The wage increase will take place in two stages. First, it will be increased from €12.82 per hour to €13.90 at the beginning of 2026. It will then increase again by €0.70 a year later. This means German workers would typically earn close to €2,500, making it the second-highest minimum wage in the European Union after Luxembourg, which mandates a monthly minimum of €2,638.
The legal reforms in Vietnam ended the death penalty for eight crimes, including trying to overthrow the government, damaging state infrastructure, making and selling fake medicine, starting wars, spying, drug trafficking, embezzlement, and taking bribes. The new rules also say that anyone already sentenced to death for these crimes but not yet executed by July 1 will have their sentence changed to life in prison after a final decision by Vietnam’s highest court.
This year’s Out for America report from the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute showed an overall 2.4% increase in out LGBTQ+ representation between June 2024 and May 2025 and a 198% increase since the organization, which provides training and support for out candidates, first launched the report in 2017. While the majority of LGBTQ+ elected officials serve in state and local offices, 2025 saw a 33% increase in the number of out U.S. House representatives, bringing the total number to 12.
China has continued its reign as the undisputed global leader in renewable energy, with its solar capacity now surpassing a whopping 1 terawatt (TW). According to the Energy Information Administration, the total global electricity capacity in 2022 was less than 9 TW. From January to May, new solar installations totaled 197 GW, up 388% from the same period last year. In May alone, China added 92 GW of new capacity, a 105% increase from April and the highest monthly figure on record. China reached its first 1 GW of installed solar just 15 years ago in 2010.
Ireland has become the 15th coal-free country in Europe, having ended coal power generation at its 915 MW Moneypoint coal plant in County Clare. Initially commissioned in the mid-1980s by ESB, Moneypoint was intended to help Ireland offset the impact of the oil crises in the 1970s by providing a dependable source of energy. But with Ireland now generating a lot more renewable energy, coal burning is no longer such an urgent need.
As early as 2026, sexual assault survivors, health care facilities, law enforcement agencies, forensic science laboratories and attorneys’ offices in Kansas will be able to track the status of a sexual assault evidence kit, also known as a rape kit, through an online system. Kansas is among the last states in the country to adopt such a system.
45% of US hens, 62% of European hens, and 82% of British hens are now cage-free — up from about 13%, 44%, and 50% respectively a decade ago. Fully 150 million fewer American, European, and British hens are now caged than a decade ago, even as egg demand has risen in all three markets. Most companies with cage-free pledges — over 1,400, including McDonald’s, Starbucks, Amazon, and Costco — have already implemented them.
Just 10 years ago, Rwanda’s gray crowned cranes were vanishing. Once a familiar sight in wetlands across East Africa, their numbers in Rwanda had collapsed, driven by habitat loss and capture for the exotic pet trade. That grim picture has now changed dramatically, thanks largely to the work of Olivier Nsengimana, a veterinarian and founder of the Rwanda Wildlife Conservation Association, which has led a national campaign to rescue, rehabilitate, and eventually reintroduce captive cranes to the wild.
More than £2.5bn of investment into fusion energy over the next five years has been announced as part of the British government’s Spending Review. It said the money would “cement” Oxfordshire’s role as a “world-leading hub” for the technology, while funds would also be invested into plans to build a fusion power plant in Nottinghamshire. Nuclear fusion is the same energy process that powers the stars, which scientists say has the potential of virtually unlimited supplies of low-carbon, low-radiation energy and is often called the “holy grail” of clean energy.
