DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Southwest Airlines pilot union calls for strike authorization vote
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jan 18 (Reuters) - Southwest Airlines Co's (LUV.N) pilot union has called for a strike authorization vote, weeks after a tech meltdown at the carrier left tens of thousands of passengers stranded across the United States. Casey Murray, president of Southwest Airlines Pilot Association (SWAPA), said in a statement. The strike authorization vote will take place beginning May 1 and will be counted at the end of that month, said SWAPA, which represents more than 10,000 pilots. Southwest pilots have been locked in talks over a new contract with the airline for nearly three years. Reporting by Kannaki Deka in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Shinjini GanguliOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Qatar backpedals on energy minister's comment that Europe would be able to 'forgive and forget' Russia for invading Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Qatar's energy minister said Europe would be able to "forgive and forget" Russia for the Ukraine war. And I think things get mended with time," Saad Sherida al-Kaabi, Qatar's energy minister, said during an energy forum in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, according to an official transcript. "I don't think that — this war and this situation will not last forever." "We don't accept threatening by force or the use of force, we don't accept civilians to be hurt. Qatar's energy and foreign ministries did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.

☆ Southwest pilots' union calls vote to authorize potential strike as contract talks sour
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Leslie Josephs | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Southwest Airlines pilots' union plans to hold a vote that could give it the power to call a potential strike, a move that comes weeks after the carrier's holiday meltdown further strained ties with its workers' unions. Southwest and the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association have been in negotiations for a new contract for years. Union leaders have focused on better work rules and scheduling for Southwest workers. The union's president, Casey Murray, said it was the first time the union has held a strike authorization vote. "This decision is not one based on emotion, but I would be lying if I said that I wasn't angry," Murray wrote to pilots.

☆ Tauron and Rafako signal Jaworzno power plant dispute talks inconclusive
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

GDANSK, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Mediation talks between Polish state-controlled utility Tauron (TPE.WA) and boiler maker Rafako (RFK.WA) regarding a power unit in Jaworzno have failed to reach a conclusion, the pair signalled on Monday. The 910 MW coal-fired unit, built for Tauron by Rafako as part of a consortium in 2020, has undergone several prolonged outages since commissioning and the parties have been arguing for months about the source of the problem. Tauron said in a statement it remained open to negotiations while Rafako said on Twitter it would submit a "last chance" proposal on Tuesday, as both sides blamed each other over the lack of progress in Monday's arbitration talks hosted by Poland' General Counsel. Tauron and Rafako last week filed counterclaims with demands for payment with regard to the Jaworzno construction deal. Reporting by Karol Badohal; Editing by Kirsten DonovanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ 'Do I have to sit still?': 6 questions about meditation, answered by an expert who has been practicing for 15 years
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Aditi Shrikant | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Meditation is often cited as one of the most effective practices for improving just about everything. It can help reduce anxiety and depression, increase attention span, and make us happier, according to a handful of studies. It's one of the more accessible practices endorsed by hyper-successful stars like Jerry Seinfeld and Oprah. You might also have trouble pinpointing exactly how it's affecting your everyday work or personal life. Here are six question about mediation, answered by a mediation expert, that can offer some clarity.

☆ 3 mental 'checkpoints' to help you meditate the right way
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Aditi Shrikant | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

In other words it's hard to know if you're "doing it right." And if you are doing it right, how is that supposed to feel? There is no specific feeling you are supposed to have while meditating, says Weston, who has been practicing for 15 years. "You're supposed to feel whatever you actually feel. Still, there are questions you can ask yourself which serve as "checkpoints" to help you monitor whether you're meditating correctly, Weston says.

☆ The CTO of Carta alleged 'problems with the culture' at the $7 billion startup. Now the company's suing him, accusing him of corporate espionage and inappropriate sexting.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Darius Rafieyan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The lawsuit accuses Talton of secretly recording a company executive and sharing it with a former employee that was threatening to sue the company. The suit doesn't elaborate on the problems alleged and a spokesperson for the company declined to answer Insider's questions on the matter. Lindauer was copied on the email, seemingly by mistake, cluing company executives into the fact that Talton possessed surreptitious recordings of company executives. The company demanded, through Talton's attorney, that he turn over any recordings or transcripts of company executives. The lawsuit also accuses Talton of inappropriate "sexting" and contains sexually explicit text messages obtained through a forensic review of his work laptop.

The Justice Department wrote in its brief that a failed background check would not have kept Kelley, from conducting the shooting, and the government could not have known he intended to pursue the attack. But under Texas law, the United States is not legally responsible for the damages caused by that shooting." Critics said a successful appeal will ultimately undercut the background check system, damage the Biden administration’s gun safety law efforts and bolster the gun lobby. “The 26 dead and 22 injured at the Sutherland Springs mass shooting disagree.”Twenty-six crosses stand in a field to honor the victims killed during the mass shooting at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs in 2017. Now the survivors and victims must relive the traumatic shooting through an appeal that Alsaffar said could take as long as two years.

"Right now the war in Ukraine is at a critical point," U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters. Germany would provide Marder Infantry Fighting Vehicles, according to a joint statement on Thursday from Biden and Chancellor Olaf Scholz. TRUCE PROPOSALUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy rejected out of hand a Russian order for a truce over Orthodox Christmas starting at noon on Friday and ending at midnight on Saturday. The heaviest fighting of the war continues in eastern Ukraine, with the worst of it near the eastern city of Bakhmut. Ukraine says Russia has lost thousands of troops despite seizing scant ground in months of futile waves of assaults on Bakhmut.

☆ SEC ends insider trading probe of ex-Sen. Richard Burr and brother-in-law without taking action, lawyers say
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Burr and Fauth had a very short phone call on the same day as the stock sales, the SEC has said in court filings. The Department of Justice earlier had closed a criminal investigation of Burr and Fauth without taking action against either man. The SEC in court filings has said that on Feb. 13, 2020, Burr called his stockbroker and directed him to sell more than $1.65 million worth of stock. Almost three hours later, Burr called Fauth's cellphone for a call that lasted 50 seconds, the SEC has said. A minute or less after that, Fauth called his primary stockbroker, who did not answer, the SEC has said in filings.

The disharmony between the Justice Department’s case and the Biden administration’s gun safety efforts as well as the fears and pressure that a lost appeal could damage gun safety laws are at the crux of the survivors' acrimony. Why are you doing all this (gun reform) and yet you’re fighting it over here?’” said Juan “Gunny” Macias, a survivor who was shot numerous times in the attack and viewed the president’s gun safety priorities as dissonant with the potential Justice Department appeal. The Justice Department has received two extensions to file its appeal brief, now due next week, and is unlikely to receive another one. “I assume the Justice Department is taking this position because the lawyers are looking for the best legal avenues that will give them the outcome they want,” he said. That’s what creates problems like the ones we’re facing.”For fear of what an appeal could mean for U.S. gun laws, a coalition of 37 gun safety organizations sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland in October about the Justice Department’s intention to appeal.

☆ Ecuador's $290 mln Petrolia debt void on handover - gov't, company
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Alexandra Valencia | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

QUITO, Dec 29 (Reuters) - Ecuador's $290 million debt to a subsidiary of Canada's New Stratus Energy (NSE.V) will be void once contracts for the operation of two oil production blocks expire on Dec. 31, the government and subsidiary said on Thursday. "The state owed the contractor, under unpaid tariffs, $290 million," the energy ministry said in a statement. Ecuador has paid Petrolia some $60 million in fees over the past two years, company manager Ramiro Paez told Reuters, acknowledging the remaining $290 million debt would be wiped when the contracts ended. The company has not yet presented its arbitration case because it must complete a mediation process first, he added. State oil company Petroecuador will on Jan. 1 take over operation of the blocks, which together produce about 14,000 barrels a day.

☆ Justice Department has tried to access GOP Rep. Scott Perry’s text messages
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Katelyn Polantz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

That led the Pennsylvania lawmaker to be in touch with powerful Trump backers, including Meadows, Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark and others who pushed false claims of election fraud. Perry previously said that the Justice Department told his attorneys he was not a target of the investigation. Perry sued the Justice Department days after the search, then quickly asked the court to put the public-facing lawsuit on hold. The Justice Department approached Perry’s phone seizure and other phone seizures from Trump allies in two parts, according to sources familiar with the investigation and public filings. A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment.

☆ US slaps down Saudi claim it helped secure Brittney Griner's release, undermining Riyadh's efforts to be a global power player
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The US pushed back after Saudi Arabia and the UAE said they helped free Brittney Griner. The White House insisted that the only two parties to the prisoner swap were it and Russia. Saudi Arabia has repeatedly upset the US with attempts to take a bigger, independent global role. The Saudi Arabia and the UAE in a joint statement Thursday said that UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had helped mediate the exchange. When asked about it at a White House press briefing, press secretary Karine Jean Pierre pushed back.

☆ Pentagon fears Viktor Bout, the so-called 'Merchant of Death' the US swapped for Brittney Griner, could restart his old arms business
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout was released from US custody on Thursday. He gained notoriety during the 1990s for fueling deadly conflicts in various African countries. The Pentagon is concerned that with his release, he could return to his old business. Now, US officials worry the arms dealer could return to fueling deadly conflicts around the world. Bout fueled widespread death & destruction by arming UN-sanctioned regimes & groups in the #DRC, #Liberia, #SierraLeone, & beyond."

☆ Saudi Arabia wants ties with both China and U.S., says foreign minister
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

RIYADH, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said on Thursday after a China-Arab summit hosted by Riyadh that the kingdom wants to cooperate with both the United States and China - economic rivals - and that while competition was good, polarisation was not. Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, asked in a news conference about Washington's denial of Saudi mediation efforts in a Russia-U.S. prisoner swap - said he was aware of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's "personal mediation efforts" to release U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner. Reporting by Maha El Dahan and Aziz El Yaakoubi; Editing by Angus MacSwanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

"Grateful for the long-overdue release of Brittney Griner today from Russian custody. "Thank you to every single person that kept Brittney Griner’s name alive #WEAREBG," tweeted one of her Phoenix Mercury teammates, Brianna Turner. The Biden administration wasn't able to secure Whelan's release because the Russian government is treating his case differently than Griner's, Biden said. “While we celebrate Brittney’s release, Paul Whelan and his family continue to suffer needlessly,” Blinken said. Share this -Link copiedWho is Viktor Bout, Russian arms dealer that the U.S. exchanged for Brittney Griner?

☆ UAE president, Saudi crown prince led mediation to release Griner - joint statement
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DUBAI, Dec 8 (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates president and Saudi crown prince led mediation efforts that secured the release of U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner in a prisoner swap with Russia, a joint UAE-Saudi statement said on Thursday. "The success of the mediation efforts was a reflection of the mutual and solid friendship between their two countries and the United States of America and the Russian Federation," the joint statement said. It "highlighted the important role played by the leaderships of the two brotherly countries in promoting dialogue between all parties". Saudi Arabia had scored an earlier diplomatic victory in September by securing freedom for foreign fighters captured in Ukraine, at a time of tension between Riyadh and Washington. Saudi Arabia and the UAE, both traditional U.S. allies, are members of the OPEC+ oil producers alliance that includes Russia and have resisted Western pressure to help isolate Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.

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.

☆ 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.

☆ Britain's Labour wins vote on COVID contracts against government
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A general view of the Houses of Parliament at sunrise, in London, Britain, February 9, 2022. REUTERS/Tom NicholsonLONDON, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Britain's main opposition Labour Party won a vote on Tuesday to force the government to release documents on COVID-19 contracts awarded to a firm with links to a Conservative member of parliament's upper house. Labour won the vote after Conservative lawmakers were told by their party they could abstain on the opposition motion which sought to force the publication of documents relating to 200 million pounds ($244 million) of personal protective equipment contracts given to PPE MedPro. Conservative lawmakers said there was no deadline in the motion to force the government's hand quickly. But since then, there has been criticism over the way the contracts were awarded.

☆ How an arcane 96-year-old law stopped the rail strike
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

The Railway Labor Act was passed in 1926 as one of the very first labor laws in the nation. Because of the law, the House was able to vote Wednesday to impose unpopular contracts on four rail unions whose members have already rejected the terms, followed by a vote by the Senate vote late Thursday that did the same. The Railway Labor Act, passed in 1926, is the reason Congress could intervene this week to block a strike by freight railroad unions. But under the Railway Labor Act, management can fall back on hopes that Congress will give them the deal it wants. When he served in the Senate, Biden voted against an earlier effort to impose a contract on the rail unions to keep them on the job.

Freight rail has the specific job of moving heavy, bulky goods and commodities, such as crude oil and coal, chemicals, large machinery, fabricated metals and many foodstuffs on which every American depends. Yet rail unions have been threatening a strike in the coming days because they are dissatisfied with a proposed labor contract. That’s why nearly 450 business groups this week told Congress that action to avert a freight rail strike was a matter of “grave urgency.” Washington is right to listen to them. But rail companies provide sick leave benefits based on post-contract talks between each company and its unions. Today, that’s freight rail service.

☆ Kosovo, Serbia reach deal to end dangerous dispute over car plates -EU
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Fatos Bytyci | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

PRISTINA, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Kosovo and Serbia reached a deal on Wednesday to end a nearly two-year dispute over car licence plates in northern Kosovo, which the West had warned could trigger ethnic violence, the European Union's foreign policy chief said. "We have a deal," Josep Borrell posted on Twitter after the agreement was reached in Brussels under EU mediation. Kosovo had planned to start issuing fines from Thursday to some 10,000 Serb drivers who continue to use Serbian-issued car licence plates. "Serbia will stop issuing licence plates with Kosovo cities’ denominations and Kosovo will cease further actions related to re-registration of vehicles," Borrell wrote. Kosovo has attempted this year to require its Serb minority to change their old car plates that date before 1999 when Kosovo was still part of Serbia.

☆ Germany reaches compromise plan on landmark welfare reform - sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BERLIN, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Germany's ruling coalition parties and opposition conservatives reached a compromise on a major welfare reform on Tuesday, according to a proposal seen by Reuters, paving the way for new measures to support the unemployed in gaining vocational skills. Conservatives in the Bundesrat upper house had blocked the reform before wrangling with the governing parties to find a compromise that sources said they expect a parliamentary mediation committee to approve at a meeting on Wednesday. The welfare reform will introduce Buergergeld, or "citizens' money", to replace the Hartz IV system brought in from 2005, which sanctions people who reject job offers. A so-called trust period of six months, during which sanctions for lack of cooperation would have been waived, will be dropped altogether. Reporting by Holger Hansen, Writing by Paul Carrel, Editing by Miranda Murray and Tomasz JanowskiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Search resuls for: "Mediation"

25 mentions found