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California Senate Bill 464 Sharpens State’s Pay Reporting Teeth

Quick Hits Beginning on January 1, 2026, employers and labor contractors will be required to separately collect and store any demographic information for California pay reporting so that the information is separate from employees’ personnel records. As of January 1, 2026, when requested by California’s Civil Rights Department, courts will be required to impose civil penalties of $100 per employee for the first failure and $200 per employee for a…

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BLG Calgary lawyers share insights for general counsel from business, the bench and government

A conversation with Melinda Park, Marina Paperny and Sonya Savage In October, BLG and the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) Alberta hosted an engaging session titled: Boardroom Evolution: Strategy, Law and Governance in 2025, drawing on the diverse perspectives of BLG leaders, Melinda Park K.C., Hon. Marina Paperny K.C., and Hon. Sonya Savage K.C., moderated by Makiko Hata, Assistant General Counsel, ATB Financial. The panel explored timely issues shaping Alberta and beyond,…

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How Gambling Is Transforming the Experience of Sports

Is the prevalence of sports betting changing the way people experience watching sports?Sports betting can certainly change how people experience sports. Interestingly, we have some research that says the money is not necessarily even the key to these effects. For example, there has been an explosion in fantasy football participation among fans. These activities fundamentally change the way that fans view sports. Their excitement is not driven by teams winning…

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Climate policy strengthens globally, despite unprecedented contestation in the US and Europe

Nations and companies have made ambitious climate pledges, but to prevent catastrophic climate change what matters is concrete, implemented, enforceable rules. That's what we're surveying.Co-lead Professor Thomas Hale, Blavatnik School of GovernmentThe granular survey of 37 major countries’ climate-related laws and regulations, compiled by Oxford University researchers and dozens of leading global law firms, gives the most detailed view yet of how climate policy is developing at a time of unprecedented…

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AI Spam and the Crisis of Digital Trust: How Synthetic Media Change Political Visuality

A telling example of the influence of generative materials was the Iran-Israel conflict of 2025. In the first hours after the situation had escalated, realistic images of destruction generated by neural networks began appearing online. Generative images of downed fighter jets and bombers, as well as videos of the aftermath of missile strikes, were widely shared. They garnered millions of views, creating a pseudo-witness effect. Users quickly picked up such…

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Mass Dismissal Notification Failures Render Collective Redundancies Invalid, European Court of Justice Rules

Quick Hits The ECJ issued two decisions finding dismissals are invalid if prior mass dismissal notification requirements under EU Directive 98/59/EC and national law are not met. In the two German cases involving collective redundancies, the ECJ found that insufficient or incomplete mass dismissal notifications to the competent public authority led to the invalidity of dismissals. The ECJ ruled that proper mass dismissal notifications and compliance with the consultation requirements…

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Alberta doubles down on data centre mandate

The Government of Alberta has reaffirmed its commitment to its Artificial Intelligence & Data Centre Strategy (Strategy), doubling down on its ambition to make Alberta a leading North American hub for AI and AI infrastructure by leveraging Alberta’s strengths in power capacity, sustainable cooling, provincial wide fibre-optic, and economic growth. To advance implementation, the Province has committed to several initiatives, including modernizing regulatory frameworks, establishing a purpose-built data centre concierge,…

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Island reptiles face extinction before they are even studied, warns new global review

Ricardo Rocha with a Príncipe Green Snake (Hapsidophrys principis), endemic to Principe Island. Photo credit: Patricia Guedes. Although islands make up less than 7% of the Earth’s surface, they harbour a disproportionate share of the planet’s biodiversity. Out of the roughly 12,000 known reptile species, around one-third are confined to islands - including iconic species such as the Galapagos tortoise and Komodo Dragon. These isolated ecosystems act as natural laboratories…

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6 Steps to Build a Business Case for Culture Change

If you’re reading this, you’re probably standing in the middle of an impossible tug-of-war. Leadership wants data. Employees want meaning. And somehow, you’re supposed to turn feelings, trust, and respect into metrics that fit on a slide deck. But here’s the truth: culture doesn’t “just happen.” It’s built intentionally through organizational behavior, individual behavior, and leadership team behavior. And when it’s ignored, it shows up everywhere: turnover reports, exit interviews,…

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Oxford scientists capture genome’s structure in unprecedented detail

Using a new technique called MCC ultra, the team mapped the human genome down to a single base pair, unlocking how genes are controlled, or, how the body decides which genes to turn on or off at the right time, in the right cells. This breakthrough gives scientists a powerful new way to understand how genetic differences lead to disease and opens up fresh routes for drug discovery.‘For the first…

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SJC Holds That Retention Bonuses Do Not Constitute ‘Wages’ Under the Massachusetts Wage Act

Quick Hits On October 22, 2025, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court concluded that a retention bonus is not a “wage” for purposes of the Massachusetts Wage Act, and that such bonuses are instead a form of additional, contingent compensation outside the ambit of the Wage Act. The court reasoned that the purpose of a retention agreement is to benefit the employer by securing the services of an employee through a…

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The China Summit Revealed the Limits of Trump’s Tariff War

This commentary originally appeared in Fortune. The views expressed are the authors’ own.While President Trump’s unorthodox deal making style has intentionally resembled a “bull in a china shop,” it was more like a placid cow in a field last week in China. The world collectively took a deep breath following the U.S.-China summit, as neither Trump nor Chinese president Xi Jinping escalated the ongoing trade war between the two nations.…

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City of Seattle Secures Preliminary Injunction on DEI and Gender Executive Orders

Quick Hits The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington rejected federal agency positions that treat DEI-oriented, race-neutral, and transgender facility access as presumptively unlawful, noting that those interpretations conflicted with established precedent. The court criticized EO 14173’s “materiality” clause, which declared global compliance with all anti-discrimination laws per se material to False Claims Act payment, as boilerplate adopted without reasoned analysis, tailoring, or consideration of reliance interests.…

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Vladimir Putin’s Philosophy of Complexity

A strategic vision of international relations is of great importance to Russia. After all, in the context of a global crisis, all global players are locked in a state of zugzwang and prefer to play a tactical waiting game: who will make the first mistake or exhaust their resources? Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin is already prepared, drawing on the philosophy of complexity, to outline the contours of a new, conciliar world…

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If Pain, Yes Gain – Part 135: New York City Expands Paid Safe & Sick Time Benefits

What You Need to Know: On September 25, 2025, the New York City Council approved a bill that expands the scope of New York City’s Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (“ESSTA”). The bill was officially enacted on October 25, 2025 and will go into effect 120 days later, i.e., on February 22, 2026. The impending amendments make a variety of substantive changes to ESSTA, including: expanding reasons for use;…

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Poland: Pay Transparency Measures Employers Must Implement by 24 December 2025

Quick Hits The legislative goal in Poland mirrors the European Union’s Pay Transparency Directive’s core objectives: reducing gender‑based pay discrimination by making pay systems more transparent and comparable. Further measures covering employee information rights and gender pay gap reporting are expected by 7 June 2026 in line with the Directive’s implementation deadline. While legislation is still to be finalised, it is likely that noncompliance will result in administrative fines. New…

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Love at second sight: support for the euro before and after adoption

4 November 2025By Ferdinand Dreher and Nils HernborgMany Bulgarians are still hesitant about giving up the Lev on 1 January. Mixed feelings are not uncommon in countries adopting the euro. However, survey data show that support significantly increases once people start using the euro in their daily lives. When countries prepare to adopt the euro, public sentiment is often hesitant or split. People tend to worry about prices going up,…

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Global shift towards plant-based diets could reshape farming jobs and reduce labour costs worldwide, Oxford study finds

The global food system is under growing scrutiny for its environmental and health impacts. It contributes substantially to climate change, biodiversity loss, and diet-related disease, making its current trajectory unsustainable.  Rising public awareness of these costs is beginning to shift habits and policies alike: plant-based diets are gaining traction among consumers and governments seeking to address both climate and health imperatives.  Yet food systems are also social and economic lifelines,…

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Two Oxford researchers selected for a 2025 Schmidt Sciences AI2050 Research Fellowship

The Schmidt Sciences AI2050 programme funds researchers to pursue projects to help AI create immense benefits for humanity by 2050. Announced today, 28 academics will join the fourth cohort who will collectively receive more than $18 million in AI2050 fellowships.‘AI is underhyped, especially when it comes to its potential to benefit humanity,’ said Eric Schmidt, co-founder of Schmidt Sciences with his wife Wendy. ‘The AI2050 fellowship was established to turn that potential…

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Massachusetts Pay Transparency Law Takes Effect: What Employers Need to Know

As we previously reported, on July 31, 2024, Massachusetts enacted salary range transparency legislation (“An Act Relative to Salary Range Transparency”) that imposes salary disclosure requirements on Massachusetts employers.  The Act took effect on October 29, 2025.   Employers with more than 25 employees in Massachusetts must now disclose salary range information on job postings and provide pay range information to current employees in certain circumstances.  Additionally, employers with more than…

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Trump’s Asian Tour: The Art of the Deal Returns

Mixing genres in the way only he can, Trump also orchestrated the signing of a “peace deal” between Cambodia and Thailand. Tensions between the two countries had flared again in July against a backdrop of political discord and border conflict, with clashes on the ground leaving at least 43 dead and displacing more than 300,000 people. Moreover, all three countries involved (Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia, which had been acting as…

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Closed Borders Choke America’s Innovation Engine

Q: How did you come to focus on immigration?I did not start out intending to work on immigration policy. Before Yale, I had been an entrepreneur. After Yale, I was very lucky to land a fellowship in the Obama White House in the Office of Science and Technology Policy, helping develop a policy portfolio to enable startups to achieve greater growth. I thought I’d work on access to capital or…

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Expert Comment: Is the dollar’s dominance crumbling?

Dennis J. Snower. Credit: Global Solutions Initiative The world is edging toward a financial storm with few safe harbours in sight. What began as warnings about “the end of America’s exorbitant privilege” has become front-page news.The dollar’s dominance - long seen as unassailable - is now under real strain as global investors, central banks, and even US allies start hedging against a post-dollar world.In Washington, President Trump’s second term has…

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Scientists recreate cosmic ‘fireballs’ to probe mystery of missing gamma rays

Blazars are active galaxies powered by supermassive black holes that launch narrow, near-light-speed beams of particles and radiation towards Earth. These jets produce intense gamma-ray emission extending up to several teraelectronvolts (1 TeV = 1012/a trillion eV), which is detected by ground-based telescopes. As these TeV gamma rays propagate across intergalactic space, they scatter off the dim background light from stars, creating cascades of electron–positron pairs. The pairs should then…

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Jami Balint, Catherine Burns, and Robin Freeman Selected for 2025 Connect CRE Women in Real Estate Awards

Seyfarth Real Estate partners Jami Balint, Catherine Burns, and Robin Freeman have been named among the 2025 winners of the Connect CRE Women in Real Estate Awards. The awards highlight women in commercial real estate who have reached respected leadership positions and serve as mentors within the industry. This year’s honorees were selected from hundreds of submissions across the country, with recognition given to both national leaders and standout professionals…

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Eurasia in a Fragmented World. Valdai Club to Hold Its 16th Asian Conference in Partnership With Ankara Institute

From November 10 to 11, Turkey will host the 16th Asian Conference of the Valdai Discussion Club, organized in partnership with the Ankara Institute. Under the theme “Eurasia in a Fragmented World,” the event will be held in Istanbul. The Valdai Club continues to expand the geography of its Asian meetings. Throughout the history of its Asian Conferences, the Valdai Club has held them in Indonesia, Malaysia, Russia, Singapore, Uzbekistan,…

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Russia’s Role in Educational Cooperation With Central Asian Countries

The geography of educational cooperation among Central Asian countries is determined by their foreign policy interests and the lack of domestic resources to provide opportunities for higher education to their growing populations. Today, the Russian vector of educational cooperation is losing its priority as they diversify their foreign policy ties. As a result, Russia faces the challenge of intensifying and expanding its efforts to support Russian language learning, opening branches…

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Cybersecurity Awareness Month in Focus, Part III: The EU AI Act Is Here—What It Means for U.S. Employers

Quick Hits The EU AI Act took effect on August 1, 2024, and carries extraterritorial reach. U.S. employers can be covered even without a physical EU presence if AI outputs are intended to be used in the EU—e.g., recruiting EU candidates, evaluating EU-based workers or contractors, or deploying global HR tools used by EU teams. Several obligations have begun to take effect, with more phasing in through 2026–27. The European…

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Terumo completes acquisition of University of Oxford spinout OrganOx for a record $1.5bn

The company was founded in December 2008 by engineering Professor Constantin Coussios OBE FREng FMedSci and transplant surgeon Professor Peter Friend FMedSci through Oxford’s Institute of Biomedical Engineering and the Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences.The acquisition marks the first exit under the pioneering partnership between the Department of Engineering Science and Technikos that led to the creation of the Institute of Biomedical Engineering (IBME). Technikos, a specialist medical technology venture…

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Punitive Damages Reform May Be on the Horizon in Massachusetts – Here’s What Employers Should Know

On November 5, 2025, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court will hear oral arguments in a closely-watched wrongful death case that could reshape the landscape for punitive damage awards in the Commonwealth, including in employment cases under Chapter 151B.  Background on Fontaine v. Philip Morris In the underlying case, Fontaine v. Philip Morris USA Inc., Armand Fontaine brought a products liability suit against tobacco giant, Philip Morris and Demoulas Supermarkets on…

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Germany’s Federal Labor Court Rules on Gender Discrimination in Pay

Quick Hits The Federal Labor Court of Germany ruled on October 23, 2025, that gender-based discrimination is presumed if a woman earns less than a comparable male colleague, even if he is a top earner. The court clarified that the presumption of gender-based discrimination does not require a “preponderant probability” and that the size of the male comparator group and median pay levels are irrelevant; the employer must rebut the…

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Tracking progress in modern slavery reporting: Insights from Public Safety Canada’s 2025 annual report

Canadian businesses are enhancing their approaches to preventing and reducing the risk that forced or child labour is used in their activities and supply chains by taking additional steps to assess and manage those risks. Public Safety Canada’s 2025 annual report to Parliament on the Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act (the Act)1 provides insights into the risks of forced or child labour that reporting…

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The 2025 Federal Budget Impasse, OSHA’s Reduced Operations, and Why Worker Safety Will Not Collapse

Quick Hits The partial government shutdown in 2025 has curtailed OSHA’s routine operations, but this is unlikely to cause a dramatic near-term deterioration in worker safety. During the shutdown, OSHA’s contingency plan focuses on preserving essential functions that protect human life and property, such as responding to reports of imminent danger, investigating fatalities, and maintaining a minimal supervisory structure. This ensures that the most severe hazards are still addressed, even…

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BCSC 2024 Compliance Report Card: A sneak peek of the 2024 CFR sweep findings

The 2024 Annual Compliance Report Card (the Report Card) published by the British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) summarizes the findings of the BCSC compliance teams arising from their reviews of the compliance programs of B.C.-based portfolio managers, investment fund managers, and exempt market dealers in 2024. The Report Card provides guidance to firms and chief compliance officers to improve their compliance programs. Of note, the Report Card provides an early…

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Trump Divides America Whilst Switzerland Divides Its Economy into “Good” and “Evil”

The growing clash between opposing camps in the United States didn’t start with Donald Trump’s second term as president. The rhetoric is marked by black-and-white thinking. In Switzerland, we this development raises deep concern, and rightly so. Especially when it comes to complex issues, public debate can slip quickly into overly simplistic patterns, even in this country. When success becomes suspect For example: the 39 percent tariffs imposed on the…

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Nate Wood: Cooking Lessons for Better Health

Howie and Harlan are joined by Nate Wood, a Yale School of Medicine internist and trained chef, to discuss his work combining lifestyle guidance with hands-on training in making healthy, tasty food. Harlan shares new guidance on what counts as a healthy blood pressure; Howie provides an update on rising health insurance costs. Links: Blood Pressure Harlan Kumholz, "Severe Hypertension: The Next Never Event" JACC: 2025 High Blood Pressure Guidelines…

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USCIS Ends Automatic Extension of Employment Authorization With Interim Final Rule

Quick Hits USCIS will end its practice of automatically extending EADs for foreign nationals who file renewal applications—including for adjustments of status and H-4 EAD renewals—based on certain employment authorization categories. The new policy will not affect automatic extensions granted for EAD applications filed before October 30, 2025. If an EAD renewal application (Form I-765) was timely filed before the EAD expiration and before October 30, 2025, then it is…

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De-identification of personal information and the new IPC Ontario guidelines

Under Canadian privacy law, “de-identified” data can be used for research, product development and other such “secondary purposes” without individual consent and without the normal protections that apply to personal information. On October 15, 2025, the Information and Privacy Commissioner/Ontario updated its guidance on the de-identification of personal information. The new guidance is set out in a 96-page document entitled De-Identification Guidelines for Structured Data; Updated and Expanded. This new…

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Oxford-led study shows vaccine protection against Paratyphoid

The Oxford-led study demonstrated that an oral live-attenuated vaccine, CVD 1902,  provided significant protection against S. Paratyphi A infection in healthy adults using a controlled human infection model, without any safety concerns.Enteric fever, caused by Salmonella Typhi and Salmonella Paratyphi, leads to more than 100,000 deaths and over 8 million disability-adjusted life years each year. Around 30% of cases, over 2 million annually, are caused by S. Paratyphi A, for…

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Even Small Teams Can’t Afford to Ignore Culture

Whenever we talk about culture, we often hear, “We’re too small to need culture work,” or “We’re a small company; we’ve got it covered.” But here’s the reality: you’re too small not to focus on culture. When you only have 20 or 50 people, for example, every interaction matters more – the impact is potentially greater. Consider the difference between throwing a rock into a large puddle and how the…

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