DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Fact Check: Video of parachutists landing at sports center is from Egypt, not Israel
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-10 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A video of multiple parachutists landing at a crowded sports venue in Egypt has been misrepresented on social media as showing attackers of the militant Islamist group Hamas landing in Israel. The video dates to at least September 2023 and is not related to the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas carried out its biggest attack on Israel in years on Oct. 7, killing an estimated 900 Israelis. A sports center named El-Nasr Sporting Club can be seen in the Heliopolis area of Cairo, Egypt, on Google Maps. The video shared online shows events in Egypt, not Israel, that predate the October 2023 attack on Israel.

Persons: ”, “ El, Read Organizations: Hamas, Twitter, Facebook, Nasr, Nasr Sporting, Google, “ El Nasr SC ”, El Nasr Sporting Club, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Egypt, Israel, Palestinian, TikTok, Heliopolis, El, Cairo, “ El Nasr

☆ When Will the Saltwater Wedge Reach New Orleans?
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-29 | by ( Mira Rojanasakul | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +11 min

When Will the Saltwater Wedge Reach New Orleans? Lake Pontchartrain By Oct. 28, saltwater is expected to reach a major intake valve at Carrollton that serves most of the city. Gulf of Mexico Lake Pontchartrain By Oct. 28, saltwater is expected to reach a major intake valve at Carrollton that serves most of the city. Gulf of Mexico Lake Pontchartrain By Oct. 28, saltwater is expected to reach a major intake valve at Carrollton that serves most of the city. Gulf of Mexico Lake Pontchartrain By Oct. 28, saltwater is expected to reach a major intake valve at Carrollton that serves most of the city.

Persons: Biden, Bernard, It’s, ”, Jeffrey Graschel, hydrologist, doesn’t, CONN, Matthew Roe, “ It’s, ” Mr, Graschel Organizations: New, Jefferson, Salvador Pointe à, Army Corps of Engineers, Copernicus, Midwest, U.S . Drought Monitor, National Weather Service, NEV, ALA, MISS, Oregon State University In, NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, National Weather, Army Corps Locations: Orleans, Mississippi, New Orleans, Louisiana, Pontchartrain, Carrollton, Algiers, Salvador, la, Mexico Lake Pontchartrain, Salvador Pointe à la, Mexico, Gulf, Ohio, Slidell, La, Minnesota, MAINE, MINN, VT, N.H . IDAHO, S.D, N.Y, WIS, R.I, PA, IOWA, NEB . OHIO, UTAH, COLO . CALIF . VA, KAN . MO, KY, N.C, TENN, OKLA, ., MISS . TEXAS LA, FLA, NEV . UTAH, CONN, WYO, NEV . OHIO, Myrtle Grove, ”

☆ Video shows massive HIMARS strike on an ammo dump used by Russia's powerful Ka-52 attack helicopters, Ukraine says
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-07 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ukraine's military shared a video of a strike on a Russian storage site near Bakhmut. According to Ukraine's MOD, HIMARS took out a large store of 9M127 Vikhr laser-beam-guided missiles. Those missiles are used by the Ka-52, one of Russia's most deadly helicopters. The blast site served as a storage depot for 9M127 Vikhr guided missiles, which are used by Russian Ka-50 and Ka-52 helicopters, the MOD said. The Ka-52, known in Ukraine as "Putin's vulture," is considered one of the most powerful helicopters in the air.

Persons: HIMARS, Vikhr, Insider's Ryan Pickrell Organizations: Ukraine's MOD, Service, Ukraine's Special Forces, Ministry of Defense, Google, MOD, Mechanized Brigade Locations: Bakhmut, Wall, Silicon, Ukraine, Myronivs'kyi, Luhansk, Donetsk, It's, Russian

☆ Fact Check-Video does not show Wagner mercenaries landing in Niger
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-29 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A years-old video of a plane landing is being shared on social media to falsely claim it’s proof of Wagner mercenary fighters arriving in Niger in 2023. Authorities in Niger have officially confirmed the presence of Wagner fighters in the country” (here). Reuters did not independently verify the location of the 2006 video, though the deserted area around the runway coupled with buildings close by is markedly similar to the topography around Khartoum International Airport. Reuters’ reporting on the coup in Niger can be found (here). The video dates to at least 2006, thus is unrelated to Wagner and the 2023 coup in Niger.

Persons: Wagner, Mohamed Bazoum, Read Organizations: West African, ECOWAS, Wagner PMC, Authorities, Facebook, Reuters, YouTube, Khartoum International, Google, Center for Strategic, International Studies Locations: Niger, Khartoum, Sudan

☆ Fact Check-Video shows military vehicles in Algeria, not Niger
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-18 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A video of a military parade in Algeria is being falsely claimed online to show the Algerian army arriving in Niger. Reuters verified the exact location of the video using satellite imagery to be in Algeria, not Niger. The column of military vehicles in the clip is travelling on the eastbound carriageway of Rocade Nord d’Alger, opposite a service point for logistics giant DHL. The military vehicles in the video also have posters with "60" stuck on them. The video shows military vehicles in Algeria, not Niger.

Persons: ”, Algeria’s, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, Read Organizations: Economic, West, Reuters, Rocade Nord d’Alger, DHL, Google, Vehicles, Algerian Locations: Algeria, Algerian, Niger, States, Rocade Nord

☆ Fact Check-Video compilation shows Beirut blast, not Russian strikes on Odesa
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-18 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A video compilation featuring clips of the 2020 explosion at Lebanon’s Beirut port has been falsely linked online to the Russian missile strikes on the port of Odesa in Ukraine in 2023. The clip at 1:03-1:09 can be seen in a Beirut explosion video hosted by licensing platform Newsflare (here). Reuters was not able to source the clip showing a yellow car (1:33-1:43), but the visuals of the explosion align with the other clips of the Beirut explosion. The white structure visible in the final video at 1:44 video matches the silos at the Beirut port (bit.ly/47n9tZ8). A video compilation shows the Beirut port blast in 2020, not Russian missile attacks on the port in Odesa, Ukraine.

Persons: Getty, Read Organizations: Russian, Reuters, Russian Missiles, British Cargo Ships, Facebook, Al, Google, Guardian, ABC News Locations: Beirut, Odesa, Ukraine, Moscow, The Port, Odessa, Russian, Al Arabiya, ’

☆ How a US government program advocated using nuclear explosions for construction, farming radioactive crops, and blasting holes in the moon
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Most focused on the potential for nuclear explosions to quickly excavate areas for construction projects at lower costs than conventional explosives. (Hamblin is the author of the book "The Wretched Atom: America's Global Gamble with Peaceful Nuclear Technology.") Fly the radioactive skiesUS officials also hoped nuclear energy could be used for transportation. Nicknamed the "pan-atomic canal," nuclear explosions would have carved a sea-level waterway through Nicaragua, Panama, or Colombia, per Forbes. Corbis via Getty ImagesFor Hamblin, the concept of "peaceful nuclear explosions" fell out of favor in the mid-70s.

Persons: Christopher Nolan's, Oppenheimer, Jacob Hamblin, Dwight D, Eisenhower, Alex Wellerstein, Hamblin, you've, Dr Leonard Reiffel, Alaska's Cape Thompson, Edward Teller, detonations, Rio, Iran —, —, Corbis, Wellerstein, Marshall, we're Organizations: Service, White, Nevada . U.S . Department of Energy Office, Scientific, Atomic Energy, UN, United Nations, IAEA Imagebank, United, US Atomic Energy Commission, Technology, Institute of Radiation, Google, NASA, Sputnik, Air Force, U.S . Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration, AEC, of Energy, Popular Mechanics, New York Times, Carryall, US Department of Energy, Forbes, Atomic Energy Commission, Getty, IAEA Locations: Wall, Silicon, Suez, Nevada ., United Nations, New York, Hitachiomiya, Japan, Soviet Union, Nevada, Alaska's Cape, inconveniently, Israel, Panama, Nicaragua, Colombia, Pacific, Farmington , New Mexico, Rulison , Colorado, Rio Blanco, , Colorado, Iran, Mercury , Nevada, USA, Cuba, Vietnam, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada —, Marshall

When you think of cat food, coral reef restoration may not be the first thing that comes to mind. More coral today, more fish tomorrowIn 2019, the SHEBA brand began its work on Hope Reef, part of a global movement to help restore coral reefs around the world. Unveiled in 2021, Hope Reef — located off the coast of Sulawesi in Indonesia — is one of the world's largest repaired coral reefs. For Kuleana Coral Reefs, responsibility is even in the name. Thanks in part to the SHEBA brand's support, Kuleana Coral Reefs is restoring damaged coral reefs throughout the Hawaiian archipelago so they can persist naturally and without further human intervention.

Persons: Hope, SHEBA, one's Organizations: Google, National Ocean Service, Smithsonian, Global Seafood Alliance, SHEBA, Insider Studios Locations: Hope, Sulawesi, Indonesia, United States

☆ Fact Check-Video of sniper on roof predates France riots in June and July 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A video of an individual with a gun on a roof was first shared in 2022, prior to the ongoing riots in June and July 2023 in France. A tweet said: “Muslim rioters are now stealing rifles from police vans and hideout on rooftops like snipers. The accompanying clip shows an unidentified individual on top of a building pointing a weapon at people below on the ground. A search for the video leads to a tweet shared in March 2022, more than a year prior to the ongoing riots in June and July 2023 (here). The clip had circulated in March 2022, indicating it is not related to the France riots of June and July 2023.

Persons: ’, Read Organizations: EU, Facebook, UN, Reuters Locations: France, Villiers, Marne

☆ Google lays off staff at its mapping app Waze
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 27 (Reuters) - Alphabet-owned Google (GOOGL.O) on Tuesday said it is cutting jobs at mapping app Waze as it merges the app's advertising system with Google Ads technology, without giving details on the number of layoffs. "In order to create a better, more seamless long-term experience for Waze advertisers, we've begun transitioning Waze's existing advertising system to Google Ads technology. As part of this update, we've reduced those roles focused on Waze Ads monetization," Google, which acquired Waze for about $1.3 billion in 2013, said. Google had in December said that it will merge Waze and Google Maps teams to consolidate processes, making it a part of the Google Geo division, its portfolio of real-world mapping products that include Google Maps, Google Earth, and Street View. The news was first reported by CNBC earlier in the day, citing an email from Chris Phillips, who leads the Geo division.

Persons: we've, Chris Phillips, Akash Sriram, Jaiveer, Chandni Shah, Maju Samuel, Rashmi Organizations: Google, Google Geo, CNBC, Geo, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

☆ Fact Check-Photo of rainbow Pride flag in Key West is from 2003, unrelated to DeSantis
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

(Editor’s note: This article contains profanity)A photo of a mile-long rainbow Pride flag in Key West, Florida, was taken in 2003 during a Pride event and not, as online posts sharing the photo suggest, during Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ term. A June 7 tweet reads: “Key West says FUUUUUCK DeSantis!” (here). A search for the photo results in a higher-quality image on Getty Images taken on June 15, 2003, in Key West (here). It says the 8,000-foot flag, dubbed the “world’s longest rainbow flag,” was created by Gilbert Baker for a Pride event. Baker is known for creating the rainbow flag that signifies LGBTQ Pride in 1978 (gilbertbaker.com/biography/), (here).

Persons: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, FUUUUUCK, DeSantis, ”, Gilbert Baker, Baker, Ron DeSantis, Read Organizations: Florida Governor, Facebook, Getty, Google, Reuters, CBS News Locations: Key West , Florida, Florida, Key, Duval

☆ Google leads funding round for Indian space startup Pixxel
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BENGALURU, June 1 (Reuters) - Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google is leading a $36 million funding round for Bengaluru-based Pixxel, a satellite-image startup, in the first major investment in the Indian space sector since the government launched its privatisation policy in April. Pixxel did not specify how much Google had invested or the valuation it reflected. Founder and Chief Executive Awais Ahmed said Pixxel would be "the most valued space tech company in India after this investment". Space startups, in particular, have come under pressure after the bankruptcy of Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit launch company. Ahmed has said he was inspired to launch a space startup from a visit Elon Musk's SpaceX as part of a student competition to build a demonstration "hyperloop" transport pod.

Persons: Pixxel, Awais Ahmed, Ahmed, Richard Branson's Virgin, Kshitij Khandelwal, Nivedita, Kevin Krolicki, Christopher Cushing Organizations: Google, Miner Rio Tinto Ltd, Accenture PLC, Skyroot Aerospace, Reuters, Space, Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit, Elon, SpaceX, Thomson Locations: BENGALURU, Bengaluru, Miner Rio, India

☆ North Korea spent the pandemic building a huge border wall
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +11 min

As the pandemic began, North Korea moved to seal its northern borders, tightening control over informal trade routes and making escape harder for defectors. Nov. 16, 2019 Minimal security features visible along North Korea’s border with Russia. Food shortages in North Korea have worsened in recent months, due in part to the border closures, according to international experts. Still, he said, there were reports of foreign shows such as the South Korean hit “Squid Game” finding their way into North Korea. “It's all the more reason for the international community to step up efforts to support North Korean rights,” he said.

☆ Why an empty sand plot in Dubai sold for a record $34M
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-23 | by ( Jacopo Prisco | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The sale – for 125 million dirhams (AED) – marks a whopping 242% gain over his original purchase price of 36.5 million AED, or just under $10 million, in 2021. Jumeirah Bay Island is also home to plenty of sandy beaches and a marina for dozens of yachts, high-end restaurants, a gym and a spa center. Jumeirah Bay Island, on the other hand, is much smaller at just 0.22 square miles, and is considered more exclusive. Current listings show an empty plot for sale on Jumeirah Bay Island for 90 million AED, or about $24.5 million. A three-bedroom, four-bathroom apartment in the Bulgari complex on the island is being offered for 60 million AED, or about $16.3 million.

☆ Revealed: Vladimir Putin's secret Black Sea bunker
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Mattathias Schwartz | Anastasiia Carrier | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

You would think that the architects who designed Vladimir Putin's palace thought of everything. They failed to hide plans showing two elaborate tunnels running beneath the palace complex — plans that any competent state-security apparatus would fight tooth-and-nail to keep secret. The underground complex beneath Putin's palace consists of two separate tunnels connected by an elevator that descends roughly 50 meters below the surface. Gelendzhik is the town closest to the palace complex, a five-hour drive from the resort city of Sochi. "With the war in Ukraine," Kimmage said, "there's speechmaking, there's propaganda, there's exaggeration — there's this performative aspect that plays to Russia's domestic politics.

☆ How Reuters pinpointed bat-virus risk zones worldwide
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +12 min

Areas where conditions are similar are more prone to spillover, scientists say. The Reuters analysis, which assessed spillover risk through 2020, has proven to have some predictive power. Similar statistical models are used widely to analyze data in ecology, and researchers use them to understand spillover risk. More than one of every five people on the planet is living in areas where the risk is highest for spillover. Using epidemic modeling software called GLEAMviz, the news agency simulated a worldwide pandemic originating from the spillover of a theoretical novel virus.

☆ Fact Check-Photo shows Israel-Egypt border, not Mexico-Guatemala border fence
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Amidst reports of a migrant rush toward the U.S-Mexico border in March 2023, social media users have circulated a photo of a barricade along Israel’s border with Egypt claiming that it shows a fortified fence that Mexico has built along its border with Guatemala. The photo, accompanied by a description that says, “This is the border fence Mexico has built on their border with Guatemala to keep out freeloaders. The original photograph is more than a decade old and was shot on Feb. 15, 2012, in western Israel, along a 150-mile-long border fence with Egypt. Reuters has reported on Mexico’s struggles to control migrants coming in through its southern border (here), (here), (here), (here). The 2012 photograph shows Israel’s border fence with Egypt and not a structure along Mexico’s border with Guatemala.

☆ The unraveling of fintech darling Vise
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +28 min

It was April, and more than two dozen salespeople who worked for the fintech startup Vise had been ordered to a multiday off-site at the W Hoboken hotel in New Jersey to share exhaustive reports on their performance. Even salespeople at bigger, established, top-tier investment-management firms typically wouldn't close $250 million in a year, multiple sales employees said. (K-means clustering is an unsupervised machine-learning algorithm often referred to as a form of AI, Vise's founders said). (Vise's founders disputed this, saying the company received updated financial data only once a day for its portfolio-construction engine.) And to address its "leaky funnel" of overestimating prospective sales, Vise was to stop outreach to new clients while it onboards and upsells to existing clients, the document said.

☆ A Ukrainian soldier took out 5 Russian tanks in a single day using US-supplied Javelin missiles, Ukraine says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Eight Russian armored vehicles lie smouldering thanks to one Ukrainian soldier, Ukraine's MOD says. He took out five tanks and three other vehicles in a single day in Donetsk, according to Ukraine. A social media post of the apparent feat included praise for the US-provided Javelin missiles used. During the fighting, the paratrooper took out the five tanks, as well as three infantry fighting vehicles known as BMPs. The Ukrainian MOD's video post was accompanied by text that said: "American weapon in Ukrainian hands works wonders."

[1/2] The remains of the Ninel Hotel, a hotel taken over by Russian security officials that was hit by the Ukrainian military on October 5, are seen in downtown Kherson, Ukraine November 17, 2022. Ukraine's SBU and Russia's FSB did not respond to requests for comment on Dollar’s account or other partisan operations. Pavlo Zaporozhets served in the Ukrainian army from 2014-17 and joined Ukraine's GUR military intelligence during the occupation of Kherson, Ladin said. While some details about the FSB account were true, Ladin said, the FSB falsely accused Zaporozhets of deliberately targeting civilians as well as the night patrol. Despite the liberation of Kherson, Dollar said he and Kosatka would continue aiding the resistance until Ukrainian troops recover Crimea, where the couple owns an apartment.

☆ Fact Check-Video shows Devils Tower rock formation, not a stump from an ancient tree
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Devils Tower rock formation in Wyoming is made of a rare type of rock eroded over millions of years, not the remains of an ancient tree stump, as social media users are suggesting anew. A Twitter user posted the video with the remark, “This is a stump of what's left from the ancient tree” (here). The rock formation is a U.S. National Monument, whose exact geological origins remain partly unclear. In 2020, Reuters Fact Check debunked a similar false claim that Devils Tower was an ancient tree whose underground roots had just been discovered (here). It is footage of Devils Tower, a natural rock formation in Wyoming.

“She wouldn’t be able to walk up to medical without help,” the former staff member said, referring to the office where staff medical professionals worked. James Shirey Jr., 14, died of complications from congenital adrenal hyperplasia, a genetic disorder, while at Diamond Ranch Academy in 2009. Diamond Ranch Academy disputed some of the lawsuit’s allegations in a court filing, and denied wrongdoing, but paid his family a $750,000 settlement in 2017. Diamond Ranch Academy was founded in 1999 by Rob and Sherri Dias. Dean Goodridge wants to see accountability for Diamond Ranch Academy, and any other facilities where children have died.

☆ Fact Check-Video likely does not show ‘invisible’ plane in Google image of Texas base
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A video post with more than 200,000 likes on Instagram purports to show evidence of a barely-visible plane alongside the comment, “Top-Secret Military Stealth Plane Spotted on Google Maps at Dyess Air Force Base” in Texas, adding that “Shortly After, Google Maps Has Been Updated w/o the plane” (here). The video, posted on Dec. 7, appears to show Google Earth images of a transparent or cloaked plane next to another, clearly visible, plane near a building at the Dyess Air Force base. The transparent plane is also referred to as an “invisible military aircraft” further along in the video. While the user claims the alleged stealth plane has been removed, it was still viewable on Google Earth as of Dec. 30, 2022 (shorturl.at/qNRW1). However, a Google spokesperson told Reuters that the trace image is likely an after-effect of the company’s process for creating three-dimensional Google Earth imagery.

☆ 11 ancient sites that are mysteriously aligned with the sun on the winter solstice, in photos.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Archaeologists have found many ancient sites that line up with the winter solstice sun. Here are 11 sites that line up with the winter solstice, and what experts think about them. Newgrange, County Meath, IrelandPeople celebrating the sunrise at Newgrange on the morning of the winter solstice in 2018. ShutterstockOne of the most famous examples of ancient architecture lining up with the winter solstice is in Machu Picchu, Peru. "From the winter solstice the days are longer, which was a metaphor of the rebirth of the deceased," he said.

☆ Americans are flocking to wildfire country
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

"Our main finding is that people seem to be moving to counties with the highest wildfire risks, and cities and suburbs with relatively hot summers. This is concerning because wildfire and heat are only expected to become more dangerous with climate change," Mahalia Clark, the lead author of the study, told CNBC. "People tend to think of wildfire as something that affects the West, but it also affects large areas of the South and even Midwest." On the other hand, sometimes high risk areas are more affordable, creating an unfortunate incentive for people to move there." But homebuyers also need to be doing their due diligence on the climate risks associated with the location where they are considering buying a new home.

Search resuls for: "Google Earth"

25 mentions found