Supporters say the new rules simplify the system and benefit companies and workers. Critics say the laws will “only benefit” owners, undermining employees' rights. Described as the “most radical” in decades, it reduces the previous 29 federal laws into four simplified codes, from 1,400 to 350 rules overall.
The alarm was raised in a report by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. Long-term resilience measures are needed to combat economic losses, health crises and the collapse of energy infrastructure. Asphalt and concrete in cities are exacerbating the emergency. The continent's water resources are also at risk.
2025 does not mark the end of wars, but the division between the dictatorships of East and West. The new Russian language dictionary relaunches visions of democracy and autocracy in official ideology. The speciality of Witkoff and Dmitriev, architects of the truce “project”, is counting money and dividing the spoils. The clash over language and the issue of coexistence between Orthodox Churches.
The pope and Bartholomew I met in İznik to celebrate the Council of AD 325, with representatives of the world's Churches. At the site of the Basilica of Saint Neophytos, the "confession of faith" is the foundation of "full communion." The thirst for reconciliation comes from “the whole of humanity afflicted by violence and conflict." This morning in Istanbul, Leo told Christians in Turkey that the “logic of littleness is the Church’s true strength.”
In Sri Lanka, the preliminary death toll from Typhoon Ditwah stands at 56, with 44,000 people affected. Hundreds of millimetres of rain fell in just a few hours. Government offices and schools are closed. In Indonesia, 19 people are confirmed dead with scores trapped by mud and debris. The archbishop of Medan has launched a fundraiser.
Banned in the 1979 after the Islamic Revolution, opium cultivation could be legalised again by Iran’s parliament. Supporters argue it is necessary for critical drug production, while opponents accuse the government of seeking profits. The goal is to increase production from 450 tonnes per year to about 1,000 tonnes.
