DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ 68-year-old retiree pays $460 a month to live by a lake in Mexico: ‘I found the peace and tranquility I was looking for’
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-21 | by ( Janet Blaser | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

There wasn't anywhere else I'd thought about living — until I went to see a friend in Lake Chapala. 'Everything I need is within reach'A friend in Lake Chapala, a seven-hour drive away from Mazatlán, invited me to visit. Part of the allure, for me, of the Lake Chapala area is that it's quite rural. Mickey TodiwalaI hang my laundry to dry on the patio or roof, which could easily be turned into a more usable space. There's a Walmart and a Soriana grocery store nearby, but I prefer to shop at smaller local stores and at the many weekly outdoor markets.

Persons: San Antonio, Mazatlán, I'd, Blaser, Mickey Todiwala, Antonio Tlayacapan, haven't, She's, San Antonio Tlayacapan, I'm, it's Organizations: roosters, Facebook, Home Depot, Costco, Walmart Locations: San, San Antonio Tlayacapan, Mexico, Chapala, Lake Chapala, Mazatlán, Guadalajara, San Antonio, There's

☆ I'm an American mom living in Germany. The Snoo, nanny shares, and stroller wagons are not very popular here.
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-06 | by ( Naomi Kaye Honova | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Many American parents are used to utilizing a variety of parenting strategies and baby items in their everyday lives. The primary reason for this has to do with finances and parental leave. Day care or a private nanny can be very pricey, so a nanny share can help cut down on costs for some families. In Germany, both group day care and home day care providers are subsidized by the state; in some areas of Germany, day care is free of charge. But in Germany, due to lengthier parental leave, most kids start day care around age 1.

Persons: I've, Ferber, Nanny Organizations: Service, tote, American Locations: Germany, American

☆ Can Gouda’s Cheesemakers Stall a Sinking Future?
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-01 | by ( Nina Siegal | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On a recent morning in Gouda, a small city in the Netherlands, hundreds of wheels of yellow cheese lay out in rows on the cobblestones of the town square, a backdrop to the city’s weekly cheese market, which dates to the Middle Ages. Ad van Kluijve, a farmer dressed in blue work shirt, red bandanna, blue cap and wooden clogs, haggled with a buyer over the price of his latest batch of “jong belegen,” famous for its mild caramel flavor. In the rest of the world, it is one of many cheeses named after the city in which it is traded. The haggling is largely a performance for tourists as the actual price negotiations take place elsewhere. The cheese industry in the region is very real, though, accounting for about 60 percent of the national cheese production, with an export value of $1.7 billion annually, according to ZuivelNL, which represents the Dutch dairy sector.

Persons: van, jong Locations: Gouda, Netherlands

☆ A podcast host who's interviewed hundreds of CEOs, millionaires, and real-estate investors shares 3 traits of highly successful individuals
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-12 | by ( Kathleen Elkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The podcast host and business coach hosts a daily podcast, " The Action Academy ," that features CEOs of major companies, millionaire entrepreneurs, and real-estate investors who have built robust portfolios. Then, they're not afraid to ask questions, ask for help, or ask someone to partner with or mentor them. "You start with a specific problem, you show proof of action, and you ask for specific help," said Luebben. "They look at the life that they want, their dream life, and they say, 'How much does this cost me a month? Okay, what do I need to do to generate the $10,000 that's required for me to live this dream life?'

Persons: Brian Luebben's, that's, Luebben, he'd, they've, they're, Brian Luebben, you've, They're Organizations: Academy Locations: America

☆ I Never Check a Bag Thanks to This Backpack—Now 50% Off
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-18 | by ( Nick Guy | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +3 min

Ten years ago my in-laws gifted everyone in the family matching eBags Mother Lode Travel Backpacks for Christmas. The Mother Lode is a big polyester backpack, but not too big, available in seven colors. Compared with the Mother Lode backpack my in-laws gifted me a few years back, the current model—which I handled recently—has a few noteworthy improvements. In all my trips with the Mother Lode, I’ve never experienced a broken zipper, a busted seam or a rip in the polyester. The Mother Lode has proved to be the perfect travel companion.

Persons: Nick Guy I, Charles de Gaulle, it’s, I’ve, I’m, packer, — Locations: Air France, Texas , Tennessee, Boston, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Amsterdam, Paris, London, Barcelona

☆ Opinion: Why I risk death to run with the bulls
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-08 | by ( Stuart Ross | Opinion Bill Hillmann | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —On July 11, 2014, I was running with a bull in Pamplona, Spain. The story is a fascinating adventure into the Fiesta de San Fermín, also known as The Running of the Bulls in Pamplona. By the time I finished reading that novel, I decided I would go to Spain and run with the bulls and I would become a writer. So I began to run with Lecuona, David Rodríguez, Aitor Arístegui and others leading bulls up the streets. Participants run ahead of bulls during the "encierro" (bull-run) of the San Fermín festival in Pamplona, northern Spain, on July 14, 2023.

Persons: Bill Hillmann, CNN —, Victoriano del, swooped, gored, Michael Hemingway, Michael, Ernest Hemingway, “, ”, Jake Barnes, Hemingway, Toro Bravo, I’ve, Graeme Galloway, Joe Distler, Juan Pedro Lecuona, David Rodríguez, Aitor Arístegui, it’s, John Hemingway, Miguel Riopa, goring, Antonio Subies, Castilla y, Paula Andión Zabalza, Paula, Fernando Zabalza, Fernando Organizations: East, West University, NPR, The Toronto Star, Washington Post, The Daily Mail, CNN, Fiesta, Bulls, Spanish, las Fiestas, Castilla, Castilla y León Locations: Chicago, Pamplona, Spain, Victoriano del Río, Fermín, AFP, San, Valencia, San Fermín, Madrid, Navarra, Tafalla

☆ Until 3183 A.D., This Public Sculpture Is a Work in Progress
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Richard Fisher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

One of the biggest sticking points was the use of concrete, which some residents found ugly and drab, Barbara Laber said. He may have been seeking to make time itself more concrete, more tangible, Schlecht said. In the late 20th century, Laber was not the only German artist exploring time’s reach across generations. Since then, several other long-term art projects have begun across Europe and beyond. But Michael Münker, whose day job is running a medical device firm in the Netherlands, recently established a network called L.T.A.P.

Persons: Barbara Laber, “, Klaus Schlecht, Laber, Schlecht, Joseph Beuys, Bogomir Ecker, Michael Münker Organizations: Pyramid Foundation, Hamburger Kunsthalle Locations: Kassel, Germany, Hamburger, Hamburg, Europe, Halberstadt, Dutch, Oxfordshire, England, Texas, Netherlands

☆ Ukraine's Zelenskiy, Allies Call for Greater Focus on War
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( Sept. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

(Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his allies urged Ukrainians on Monday to keep their focus squarely on the war effort 18 months into Russia's invasion, an indication that authorities in Kyiv were steeling for a long campaign. Zelenskiy has long called for greater focus on the war effort and pledged to intensify a crackdown on corruption as part of Ukraine's bid to join the European Union. But appeals by Zelenskiy and his lieutenants are now more strident as Ukraine's military presses its steady, but relatively slow, counteroffensive in Russian-occupied areas. Zelenskiy has made securing EU and NATO membership - both complex processes - the top foreign policy priorities. War will continue for "as long as Russia remains on Ukrainian territory" and Ukraine rejected "frozen conflicts" long in place in other post-Soviet trouble spots, he said.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Zelenskiy, David Arakhamia, Annalena Baerbock, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Ron Popeski, Pavel Polityuk, Jamie Freed Organizations: Reuters, European Union, EU, NATO Locations: Kyiv, Russia, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Soviet

☆ Ukraine's Zelenskiy, allies call for greater focus on war
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy during a press conference with Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (not pictured) in front of the presidential palace in Kyiv, Ukraine, September 6, 2023. Ritzau Scanpix/Ida Marie Odgaard via REUTERS Acquire Licensing RightsSept 11 (Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his allies urged Ukrainians on Monday to keep their focus squarely on the war effort 18 months into Russia's invasion, an indication that authorities in Kyiv were steeling for a long campaign. Zelenskiy has long called for greater focus on the war effort and pledged to intensify a crackdown on corruption as part of Ukraine's bid to join the European Union. The campaign prompted the dismissal of Ukraine's defence minister last week and has also seen the detention of a business magnate who was once Zelenskiy's mentor on fraud charges. But appeals by Zelenskiy and his lieutenants are now more strident as Ukraine's military presses its steady, but relatively slow, counteroffensive in Russian-occupied areas.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Mette Frederiksen, Ritzau Scanpix, Ida Marie Odgaard, Zelenskiy, David Arakhamia, Annalena Baerbock, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Ron Popeski, Pavel Polityuk, Jamie Freed Organizations: Denmark's, REUTERS Acquire, European Union, EU, NATO, Thomson Locations: Kyiv, Ukraine, Russia, Ukrainian, Soviet

In this Southern California town, residents are grappling with the fear that their way of life may be fleeting. Fishermen cast their lines from the long, wooden pier. “Every day here feels like the most perfect summer day,” Mercedes Murray, 38, said as she lounged at Buccaneer Beach, a spot popular among locals. Where residents once played beach volleyball at Buccaneer, there are now berms of natural cobblestones that clatter around in the surf like pennies in a washing machine. Visitors who could once sprawl on wide stretches of sand near the pier must now compete for space on a narrow stretch studded with rocks.

Persons: ” Mercedes Murray Organizations: Fishermen, Buccaneer Locations: Southern California, Oceanside, San Diego, Buccaneer

☆ Historic war office used by Winston Churchill is transformed into luxury Raffles London hotel
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( Tamara Hardingham-Gill | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

But in a few weeks time, the former Old War Office in London, Whitehall will finally open its doors after a multi-million-dollar transformation. Previously home to the operations of military leaders like Winston Churchill, the property has been reinvented as the UK’s first Raffles hotel, with luxurious rooms starting at £1,100 (around $1,392) per night. Monumental buildingA rendering of luxury hotel Raffles London at The OWO, located at the former home to the war offices of military leaders such as Winston Churchill. And according to Jill O’Hare, director of sales and marketing for Raffles London, there was as much restoration as there was construction during the extensive process of transforming the historic building into a luxury hotel. Steeped in historyThis grand staircase is one of the standout features at Raffles London at The OWO, which is scheduled to open in late September.

Persons: London CNN — It’s, Winston Churchill, London’s, Thierry Despont, Ian Fleming, James Bond, Armenian hoteliers, Sir Stamford Raffles, ” Philippe Leboeuf, Jill O’Hare, ”, Churchill, Granville, Christine Granville, Krystyna Skarbek, Raffles, “, Mauro Colagreco, Endo Kazutoshi, Leboeuf Organizations: London CNN, Raffles, British Naval Intelligence, CNN Travel, Raffles London, Army, Horse Locations: London, Whitehall, Raffles London, French, Armenian, Singapore, Polish, Argentine, Mayfair, Buckingham

☆ The airline lost his bags. He crossed the Atlantic to find them
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( Julia Buckley | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

Flying over, they had a 90-minute layover in London, which should have been enough – British Airways recommends an hour between flights. Plenty of travelers these days are packing tracking devices into their bags, meaning that they can see where their “lost” bags are when airlines drop the ball. Each day, buying clothes and toiletries when needed, the family logged into British Airways’ lost luggage system to see where their bags were. Searching for her own lost bags in Florence airport, she had seen theirs and, after noting details on the tags, wanted Bunce to know they were there. The British Airways system still told them that the bags had not been traced, but now they had a lead.

Persons: Brett Bunce, Bunce, Gwyn, Carolina, Bel Paese, she’d, Sandra Shuster, “, ”, Anne Johnson, Tim Clayton, Corbis, it’ll, ” Keen, He’d, you’d, he'd, Brett Bunce Bunce, – they’d, “ I’m, Aleandro, you’re Organizations: CNN —, British Airways, London Heathrow, United Airlines, Baltimore, Staff, Getty, American Airlines, Florence Peretola Airport, ”, CNN, FedEx Locations: Italy, Florence, Miami, London, Rome, Naples, Heathrow, Denver, Chicago, Colorado, Carolina, we’d, cobblestones

☆ Jonas Vingegaard seals his second consecutive Tour de France victory
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-23 | by ( Issy Ronald | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —Jonas Vingegaard sealed his second consecutive Tour de France victory on the cobblestones of the Champs-Élysées in Paris on Sunday. Meanwhile, Belgium’s Jordi Meeus won the final, largely processional stage, on the Champs-Élysées, denying his compatriot Jasper Philipsen a fifth stage victory in this year’s race. From that moment, Vingegaard seemed assured of his yellow jersey and he navigated the remaining three stages without much difficulty. Ultimately, he finished 7:29 ahead of Pogačar in second, and 10:56 ahead of Britain’s Adam Yates in third. Michael Steele/Getty ImagesAs the men’s race finishes, the women’s race begins and Belgium’s Lotte Kopecky won the first stage of the Tour de France Femmes, held earlier in the day in Clermont-Ferrand.

Persons: CNN — Jonas Vingegaard, Dane, Triomphe, Belgium’s Jordi Meeus, Jasper Philipsen, Tadej Pogačar, Vingegaard, Britain’s Adam Yates, Italy’s Giulio Ciccone, Pogačar, Giulio Ciccone, Michael Steele, Belgium’s Lotte Kopecky Organizations: CNN, de France, Paris, Tour de, Ferrand Locations: Paris, Slovenian, Pogačar, Clermont

☆ Russia hits Ukraine's grain for fourth day, practises seizing ships
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Olena Harmash | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Moscow has described the attacks as revenge for a Ukrainian strike on a Russian-built bridge to Crimea - the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014. Russia's defence ministry on Friday said its Black Sea fleet had practised firing rockets at "floating targets" and apprehending ships. The president of Turkey, which brokered the deal alongside the U.N. said, he hoped planned talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin could lead to the restoration of the initiative. Western leaders have accused Russia of seeking to loosen sanctions imposed over its invasion of Ukraine, which already exempt exports of Russian food. Russian grain has moved freely through the Black Sea to market throughout the conflict and traders say Russia is pouring wheat onto the market.

Persons: Oleh Kiper, Vladimir Putin, Tayyip Erdogan, Putin, WAGNER, Russia's Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Yuriy Malashko, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Joe Biden's, Zelenskiy, Anna Pruchnicka, Philippa Fletcher, Peter Graff Organizations: Press Service, Operational Command, Ukrainian Armed Forces, NATO, Poland KYIV, UN, Washington, . Security, Ukraine, United, U.S, West, Thomson Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Odesa region, Russia, Poland, Odesa, Moscow, Crimea, Ukrainian, Washington, Turkey, Gulf, Cyprus, POLAND, Polish, Belarus, People, Zaporizhzhia, Kostiantynivka, Donetsk, Iranian, United States, Russia's, Kyiv, KYIV

☆ Ukraine's Zelenskiy calls for spending restraint, minister offers to resign
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KYIV, July 21 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged his government on Thursday to keep a tight rein on spending in wartime, in a call that resulted in his culture minister, a proponent of several high-profile and costly projects, offering his resignation. And he asked Shmyhal to "consider replacing" Culture and Information Policy Minister Olexander Tkachenko. "Private and state funding for culture in wartime is no less important than for drones. Tkachenko had also promoted films and television programmes linked to the war against Russia. Reporting by Ron Popeski in Winnipeg and Nick Starkov in Kyiv; Editing by Jamie FreedOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Zelenskiy, Denys Shmyhal, Shmyhal, Olexander Tkachenko, Tkachenko, Josef Stalin's collectivisation, Ron Popeski, Nick Starkov, Jamie Freed Organizations: Russia, Thomson Locations: Cobblestones, Soviet, Winnipeg, Kyiv

☆ Chanel takes haute couture to riverside for Paris show
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-04 | by ( Mimosa Spencer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/4] Designer Virginie Viard for Chanel on the banks of the River Seine in Paris. REUTERS/Sarah MeyssonnierPARIS, July 4 (Reuters) - Chanel creative director Virginie Viard chose a quai on the Right bank of the bustling Seine River for her fall haute couture catwalk show, a setting that added breeziness to a relaxed and elegant lineup. French model Caroline de Maigret opened the show, her brown hair worn loose over her shoulders, in a long tweed overcoat cinched at the waist and gold-tipped heels. Adding to the nonchalant spirit, one model was accompanied by a sleek, black labrador, while other models carried baskets of flowers. Reporting by Mimosa Spencer; Editing by David HolmesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Virginie Viard, Chanel, Sarah Meyssonnier PARIS, strode, Caroline de Maigret, Elton John, France Gall, Donner, donner, Dior, Valentino, Thom Browne, Mimosa Spencer, David Holmes Organizations: REUTERS, Haute Couture, LVMH, Thomson Locations: Paris, labrador

☆ Venice Minus the Mobs: A Traveler’s Guide to Its Quiet (Even Empty) Corners
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Tara Isabella Burton | Photographs Arianna Lago For The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

IN SUMMERTIME, on days so sweltering that the cobblestones themselves seem to sweat, it is almost impossible to walk from Venice’s Rialto Bridge to the Piazza San Marco along the main roads. The surge of day-trippers clog the central pathways. A tourist struggling to haul a suitcase over a bridge is enough to bring a hundred people to a standstill. A 10-minute stroll—by map directions—can take half an hour or more. It’s the Venice so often described, and fairly decried, as a tourist trap: an on-rails carnival, less a city than a conglomeration of souvenir shops.

Organizations: Piazza San Marco Locations: Venice

☆ Meet Bob’s Dance Shop, ‘World-Class Vibe Curators’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Margaret Fuhrer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

If you lived through the early 2000s, the phrase “flash mob” might arouse a vague feeling of dread. Then, several years and several vibe shifts later, came flash Bobs. Like their older cousins, flash Bobs involve fake-impromptu gatherings in public spaces. But as orchestrated by Bob’s Dance Shop — a group of five performers that its founder Vince Coconato describes as an “immersive dance crew” — the mobs lean silly, colorful and joyfully queer. Eighty colorfully attired mobbers took to the cobblestones, performing a disco-inflected number to a remix of “Le Freak” by Chic.

☆ German artist nearing 100,000 cobblestones to mark victims of Nazis
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Tilman Blasshofer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

By placing Stolpersteine ("stumble stones") outside the victims' last known address, 75-year-old Gunter Demnig aims to draw attention to the fate of individuals in the Holocaust. Nearly 100,000 cobblestones later, they can be found in 30 countries across Europe, from Finland to Italy, Hungary, Russia and Ukraine. "I never dreamed of this," Demnig said, saying he had expected a few hundred or maybe 1,000 stones. They commemorate all groups of the Nazis' victims, including Jews, Sinti and Roma, political opponents, gay people and "antisocial elements", or criminals. Both were murdered," said Demnig as prepares to lay two stones outside the house in Cologne where they lived.

☆ The Cycling Phenom Born for the Rough Ride of Paris-Roubaix
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( Joshua Robinson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

PARIS—For as long as Zoe Bäckstedt has been serious about racing bicycles, her father has sat her down each spring to watch an old video of Paris-Roubaix 2004. Together, they watch the miserable, bone-chattering dash across the cobblestones of northern France and Zoe’s dad, a former bike racer named Magnus, begins commentating. He points out tricky corners and breaks down the tactics, mile by mile, right down to the potholes. By now, Zoe knows his whole spiel by heart. That’s when a young Magnus Bäckstedt crosses the race’s famous velodrome finish line for the finest victory of his 17-year professional career.

☆ Givenchy doubles down on suits and hoodies at Paris Fashion Week
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/7] A model presents a creation by designer Matthew M. Williams as part of his Menswear ready-to-wear Fall/Winter 2023-2024 collection show for fashion house Givenchy during Men's Fashion Week in Paris, France, January 18, 2023. REUTERS/Sarah MeyssonnierPARIS, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Givenchy creative director Matthew Williams hit the runway Wednesday with a collection of layered looks for men, piling suit jackets on top of hoodies and wide-legged bermudas. Adding texture, the designer of the LVMH-owned (LVMH.PA) French fashion house also wove patches of colour and distressed elements into the line up, which included furry coats in bright colours, shiny puffer coats and exotic skin patterns. The event was held on the second day of Paris Fashion Week's menswear shows, which lasts through Jan. 22 and include high end labels Louis Vuitton, Dior Homme, Hermes and Maison Margiela. European fashion labels are looking to tap into the global popularity of South Korean stars, with an eye to younger shoppers, and the latest flurry of tie-ups include BTS' Jimin for Dior and rapper Suga at Valentino, also announced this week.

Search resuls for: "cobblestones"

21 mentions found