DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ U.K. High Court Throws Out Trump Dossier Privacy Case
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Megan Specia | More About Megan Specia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The High Court in London decided on Thursday that a lawsuit filed by Donald J. Trump against Christopher Steele, a former British spy who compiled a dossier in 2016 detailing unproven claims of links between the former president and Russia, would be thrown out. The lawsuit was brought by Mr. Trump against Orbis Business Intelligence, Mr. Steele’s firm. Mr. Steele had compiled the dossier and it was leaked to the press shortly before he was sworn in as president. In the decision, handed down virtually on Thursday morning, the court ruled that Mr. Trump “has no reasonable grounds for bringing a claim for compensation or damages, and no real prospect of successfully obtaining such a remedy.”The judge, Karen Steyn, said she had “not considered, or made any determination, as to the accuracy or inaccuracy” of the dossier, and noted that Mr. Trump had said the allegations were “wholly untrue.”

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Christopher Steele, Steele, Trump “, Karen Steyn, “ Organizations: Court, Mr, Orbis Business Intelligence Locations: London, British, Russia

☆ Britain’s Foreign Secretary Signals Willingness to Recognize Palestinian State Sooner
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Megan Specia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

David Cameron, Britain’s foreign secretary, has signaled that Britain is willing to move up conversations about formally recognizing a Palestinian state, saying that his country and other allies should show Palestinians “irreversible progress” toward that long-sought goal. A top priority “is to give the Palestinian people a political horizon so that they can see that there is going to be irreversible progress to a two-state solution and crucially the establishment of a Palestinian state,” Mr. Cameron said, according to the BBC, which reported his remarks. On Tuesday, a spokesman for the prime minister said that Mr. Cameron’s comments were not a departure from the government’s longstanding position about a Palestinian state. “Our position has not changed on recognition of a Palestinian state: We would do so at a time that best serves the cause of peace,” the spokesman said. “The U.K. for its part, and I think along with its allies, continues to believe that a two-state solution protects the peace and security of both Israelis and Palestinians.”

Persons: David Cameron, Cameron, ”, Cameron’s, Mr Organizations: Conservative Middle East Council, Conservative Party Locations: Britain, Palestinian, Israel, London

☆ U.K. to Ban Disposable Vapes in Plan to Combat Use by Children
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-29 | by ( Megan Specia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The brightly colored packaging is a slick mix of ombré pink and lime green. The nicotine inside comes wreathed in a “strawberry kiwi” flavor. Increasingly, plastic disposable vapes like this one are making their way into the hands of children, with one in five young people in Britain between the ages of 11 and 17 trying vaping last year, according to Action on Smoking and Health, an independent public health charity. Soon, they will be banned in Britain, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced on Monday, as he unveiled a package of measures to ban single-use vapes, restrict flavors, and regulate packaging and displays. Britain is following several other nations, and a number of American states, that have already taken steps to curb underage vaping, as the colorful and trendy packaging and fruit or candy flavoring has proved appealing to teenagers and children.

Persons: vaping, Rishi Sunak Locations: Britain

☆ U.N. Pleads for Aid to Not Be Cut to Palestinians: Israel-Hamas War Live Updates
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-28 | by ( Vivek Shankar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +6 min

The allegation, made by Israel, is a serious blow to the reputation of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, generally known as UNRWA. The agency looms especially large in Gaza, where most of the population of more than two million people are registered as refugees. “Behind the scenes Israel has often favored UNRWA’s work,” said Anne Irfan, an expert on Palestinian refugee rights at University College London. Many settled in refugee camps that the agency helped create, which have since become built-up, mostly impoverished urban areas. Palestinians are the only refugee group whose support is not handled under the global mandate of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Persons: Here’s, —, “, ” Hector Sharp, Benjamin Netanyahu, ”, Ahron Bregman, Israel, Anne Irfan, Megan Specia, Ben Hubbard Organizations: United Nations Relief, Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, Israel, United Nations, UNRWA, West Bank, Palestinian Authority, Department, King’s College London, University College London, Refugees, European Union Locations: Rafah, Gaza, Israel, United States, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria

☆ U.N. Pleads With Major Donors to Not Cut Aid for Palestinians
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-28 | by ( Hiba Yazbek | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +6 min

The allegation, made by Israel, is a serious blow to the reputation of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, generally known as UNRWA. The agency looms especially large in Gaza, where most of the population of more than two million people are registered as refugees. The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has gone so far as to blame the agency for perpetuating rather than alleviating the plight of Palestinians and has called on the United Nations to disband it. “Behind the scenes Israel has often favored UNRWA’s work,” said Anne Irfan, an expert on Palestinian refugee rights at University College London. Palestinians are the only refugee group whose support is not handled under the global mandate of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

☆ Widening Mideast Crisis Drone Strike Kills 3 U.S. Soldiers in Jordan, White House Says
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-28 | by ( Eric Schmitt | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +6 min

☆ ‘The Social Contract Has Completely Ruptured’: Ireland’s Housing Crisis
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-15 | by ( Megan Specia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Before sunrise each day, Aoife Diver, a teacher in Dublin, gets into her car and drives for up to 90 minutes from her uncle’s house to the opposite side of the Irish capital. After school, it is back in the car for the reverse commute. On a recent evening, Ms. Diver, 25, sat in stop-and-go traffic, the red of the brake lights in front glowing through the windshield, as dusk turned to darkness. She used to share a house with five friends close to the school where she works in South Dublin. But when her rent and bills reached almost half of her monthly salary last year, she knew she had to move back in with family.

Persons: Diver Locations: Dublin, South Dublin

☆ War or No War, Many Older Ukrainians Want to Stay Put
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-14 | by ( Lynsey Addario | Megan Specia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

They shelter in musty basements marked in chalk with “people underground” — a message to whichever troops happen to be fighting that day. Some waited their entire lives to enjoy their twilight years, only to have been left in a purgatory of loneliness. Homes built with their own hands are now crumbling walls and blown-out windows, with framed photographs of loved ones living far away. Some people have already buried their children, and their only wish is to stay close so they can be buried next to them. “I’ve lived through two wars,” said Iraida Kurylo, 83, whose hands shook as she recalled her mother screaming when her father was killed in World War II.

Persons: “ I’ve, ”, Iraida Kurylo

☆ Tracing the Deep Roots of Ireland’s Support for Palestinians
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-02 | by ( Megan Specia | More About Megan Specia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Under the light drizzle of a Tuesday morning last month, Ríonach Ní Néill and a group of friends set up a small platform in front of the United States Embassy in Dublin. Then they took out a stack of papers. For the next 11 and a half hours, Ms. Ní Néill and others took turns reading out thousands of names — each one a person killed since Israel started bombarding Gaza in the war, according to a list released by the Gazan health authorities. It was an attempt to convey the enormity of the loss of life, she said. “I think the baseline really in Ireland is that human rights are valued, and what’s happening now is the destruction of universal human rights,” said Ms. Ní Néill, 52, an artist from Galway.

Persons: Ní, Ní Néill, “, ” Organizations: United States Embassy, ” Locations: Dublin, Israel, Gaza, Ireland, Galway, “

☆ ‘It’s Like I Am Blind’: Waiting for Asylum in a British Hotel
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-18 | by ( Megan Specia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Every morning, Mohammed Al Muhandes wakes up in a hotel in Leeds, England, and wonders how to pass the day. Along with dozens of other asylum seekers, he eats the same breakfast each morning, then returns to his room or walks in a nearby park. Asylum seekers in Britain are not allowed to work. Mr. Al Muhandes, 53, who has a master’s degree in mechanical engineering, tries to stay busy, taking free classes and spending time in a local nature reserve, but he has waited almost five months for a decision on his case. While he is overwhelmingly grateful to have escaped conflict in his home country, Yemen, the uncertainty is hard.

Persons: Mohammed Al Muhandes, Al Muhandes Locations: Leeds, England, Britain, Yemen

☆ U.K. Can’t Send Asylum Seekers to Rwanda, Supreme Court Rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Megan Specia | More About Megan Specia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Britain’s Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that a policy to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda is unlawful, delivering a major blow to the Conservative government, which has long described the plan as central to its pledge to stop small boat arrivals. Justice Robert Reed, one of the five judges who heard the case, said that the court supported an earlier decision by the Court of Appeal declaring the policy unlawful, saying simply, “We agree with their conclusion.”Justice Reed pointed to a risk of “refoulement” if asylum seekers had their claims heard in Rwanda, meaning that genuine refugees could be returned to their countries of origin and face potential violence, in a violation of both domestic and international law. The judge made the caveat that while proper protections may be put in place in the future, “they have not been shown to be in place now.”

Persons: Robert Reed, “, ”, Reed Organizations: Conservative, Appeal Locations: Britain’s, Rwanda

☆ Top U.K. Court to Rule on Deporting Asylum Seekers to Rwanda
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Megan Specia | More About Megan Specia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Britain’s Supreme Court will rule on Wednesday whether the government’s contentious policy to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda is lawful, in a pivotal moment for the ruling Conservative Party during an already turbulent week. The Rwanda policy was first announced in April 2022 by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, as he attempted to make good on a Brexit campaign promise to “take back control” of the country’s borders. The hard-line policy has since been pursued by Mr. Johnson’s successors, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, with each repeating his original untested argument that the threat of being deported to Rwanda would deter the tens of thousands of people who try to cross the English Channel in small boats each year. But it has been widely criticized by rights groups and opposition politicians from the start, with many pointing to Rwanda’s troubled record on human rights. And to date no one has been sent to the small East African nation, because of a series of legal challenges.

Persons: Boris Johnson, “, Johnson’s, Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak Organizations: Conservative Party Locations: Britain’s, Rwanda

Suella Braverman, who was fired from her post as Britain’s home secretary on Monday, had long been a divisive figure at the heart of the governing Conservative Party whose provocative rhetoric won her support on the hard right while alienating more moderate colleagues. The police said that around 145 people were arrested on Saturday, most of whom were counterprotesters, and that nine officers had been injured. In the piece, Ms. Braverman accused the police of a “double standard” in the way they handled protests. Ms. Braverman had made it clear that she wanted the march on Saturday to be banned in part because it coincided with Armistice Day. The article by Ms. Braverman, published a few hours later, appeared to undermine his stance.

Persons: Suella Braverman, Rishi Sunak, Braverman, Downing, Sadiq Khan, ”, Sunak Organizations: Conservative Party, Labour Locations: Times, London, Britain, Gaza, Northern Ireland

☆ A Look at Suella Braverman’s Turbulent Time as Home Secretary.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( Megan Specia | More About Megan Specia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +5 min

Here’s a look at some of Ms. Braverman’s most prominent disputes. Despite her dismissal, Ms. Braverman was again appointed home secretary six days later, on Mr. Sunak’s first day in office. While the plan was first announced by Ms. Braverman’s predecessor, Priti Patel, Ms. Braverman has been an ardent supporter and put the policy front and center. Ms. Braverman had for weeks characterized these protests as “hate marches,” despite the fact that the demonstrations have been mostly peaceful. But then Ms. Braverman, who as home secretary oversees policing in Britain, went a step further later in the week.

Persons: Braverman, Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss, Braverman’s, Truss, Sunak’s, Priti Patel, Sunak, ” Organizations: Conservative, Appeal, London’s Metropolitan Police Service, Islamists, Hamas Locations: Britain, Rwanda, Israel, Gaza, London

☆ Israel-Hamas War Calls Grow for Israel to Pause Fighting
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-12 | by ( Andrés R. Martínez | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Pressure is growing on Israel to pause fighting Hamas and to allow more aid to enter the Gaza Strip after five weeks of war have exacerbated a humanitarian crisis, especially at hospitals, which are struggling to provide care. Israel has repeatedly rejected calls for a cease-fire since Oct. 7, when Hamas and other militant groups killed at least 1,200 people in an early-morning ambush in southern Israel. Protesters in London and New York continued to hold rallies in support of Palestinians and calling for a cease-fire. More than 300,000 people marched in London on Saturday in support of Palestinians and denouncing the rising civilian death toll in Gaza. It was the largest protest in years in London and the latest pro-Palestinian march held there on Saturdays since the start of the war.

Persons: Emmanuel Macron, Gazans, Israel’s, Antony J, ”, Blinken’s, Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu, Megan Specia, Raja Abdulrahim, Adam Sella Organizations: United, Hamas, Protesters Locations: Israel, Gaza, United Nations, France, New Delhi, Eastern, Tel Aviv, United States, Qatar, London, New York

☆ In Shetland, the Hottest Event of the Year Stars Sheep and Knitters
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( Megan Specia | Andrew Testa | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The sheep came spilling over the hillside, emerging through the low mist where the green earth touched the gray sky, running down into the fields below. It was Shetland Wool Week, and visitors from around the world — most of them women and nearly all of them knitting enthusiasts — were streaming to the Uradale farm and other areas of the Shetland Islands, a far-flung archipelago north of the Scotland mainland, to see the famed fleeces. The weeklong festival, established in 2010, is both a way to spread a cherished tradition of knitting and celebrate the local culture, and a commercial opportunity for the area’s sheep farmers, wool spinners and craftspeople. “What Shetland Wool Week did was offer us a shop window to an international audience, which we probably would have had great difficulty finding,” said Ronnie Eunson, who established Uradale Farm decades ago. “It’s a whole new world, these ladies who knit.”

Persons: ”, Ronnie Eunson Organizations: Shetland Wool Locations: Shetland, Scotland

In 1950, Alan Turing, the gifted British mathematician and code-breaker, published a paper in the field of artificial intelligence. His aim, he wrote, was to consider the question, “Can machines think?”The answer runs to almost 12,000 words. But it ends succinctly: “We can only see a short distance ahead,” Mr. Turing wrote, “but we can see plenty there that needs to be done.”More than seven decades on, that sentiment sums up the mood of many policymakers, researchers and tech leaders arriving on Wednesday at Britain’s A.I. Safety Summit, which Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hopes will position the country as a leader in the global race to harness and regulate artificial intelligence. Governments have been working to address the risks posed by the fast-evolving technology since last year’s release of ChatGPT, a humanlike chatbot that demonstrated how the latest models are advancing in unpredictable ways.

Persons: Alan Turing, ” Mr, Turing, Rishi Sunak Organizations: Safety Locations: British

☆ Friends From Childhood. Brothers in War.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-29 | by ( Megan Specia | More About Megan Specia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

They had met as boys in the scouts group called Plast, in the western city of Lviv, and forged bonds over mountain hikes, sunburns, scratched knees and bug bites. Friends called him “Kurka,” Ukrainian for chicken, because of the mop of curly hair he styled into a mohawk as a youth. But he was also deeply invested in seeing his small home village near the city thrive, and hoped to start a small farm there. Roman Lozynskyi studied political science in Lviv and got into local politics before spending time as an intern in the Canadian Parliament. He was elected to the Ukrainian Parliament in 2019, and had started to split his time between Kyiv, the capital, and Lviv.

Persons: Artem, Dmytro, Artem Dymyd, Kurka, Dmytro Paschuk, Roman Lozynskyi Organizations: Roman, French Legion, Canadian Locations: Lviv, Ukrainian, Kyiv

☆ A Project Supporting Migrants Was Cost Effective. Why Did It End?
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( Megan Specia | More About Megan Specia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

At the age of 13, she came to England from Nigeria with her relatives for what she thought was a summer vacation. It was only after they arrived in Bedfordshire, in the east of England, that she discovered there were no plans to go back. Because of what she describes as the “irresponsibility” of her guardians, the teenager — now a 26-year-old woman — had no visa or asylum status, and neither did her siblings. “I had no knowledge, no understanding, I just knew that I couldn’t do what people my age were doing,” she said, asking to remain anonymous because of her relatives’ undocumented status.

Persons: —, “, ” Locations: England, Nigeria, Bedfordshire

☆ Some London Police Officers Step Back From Armed Duty After Murder Charge
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( Megan Specia | More About Megan Specia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

British soldiers were briefly put on standby over the weekend to support the counterterrorism police in London after some armed officers refused to carry their weapons in the wake of a fellow police officer being charged with murder. The Metropolitan Police Service said on Monday that a number of police officers took the decision to “step back from armed duties while they consider their position” over the weekend. Mark Rowley, the Metropolitan Police commissioner, and other senior police leaders held discussions with the officers over the weekend “to understand their genuinely held concerns,” the police said in a statement. Enough armed officers returned on Monday that assistance from Britain’s Ministry of Defence was no longer needed. “As of lunchtime on Monday, the number of officers who had returned to armed duties was sufficient for us to no longer require external assistance to meet our counterterrorism responsibilities,” the police said in the statement.

Persons: Chris Kaba, Mark Rowley Organizations: Metropolitan Police Service, Metropolitan Police, Britain’s Ministry of Defence Locations: London

☆ Has Coffee Really Ousted Tea as the U.K.’s Favorite Hot Drink?
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-23 | by ( Megan Specia | More About Megan Specia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

“Tea has my heart,” Liz Coleman explained as she sank into a chair under the gold-painted ceilings of the Grand Café in Oxford, England. As a British woman of Persian descent, tea looms large in her home life, she said, but when she is out, it is always coffee. Tea is woven deep into Britain’s cultural fabric, having arrived in the 1650s after Dutch traders brought it to Europe from China. Centuries of tradition made it the nation’s favorite hot drink. But coffee, a longtime rival, has increasingly challenged that status, and a recent survey suggested it had finally ousted tea from its prime spot, setting off a war of statistics as the two industries defend their beverages.

Persons: ” Liz Coleman, Ms, Coleman Locations: Oxford, England, British, Europe, China

☆ Families Cut Adrift by Concrete Crisis in U.K. Schools
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-10 | by ( Megan Specia | More About Megan Specia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“It’s been kind of in free fall really,” said Ms. Burness, 47, of how the week has played out. “And how much longer will it be?”By Thursday morning, Ms. Burness and her husband, who both run their own businesses, were juggling parenting duties and their jobs, unable to find specialist child care at short notice. On Friday, the school said classes would resume the following week, but added that some rooms would be inaccessible and adjustments would have to be made. Britain’s Conservative government has faced acute criticism since the announcement last week that more than 100 schools would have to close buildings because of the presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, or RAAC, a bubbly, lightweight material known to pose a risk of sudden collapse. The crisis intensified after it became clear that senior government officials had ignored repeated warnings about the material, with a former Department for Education official accusing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of refusing to rebuild more schools while he was chancellor of the Exchequer, despite being told of a “critical risk to life.” (Mr. Sunak said it was “completely and utterly wrong” to hold him responsible for the funding shortfall.)

Persons: “, ”, Burness, Rishi Sunak, Sunak Organizations: Conservative, Department for Education

☆ Northern Ireland Police Chief Resigns Amid Mounting Scandals
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( Megan Specia | More About Megan Specia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The top police official in Northern Ireland has resigned amid mounting scandals, raising questions about the leadership of policing in a region where law enforcement has long been a contentious issue, and prompting calls for further changes in the force. Calls had been growing for the official, Simon Byrne, the chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, to step down after a major data breach last month. On Monday, Mr. Byrne announced his resignation after an emergency meeting of the Policing Board, just a week after refusing to step down in the wake of another meeting. “The last few days have been very difficult for all concerned,” he said in a statement. “Regardless of the rights and wrongs, it is now time for someone new to lead this proud and resolute organization.”

Persons: Simon Byrne, Sinn Féin, Byrne, “, ” Organizations: Police Service of Northern, Northern Ireland Assembly, Irish Republican Army, Board Locations: Northern Ireland, Police Service of Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland

☆ More Than 100 Schools in England Ordered Closed Over Faulty Concrete
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( Megan Specia | More About Megan Specia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON — More than 100 schools across England were ordered to close Thursday because they were built using unsafe concrete, the Department for Education said in a statement Thursday afternoon, a few days before the start of a new school year for most students. The schools were built with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, a lightweight concrete material known as RAAC that was used between the 1950s and mid-1990s and has been determined to be prone to failures and crumbling. In all, 104 schools were ordered closed. Some 156 schools were confirmed to have used the lightweight concrete in their buildings, but 52 have put in safety measures to mitigate the risks. That could mean using other buildings for classes, sharing space with other schools or, in some cases, erecting temporary buildings.

Organizations: Department for Education Locations: England

☆ How Multiple Warnings About a Killer Nurse Went Unheeded
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Megan Specia | More About Megan Specia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Five babies had died, and at least six others had experienced unusual complications. Then, in the early evening of June 23, a baby boy — one of a set of newborn triplets — suddenly became sick and died. The following night, as the parents were still reeling, another of the triplets died. The infants had been in the care of Lucy Letby, a seemingly conscientious and well-liked nurse. Dr. Brearey had noticed that she was present in every other suspicious case and raised that fact multiple times with executives, but he felt his concerns were dismissed.

Persons: Stephen Brearey, Countess, Chester, —, Lucy Letby, Brearey Organizations: Chester Hospital Locations: England

Search resuls for: "Megan Specia"

25 mentions found