DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ World-class ships and new supersonic jets mark the quiet rise of a new defense industry powerhouse in Asia
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

South Korea's defense industry has seen meteoric growth in recent years. 2023 is also shaping up to be a good year for South Korea's defense industry. South Korea's defense industry was originally tailored to meet the country's own needs, and Seoul assisted its growth with subsidies and other incentives. As South Korea's defense products increased in quality, so too did its exports. The South Korean defense industry's most anticipated product might be the KF-21 Boramae, a multi-role combat jet optimized for air-superiority missions.

☆ Polish central bank governor hopes to cut rates in fourth quarter
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WARSAW, March 9 (Reuters) - The National Bank of Poland could cut interest rates in the fourth quarter of 2023, Poland's central bank governor said on Thursday, adding that he expected inflation to fall into single digits around September. "I hope that it will be possible to cut rates in the final quarter (of this year), but this is my opinion," Adam Glapinski told a news conference. On Wednesday, Poland's central bank slightly lowered its inflation forecasts for the coming three years, reinforcing expectations that interest rates will remain at current levels after it left them unchanged for a sixth consecutive month. Glapinski said he expected inflation would peak in February at around 18.5% and would then fall to single digits at the turn of August and September. Reporting by Pawel Florkiewicz, Anna Koper, Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk, Alan Charlish; Editing by Alison WilliamsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Schwedt has traditionally supplied 90% of the gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and fuel oil used in Germany's capital city. Moscow last month retaliated against their bilateral efforts by halting oil flows to Poland via the Druzhba pipeline, thereby squeezing Poland’s ability to free up oil for Schwedt. Polish state-controlled refiner PKN Orlen now needs to use more capacity at the Gdansk oil terminal to feed its own Plock refinery. ROSNEFT STAKEGermany and Poland started discussions about shipping non-Russian oil to Schwedt via the port of Gdansk, Polish pipelines and Druzhba in early spring 2022. KEBCOIn a move that further complicated talks with Poland, Germany late last year approached Kazakhstan about supplies for Schwedt, sparking new concerns in Warsaw.

☆ Polish c.bank governor Glapinski to hold press conference on Thursday
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

WARSAW, March 6 (Reuters) - Polish central bank governor Adam Glapinski will hold a press conference at 1400 GMT on Thursday, the bank said on Monday. Poland's Monetary Policy Council (MPC) meets to decide on interest rates on Tuesday and Wednesday. Reporting by Pawel FlorkiewiczOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Poland's PKN will demand compensation after Russia stopped oil deliveries, says CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WARSAW, March 6 (Reuters) - Poland's PKN Orlen (PKN.WA) will demand compensation after Russia halted oil deliveries to Poland via the Druzhba pipeline in late February, Chief Executive Officer Daniel Obajtek said on Monday, without giving further details. "... Russians stopped pumping oil to Poland...so we will now take legal action and demand claims," he told private Radio Zet. He declined to give a value for potential compensation saying he could not discuss details of company contracts. Last March, Poland pledged to stop using Russian oil by the end of 2022, the same time as PKN's long-term contract with Rosneft (ROSN.MM) expired. Last week Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Poland would cut its oil imports from Russia to close to zero in February-March from around 10% of the oil refined by PKN at the beginning of 2023.

☆ Polish mayor targeted by Pegasus spyware-media
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Caitlin Tremblay | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WARSAW, March 3 (Reuters) - An opposition-linked Polish mayor had his phone hacked using Pegasus spyware, Gazeta Wyborcza daily reported on Friday, amid allegations that the country's special services have used the technology against government opponents. It said that his number appeared on a list that it had access to as part of the investigative journalism initiative the Pegasus Project. Polish government spokesman Piotr Muller told private broadcaster RMF FM that he did not know about actions taken by special services concerning specific individuals, but that no laws had been broken. A spokesman for the Polish security services could not immediately be reached for comment. NSO has said it cannot confirm or deny any existing or potential customers for Pegasus.

☆ War of the worms: Polish politicians give each other a mouthful over edible insects
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WARSAW, March 3 (Reuters) - Polish voters were given food for thought on Friday, as politicians from the two main parties traded accusations that the other side planned to push meat-loving citizens into eating worms ahead of elections this autumn. "For the upcoming elections, PO politicians should write on each poster 'Instead of chicken eat a worm', because this is their real election programme," PiS lawmaker Bartosz Kownacki told reporters. State-run broadcaster TVP Info accompanied Kownacki's press conference with a news ticker reading "The opposition's proposals for Poles: worms instead of meat". TVP Info has been regularly criticised by the opposition as being a mouthpiece for government propaganda. However, PO politicians and city hall officials say this does not mean proposals to force people to lower meat consumption and eat worms are under consideration.

Although Polish teams have struggled to make a mark in European competitions and the country's coefficient places them 27th in the UEFA standings, there has been steady improvement in the last five seasons. In terms of value, we have a competitive structure similar to the Premier League, even though we have no government sponsorship or oligarch investment," Mioduski said. "So now we are at a point where our clubs are well-managed and run with a talent pool where private investment, like private equity, can take the clubs and the league to the next level." Mioduski said they have reached a point where they would welcome external investment both in the league and its clubs. "The Polish league as a whole has been developing more slowly but in a much more competitive fashion, with teams... maximising their limited resources," he added.

☆ Poland says Russian hackers attacked tax website
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Western officials say the Russian government is a global leader in hacking and uses cyber-espionage against foreign governments. "Russians are responsible for yesterday's attack, it must be made clear. We have information that makes it very likely that this was the adversary," Janusz Cieszynski, an official responsible for digitalisation, told broadcaster Polsat News. Cieszynski said the attack had consisted of distributed denial of service but that there had been no leaking of taxpayers' data. "This is an attack that blocks access to the site, but does not block security and put our data at risk," he said.

☆ Fact Check-Photographs show President Biden with ash on his forehead, not a bruise
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Photographs showing President Joe Biden with an Ash Wednesday smudge on his forehead are circulating with false claims that the mark is a bruise from allegedly falling down the stairs leaving Air Force One after landing in Poland. Biden can be seen with a bluish-black mark on his forehead in the images being shared across social media platforms (here), (here). The mark on Biden’s forehead is ash in the shape of a cross, which he received from a priest that day, Ash Wednesday, and not a bruise. Reuters has also previously debunked the claim that the person who fell down the stairs on Feb. 20 was Joe Biden (here). Biden’s forehead mark seen in photographs was ash applied for Ash Wednesday, not a bruise.

☆ Fact Check-Clip does not show Joe Biden falling down Air Force One steps when arriving in Poland
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Users shared a clip that aired via Poland’s TVN24 and shows an individual falling down the steps when disembarking from the rear of the plane. A spokesperson for President Biden told Reuters via email that the individual who fell down the stairs on Feb. 20 was not the President. Further on in the livestream, Biden can be seen disembarking from the front of Air Force One at 6.14s, taking the steps alone (here). Biden did indeed trip when walking up the steps of Air Force One upon leaving Warsaw on Feb. 22 (here). The individual who tumbled down the steps when disembarking from Air Force One in Warsaw on Feb. 20 was not Joe Biden.

☆ Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine focused on Bakhmut
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Leonardo Benassatto | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/5] Ukrainian service members are seen next an infantry fighting vehicle near the frontline town of Bakhmut, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine February 25, 2023. Apart from Bakhmut itself, six nearby Donetsk settlements came under Russian shelling, it said. Russia is trying to encircle Bakhmut, forcing Ukraine to pull out its garrison. Her boss, President Joe Biden, went there a week ago to mark the first anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine's military forces have mostly focused on holding defensive positions in recent weeks, but are expected to attempt a counter-offensive later this year using new weapons pledged by the West.

☆ Russian diplomats received an anniversary wake-up call of wailing air raid sirens and the sound of falling bombs
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Russian embassies and diplomats were the focus of protests on the anniversary the Ukraine invasion. In Warsaw, protesters blared air raid sirens in the early morning at apartments housing Russian diplomats. Activists in Poland's capital, Warsaw, staked out an apartment block where Russian diplomats lived and sounded air raid sirens and recordings of falling bombs at 6 am to mimic what Ukrainians wake up to daily and serve as a reminder of the realities of Putin's invasion. Poland, a neighbor of Ukraine, is home to approximately 1.6 million refugees reported to have fled Ukraine since February 24, 2022. Warsaw wake-up callOther gestures of support for Ukraine on the first anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, included:

☆ Russia halts pipeline oil supplies to Poland, PKN Orlen CEO says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WARSAW, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Russia has halted supplies of oil to Poland via the Druzhba pipeline, Daniel Obajtek, chief executive officer of Polish refiner PKN Orlen (PKN.WA), said on Saturday. PKN Orlen said it could fully supply its refineries via sea and that the halt in pipeline supplies would not impact deliveries of gasoline and diesel to clients. The pipeline, which supplies oil to Poland and Germany, as well as to Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia, was excluded from sanctions to help countries with limited options for alternative deliveries. Following the invasion of Ukraine and before the EU embargoed seaborne supplies from Russia, Orlen stopped buying Russian oil and fuels via the sea. Its capacity tops volumes that can be processed by Polish refineries and is in part used to supply oil to refineries in eastern Germany that are linked to Druzhba.

He predicted that tough negotiations with Ukraine and the West would follow that would culminate in "some kind of agreement." To push back the borders that threaten our country as far as possible, even if they are the borders of Poland," said Medvedev. Poland shares long eastern borders with Ukraine and with Russia's ally Belarus, and a frontier of some 200 km (125 miles) in its northeastern corner with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. Any encroachment on Poland's borders would bring Russia for the first time into direct conflict with NATO. U.S. President Joe Biden pledged in a speech in Warsaw this week to defend "every inch" of NATO territory if it was attacked.

☆ Fear, Anger, Love: See Ukrainians’ Texts From the First Hours of War
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Maria Varenikova | Gray Beltran | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +9 min

The messages are a snapshot of a fateful day for Ukraine and Europe — capturing the fear, love and support shared in the first hours of war. Ira YeroshkoOh Girls:((( I can’t believe it started friend one yeah. Oleksandr StarunThe war started. Lilia TurchynSvitlanka, the war started Be careful, and tell our mom to be careful with Myroslav Where did you read that? On Feb. 24, she was in Lviv with her husband and 4-year-old son, Ustym.

☆ U.S. unveils $2 billion in aid for Ukraine, sanctions and tariff hikes on Russia a year after invasion
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Emma Kinery | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON – The United States authorized $2 billion in aid to Ukraine on the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion Friday, and ramped up sanctions and tariffs on Moscow as it tries to bolster Kyiv's war effort. President Joe Biden met virtually with leaders of the G-7 and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday morning to mark the occasion, one year after the group first met to discuss aid. The Biden administration also announced it would sanction more than 200 individuals and entities tied to the Russian war effort, including by targeting the country's metals and mining sector. Biden has been adamant about showing the U.S.'s support for Ukraine as the war drags on into its second year. Earlier this month, Ukraine's prosecutor general, Andriy Kostin, said that regional authorities have logged more than 65,000 Russian war crimes since Moscow invaded Ukraine nearly a year ago.

☆ Poland has delivered tanks to Ukraine, government announces on war's first anniversary
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WARSAW, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Poland has delivered four Leopard tanks to Ukraine already and is prepared to deliver more quickly, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Friday, as Western nations increase their support to Kyiv a year after Russia invaded the country. We will definitely not leave you, we will support Ukraine until complete victory over Russia," Morawiecki said during a visit to Kyiv, standing next to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Warsaw's commitment to its neighbour has been instrumental in persuading European allies to donate heavy weapons to Ukraine, including tanks, a move opposed by several governments, including Berlin, until recently. Poland said last month it aimed to get training time for Ukrainian soldiers on Leopard 2 tanks down to five weeks. Reporting by Marek Strzelecki, Anna Koper, Pawel Florkiewicz Editing by Alex Richardson, Tomasz Janowski and Frances KerryOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ EU approves 10th package of Russia sanctions on anniversary of invasion
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Gabriela Baczynska | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, Feb 24 (Reuters) - The European Union, after hectic last-minute haggling, has approved a tenth package of Russia sanctions on the anniversary of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, the Swedish EU presidency said late on Friday. "Together, the EU member states have imposed the most forceful and far-reaching sanctions ever to help Ukraine win the war," the presidency announced on Twitter. With two hours to go until midnight, EU member states made it across the finish line with little time to spare after Poland earlier threw a spanner into the works. All member states need to approve sanctions for them to be enacted, making negotiations among the 27 often tedious and lengthy. The EU has said the 10th round of sanctions against Russia since the war started was designed to make financing the war more difficult and starve Russia of tech equipment and spare parts for arms used against Ukraine.

☆ Sweden to send up to 10 Leopard tanks to Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

STOCKHOLM, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Sweden will donate up to 10 Leopard 2 tanks and HAWK anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine, the Nordic country's government said on Friday, in its latest tranche of military support to help Kyiv push back the Russian invasion. "The Swedish tanks reinforce the Leopard 2 contribution that other European countries make. Coordination of support is ongoing with international partners donating Leopard 2 or other tanks," the government said in a statement. Earlier on Friday, the one-year anniversary of the invasion, Poland said it had delivered four Leopard tanks to Ukraine already and was prepared to deliver more quickly. Warsaw's commitment to its neighbour has been instrumental in persuading European allies to donate heavy weapons to Ukraine, including tanks, a move opposed by several governments, including Berlin, until recently.

BERLIN, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Ukraine allies around the world lit up landmark monuments, held vigils and prepared new sanctions in a collective show of support on the first anniversary of Russia's invasion. Polish Premier Mateusz Morawiecki went to Kyiv and, together with Ukraine's prime minister, laid flowers at the Wall of Remembrance of those who died for Ukraine. The United States marked the anniversary by announcing new sanctions against Russia and its allies, new export controls and tariffs aimed at undermining Moscow's ability to wage war. EU institutions were also lit in Ukrainian colours, along with the Sydney Opera House. Kyiv says there can be no peace until Russia, which denies intentionally targeting civilians, withdraws.

☆ Fact Check-Image of bystander making middle-finger gesture toward Joe Biden during Poland visit had been altered from the original photograph
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

An image shared online of an individual appearing to direct a middle-finger gesture toward U.S. President Joe Biden during his February visit to Warsaw has been altered, with the original photograph showing a thumbs-up gesture instead. The image shows the president waving toward a group of people standing along a stairway, with one individual appearing to direct the gesture toward Biden. The unaltered image shows the same individual making a thumbs-up gesture and looking toward the president. Another photograph captured by Getty Images photographer Omar Marques similarly shows the individual making a thumbs-up gesture toward Biden (here). The original image shows an individual making a thumbs-up gesture toward the president, not gesturing a middle figure toward Biden.

☆ DOJ alleges Google destroyed chat messages that it was required to save during antitrust investigation
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

According to the DOJ, Google should have adjusted its defaults in mid-2019, "when the company reasonably anticipated this litigation." Meanwhile, DOJ alleged, Google "falsely" told the government it had "'put a legal hold in place' that 'suspends auto-deletion.'" The alleged issue is one that previously came up in Epic Games' antitrust litigation against Google. The DOJ alleged that even after Epic confronted Google about the chat deletion concerns in that case, Google still withheld its deletion policy from the federal government "and continued to destroy written communications in this case." Scallen said that if Google "didn't give clear directions to retain" relevant chats "this notion that they left it to the individuals, that's just not responsible."

☆ Trump Visits Train Derailment Site to Deliver First Salvo of 2024 Presidential
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Kris Maher | Alex Leary | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Former President Donald Trump visits the site of a contaminated waterway in East Palestine, Ohio, on Wednesday. EAST PALESTINE, Ohio—Residents of this small town on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border who are recovering from a train derailment that is now an environmental cleanup site are also becoming featured players in one of the first political skirmishes of the 2024 presidential campaign. President Biden was briefed on conditions in East Palestine while he was rallying Europe to Ukraine’s aid in Warsaw, Poland, while former President Donald Trump visited the disaster area Wednesday afternoon. Mr. Trump is running for president again and Mr. Biden is expected to announce a re-election bid soon.

☆ Zelenskiy plans to attend July NATO summit in Vilnius - Ukraine ambassador
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WARSAW, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy plans to attend in person a NATO summit taking place in Vilnius in July, Ukraine's ambassador to Lithuania told local newswire BNS. Zelenskiy has made only two foreign trips since Russia invaded Ukraine almost a year ago - one to Washington in December and another to London, Paris and Brussels in February. The Vilnius summit on July 11-12 will be attended by most leaders of the Atlantic alliance, Lithuania presidential office said. "That is our plan," ambassador Petro Beshta said about the Zelenskiy visit in an interview with BNS published on Wednesday. Ukraine hopes attendees at the summit would agree "very clearly that as soon as the war is over, Ukraine becomes a member of NATO", the ambassador said.

Search resuls for: "Warsaw"

25 mentions found