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Between Scylla and Charybdis: The Fate of the Trans-Kyrgyz Railway

Competition, albeit latent, can be both counterproductive and beneficial for the project. Until recently, Russia was sceptical about the Trans-Kyrgyz Railway project, reasonably believing that this project would not be a global competitor to the Trans-Siberian Railway, despite the shorter, but more complex route to Europe. Russian Railways were even officially present in the working group for the development of the Trans-Kyrgyz Railway project (or as it is called, the…

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Toyota is Investing $500 Million in Joby Aviation

Toyota City, Japan, and Santa Cruz, CA, October 2, 2024―Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota; NYSE: TM) and Joby Aviation, Inc. (Joby; NYSE: JOBY), a company developing electric air taxis for commercial passenger service, today announced that Toyota will invest an additional $500 million to support the certification and commercial production of Joby's electric air taxi, with the aim of realizing the two companies' shared vision of air mobility. The investment, which…

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Arts Education Teaches Empathy, Values Mentorship

In the dramatic arts, training artists and actors holds as much importance as teaching tools for expression, according to Carnegie Mellon alumni with ties to Broadway. “Arts education allowed me to see that there was not one way to be, not one way to learn, not one way to process information,” said Nate Bertone(opens in new window) (CFA 2016), a member of the Tartans on the Rise Class of 2024(opens in new window).…

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40% of major companies, cities and regions lack emission reduction targets

As the climate crisis accelerates, the Net Zero Stocktake 2024 identifies a commitment gap across cities, states and regions, which is holding back the necessary economy-wide transition. The Net Zero Tracker’s annual assessment of the intent and integrity of global climate commitments, shows only a modest increase in net zero targets set by subnational governments (states and regions, and cities) in the past year. Thomas Hale, Professor of Public Policy at…

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‘Fuel starts the engine, but data drives the race’ – Ducati

As the Ducati Lenovo Team powers up for a potential hat-trick in the 2024 MotoGP World Championship, they’re shifting gears in a new era where data, not just fuel, drives the race. In high-performance racing, where every millisecond counts, the two companies are now shaving off seconds every race thanks to the introduction of a groundbreaking track-enabled robot, powered by the Lenovo ThinkStation P360 Ultra workstation. A Partnership Powered by…

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SDNY Chief Judge to ADA Plaintiff: Court Closed for Business to Online-Only ADA Web Cases

Image of computer and coffee mug By: John W. Egan and Minh N. Vu Seyfarth Synopsis: A recent decision holding that web-only businesses cannot be sued over the accessibility of their website under the ADA is the first of its kind in the Southern District of New York and may cause forum-shopping serial plaintiffs and their counsel to shift to state court.  The Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain of the…

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Introducing Drasi: Microsoft’s new change data processing system

Drasi is Microsoft's new open-source project that simplifies change detection and reaction in complex systems, enhancing real-time event-driven architectures. Drasi is a new data processing system that simplifies detecting critical events within complex infrastructures and taking immediate action tuned to business objectives. Developers and software architects can leverage its capabilities across event-driven scenarios, whether working on Internet of Things (IoT) integrations, enhancing security protocols, or managing sophisticated applications. The Microsoft…

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FinCEN’s October 2024 Beneficial Ownership Information FAQ Update

On October 3, 2024, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued new guidance concerning the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) by updating and expanding on the Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) Reporting Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) that Seyfarth's CTA Task Force has covered in the past. Key updates include clarifications on who can access and submit BOI, the use of third-party service providers, exemptions for certain entities, the creation and conversion of…

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Navigating Meal Period Compliance: Key Insights From Recent Washington Court Ruling for Employers

Quick Hits The Washington Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s decision requiring a hospital to compensate employees for missed meal periods, not only with the time worked but also with an additional thirty minutes of pay per missed break, as a remedy for depriving them of their statutory break rights. The ruling emphasizes the importance of employers in Washington adhering to statutory obligations regarding breaks during meal and rest…

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New documentary: Survival and resilience amid war and high stakes game development

The tale begins in 1995, when two brothers, Ievgen and Sergiy Grygorovich, sparked by the gift of a computer from their father, pursued their dream of game development. What started as a modest endeavor—a small group working out of a two-room apartment—would grow into a powerhouse recognized worldwide for hits like Cossacks and the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. franchise. But now, as the 300-strong GSC Game World team faces the development of…

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Microsoft Trustworthy AI: Unlocking human potential starts with trust

As AI advances, we all have a role to play to unlock AI’s positive impact for organizations and communities around the world. That’s why we’re focused on helping customers use and build AI that is trustworthy, meaning AI that is secure, safe and private. At Microsoft, we have commitments to ensure Trustworthy AI and are building industry-leading supporting technology. Our commitments and capabilities go hand in hand to make sure…

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Breaking operational barriers to peak productivity

The world needs more productivity growth. As a recent McKinsey Global Institute report  argues, it’s the best possible antidote to wealth inequality, inflation, and exploding debt and could provide crucial funding for the net-zero transition and improved living standards. It’s also what every company needs. Yet productivity growth has largely declined since the global financial crisis of 2007–09, particularly in the most advanced economies (Exhibit 1). The macro causes of…

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Elixirr and Hiizzy: Revolutionising the Real Estate Market

In a groundbreaking initiative, Elixirr joined forces with Hiizzy, an innovative real estate platform, to transform the way people buy and sell homes. Hiizzy, a property marketplace free of estate agents, was born from frustration with the traditional housing market. The platform empowers homeowners and buyers to take control of their transactions, offering a user-friendly, transparent and cost-effective alternative to the typical high-cost, agent-driven model. This partnership between Elixirr and…

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Beyond 9 to 5: The power of spiritual health in the workplace

Spiritual health, often overlooked in holistic well-being, deserves greater attention. While physical health has traditionally been the main focus and mental and social health are gaining recognition, spiritual well-being plays a critical role in enhancing overall health. McKinsey Health Institute’s (MHI) global survey of 41,000 people finds that spiritual health matters to many, regardless of age, country, or religious beliefs. Studies further show that fostering spiritual health can significantly improve…

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Maine Attorney General Convenes Working Group to Recommend Standards to Implement Right to Repair Law

The Maine Attorney General’s Office recently announced that it has convened an 11-person working group of industry stakeholders to develop recommendations for legislation to establish an entity with rulemaking and enforcement authority “to ensure cyber-secure access to motor vehicle-generated data to owners and owner authorized independent repair facilities for maintenance, diagnostic and repair purposes.” The announcement follows an April 16, 2024 resolve by the Maine Legislature directing the Maine Attorney…

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Research-Based Advice for the Seasonally Overwhelmed and Schedule Challenged

Stop multitasking. Budget your time. Put down your phone. From juggling your family’s personal commitments to urgent work projects, the start of a new academic year can bring seasonal overwhelm. But it can also offer an opportunity to reflect: How to do things better, achieve more balance, and set more meaningful priorities at work and at home. As we begin the last quarter of 2024, Harvard Business School faculty experts…

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Portfolio and performance: Priorities for CPG leaders

What will it take for the consumer goods industry to turn its fortunes around? Once a leader in total shareholder returns (TSR), the industry has fallen from the top to the bottom quartile in TSR performance. This episode of the McKinsey on Consumer & Retail podcast examines the reasons for that decline—and what consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies can do about it. The episode is excerpted from a webinar on “Rescuing…

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Emotional Wisdom and the Permission to Feel

How do different emotions impact everyday life? And what are the kinds of experiences we want and need—in the classroom, at work, and in our own developmental trajectories—to be able to deepen our emotional wisdom so we can make better decisions and have healthier relationships? In this episode of Learning Through Experience, we dig deep into feelings with Dr. Marc Brackett. As he underscored during our conversation, “We all have…

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If Trump Returns to the White House: Legal Grounds for Lifting Sanctions Against Russia

If Donald Trump terminates the new national emergency declared via Executive Order 14024, then all those included in the SDN on its grounds will be excluded. This also applies to sectoral sanctions. The sanctions imposed by the Obama administration with respect to the Ukrainian issue, digital security and other issues will remain. There are quite a few precedents for such cancellations. Thus, Biden, already in the first months of his…

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Cross-Border Catch-Up: Performance-Based Terminations of Employment in South Korea

Quick Hits A Supreme Court of Korea opinion provides employers with useful insights into just cause for dismissing an employee based on poor performance. The court found that a former employee, who had been with the employer for more than twenty-five years, had received poor performance reviews for more than ten years before being dismissed, and had failed to meet the requirements of a performance improvement plan seven out of…

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Lessons from the new wave of companies with AI at their core

If you really want to understand the future of work, look at the companies that are going all in on AI. That’s what Jared Spataro, Chief Marketing Officer of AI at Work here at Microsoft, tasked his team to do. What they found: AI-native startups fold the technology into all aspects of their businesses, from processes and products to customer service. As Spataro says, they’re “using AI at the core…

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New study reveals positive mood changes during video game play

The study looks at player data from 67,328 gaming sessions from 8,695 players in 39 countries, analysing their mood before and during gameplay Across 162,325 in-game mood reports from players of the popular game PowerWash Simulator (PWS), the average player reported a more positive mood during play than at the start of each session Researchers predict 72% of players experience this uplift in mood during the play session based on…

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Valdai Club and the Center for Russian Studies at East China Normal University to Discuss the 75th Anniversary of Russia-China Diplomatic Relations

On October 14–15, the Valdai Discussion Club and the Center for Russian Studies at East China Normal University will hold a Russian-Chinese conference in Moscow to mark the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations. The Center for Russian Studies at East China Normal University is one of the largest institutes in China studying Russia, the former Soviet Union, and Chinese-Russian relations. It also serves as a platform for other Chinese think…

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Europe’s economic potential in the shift to electric vehicles

Executive summaryThe automotive industry has been a stronghold of the European economy for decades but is now facing disruption from electric mobility. In 2023, the industry contributed $1.9 trillion in gross value added (GVA), with technology and car exports creating $620 billion in value. Electric mobility could add $240 billion to $300 billion in GVA in after-sales support and services by 2035. But based on current trends, European production value…

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  • Reading time:22 mins read
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Bring Your Own AI: How to Balance Risks and Innovation

Research Highlight Banning GenAI tools won’t work. Leaders should set guidelines that let employees experiment: This mitigates risks while opening the door to organizational gains, research shows. Nick van der Meulen and Barbara H. Wixom October 03, 2024 Reading Time: 10 min  Matt Harrison Clough / Ikon Images The Research This research briefing is based on a series of three consecutive virtual roundtable discussions the authors conducted in the last…

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California Governor Vetoes AI Safety Bill With Whistleblower Protections for Employees Who Report Dangers of the Technology

Quick Hits The bill would have required developers of large AI models made available to the public to take specific steps to ensure that they did not cause critical harm. It would have imposed employment protections for developers’ employees who blew the whistle about potential dangers. The legislation was one of several AI bills presented to the governor during the year’s regular legislative session as California looks to be a…

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Teachers share the stories we can’t fully express

Join us this World Teachers' Day as we express our gratitude for educators everywhere. There aren't enough words to truly capture the essence of what teachers do every day. As we celebrate World Teachers’ Day 2024, we find ourselves reflecting on the immeasurable contributions of educators around the globe. Observed annually on October 5, World Teachers’ Day is a UNESCO initiative that honors the teaching profession and recognizes the pivotal…

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Fortune or fiction? The real value of a digital and AI transformation in CPG

The narrative surrounding generative AI (gen AI), a moon shot, once-in-a-generation innovation, is that it could utterly reinvent how businesses—consumer-packaged-goods (CPG) companies among them—are run. CPG leaders are heeding the call. In a 2024 survey of CPG leaders, 71 percent said they adopted AI in at least one business function of their organizations (up from 42 percent in 2023), while 56 percent said they were regularly using gen AI. However,…

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Surgeon General Vivek Murthy: Crises and Common Ground

Harlan Krumholz: Welcome to Health & Veritas. I’m Harlan Krumholz. Howard Forman: And I’m Howie Forman. We’re physicians and professors at Yale University. We’re trying to get closer to the truth about health and healthcare. This is a very, very special episode. It’s our nation’s surgeon general—and our alum—joining us today for the second time for this very special episode of Health & Veritas podcast. Harlan Krumholz: Howie, I’m really…

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Manage Boundaries Better With Your Team

Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images Just how much do employees resent it when leaders cross work-life boundaries? Our research found that employees consider being contacted during off-hours an unwelcome intrusion into their personal lives 76% of the time.1 Additionally, 83% of people reported experiencing interruptions at least twice a week, and 41% reported an increase in interruptions compared with pre-COVID times.2 Work-life boundaries are blurrier than ever, creating significant…

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ERISA Litigation Developments – California Leads the Way

Tuesday, October 8, 20243:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Central1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Mountain12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. Pacific About the Program While the ERISA legal landscape changes constantly, one thing is certain - California remains a harbinger of litigation trends soon to spread nationwide. From the statutes and laws under which ERISA cases are brought to novel venue shopping tactics, employers across the US…

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New California Law Directs Cal/OSHA Standards Board to Adopt Standards for Hospital Weapons Detection Screening by 2027

Quick Hits Governor Newsom recently signed into law legislation directing the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board, by March 1, 2027, to amend existing standards to require hospitals to implement weapons detection screening policies. The standards will also require hospitals to implement policies addressing personnel education and training, alternative search and screening protocols, response protocols for detected weapons, and public notification. Newly enacted Assembly Bill (AB) No. 2975 requires…

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Get ready for the 2025 Microsoft Imagine Cup: Let the innovation begin

Turn your innovative idea into reality with the Microsoft Imagine Cup Are you a student with an original idea that could possibly change the world? The 2025 Microsoft Imagine Cup is your opportunity to develop your idea, showcase your solution, and shine on a global stage. Register now for the 2025 Imagine Cup! The Imagine Cup is the premier global technology competition for student founders leveraging AI to push the…

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5 practical ways to tackle financial anxiety on World Mental Health Day

Money worries are a common occurrence for many people in the UK, and ongoing economic challenges have only heightened these concerns. Indeed, research from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has revealed that 43% of UK adults – more than 22 million people – feel stressed or anxious due to rising living costs. This worry can affect many areas of your life, ranging from your financial and emotional wellbeing to your…

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Monetary policy transmission: why consumers’ housing situations matter

3 October 2024By Lorenzo Baldassarri, Dimitris Georgarakos, Geoff Kenny and Justus MeyerMonetary policy decisions have direct financial consequences for many consumers, especially as they influence mortgage conditions. The ECB Blog looks at how these effects differ based on consumers’ mortgage situations and why that matters for the transmission of monetary policy.Consumers’ expectations about real interest rates influence their decisions about saving, borrowing and investment. What really matters to people, according…

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Elections and Leadership: 3 Ways Your Reaction Can Impact Your Team

Election season tends to bring division and tension, and it’s hard to avoid. Even if you’ve reminded your team to steer clear of political conversations at work, it’s likely that the topic will still pop up here and there. The truth is, having employees with different views isn’t the problem. What makes things tricky is that both employees and leaders often struggle with how to discuss political or social issues…

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BRICS After Expansion

The 2024 expansion is the most important milestone, after which BRICS found itself at a fork in the road. It will either preserve and strengthen the quality of cooperation amid the new composition and turn into a genuine institute of global governance and dive into the formation of a more just world order, or it will become a loose and non-decision-making discussion club, participation in which is prestigious, but does…

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Middle East Crisis: Can a New Round of Escalation Be Avoided?

On October 2, a discussion dedicated to the aggravation of the situation in the Middle East was held at the Valdai Discussion Club. The event was moderated by Programme Director Andrey Sushentsov. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Lebanon Alexander Rudakov noted that the country is at the intersection of almost the entire spectrum of Middle Eastern problems, suffering from ethno-confessional tensions, a profound economic and political…

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Massachusetts PFML Update: Benefit and Contribution Rate Updates And SJC Confirms Employers Are Not Required To Continue Accrual Of Certain Benefits During PFML

As part of its annual exercise, the Massachusetts Department of Family and Medical Leave (DFML) announced an increase to the maximum weekly Massachusetts Paid Family Medical Leave (PFML) benefit, effective January 1, 2025, while contribution rates from employers and employees that fund the public program will remain the same. Additionally, on an issue of first impression, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) recently held that an employer does not need…

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