Labour Day celebrations across Asia were dominated by the impact of the Gulf crisis on local economies. Prabowo also announced new regulations strengthening protections for delivery riders. In Singapore, Prime Minister Wong urged the public to prepare for prolonged economic hardship. In Sri Lanka, celebrations were organised by the Christian Workers’ Fellowship.
The Synod has elected the three candidates to succeed Ilia II, who had led the Georgian Church since 1977. The candidate with the most votes was the 57-year-old Metropolitan Shio, who had in fact already served as regent alongside the elderly patriarch for ten years. But this transition is extremely delicate, because in a deeply polarised country and against the backdrop of the clash between Moscow and Constantinople, the Georgian Orthodox Church is not merely choosing a person or a development programme for its future.
The announcement yesterday evening after initial reports of a reduction in her sentence, comes immediately after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to Yangon. There is no indication of her whereabouts. Her lawyers – who have been unable to meet her for years – have asked to speak to her directly. Her son Kim Aris said: “The image released dates back to 2022; until we can communicate with her, I won’t believe a word of it.”
Between 2021 and 2025, 37,740 Indian workers died abroad, over 86% of them in Gulf countries, and reports of abuse and exploitation are also on the rise. However, migration flows remain central to the Indian economy, due to remittances. The crisis in the Middle East is putting pressure on an already fragile system, including from an energy perspective, and in the long term risks causing a domestic economic shock.
A trade union is threatening an 18-day production stoppage if its demand for bonuses proportional to the group’s record revenues is not met. The production halt would create a shortfall of nearly 0 million. President Lee calls on workers and trade unions to act “responsibly” against excessive demands and urges greater “solidarity”.
In a region where over 100 million people will be living by 2025, the traditional model of trade in raw materials and finished goods is being superseded, with an increasing focus on the coordinated creation of added value. Berlin is able to offer cutting-edge solutions for the green transition and make a vital contribution to the development of human capital.
