2025 C.E.

Peace sign lit in the sky at night

Kurdistan Workers’ Party agrees to peace deal with Turkey, ending deadly 40-year conflict

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The decision promises to put an end to one of the longest insurgencies in the Middle East and could have significant impact in Turkey, Syria, and Iraq. In February, party leader Abdullah Ocalan, who has been imprisoned since 1999, urged his group to convene a congress and formally decide to disband. The call by Ocalan marked a pivotal step toward ending the decades-long conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives since the 1980s.

Brazilian flag

Brazil court grants gender-neutral ID in historic victory

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A nonbinary person in Brazil has been granted official documents with a neutral gender marker for the first time in a unanimous court decision. The case involves a person who originally requested to be recognized as male on their official documents after starting hormone replacement therapy, but later regretted this decision and appealed to the Supreme Court of Justice in Brasilia. According to the AP, the case represents the first time that someone in Brazil has been able to get gender-neutral official documents in the country.

Fur coats

Chinese fast-fashion giant Shein bans fur and wild-animal skins across its online marketplace

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Shein’s updated ban covers any items made from the skins or feathers of all animals considered to be “exotic”, including ostrich feathers, alligators, and snakes. The decision comes after PETA noticed several third-party vendors offering real fur products and accessories made from exotic animal skins on Shein’s marketplace platform in 2024. Shein previously maintained a no-fur policy for its in-house brands; however, this policy did not extend to third-party sellers operating on its marketplace platform.

Leopard

Sri Lanka’s Kumana National Park emerges as a stronghold for vulnerable leopards

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A new study reports a notably high density of Sri Lankan leopards in the country’s Kumana National Park. Using camera traps, the study recorded more than 90 leopard encounters, including 34 identified individual leopards, captured on film across a 16-month survey period. Since 2017, a citizen science program has also recorded 80 individual leopards in Kumana, using a naming system to identify each individual. The Sri Lankan leopard is tagged as a species “vulnerable” to extinction, according to the IUCN Red List criteria.

|varshesh joshi unsplash

Marine litter on the E.U. coastline down by almost one-third since 2015

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The new E.U. Coastline Macro Litter Trend report has found that the amount of marine macro litter in the E.U. coastline has dropped by 29% between 2015-2016 and 2020-2021. While the largest reduction in terms of percentages is seen at the Baltic Sea (45%), major efforts at the Mediterranean and the Black Sea have led to impressive reductions in the absolute amount of litter on European beaches. This achievement is the result of multilateral, national, regional, and citizen efforts triggered by the Marine Strategy Framework Directive.

Coral reef with fish

New Caledonia bans ‘dangerous’ seabed mining for half a century

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The South Pacific French territory has imposed a 50-year ban on deep-sea mining across its entire maritime zone – a rare and sweeping move that places it among the most restrictive in the world on seabed extraction. The law blocks all commercial exploration, prospecting, and mining of mineral resources within New Caledonia’s exclusive economic zone – an area of over 500,000 square miles. New Caledonia is considered a global hotspot for marine biodiversity. Its waters are home to nearly one-third of the world’s remaining pristine coral reefs.

Rooftop solar

Solar panels to be fitted on all new-build homes in England by 2027

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Almost all new homes in England will be fitted with solar panels during construction within two years. Under the plans, housebuilders will be legally required to install solar panels on the roofs of new properties by 2027. The policy is estimated to add between £3,000 and £4,000 to building a home, but homeowners would save more than £1,000 on their annual energy bills, according to the Times.

Illustration of intestines

Fecal transplants reduce alcohol cravings as human trials progress

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Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University have found that fecal transplants may help those suffering from severe alcohol use disorder. The work points to a compelling relationship between the gut microbiome and addiction disorders, with large-scale Phase 2 human trials currently underway. Nine of 10 patients who received a transplant had a reduction in their cravings and in the urine measurement of alcohol-related metabolites, compared to only three of the 10 placebo subjects displaying similar levels of improvement.

Hand holding smart phone

Finland bans smartphones in schools

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The Finnish Parliament has approved a law restricting the use of mobile devices by pupils at primary and secondary schools. Pupils will need to get special permission from teachers to use their phones to assist them in studies, to take care of personal health-related matters, etc. Research increasingly indicates that excessive smartphone use in children and adolescents can negatively impact their mental and physical health, academic performance, and social development.

Trinidad & Tobago's Kamla Persad-Bissessar

For the first time, an entire country’s top political roles are held by women after Trinidad & Tobago’s recent elections

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Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s election victory means that she will become prime minister for the second time since 2010. Pennelope Beckles-Robinson will be sworn in as the opposition leader. Once they are sworn in by President Christine Kangaloo, the Caribbean island will, for the first time in history, have three women occupying the top constitutional offices simultaneously, making it the first country in modern history to have all top political positions filled by women.

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