it is very, very likely that we will come back to Paris," Aivazoglou said.

☆ WNBA to host first Canada game with Lynx-Sky preseason clash
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Jun 26, 2022; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Sky forward Candace Parker (3) defends against Minnesota Lynx forward Jessica Shepard (10) during the second half of a WNBA game at Wintrust Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports/Jan 18 (Reuters) - The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) will host its first-ever game in Canada, a preseason showdown between four-times champions Minnesota Lynx and 2021 title-holders Chicago Sky at Toronto's Scotiabank Arena, the league said on Wednesday. It is only the third time that a WNBA preseason game has been played abroad, after games in Monterrey, Mexico, and Manchester, England, were held in 2004 and 2011, respectively. The Lynx and Sky will face off on May 13. Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York Editing by Toby DavisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ FIFA penalises Mexico for offensive chants by fans during World Cup matches
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MEXICO CITY, Jan 13 (Reuters) - FIFA sanctioned the Mexican Football Federation (FMF) for the offensive chants the country's fans made during their matches at last year's World Cup by ordering it to play a game behind closed doors and fined it 100,000 Swiss francs ($108,000). "The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has fined FMF with a fine of CHF 100,000 and one match to be played behind closed doors in light of chants by Mexican supporters during the Mexico v. Poland and Saudi Arabia v. Mexico World Cup matches," FIFA said in a statement on Friday. "This sanction will apply on the next official match played by their senior men's national team in a FIFA competition." The FMF has been sanctioned on several occasions because of a shout Mexican fans make before the rival goalkeeper clears the ball. Mexico will play Jamaica behind closed doors on March 25 in the CONCACAF Nations League.

"And I think when you ask around the world now about our team, the world sees us in a complete different light. Gio Reyna, 20, later confirmed in an Instagram post that Berhalter was talking about him. read moreGio is the son of Claudio Reyna, who played alongside Berhalter for the U.S. team at the 2002 World Cup and is now sporting director for MLS side Austin FC. "And it's a loving relationship, a devoted relationship and we have four amazing kids to show for it." Berhalter led the squad to the round of 16 of the World Cup in Qatar where they were knocked out by the Netherlands.

☆ Thorns' Smith voted U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 6 (Reuters) - National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) MVP Sophia Smith was voted the 2022 U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year, the sport's governing body said on Friday, after scoring 11 goals for the national team last year. The 22-year-old forward helped the Portland Thorns to their third NWSL final and scored three braces in international matches. Smith is widely expected to feature in the upcoming World Cup, where the Americans will battle for an unprecedented third successive title. "She is a special player with special qualities, but the best thing is that has the humbleness, work ethic and drive to keep developing all aspects of her game," said U.S. women's national team coach Vlatko Andonovski. Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York Editing by Christian RadnedgeOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Danielle Reyna told U.S. Soccer about Berhalter domestic violence incident - reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Rory Carroll | Thomson Reuters | Los Angeles-Based Sports Reporter Who Interviews The Most Impactful Athletes | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jan 4 (Reuters) - Danielle Reyna, the mother of U.S. men's national team midfielder Gio Reyna, notified U.S. Soccer last month about a 1991 incident where head coach Gregg Berhalter kicked his wife, ESPN and other outlets reported on Wednesday. Gio Reyna, 20, later confirmed in an Instagram post that Berhalter was talking about him. Danielle is the wife of former national team captain Claudio, who is the sporting director for Austin FC. Danielle, Claudio and Gio Reyna did not respond to requests for comment. But the federation on Wednesday announced that current assistant coach Anthony Hudson would lead the team during its January camp while a "technical review" of the men's national team program was conducted.

☆ Griner urges supporters to contact Whelan, help Americans detained abroad
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Amy Tennery | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"Thanks to the efforts of many, including you, I am home after nearly 10 months," Griner wrote in a letter posted on her Instagram account. Griner said the letters she received showed the "power of collective hands". "There remain too many families with loved ones wrongfully detained," wrote Griner, who left the Brooke Army Medical Center last week and said she intends to resume her career in the WNBA next season. "I hope you'll join me in writing to Paul Whelan and continuing to advocate for other Americans to be rescued and returned to their families," she added. Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York, editing by Ed OsmondOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ 2022 in gender equality: Share of female Fortune 500 CEOs hits all-time high, but other progress stalls
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Morgan Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Women continue to face a significant wage gap that has hardly budged over the last 15 years, with women of color bearing the brunt of the disparity. The year "2022 really is a mixed bag when it comes to gender equality," says Melissa Boteach, the vice president for income security and child care/early learning at the National Women's Law Center. Aside from that victory, there has been little progress in closing the gender wage gap over the past decade. This year, the wage gap narrowed by one penny. The wage gap Black women face narrowed by about four cents in one year, while Latinas' wage gap didn't budge at all.

☆ World Cup going from compact to super-sized in 2026
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Steve Keating | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The last time Mexico (1986) and the United States (1994) hosted a World Cup there were 24 teams. The 32-team World Cup in Qatar has a total of 64 matches, completed in 29 days, and, for now, the 2026 finals will be 80 games over 32 days. More matches, however, would mean more television rights money and, as the World Cup brings in some 90% of FIFA's revenue, its leaders will be tempted. The World Cup in Qatar has earned $7.5 billion in rights and sponsorship revenue, one billion more than the 2018 finals in Russia, FIFA said last month. One sponsor almost certainly looking forward to 2026 is Budweiser, the official beer of the World Cup, who had the taps at stadiums turned off by Qatari officials just days before the start.

[1/2] U.S. basketball player Brittney Griner, who was detained at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport and later charged with illegal possession of cannabis, is escorted before a court hearing in Khimki outside Moscow, Russia July 27, 2022. Griner arrived at the medical center last Friday after U.S. officials secured her freedom from Russia in exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. Griner, 32, was arrested on Feb. 17 at an airport outside Moscow for carrying vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage. U.S. officials pressed for the release of both Griner and Whelan, who is being held on what Washington called "sham" espionage charges, a Biden administration official said. "(I) encourage everyone that played a part in bringing me home to continue their efforts to bring all Americans home," said Griner.

☆ Following Griner's release, U.S. lawmakers want a "National Hostage" day
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Patricia Zengerle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Days after the release of U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner from imprisonment in Russia, Democratic and Republican U.S. lawmakers will introduce legislation on Tuesday to establish March 9 as an annual day to remember Americans detained abroad. The bill, according to text seen by Reuters, seeks to make March 9 "National Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Day," to call increased attention to Americans unjustly held abroad and add urgency to the push to bring them home. "Brittney Griner's release and unjust imprisonment has only underscored the need for Congress to continue working to safeguard the lives of wrongfully detained Americans," said Democratic Senator Chris Coons, a lead sponsor of the bill, in a statement. The measure's sponsors also include Republican Senator Marco Rubio and Representatives Haley Stevens, a Democrat, and French Hill, a Republican. The administration has been unable to secure the release of former Marine Paul Whelan, who was jailed in Russia on 2020 on spying charges.

☆ Chelsea reportedly loses $25 million crypto sponsorship deal as FTX's collapse hammers other platforms
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( George Glover | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Crypto lender Amber will end its $25 million sponsorship of Chelsea soccer club, Bloomberg reported Friday. In March, Amber agreed to pay 20 million pounds ($25 million) for its flagship crypto exchange WhaleFin to become Chelsea's official sleeve sponsor. As the prices of digital asset prices surged last year, digital asset companies sealed sponsorship deals with top sports franchises. In addition to the job cuts and cutting the Chelsea deal, Amber will pivot to focus on institutional investors and wealthy individuals, per Bloomberg. Read more: FTX's rescue by Binance is a red flag for sports heavyweights that signed sponsorship deals with the crypto exchange

☆ Griner lands in U.S. as Russia's Bout greets family in Moscow
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Basketball star Brittney Griner landed in the United States on Friday after 10 months in Russian detention that ended with a prisoner swap with arms dealer Viktor Bout who flew home hours earlier to embrace his family on the airport tarmac in Moscow. The two countries had swapped prisoners in April when Russia released former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed and the United States released Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko. Griner, 32, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and star of the Women's National Basketball Association's Phoenix Mercury, flew in to San Antonio, Texas. She had been arrested on Feb. 17 at a Moscow airport after vape cartridges containing cannabis oil, which is banned in Russia, were found in her luggage. As Griner flew back home, Bout arrived in Moscow and hugged his mother and wife after stepping onto the tarmac, television images showed.

☆ Brittney Griner arrives in the U.S. after prisoner exchange with Russia
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 9 (Reuters) - A plane carrying basketball star Brittney Griner landed in the United States early on Friday, nearly 10 months after she was detained in Russia. Griner was released in a prisoner swap with Russia in exchange for arms dealer Viktor Bout and was heading home on Thursday, ending what President Joe Biden called months of "hell" for her and her wife. [1/3] The plane carrying U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner arrives, following her release from prison in Russia, in San Antonio, Texas, U.S., December 9, 2022. The swap was a rare instance of cooperation between the United States and Russia since the invasion of Ukraine. The two countries also swapped prisoners in April when Russia released former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed and the United States released Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko.

REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/Pool//File PhotoWASHINGTON, Dec 8 (Reuters) - U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner has been released in a prisoner swap with Russia and is on her way back to the United States, President Joe Biden said on Thursday, ending what he called months of "hell." The Russian foreign ministry said it traded Griner for Russian citizen Viktor Bout, a former arms dealer. The swap took place at the Abu Dhabi airport in the United Arab Emirates, Russian news agencies said. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke by phone with Griner from the Oval Office, along with Griner's wife, Cherelle. For experts on the Russian security services, Moscow's lasting interest in Bout hint strongly at Russian intelligence ties.

☆ Saudi Arabia did not mediate in Griner release, White House says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] U.S. President Joe Biden and Cherelle Griner speak on the phone with WNBA basketball star Brittney Griner after her release by Russia, in this White House handout photo taken in the Oval Office, as Vice President Kamala Harris and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken look on, at the White House in Washington, U.S. December 8, 2022. The White House/Handout via REUTERSWASHINGTON, Dec 8 (Reuters) - The release of basketball star player Brittney Griner was negotiated between the United States and Russia only, the White House said on Thursday, denying a Saudi Arabia statement that it was involved. "The only countries that negotiated this deal were the United States and Russia," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, when asked about Saudi Arabia's role. Griner was exchanged for Viktor Bout, a onetime Russian weapons dealer who had been convicted in the United States and imprisoned for 10 years. “We are also grateful to other countries including Saudi Arabia” that raised the issue of detained Americans with the Russian government, she said.

Griner arrived in the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi by private plane from Moscow as Bout was flown in on a private plane from Washington. Bout, nicknamed the "merchant of death," embraced a Russian official who greeted him and smiled broadly as he was led away. A joint UAE-Saudi statement said the UAE president and Saudi crown prince led mediation efforts that secured Griner's release. Griner was exchanged for Bout, a onetime Russian weapons dealer who had been convicted in the United States and imprisoned for 10 years. During the prisoner swap, Griner was met on the tarmac in UAE by chief U.S. hostage negotiator Roger Carstens.

US WNBA basketball superstar Brittney Griner arrives to a hearing at the Khimki Court, outside Moscow on June 27, 2022. Kirill Kudryavtsev | AFP | Getty ImagesWNBA star Brittney Griner is free Thursday after the Biden administration negotiated her release from a Russian penal colony in exchange for an arms dealer, according to a senior administration official. Maxim Shemetov | ReutersGriner will be flown to a medical facility in San Antonio where she will receive care, a senior administration official said. Cherelle Griner, will meet her there, according to a senior administration official. People familiar with the negotiations for his release say the Russians refused to release Whelan without getting a Russian spy in return.

☆ 'She is coming home': WNBA players cheer Griner's release
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 8 (Reuters) - Brittney Griner's Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team mates and fellow athletes cheered her release from Russian custody on Thursday, months after she was first detained in a Moscow airport. Emma Cannon, who plays for the Indiana Fever and was previously on Griner's Phoenix Mercury, wrote on Twitter. "Thank you to every single person that kept Brittney Griner’s name alive," her Phoenix Mercury team mate Brianna Turner tweeted. The WNBA and its men's counterpart, the National Basketball Association (NBA), had advocated for the release of the eight-times All-Star. tweeted twice WNBA champion and finals MVP Breanna Stewart of the Seattle Storm, who was among the league's vocal advocates for her release.

☆ Factbox: Brittney Griner, U.S. basketball star caught up in Russia crisis
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] U.S. basketball player Brittney Griner, who was detained at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport and later charged with illegal possession of cannabis, stands inside a defendants' cage before a court hearing in Khimki outside Moscow, Russia August 4, 2022. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/Pool/File PhotoDec 8 (Reuters) - A U.S. official said on Thursday that U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner, who had been jailed in Russia in charges of possessing and smuggling illegal drugs, was now in U.S. custody. Russia said she had been traded for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer jailed in the United States. Brittney Griner, 32, is a double Olympic champion and seven-times All-Star player in the U.S. Women's National Basketball Association (WBNA). Known as "BG" to basketball fans, she has played for UMMC Ekaterinburg in Russia during the WNBA winter off-season since 2014.

☆ Croatia beats Japan on penalties to reach World Cup quarterfinals
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Ben Church | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +28 min

CNN —Goalkeeper Dominik Livaković made himself a national hero as Croatia beat Japan on penalties 1-1 (3-1) to reach the World Cup quarterfinals. Marko Djurica/ReutersJapan’s heartbreakDespite its defeat, Japan can look back at an impressive World Cup campaign. They made history Thursday as the first all-female refereeing crew for a men's World Cup match. Mbappé was one of the leading stars of the team's World Cup triumph four years ago. He also became just the third goalkeeper to save three penalties in a single World Cup shootout.

☆ USMNT’s youth and talent at Qatar 2022 bodes well for 2026 World Cup
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Issy Ronald | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +31 min

The Netherlands knocked the USMNT out of the Qatar World Cup on Saturday. They made history Thursday as the first all-female refereeing crew for a men's World Cup match. Frappert became the first woman to referee a men's World Cup match. It was Morocco's first World Cup win since 1998 — and its third-ever at the tournament. Qatar is the first Islamic country to host a World Cup.

☆ France reaches World Cup quarterfinals with 3-1 victory over Poland as Kylian Mbappé breaks Pelé’s record
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Matias Grez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +30 min

CNN —France was made to work hard for its place in the World Cup quarterfinals, overcoming an improved Poland side 3-1 thanks to goals from Olivier Giroud and Kylian Mbappé. That is Mbappé’s fifth goal of Qatar 2022 and already his ninth World Cup goal overall, breaking Pelé’s record of seven World Cup goals scored before the age of 24. They made history Thursday as the first all-female refereeing crew for a men's World Cup match. Issei Kato/Reuters Kylian Mbappé scores his second goal on November 26, leading France to a 2-1 victory over Denmark. Mbappé was one of the leading stars of the team's World Cup triumph four years ago.

Search resuls for: "Men's National"

25 mentions found