Quick Hits The New York Court of Appeals clarified that, pursuant to New York Labor Law § 220, contractors on public projects in New York must pay prevailing wages even if the contract does not promise to pay prevailing wages. The court found that any agreement in a public works contract to shorten the statute of limitations governing third-party claims for prevailing wages is not enforceable. Prevailing wages may apply…
The Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) is shaking up the requirements under Window 2 of its Long-Term 2 (LT2) Request for Proposals. Recent engagement sessions signal several important developments for proponents, including expanded eligibility for repowered facilities, potential increases to proposal fees, the possibility for domestic content commitments, and being required to be in “good standing.” While subject to change, the IESO expects to publish draft RFPs and contracts in…
Street View returns to Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia.
The international system has undergone profound structural transformations marked by great power competition, rising protectionism, and growing uncertainty concerning traditional globalisation. Recurrent disruptions in global supply chains have further pushed states to rethink trade routes, infrastructure networks, and economic dependencies. Within this context, strategic corridors have emerged as key geoeconomic instruments for reshaping global economic geography. They are no longer limited to infrastructure or trade facilitation, but increasingly serve to…
Even moderate doses — as low as 31 to 60 MME per day — were linked to a measurable increase in risk of respiratory depression.Additionally, the combination of opioids and gabapentinoids, such as gabapentin and pregabalin, was associated with a further increased risk in respiratory depression.Fentanyl’s high potency and rapid brain uptake help explain why it suppresses breathing more abruptly than other opioids.Oxycodone’s role in opioid‑related deaths in North America…
Specifically, the EEOC identified ten actions it intends to pursue, including regulatory proposals to rescind the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (UGESP), eliminate the annual EEO-1 report, and withdraw long-standing interpretive guidance on affirmative action and national origin discrimination. The EEOC’s regulatory agenda, as released in its latest submission in the federal Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions, is a statement of the agency’s intent, but is…
From time to time, a veterinarian may receive notification of a complaint from the College of Veterinarians of Ontario (CVO) on behalf of a client. Under the Veterinarians Act (Act), the CVO is responsible for receiving, investigating, and acting on complaints made against veterinarians, whether they practise in a veterinary clinic, mobile practice, or provide care for farm animals. For a veterinarian, receiving a complaint can be stressful, but a…
Three ways Google collaborates with governments, international organizations and communities on global crisis resilience.
A new weeklong event brought K-12 teachers to Carnegie Mellon University’s campus to foster curiosity and discovery as they transform their students into future-ready innovators.Hosted by CMU’s Leonard Gelfand Center for Service Learning and Outreach(opens in new window), the inaugural Teacher Summer Camp reflects Carnegie Mellon’s broader commitment to supporting K–12 educators and strengthening the region’s educational ecosystem. By investing in teacher professional development, CMU extends the impact of its expertise…
Transcript Harlan Krumholz: Welcome to Health & Veritas. I’m Harlan Krumholz. I’m here with Howard Forman. We’ve got a special episode today. It actually reprises something that we did before because we talked a lot with Selwyn Rogers about his book and now it’s coming out. But I’m going to hand it over to Howie who’s going to tee this up for us.Howard Forman: Yeah, we’re really excited about this.…
Liverpool’s year as the first UN Climate Change Accelerator City has shown that the cultural sector can be a powerful driver of climate action, but cities need the right expertise, data, governance and infrastructure to deliver lasting change, according to a new report.The evaluation, led by researchers at The University of Manchester’s Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research and Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations (CAST), analysed nine real-world…
7 July 2026By Dirk Broeders and Daniel GybasThe ECB is now addressing potential financial losses linked to climate change in its collateral framework. Its new climate factors ensure that firms’ vulnerability to transition shocks are considered when assessing the value of corporate bonds used as collateral in lending to banks.On 15 June 2026 the ECB introduced climate factors into its collateral framework. This means that uncertainties related to climate change…
While OPEC+ and the US may be the two whales of global oil markets, ASEAN is not a third whale. Its countries are a school of smaller fish swimming between them. They do not get to decide how the whales move. What they can decide is how we swim: not locking onto one whale’s wake, but staying agile enough to shift when the current changes, Tu Anh Tuan writes. On…
Quick Hits The EEOC released a draft strategic plan for FY 2026–2030 on July 1, 2026, with public comments due by July 19, 2026. The draft narrows or removes several priorities carried over from the current FY 2022–2026 plan, most notably around systemic enforcement, the agency’s own diversity-related workforce commitments, and AI in hiring. Employers may wish to review the draft now, since it signals how the Commission intends to…
This commentary was originally published in Time. The views expressed are the author’s own.The movement to strengthen democracy in America is not struggling because its enemies are too strong. It is hobbling because its friends are too many.I have spent decades inside the machinery of social action movements. I have convened rival cancer organizations under a single coalition, mobilized over a thousand corporations to withdraw from Russia after the invasion…
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded funding for Bridges-3, the next-generation flagship supercomputer at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center(opens in new window), expanding access to advanced computing resources that enable breakthroughs across science, engineering, medicine and artificial intelligence. Backed by a $10 million NSF award, the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center — a joint research center with Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh — will build the new system to meet growing…
Universities need to rethink how they teach, assess and prepare students for employment as artificial intelligence becomes an increasingly important part of everyday life and work, according to a new study from The University of Manchester.The paper argues that AI is changing how people learn, work and make decisions, and that universities need to adapt to this new reality.The study suggests universities should move beyond concerns about plagiarism and chatbot…
We are delighted to introduce this year’s winners and their ventures – £100,000 – SwiftCas Diagnostics We have developed simple, fast diagnostic tests that use CRISPR programmable nuclease technology to identify infections caused by a wide range of infectious agents, especially bacteria. Our approach can be easily adapted to detect different diseases, making it highly flexible. CRISPR diagnostic tests are accurate, affordable, and rapid. These tests will help doctors diagnose infections and make informed treatment decisions within hours of assessing a…
France’s growing activity on NATO’s eastern flank represents a long-term shift in its foreign policy and reflects a particular emphasis on relations with Poland, even though the project being advanced by Paris faces a number of fundamental limitations, argues Aleksei Chikhachev, Associate Professor at the Department of European Studies, School of International Relations of Saint Petersburg State University, Leading Expert at the Center for Strategic Studies, Institute of Foreign Economic…
The University of Manchester will play a leading role in delivering new national infrastructure for UK life sciences.The University and the Earlham Institute have been appointed by BioFAIR to lead a new consortium to establish the Methods Commons, the first spoke of the £34 million BioFAIR programme.The Methods Commons will provide researchers with national-scale capabilities for the discovery, execution, sharing and reuse of the computational workflows, tools and notebooks that…
Quick Hits Virginia Governor Spanberger vetoed SB 378/HB 1263 on May 14, 2026, blocking legislation that would have extended collective bargaining rights to approximately 500,000 public employees across the Commonwealth. The vetoed bill would have repealed Virginia’s collective bargaining ban, established a Public Employee Relations Board, required mandatory good-faith bargaining over wages, hours, and working conditions, and imposed binding arbitration upon impasse. Virginia’s existing framework, which allows individual localities to…
2 July 2026By Pablo Aguilar, Lukas Boeckelmann and Antoine KornprobstHow vulnerable is the global economy to trade disruption in the Strait of Hormuz? Using scenario-based analyses, this blog shows that supply shortages can affect growth and inflation beyond the impact on global energy prices.The war in the Middle East and the subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz have unsettled oil markets. Energy prices have surged, causing great uncertainty across…
Quick Hits On June 22, 2026, the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights (MCCR) published its Elements of Proof Guidance, a comprehensive document setting forth the elements of proof the MCCR applies for claims of employment and other discrimination under Maryland State Government Article, Title 20. The guidance identifies thirty-five categories of employment discrimination claims—ranging from hiring, promotion, and discharge to harassment, retaliation, and genetic testing—and sets forth the specific elements…
Android and Samsung helped B3 securely scale mobile device management and AI capabilities for their management workforce.
Researchers from The University of Manchester are advising Parliament on the growing energy and environmental impacts of artificial intelligence (AI) and data centres, as part of a new inquiry into their implications for the UK’s net zero ambitions.Data centres have been designated as critical national infrastructure due to their importance for economic growth, but their electricity consumption is projected to quadruple by 2030. The inquiry will assess how this increasing…
The way people in Manchester pronounce a single vowel sound can reveal their social class, according to new research from The University of Manchester.The study examined the pronunciation of the final vowel in words such as happy, baby, city and chilly – known by linguists as the "happy vowel".Key findingsThe pronunciation of the "happy vowel" remains one of the strongest indicators of social class in ManchesterMiddle-class speakers tend to use…
For many aspiring young scientists and engineers, the first year of college is a crossroads. Introductory classes in math and science can determine who pursues careers in STEM and who changes course. These classes can act as bottlenecks and discourage students early on, preventing thousands of students from pursuing careers in math and science. David Yaron “Students are going to need to understand how modern technologies work, and STEM gateway…
Quick Hits The Supreme Court reaffirmed that the Fourteenth Amendment grants automatic citizenship to virtually all children born on United States soil (i.e., “birthright citizenship”). The ruling affirmed lower court rulings that enjoined an executive order by President Donald Trump, which sought to restrict U.S. citizenship conferred at birth to children with at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen or a lawful permanent resident. The ruling preserves the…
Sweeping changes have been proposed to Canadian securities law that would allow selective buybacks, enhance disclosure requirements, update the early warning system, and amend exemptions from takeover bid and issuer bid regimes (collectively, the Proposed Amendments). This development marks a shift by the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) towards providing issuers with greater flexibility, improving transparency, reducing regulatory burden, and enhancing the integrity of the issuer bid, takeover bid, and early…
Julianne Antrobus, CEO, UKNNL, said: "I am looking forward to our collaboration with the University of Manchester moving from strength to strength as we work together to develop the next generation of nuclear talent and technology."The 2024 Strategic Review gave us a clear direction: become the partnerships-led national laboratory that government and the sector needs. One of the most important things we can do in pursuit of that is to…
An armed conflict, for which political Europe is increasingly preparing, can probably still be avoided. But the new division of the European continent is likely to harden and remain a reality for generations to come. Political Europe will seek to draw into its orbit—if not into its formal structures—the parts of the continent that lie outside Russia, including such ambiguously European regions as the South Caucasus. It will not tolerate alternative integration projects. That means an irreconcilable struggle with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU),…
On June 30, 2026, the Valdai Club hosted an expert discussion titled “Migration 2026: Lessons of the Past and Challenges of the Present”. Moderator Anton Bespalov called migration one of the most pressing issues on the international agenda. However, he noted that the average person is often unable to understand the intricacies of migration policies, due to being bombarded with mutually exclusive narratives. Bespalov invited the participants to discuss the…
Multigenerational workforces and the future of organisations Q5’s Futures Taskforce 2026, supported by Ipsos research, explores how organisations can unlock the potential of multigenerational workforces. Drawing on insights across five sectors, the report argues that leadership, knowledge transfer and organisational design matter more than generational stereotypes, offering practical actions to build more resilient, inclusive and high-performing organisations. Reading time: 8 minutes The Q5 Futures Taskforce is an annual research programme…
June 30, 2026 – Seyfarth Shaw LLP has further bolstered its Labor & Employment practice with Steven Moore, a nationally recognized L&E litigator, as a partner based in its San Francisco office. Moore brings to Seyfarth a nationally recognized employment litigation practice, a substantial book of business, and deep experience with high‑stakes wage and hour class and collective actions. He has built a reputation as an accomplished trial lawyer with…
Quick Hits The Supreme Court ruled that the Equal Protection Clause and Title IX allow states to designate school sports participation based on biological sex and that the laws do not unlawfully discriminate against transgender individuals. The Court found that Title IX does not require schools to make exceptions to biological sex-based sports to allow biological males who identify as female and who may have taken puberty-delaying medication or hormones.…
Artificial intelligence is no longer a future-state issue: it's operating inside Canadian businesses already, and the legal and operational landscape surrounding AI in the workplace is moving faster than most governance frameworks can keep pace with. On June 1, 2026, BLG's Labour and Employment lawyers gathered coast to coast to work through four areas that demand immediate attention: The evolving legislative landscape around AI; The risks of uncontrolled early adoption; The…
Today, we’re releasing our 11th Environmental Report, which provides a holistic view of our 2025 sustainability performance.
Quick Hits The Supreme Court ruled that the removal provision for Federal Trade Commission members violates the Constitution’s separation of powers. The Court’s overruling of a nearly ninety-year-old precedent could impact the president’s authority to remove leaders of other agencies, such as the NLRB and MSPB. The Trump v. Slaughter Decision In Trump v. Slaughter, No. 25-332, the Supreme Court ruled 6–3 against a legal challenge by former FTC commissioner…
On June 29, 2026, the Valdai Club hosted a discussion titled “The SCO Turns 25: Achievements, Challenges, and Looking Ahead”. Moderator Ivan Timofeev noted that much has been accomplished in the organisation’s quarter-century of existence. Its working formats have been established, and the SCO has significantly expanded. On a number of economic and security issues, it has become a significant platform for the exchange of opinions and consultation. According to…
Quick Hits The DOJ issued an opinion finding that the EEOC’s guidelines on disparate impact liability under Title VII are unconstitutional, reasoning that they impose liability on employers based on disparate effects alone without regard to intent. The DOJ’s opinion emphasizes that the burden of proof regarding the unreasonableness of an employment practice and its causation of disparities lies with plaintiffs, rather than employers. The DOJ also found the EEOC’s…