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Beyond the Pattern: The World of Real Multipolarity

This report is the second collective work produced by participants in the Valdai—New Generation project, bringing together, in a shared intellectual endeavour, a large cohort of young—yet already accomplished—researchers from Russia, China, India, Brazil, Tajikistan, Italy, Colombia, Turkey, and the Republic of Korea. Over the course of a year, all of them prepared and published original commentaries on the Valdai Club’s website, addressing the most pressing issues in today’s world. They…

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New Jersey’s Appellate Court Rules on Who Can Sue for Cannabis Law Violations

Quick Hits In Sanders v. The Levari Group, LLC, the Appellate Division found that CREAMMA provides an implied private right of action against employers that refuse to hire individuals based on positive cannabis tests. CREAMMA provides that “[n]o employer shall refuse to hire or employ any person or shall discharge from employment or take any adverse action against any employee … because that person does or does not … use…

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Adjustment Ambiguity: What Employers Should Know About USCIS’s New Policy Direction

This significant development may have wide-ranging impacts, as Adjustment of Status is a pathway available to family, employment-based, and investment-based (EB-5) immigrants and organizations. On Friday, May 22, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a Policy Memorandum (Memorandum) that could meaningfully affect how Adjustment of Status applications (Adjustment) are adjudicated moving forward, though USCIS implementation details remain limited and operational impacts are still developing. While the Memorandum does not…

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CRA delays GST/HST changes on trailing commissions to 2028

On May 13, 2026, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) advised industry groups that the application of its revised administrative position on the taxability of trailing commissions will not proceed on July 1, 2026, as previously indicated. Subsequently on May 26, 2026, the CRA released a revised version of GST/HST Notice 344 – Application of the GST/HST to Mutual Fund Trailing Commissions (Notice 344), formalizing the previously announced deferral of enforcement…

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A dangerous dam‑building race is threatening South Asia’s shared rivers

Bangladesh has just approved one of the largest river engineering projects its history: the Padma Barrage, a vast river-control project intended to restore water in the country’s drought-prone southwest.It comes at a dangerous moment for South Asia’s rivers. China is building the world’s largest hydropower dam upstream on the Brahmaputra, India is accelerating its own dam-building programme, and the treaty governing Ganges water-sharing between India and Bangladesh expires in December…

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Supreme Court Says Last-Mile Delivery Drivers May Be Exempt from FAA

Quick Hits The Supreme Court held that delivery drivers who deliver goods originating from out of state may fall under the FAA’s exemption for certain transportation workers “engaged in … interstate commerce,” even if they do not cross state lines or interact with vehicles that do. The decision is the latest in a series of Supreme Court rulings in recent years interpreting the transportation worker exemption in the FAA. While…

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The Politics of Impressions

The pursuit of rational self-interest, long thought to be the single most important factor determining the behaviour of political actors, may no longer be regarded as such. Andrey Bystritskiy, Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club, describes the “politics of impressions” that has come to define the contemporary political climate—in this environment, emotions and feelings reign supreme, while traditional notions of…

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Humanitarian Cooperation and Cultural Ties in a Fractured World

In the contemporary global landscape, the wholesale “cancellation” of entire national cultures follows geopolitical conflict. As interstate confrontation is no longer restricted to the military and political spheres, innocent individuals find themselves swept up in the tide of great power rivalry as they face condemnation, accusations, and enduring suspicion for the crime of belonging to the “wrong” culture, writes Oleg Barabanov, Valdai Club Programme Director. In contemporary world politics, a…

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Geopolitical risk and scarring effects on consumer expectations: insights from the wars in Ukraine and Iran

29 May 2026By Olivier Coibion, Dimitris Georgarakos, Yuriy Gorodnichenko, Geoff Kenny, Justus Meyer and Trixi PairanGeopolitical shocks influence consumer expectations about inflation and growth. This blog explores how the wars in Ukraine and Iran affect the way households think about the economy and shows how the scars of past experiences amplify reactions to subsequent geopolitical conflicts.Recent movements in euro area consumers’ inflation and growth expectations show that geopolitical shocks influence…

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Building sustainable high performance

Unlocking potential, allocating resources in the right way and driving accountability without burning people out Many organisations are caught between relentless performance pressure and cultures that lack accountability. The organisations that thrive will build collective performance, align leadership teams, allocate talent strategically and create disciplined execution through clearer priorities, stronger capability and more sustainable ways of working. Reading time: 11 minutes There is a tension sitting at the heart of…

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Chicago Pauses Its Tip Credit Phaseout

The pause in Chicago’s incremental tip credit phaseout is a victory for employers in the hospitality industry that rely on a “tip credit,” which allows an employer to pay an eligible tipped employee a lower direct cash wage than the standard minimum wage by using tips the employee earns to satisfy the employer’s minimum wage obligations. Chicago’s current minimum wage is $16.60 per hour, and the permissible maximum tip credit…

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CMU Graduates Receive 2026-27 Fulbright Awards

Several recent Carnegie Mellon University alumni have been named 2026-27 Fulbright Award recipients. The awards, offered by the U.S. Fulbright Student Program and funded by the U.S. Department of State, facilitate international research and teaching opportunities in over 150 countries and are offered to a limited number of grantees following a rigorous selection process.“These Fulbright Student grantees exemplify the power of fully embracing the CMU experience. From distinctive undergraduate research…

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Nicholas Christakis: The Science of Human Connection

Howie and Harlan are joined by Nicholas Christakis, director of Yale’s Human Nature Lab, to discuss his research on social networks, human connection, and the forces that help societies cooperate and endure. Harlan discusses promising phase 3 results for retatrutide, Eli Lilly’s experimental “triple G” obesity drug; Howie provides an update on the fast-growing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Show notes: Obesity Drugs “Lilly’s triple agonist, retatrutide,…

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Florida’s Major Changes to Civil Rights Claim Filing Rules

Quick Hits On May 22, 2026, Governor DeSantis signed HB 1407, which revises the procedural framework for civil actions and administrative remedies under the Florida Civil Rights Act (FCRA). HB 1407 aims to clarify timing issues and procedural ambiguities within the Florida Civil Rights Act, particularly regarding the commencement of civil rights claims and the role of administrative notices from federal and state agencies. The new law will take effect…

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Federal Financial Institutions Legislative and Regulatory Reporter – March 2026

The Reporter provides a monthly summary of Canadian federal legislative and regulatory developments of relevance to federally regulated financial institutions. It does not address Canadian provincial financial services legislative and regulatory developments. In addition, purely technical and administrative changes (such as changes to reporting forms) are not covered. March 2026 Published Title and Brief Summary Status (if applicable) Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) March 30, 2026 Notice…

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Leading through security and defence change

From Strategy to Delivery: The UK Defence Challenge with General Sir Richard Barrons CBE, KBE Joel Grundy speaks with General Sir Richard Barrons about the UK’s changing security and economic landscape following the Strategic Defence Review and Spending Review. Together, they explore resilience, defence capability, public sector trade-offs and the leadership challenges organisations face as geopolitical uncertainty, cyber threats and societal pressures continue to intensify. Watch the full discussion below.…

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FTC Begins Enforcement of the TAKE IT DOWN Act: New Risks and Tools for Businesses

Quick Hits Businesses operating websites, online services, or applications primarily providing a forum for user-generated content may qualify as “covered platforms” subject to the TAKE IT DOWN Act’s notice-and-takedown requirements. The act’s platform obligations can carry significant civil fines of up to $53,088 per violation. Even employers that are not covered platforms may want to familiarize themselves with the act’s requirements in the event an employee reports that nonconsensual intimate…

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U.S. expands Tariff Offset Regime to medium and heavy-duty vehicle sector

On May 15, 2026, the United States has expanded its Section 232 tariff mitigation framework to include medium- and heavy-duty vehicle (MHDV) manufacturers. Key takeaways These measures broaden the access to import adjustment offsets and aligning treatment across the automotive sector considering the overlap in automotive and MHDV supply chains. The offsets are a form of tariff relief that allow eligible U.S. manufacturers to reduce duties payable on imported vehicle…

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The New Fed Chair Wants Less Transparency. That’s a Mistake.

This commentary was originally published in Forbes. The views expressed are the author’s own.The new Fed chair, Kevin Warsh, has made it clear that he would like to make significant changes to the Fed’s monetary policy communication. He has argued that excessive communication isn’t helpful to the public and may constrain monetary policy decisions. He has been particularly critical of the Fed’s projections of the policy interest rate (the “dot…

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Dame Robina Shah receives Freedom of the City of London

One of the UK’s leading experts in patient care has received the Freedom of the City of London at Guildhall today, in recognition of her outstanding contribution to, and achievements in, healthcare and medical education. A highly experienced consultant and chartered psychologist, Dame Robina Shah DBE has spent over 30 years working across healthcare, medical education, patient safety, public service, social justice, and inclusion.She is currently Professor of Psychosocial Medicine and…

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The National Lottery Community Fund and #BeeWell join forces to champion young people’s wellbeing

Thousands more young people across England could soon have a stronger voice in shaping their wellbeing support thanks to a £5.5 million grant from The National Lottery Community Fund to #BeeWell. Since 2021, #BeeWell has already listened to the voices of almost 200,000 young people across Greater Manchester and Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton, working with over 320 secondary schools.   The partnership with The National Lottery Community Fund will last until spring 2030,…

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High Schools Build a Safer Future With Occupational Safety and Compliance-Focused Learning

Quick Hits New high school curriculum initiatives are integrating occupational safety and health concepts into CTE courses to build hazard awareness and prevention skills in students before they enter the workforce. Students who complete these courses gain practical knowledge of OSHA standards, PPE, hazard recognition, and workplace security while also earning credentials such as OSHA ten-hour or thirty-hour cards that provide a tangible professional advantage before graduation. Early occupational safety…

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Canadian Securities Administrators’ semi-annual reporting pilot: Emerging trends and insights

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) has provided eligible venture issuers with the option to move away from quarterly reporting in favour of a semi-annual reporting (SAR) regime through the introduction of Coordinated Blanket Order 51-933 – Exemptions to Permit Semi-Annual Reporting for Certain Venture Issuers (the Blanket Order). Drawing on our review of SEDAR+ filings, we examine the pace and profile of issuer participation, including adoption by exchange, industry, and market capitalization,…

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The Tar-Baby of Global Hegemony

The United States is a power digging itself deeper and deeper into the vicious cycle of hegemonic decline, clinging to its position as an exceptional state in an international system that has long been ready to move on. Meanwhile, Moscow and Beijing continue to observe cautiously as America slowly loses control of a world once subject to Washington’s will, writes Timofei Bordachev, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club. One of…

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New York Legislature Passes Employee Personnel Records Access Bill

Seyfarth Synopsis: The New York Legislature has passed legislation (S3460) that would significantly expand employee access to personnel records. The bill would require employers to provide current and former employees with copies of their personnel records within five business days of a written request, notify employees when negative information is added to their files, and comply with new recordkeeping and anti‑retaliation obligations. Both chambers of the New York Legislature have passed…

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Colorado’s New AI Act Targets Automated Decision-Making for Consequential Decisions

Quick Hits  On May 14, 2026, Colorado Governor Polis signed Senate Bill 26-189, which repeals and replaces the 2024 Colorado AI Act. The new law removes the 2024 act’s duty of care, risk management program, and impact assessment requirements in favor of a pre-use notice, a post-adverse-outcome disclosure, and a limited set of consumer rights tied to “covered ADMT.” “Consumer” expressly includes employees and Colorado resident job applicants, reaching workforce…

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Canada’s new electricity strategy: Powering an electrified future by 2050

The federal government recently released Powering Canada Strong: A National Strategy for an Electrified Canadian Economy, a national electricity strategy with the stated objective of doubling Canada’s electricity capacity by 2050 while advancing reliability, affordability, competitiveness and decarbonization. The plan calls for consultation with territories, Indigenous communities, utilities, regulators, industrial customers, labour organizations and private sector stakeholders. The consultation process will inform both the implementation framework and future legislative and…

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Trump Has a Path Out of the Trade War. Will He Take It?

This commentary was originally published in Fortune. The views expressed are the author’s own.In Greek theater, a deus ex machina arrives when a protagonist is hopelessly trapped — and a golden chariot descends from the heavens to rescue them from a conflict they cannot escape on their own. That is precisely what the Supreme Court has delivered to Donald Trump on trade. With his IEEPA tariff authority struck down as…

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Experts use AI and satellite images to reveal vast damage to critical Amazon buffer zone

An international team of scientists has used artificial intelligence and 35 years of satellite data to uncover the shocking scale of environmental destruction in one of the world’s most important ecosystems.The research, published in Biological Conservation, found that more than 493,000 square kilometres of land - an area larger than Spain - has been damaged by deforestation and fires in the vital transition zone between the Amazon rainforest and the…

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Parkinson’s Symptoms Trace to Distinct Brain Circuits

Parkinson's disease is often treated as a single disorder. But for the more than 1.1 million people(opens in new window) living with it in the United States, the disease can look different from one person to the next. Research from Carnegie Mellon University’s Aryn Gittis(opens in new window) and colleagues suggests the most recognizable symptoms — tremor and slowed movement — result from disruptions in different motor circuits(opens in new window) of the…

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From Absolute Supremacy to Multipolarity: Lessons, Achievements, Consequences, and Future Scenarios of the 2026 US–Israeli War Against Iran

The 2026 US–Israeli war against Iran represents a pivotal moment in the transformation of regional and global security structures. The conflict was not a conventional interstate war but a multidimensional confrontation involving military, economic, cyber, psychological, cognitive, media, and geopolitical domains. It accelerated structural shifts in the international system, challenged the paradigm of American “absolute supremacy,” and highlighted the growing importance of asymmetric deterrence and strategic resilience.  This article analyses…

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Commercial leasing: New liability regime for landlords comes into force July 1, 2026

On May 14, 2026, the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario signed Order in Council 758/2026, which will bring most provisions of the Measures Respecting Premises with Illegal Drug Activity Act, 2025 (the Act) into force on July 1, 2026. Unless exempted by a future regulation, the Act creates a provincial offences regime under which commercial landlords may be prosecuted for knowingly permitting leased premises within their building to be used for…

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New genetic map of the human eye reveals clues to vision loss

ogether, they accounted for around 28% of the outliers, offering new leads for understanding how rare mutations contribute to eye disease.The findings provide an unprecedented resource for scientists studying the genetic roots of vision disorders, and are available to other researchers for accessThey also offer a roadmap for future research into personalised treatments and earlier diagnosis.Author Dr Jamie Ellingford, from The University of Manchester,  said: “Our study marks a major…

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How the war in the Middle East is reshaping euro area firms’ expectations

26 May 2026By Davide Fantino, Annalisa Ferrando, Johannes Groß, Sara Lamboglia, Laura Lebastard, Judit Rariga and Maurice SchmidtThe economic shock caused by the war between the United States and Iran has quickly fed into euro area firms’ expectations. Daily responses to an ECB survey show an immediate increase in expected input costs, selling prices and short-term inflation.Firms' expectations for costs, prices and the broader macroeconomic environment are central to their…

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Building Trust and Cultural Security: The Challenges of Cultural Diplomacy in a World of Hard Power

On May 25, the Valdai Club hosted an expert discussion titled “Is There a Future for Cultural Diplomacy in a World of Hard Power?” Moderator Anton Bespalov presented a brief overview of the history of cultural diplomacy, public diplomacy, and soft power. He reviewed the growing importance of these mechanisms in the 1990s and 2000s, but noted that today they seem to be in decline. “European countries and the United States are…

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No more automatic stay: Five judge panel overrules Handley Estate

On Monday May 19, a five-judge panel of the Court of Appeal for Ontario overruled Handley Estate v. DTE Industries Limited, 2018 ONCA 324, the decision that, for the last eight years, had imposed an automatic stay of the proceeding of any party who failed to immediately disclose a partial settlement agreement that "entirely changed the litigation landscape." In its place, the Court has restored a discretionary abuse-of-process framework and…

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Instruments and Narratives of Indian Cultural Diplomacy

In addition to promoting Indian culture abroad and deepening cultural ties, the Council administers educational quotas for foreign students. Each year, the Ministry of Education allocates several thousand places to the Ministry of External Affairs and the Council, generally ranging from 3,000 to 6,000. These places are distributed across general disciplines, as well as allocated to specific countries—special quotas exist for citizens of Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, African countries, and…

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Supreme Court to Review Whether Title IX Allows Employee Discrimination Claims

Quick Hits The Supreme Court will determine if employees at federally funded educational institutions can bring sex-discrimination in employment claims under Title IX. The petitioners asked the high court to review an Eleventh Circuit decision, holding that Title IX does not provide a private right of action for employment-related sex discrimination. Petitioners argued that there is a “lopsided” 8–3 circuit split on the issue. On May 18, 2026, the Supreme…

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Colorado Enacts Artificial Intelligence Replacement Law

Seyfarth Synopsis:  On May 14, 2026, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed SB 26‑189, which replaces the state’s previous AI law with a streamlined framework focused on transparency and disclosure. Effective January 1, 2027, the new law imposes targeted obligations on developers and deployers of automated decision‑making technology used in consequential decisions (including employment processes), requiring advance notice, post‑decision disclosures, and certain consumer rights. The law centralizes enforcement with the Colorado…

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Immigration Adjustment of Status Applications Are a Matter of Discretion, USCIS Reaffirms

Quick Hits USCIS releases new policy memorandum stating adjustment of status (AOS) applications are a matter of discretion and administrative grace, directing USCIS offices to consider all factors and closely scrutinize applications from individuals who would otherwise obtain permanent residence through consular processing abroad. Applying for adjustment of status is not inherently inconsistent while maintaining nonimmigrant status in a dual-intent category, such as H-1B or L-1, but does not grant…

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