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Taliban and the Chabahar Transit Project: From the Disputes with Pakistan to Trade and Transit with Iran and India

The Taliban hopes to send a signal to Pakistan by increasing its participation in the Chabahar port transit project that it which is not a militia group affiliated with this country, rules an independent country and has various options in foreign policy as well as trade and transit.  The Chabahar Transit Project was created on May 24, 2016 as a combined, multimodal network of ships, rails, and road freight routes…

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Professor Ian Walmsley appointed to lead Oxford Quantum Institute and joins government’s Quantum Strategic Advisory Board

Professor Ian Walmsley This dual appointment signals Oxford’s intent to remain at the forefront of global quantum research and innovation, building on a decade of strategic investment in this critical area. The Oxford Quantum Institute, hosted by the Department of Physics, brings together researchers across departments and divisions to accelerate the development and application of quantum science and technology. Professor Walmsley’s role on the government’s advisory board further reinforces Oxford’s…

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The upskilling imperative: Required at scale for the future of work

Amid overall uncertainty, including about the future that AI will bring, two things are clear. One, jobs and occupations will change as new technologies are used to handle and support more tasks. The transition to AI is already underway, according to the results of the latest McKinsey American Opportunity Survey (AOS) in which roughly 20 percent of employed respondents say that they have used gen AI for work purposes. Two,…

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New York State Senate Bill Would Make Fast-Food Franchisors Jointly and Severally Liable for Certain Labor Law Violations

Quick Hits The proposed New York State Fast Food Franchisor Accountability Act would make fast-food restaurant franchisors jointly and severally liable for violations of Chapter 31 of the New York Labor Law, as well as the New York State Human Rights Law and applicable workers’ compensation laws, to the same extent that they may be enforced against fast-food restaurant franchisees. The proposed act aims to enhance accountability for fast-food restaurant…

  • Post category:Ogletree Deakins
  • Reading time:4 mins read
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Discount Deception: Demystifying Ordinary Selling Price Claims under the Canadian Competition Act

In the current economic environment, many businesses may feel pressured to get creative with their marketing and pricing strategies to remain competitive. For example, promotional terms such as “Sale”, “Marked Down” or “End of Line” are frequently used in marketing campaigns to attract consumer attention and boost sales. While these representations may offer short term commercial advantages, businesses must exercise caution, as the Competition Bureau (the Bureau) is increasingly cracking…

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  • Reading time:5 mins read
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We Expect to Be Rewarded for Results, Not Hard Work‌‌

If you accidentally stumbled into a solution for a major problem at work, would you turn down an employee-of-the month award? What if you spent hours of work on something trivial, and your boss offered a free lunch as a reward? ‌ Yale SOM marketing professor Corey Cusimano wondered if there are patterns to when people feel they have earned a reward. Does hard work alone justify being compensated, or…

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New approach to treating aggressive breast cancers shows significant improvement in survival

In a trial where cancers were treated with chemotherapy followed by a targeted cancer drug before surgery, 100% of patients survived the critical three-year period post-surgery.The discovery, published today in Nature Communications, could become the most effective treatment to date for patients with early-stage breast cancer with inherited BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations. Breast cancers with faulty copies of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are challenging to treat, and came…

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Five things to know about measles risks and vaccine safety

The United States is on track to experience the largest outbreak of measles since health officials declared the disease eliminated from the country in 2000. This year alone has seen more than 1,000 cases reported across several states, with severe outcomes for young children: Many have been hospitalized, and two children have died.About half of parents surveyed by the Kaiser Family Foundation say they’re worried about measles. Yet as cases…

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GULF STATES – Oil: navigating back to basics amid stormy seas

The reality is that, when an economy is dependent on commodities, all of its variables are exposed tovolatility in their prices.. Fundamentally, then, the assessment of a country’s risk should not change because of market turmoil; rather, it should reflect the country’s ability to resist it. This would help reduceagitation. Fortunately, there is a practical tool for just that purpose: the fiscal breakeven. But this analysis does not necessarily fit…

  • Post category:Credit Agricole
  • Reading time:8 mins read
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GULF STATES – Focusing on fundamentals in a turbulent oil market

The reality is that, when an economy is dependent on commodities, all of its variables are exposed to changes in the prices of those commodities. Fundamentally, then, the assessment of a country’s risk should not change because of market turmoil; rather, it should reflect the country’s ability to resist such turmoil. This would help reduce turbulence. Moreover, there is a practical tool for just that purpose: the fiscal breakeven. But…

  • Post category:Credit Agricole
  • Reading time:8 mins read
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Women in the Workplace 2025: India, Nigeria, and Kenya

Since 2015, McKinsey, in partnership with LeanIn.Org, has conducted annual original research on women’s participation in the formal workforce in the United States and Canada through the Women in the Workplace report series. This report extends that pioneering research to new countries—India, Nigeria, and Kenya—for the first time, addressing a major data gap and deepening our understanding of women’s representation in the formal sector in these critical markets. Our analysis…

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Expert Comment: How the social media debate on teen mental health is missing the point

Professor Andrew Przybylski Too often, media headlines blame social media for causing rising rates of depression and anxiety in young people, oversimplifying the issue and ignoring the complex factors at play. But the reality, as shown in new research we published with colleagues from the University of Cambridge is more nuanced. Young people with diagnosed mental health conditions experience social media differently from those without such conditions.  We found that adolescents with…

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Leading, not lagging: Africa’s gen AI opportunity

The rapid rise of gen AI has captured the world’s imagination and accelerated the integration of AI into the global economy and the lives of people across the world. Gen AI heralds a step change in productivity. As institutions apply AI in novel ways, beyond the advanced analytics and machine learning (ML) applications of the past ten years, the global economy could increase significantly, improving the lives and livelihoods of…

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Can a Clinic Comply with Trump’s Executive Orders Without Leaving Patients Behind?‌

Tell me about Fair Haven Community Health Care and who it serves.‌ Fair Haven Community Health Clinic, as it was called then, was founded in 1971 by a group of women activists. This has long been an immigrant community—go back 70 or 80 years, and it was largely Irish and Italian. By the early ’70s it was becoming more Hispanic. A group of women got a $5,000 grant from the…

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The Lessons from Pope Francis for the Class of 2025‌

This commentary was adapted from a commencement address delivered at Sacred Heart University and originally published in the Hartford Courant. The views expressed are the authors’ own.‌ A few days ago, the College of Cardinals convened to select a successor to the beloved Pope Francis—a very challenging reign for any human to follow. It would be presumptuous for me to suggest the leadership qualities needed for this daunting role, but…

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Like humans, ChatGPT favours examples and ‘memories’ – not rules – to generate language

The research challenges a widespread assumption about LLMs: that these learn how to generate language primarily by inferring rules from their training data. Instead, the models rely heavily on stored examples and draw analogies when dealing with unfamiliar words, much as people do.To explore how LLMs generate language, the study compared judgments made by humans with those made by GPT-J  (an open-source large language model developed by EleutherAI in 2021)…

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New definition for bullying released to better support pupils and schools

‘Counter-connecting’ is a term coined by the lead author, Dr Julia Badger, of a recently released paper ‘Bullying or counter-connecting? Two inclusive definitions for schools’.Julia, who is a Departmental Lecturer of Child Development and Education at the Department of Education, University of Oxford, said: 'There is no standardised or universally accepted definition of school bullying, and the most frequently used definitions are not inclusive of the experiences of pupils with…

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How P&C insurers can successfully modernize core systems

Modernization is one of the most pressing challenges facing the property and casualty (P&C) insurance industry. In the past decade, core systems built for a slower, paper-driven insurance model have evidently become no longer fit for purpose. They leave carriers struggling with operational inefficiencies, rising IT maintenance costs, and growing pressure to meet customer expectations for real-time responsiveness, such as instant quotes and faster claims payouts. Staying competitive demands adopting…

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Donald Trump’s Tariff Policy: Results of the First Hundred Days

One of the most resonant events at the beginning of Donald Trump's second term in office was the large-scale increase in tariffs on imports to the United States. The new tariff policy affected almost all trading partners, and separate duties were introduced for a group of more than seventy countries. This “trade war against the whole world” became another shock of the first hundred days of the new administration. The…

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Faculty Senate hears updates on the undergraduate experience, emeriti

The Faculty Senate received updates Thursday from the vice provosts of undergraduate education and student affairs regarding their efforts to support and enhance the Stanford undergraduate experience. Senators also learned about the Emeriti/ae Council’s work addressing the needs of the university’s emeriti community.Stanford strives to offer undergraduates a modern liberal arts education focused on self-knowledge, moral development, citizenship, and an intrinsic love of learning, said Jay Hamilton, the Freeman-Thornton Vice…

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New York Sharply Curtails Damages for Weekly Pay Violations

Seyfarth Synopsis: The 2025 New York State budget includes a provision that reduces the potential damages available to plaintiffs for violation of the weekly pay requirement of the New York Labor Law. As discussed here, New York employers have been bedeviled in recent years by class action claims for violation of the Labor Law’s weekly-pay requirement for “manual workers.”  This flood of litigation resulted from the decision in Vega v.…

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Lead or lag: CEOs must embrace AI at full speed

John Chambers, founder and CEO of JC2 Ventures and the former CEO and chairman of Cisco Systems for more than 20 years, grew Cisco to nearly $50 billion in annual revenues, helping companies around the world transform by leveraging the internet. On this episode of the At the Edge podcast, he joins host and McKinsey Senior Partner Lareina Yee to discuss the urgent need for companies to adopt AI and what this…

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Stanford Live announces 2025-26 season, ‘Amplifying Voices’

Stanford Live has announced its 2025-26 season, Amplifying Voices, with more than 60 planned performances spanning music, dance, theater, spoken word, film, and comedy. It will be the first season led by Iris Nemani, the newly appointed McMurtry Family Director of Stanford Live. “These artists will not only entertain,” said Nemani, “but also challenge, teach, and strengthen our community with their stories, their perspectives, and their passion.” The performances, featuring…

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Seyfarth Represents Bain Capital Real Estate and Oliver St. Capital Joint Venture in $208 Million Northern NJ Industrial Portfolio Acquisition

May 8, 2025 – Seyfarth Shaw LLP represented programmatic joint venture comprised of Bain Capital Real Estate and Oliver Street Capital in the acquisition of a strategically located infill industrial portfolio in Northern New Jersey, further strengthening the joint venture’s presence in one of the most supply-constrained and high-demand warehouse markets in the United States. Bain Capital Real Estate and Oliver Street Capital acquired the portfolio for approximately $208 million.…

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The Open Question of International Order

The fact is that the changing balance of power on a global scale and the inability of previous leaders to maintain their positions causes a fundamental restructuring of the international order. It has become a common opinion in recent years. It is difficult to argue with its validity: first of all, because the power base has really changed – there is no longer a group of countries in the world…

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China-Russia cooperation marches towards a fair and harmonious world

Russia is to hold a parade on Friday to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War. The main point of parades is not the parade itself, but to move on to the future world we want to build after the parade. This is what both Russia and China are doing, with their leaders, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, meeting in Moscow during the celebrations. Both…

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How the sporting goods industry can turn uncertainty into opportunity

About 1.8 billion people in the world don’t get enough exercise. Physical inactivity is a global problem—but there are solutions. That’s one of the big themes in Sporting Goods 2025, a report published by McKinsey in partnership with the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI). This fifth edition of the annual report is titled, “The new balancing act: Turning uncertainty into opportunity.” In a recent webinar, four of…

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Safe Staffing Levels? OSHA and Legal Liabilities

Introduction OSHA duty officers around the country routinely field complaints from employees and labor unions alleging workplaces are understaffed and unsafe. Unions often dispute staffing levels, complaining that employers have insufficient bargaining unit members and insufficient members with seniority. Individual complainants allege that they are left to work alone, have no backup in case of emergency, or are at enhanced risk of accident or workplace violence. OSHA duty officers normally…

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  • Reading time:6 mins read
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Minnesota Employment Legislative Update 2025, Part II: It’s Déjà Vu—Lengthy Omnibus Bills, Buried Employment Law Changes

Quick Hits Minnesota’s legislative session will conclude with an omnibus bill introducing significant proposed changes to labor and employment laws, with more developments expected by the end of the session on May 19, 2025. A provision in the omnibus bill would mandate that Minnesota employers provide a thirty-minute meal break for employees working six or more consecutive hours and a fifteen-minute rest break every four hours, with penalties for noncompliance.…

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Governance, risk, and compliance: A new lens on best practices

Excellent governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) is a common aspiration, but how often is it a reality? For most companies, GRC is a work in progress, according to McKinsey’s 2025 Global GRC Benchmarking Survey (see sidebar, “Our survey methodology”). Despite efforts to broaden expertise at senior levels, corporate leaders see a “need for improvement” across numerous aspects of all three GRC pillars. There are many reasons for GRC shortfalls, some…

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Facing Uncertainty as a Practice: Freedom, Presence and the Patterns We Inherit

In a time marked by anxiety, division and disconnection, the path forward lies not in fixing the past but in expanding our freedom to imagine what’s next. In this episode of Learning Through Experience, Dr. Heidi Brooks is joined by Suzi Tucker, a writer, teacher and pioneer of Family Constellations work. Together, they explore how our personal and ancestral stories shape the patterns we repeat—and how stepping into those patterns…

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Stanford collaboration contributes to Pulitzer Prize-winning reporting

A nationwide collaboration led by Stanford’s Big Local News and Stanford University Libraries contributed to a 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting, awarded to Alissa Zhu, Nick Thieme, and Jessica Gallagher of The Baltimore Banner, working in partnership with The New York Times Local Investigations Fellowship.Their investigative series examined the devastating toll of Baltimore’s fentanyl crisis, with a focus on older Black men. The Pulitzer committee praised the reporting as…

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What lessons in cyber resilience can be learnt from the UK high street attacks?

Since the Easter Weekend, Marks & Spencer (M&S), one the United Kingdom’s biggest high street retailers, has been managing the fallout of a cyber-attack on its business operations. This has forced the company to suspend online orders, led to shortages on shelves, increased working demands on staff, and wiped £750m off the share value. Left: Dr Patricia Esteve-Gonzalez. Right: Luna Rohland. Even three weeks later, there is still no indication…

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Tariff Turbulence: Navigating Force Majeure Risks in Texas Oil and Gas Contracts

Upstream oil and gas producers and oilfield service companies are facing new uncertainties from recently imposed federal tariffs. In early 2025, the US expanded tariffs on a broad range of imports, suddenly increasing costs for critical equipment and materials. These abrupt governmental actions raise a pivotal question for the industry: Can newly imposed tariffs qualify as force majeure events under Texas law, thereby excusing delays or non-performance in oil and…

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The new face of wealth: The rise of the female investor

For years, McKinsey has tracked the steady rise of female-controlled assets and analyzed its potential implications in the United States and in Europe. McKinsey recently surveyed more than 13,000 US and European investors, of whom almost half were female financial decision-makers. The team also interviewed wealth managers in the United States and Europe to better understand the challenges involved in attracting and retaining female clients. The survey and interview responses…

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Political Significance of Moscow Victory Day Parade

Today, the central commemorative event of Victory Day celebrations in Russia is the military parade. The main parade traditionally takes place on Red Square in Moscow, with additional military parades being held simultaneously in numerous other cities across the Russian Federation.  Historically, the first Victory Parade took place on Red Square one and a half months after the end of the war in Europe – on June 24, 1945. It…

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Don’t get stuck in a rut—update how you operate

People are asked to update the operating systems on their phones all the time. What if leaders applied that same kind of polishing and bug fixing to themselves? McKinsey research shows that executives who periodically review and revise their priorities, roles, time, and energy tend to be more productive, work more consciously, and drive change more effectively. In this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, McKinsey Senior Partner Arne Gast joins McKinsey…

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Ontario’s new trade fund: Everything you need to know

On April 16, 2025, the Government of Ontario announced that it was launching the $50M Ontario Together Trade Fund (OTTF) to support Ontario’s small and medium businesses with near-term investments to better serve interprovincial customers, develop new interprovincial markets and reshore critical supply chains in response to U.S. tariffs. On April 23, 2025, the Government of Ontario published guidelines (the Guidelines) to assist applicants with submitting their application to the…

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  • Reading time:9 mins read
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Human–machine harmonization to upgrade biopharma production

The biopharmaceutical industry is experiencing a surge in demand for large molecules, driven by advances in biotechnology and the need for innovative treatments for complex diseases. With an annual growth rate of around 6 percent, the sector's role in global healthcare is more critical than ever. However, existing production capacities are struggling to keep up, even though the pharmaceutical industry is spending around $57 billion every year on new facilities.…

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