Latest news with #OliverJones
Economist
5 days ago
- General
- Economist
America's new plan to fight a war with China
International | Rumble in the jungle Photograph: U.S. Air Force Aug 14th 2025 | TINIAN AND GUAM | 8 min read I T COULD BE a giant archaeological dig. Bulldozers tear at the jungle to reclaim the history of the second world war and its dark finale: the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 80 years ago this month. The work on Tinian, a speck in the Pacific Ocean, has exposed the four runways of North Field. Glass protects the cement pits where Little Boy and Fat Man, the first and only atom bombs used in war, were loaded onto American B -29s. For a time Tinian was the largest air base in the world, but it was soon mostly abandoned. World China International United States This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline 'Readying for a rumble in the jungle' Richard Cockett, a news editor, recommends seven books about the defeat of Japan in the second world war The post-1945 order is crumbling. History offers a glimpse of alternatives that might work Global courts struggle to cope with power politics Oliver Jones, our news editor, on the perils of seeking aid in Gaza New research shows it is being used for good and ill America has better technology. But will China adopt it more quickly?
Economist
05-08-2025
- Politics
- Economist
Why the laws of war are widely ignored
International | Guns v gavels Photograph:I nternational courts have never been busier. Conflicts are more common than at any point since 1945. Ever more civilians are being bombed, starved and raped by men with guns. These are the curses that the laws of war were invented to prevent, and that international courts are meant to punish and deter. Oliver Jones, our news editor, on the perils of seeking aid in Gaza New research shows it is being used for good and ill America has better technology. But will China adopt it more quickly? South African leftists dream of telling the West to get lost A guide to four special articles from our home for narrative journalism Its ruling that burning fossil fuels can be 'internationally wrongful' risks provoking a backlash
Scoop
19-06-2025
- Health
- Scoop
EPA's Glyphosate Decision Challenged In Court
The Environmental Protection Authority is being taken to court over its decision not to re-assess the pesticide glyphosate. The Environmental Law Initiative is arguing that there is enough new evidence around the human health and environmental effects of glyphosate, or Roundup, to warrant a reassessment from our chemicals regulator. The hearing has now finished and we are awaiting the judge's decision. Professor of Toxicology Ian Shaw, School of Physical & Chemical Sciences, University of Canterbury, comments: 'Glyphosate, the active compound in Roundup, was licensed in the mid-1970s. We have learned much about the compound since then and, importantly, its use profile has changed significantly. This points to the need for a review to determine the current risk-benefit balance for environmental and human impact (via operator exposure and food residues). In 2022, the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) decided that a review was not warranted based on its call for information upon which it based its decision. The EPA's report quotes farmers who extol the virtues of glyphosate as evidence against the need for a review. The farmers' views illustrate the key role (benefit) that glyphosate plays in New Zealand agriculture, but does not take account of its risks. 'In my opinion, there are too many unknowns relating to glyphosate's long-term environmental impact and its effects in humans not to review the compound. In addition, the current approval is largely based on 1970s toxicity data (environmental and human): we have learned much (risks and benefits) in the intervening 50-years that warrants consideration via a review. Importantly, other countries have reviewed or are in the process of reviewing glyphosate. 'More recently, the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) has proposed an increased maximum residue level (MRL) for glyphosate in some crops and their food products from the default 0.1 mg/kg to 10 mg/kg. This is a completely different issue to the need for a glyphosate review. Indeed, a simple glyphosate residue in food intake calculation shows that the proposed MRL increase will have negligible or no health impact on consumers. This is not evidence against a review of glyphosate's use in New Zealand.' No conflict of interest declared. Professor Oliver Jones, Professor of Chemistry, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia, comments: 'In my view, the New Zealand EPA was entirely correct to state that there isn't enough new evidence to support another review of glyphosate. There have been extensive reviews by regulatory agencies worldwide on this issue, including those of the US, Canada, Japan, Germany, and the European Union (the EU Commission reapproved glyphosate for 10 years in July 2023). There would have to be substantive new information indicating the risk has changed to warrant the expense of another review in New Zealand, and there just isn't any. 'Judges and court decisions don't make science. Science is based on evidence and logical deduction. However, the Federal Court of Australia reached a similar judgment to others in 2024 in what is known as the McNickle case. The court found no conclusive scientific evidence linking glyphosate/Roundup to non-Hodgkin lymphoma. 'It is also worth noting that non-Hodgkin lymphoma is not a single disease but rather a catch-all term for approximately 60 different lymphoma subtypes that are not all the same. It is a little like classifying all voters as Labour voters or non-Labour voters. It is technically correct but misses essential context. 'Bayer and Monsanto may or may not be perfect corporate citizens, but the overwhelming scientific evidence from over thirty years of testing is that glyphosate does not cause cancer even in the most exposed users such as farm workers.
Harvard Business Review
11-06-2025
- Business
- Harvard Business Review
Five Ways Companies Learn to Thrive in an Unpredictable World
by Courtney Rickert McCaffrey and Oliver Jones Geopolitics, and how to manage its potentially seismic risks, is an increasingly pressing concern for business leaders. References to geopolitics and political risk in corporate public documents skyrocketed 600% three years ago and remain three to four times higher than before 2022. And it's not just talk: Political risk—the decisions, events, and conditions that might affect the performance of a company, market, or economy—is having a material impact. The recent tariff announcements caused widespread disruption worldwide. While the scale and scope of these promised tariffs took many observers and markets by surprise, the underlying forces propelling the tariff agenda are both long-standing and global, contributing to this heightened emphasis on political risk appearing in corporate documents. Shaping Supply Chains Sixty percent of more than 1,000 global executives surveyed in EY-Parthenon's Geostrategy in Practice 2025 report said political risk harms their operations and supply chains. (These executives lead companies with more than $500 million in annual revenue, representing more than 20 sectors, including consumer and retail, advanced manufacturing and industrial products, life sciences, and technology.) Such supply chain impacts are unsurprising, given recent headline-making policymaker priorities. Governments worldwide have implemented industrial policies and trade protectionism around critical products and strategic sectors. There's also been greater use of sanctions and anti-sanctions policies and a flurry of regulatory activity, particularly around sustainability and artificial intelligence (AI). In response, most companies are taking strategic action. All executives surveyed said geopolitics had driven strategic changes at their companies, especially for supply chains. Nearly all (94%) said they had invested more time and resources in geostrategy over the past two years, and almost as many (93%) plan to invest more. The percentage of companies taking action across multiple levels of their organizations is also rising—from 24% in 2021 to 37% in 2025. But there is more work to be done. One-third of global executives say they were surprised by most or all political risks that affected their companies in the past two years, 77% of them at least half the time. So how do executives better prepare for future geopolitical and tariff shocks? Becoming a Geostrategist Leading the field in preparing for unexpected political risk are a group of companies EY-Parthenon classifies as 'Geostrategists.' These companies are those taking the most proactive and comprehensive actions to strategically manage geopolitical risk. They operate across all sectors but are concentrated in the retail, power and utilities, real estate and construction, and telecommunications and media industries. Since 2021, Geostrategists have increased in number by 50%. EY-Parthenon teams identified five habits common to successful Geostrategists: 1. They adapt supply chains to geopolitical realities. Geostrategists are more likely than other organizations to have altered their supply chains in response to political risks in the past two years, so they can more effectively manage geopolitical risks, remain resilient, and adapt to the increasingly complex global landscape. One manufacturing company surveyed maps its entire supply chain to identify pockets of risk and, when finding high risk, considers finding new suppliers or redesigning its products. And a life sciences company reconfigured its supply chain after finding vulnerabilities. 2. They build political risk analysis into investment decisions. Integrating political risk as they determine their investments helps Geostrategists enhance M&A success, optimize growth strategies, and save time and resources amid geopolitical uncertainties and macroeconomic challenges. For example, all Geostrategists conduct political risk due diligence when evaluating a potential transaction. 3. They prepare for the unexpected. Geostrategists are more likely to have invested in identifying and monitoring political risk and to use political risk scenario planning to design and test strategy. These strategies help prepare them for unexpected events, such as conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. 4. They regularly engage their boards on geostrategy. Geostrategists' boards are increasingly focused on geostrategy, with 85% incorporating political risk into future-oriented strategic decisions, including M&A and market entry. In 2025, 76% of boards took action on political risk—up from 26% in 2021. 5. They have the right roles at the geostrategy table. Geostrategists are more likely to have cross-functional and collaborative governance teams. In 2021, a function or business unit was the body most likely to have responsibility for geopolitics (52%). In 2025, it is a committee (52%, up from 39%). The number of executives involved has almost doubled, with the general counsel and chief compliance officer increasingly sharing responsibility with the chief risk officer. Geostrategy for Competitive Advantage It is not easy to become a Geostrategist. It requires investments in capabilities and is never 'finished.' But benchmarking against the habits of Geostrategists can help companies identify where to invest for resilience and growth—so they can anticipate and respond to political risk and seize potential opportunities more effectively than their peers.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
HPC Innovator Taps Aion Silicon for $12M RISC-V Accelerator Program
End-to-End ASIC Partnership to Accelerate Global Supercomputing Market with Open-Standard, Energy-Efficient Silicon READING, United Kingdom, May 28, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Aion Silicon (formerly Sondrel), a leading ASIC and SoC architecture partner, today announced it has secured a $12 million engagement to provide comprehensive design services for a confidential customer developing next-generation RISC-V–based accelerators for high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI). The multi-year program leverages Aion Silicon's two decades of SoC expertise to help the customer introduce disruptive, energy-efficient processors that target the most compute-intensive workloads in data centers and scientific research worldwide. Under the agreement, Aion Silicon will deliver the full spectrum of design work—from RTL architecture and verification through Design for Test, physical implementation, and tape-out—on a bleeding edge node RISC-V platform. "The global HPC race demands accelerators that deliver extreme performance per watt," said Oliver Jones, CEO of Aion Silicon. "This project shows how our team can turn bold RISC-V architectures into manufacturable silicon that challenges the dominance of proprietary solutions." Engagement Details End-to-end expertise — Complete RTL architecture, verification, Design for Test, physical implementation, and tape-out on a bleeding edge node RISC-V platform On-site collaboration — A dedicated team of Aion Silicon engineers willwork alongside the customer's team to accelerate knowledge transfer and project velocity Standards-based innovation — Open instruction-set architecture and vector extensions eliminate proprietary lock-in and speed customization for AI and HPC workloads Market impact — Accelerators are expected to deliver industry-leading efficiency, challenging the dominance of legacy architectures in data-center and scientific computing Engineering work is under way, with additional hires planned through 2025 as the design moves toward tape-out and initial silicon. About Aion SiliconAion Silicon is a trusted partner in high-performance semiconductor design, specializing in advanced System-on-Chip (SoC) solutions—including tailored ASICs—for AI, automotive, HPC, 5G, networking, and other applications. Its full-service, high-touch engineering model with consultative project leadership guides customers from SoC architecture and IP selection through design, foundry tapeout, and volume production. With over 20 years of experience in SoC architecture, front-end and back-end services, Aion Silicon reduces technical and economic risk for customers, accelerating time-to-market, while optimizing for commercial success. As a foundry-neutral and IP-agnostic partner with hundreds of successful tapeouts, Aion Silicon leverages a world-class ecosystem to deliver tailored solutions that meet each customer's unique needs. To learn more, visit All registered trademarks and product identifiers belong to their respective corporate entities. Any other trademarks or product names referenced here are also owned exclusively by their relevant companies. Media Contact:Gary BirdAion Silicon+1.831.888.9011aion@ View original content: SOURCE Aion Silicon
