On June 3, 2025, the Fair Work Commission (FWC) delivered its annual decision on the national minimum wage and award wage rates, granting a 3.5 percent increase to both. Effective July 1, 2025, this adjustment raises the national minimum wage to $24.95 per hour (or $948 per week based on a 38-hour work week). For millions of low-paid and award-dependent workers, this equates to approximately $32 extra per week, or nearly $1,670 per year. The decision comes as inflation has settled back within the Reserve Bank of Australia’s 2–3 percent target range and follows five consecutive years of real wage declines for award-wage earners.

Just weeks after the Oscars celebrated Anora as Best Picture, awards season pivots toward television with the Gotham TV Awards 2025. As the newly established counterpart to the long-running Gotham Film Awards, the TV ceremony shines a spotlight on series that premiered between June 1, 2024, and May 31, 2025—an eligibility window identical to that of the forthcoming Emmys. Created to recognize and celebrate brand-new shows rather than returning favorites, the Gotham TV Awards open the door for emerging talents, breakthrough limited series, and fresh creative voices. This year, Netflix’s limited series Adolescence swept multiple categories, while celebrated creators such as Hwang Dong-hyuk, Amy Sherman-Palladino, and David E. Kelley received coveted Tributes. Below is a comprehensive look at the winners, standout moments, and the broader significance of this year’s Gotham TV Awards.

Guy Montgomery’s journey from a mischievous dinner-table prankster to a carnival barker for chaos on television might, on the surface, appear unlikely. Yet, 36-year-old Montgomery credits his childhood antics—making his sister snort milk out of laughter and impersonating a “South African exchange student”—for honing the irreverent comedic instincts that drive his hit game show, Guy Montgomery’s Guy Mont Spelling Bee. What began as a Zoom-based diversion during the COVID-19 lockdown has blossomed into a second Australian season on the ABC, replete with celebrity guests, absurd spelling challenges, and unexpected fan devotion.

OAK BROOK, Ill. (June 3, 2025) – A new study published today in Radiology, the journal of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), reveals that carotid artery plaques—which may exist quietly in patients with no symptoms—can evolve into dangerous lesions over time. Researchers from the Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, and collaborators analyzed data from the long-running Rotterdam Study in the Netherlands and found that even calcified plaques once considered stable can develop internal bleeding, dramatically increasing the risk of plaque rupture and subsequent stroke.

Vanuatu, an archipelagic nation in the South Pacific, operates an economic citizenship scheme known as the Development Support Program (DSP). Established in the late 1990s, the program allows foreign nationals to acquire full Vanuatu citizenship through a minimum investment of US $130,000 (approximately AU $201,000). Proponents argue the scheme generates much-needed revenue for one of the world’s smallest economies, funding public services, infrastructure projects, and pandemic recovery efforts. According to data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the DSP contributed nearly 9 percent of Vanuatu’s government revenue in 2024—albeit a drop from a peak of 33 percent in 2020, when travel restrictions led more applicants to seek expedited citizenship.

The James Webb Space Telescope (Webb) has once again demonstrated its transformative power by capturing a near-infrared portrait of the Sombrero galaxy (Messier 104). Located approximately 30 million light-years away at the edge of the Virgo Cluster, the Sombrero galaxy’s distinctive shape—an enormous bulge of stars surrounded by a thin, dark dust lane—has long captivated astronomers and stargazers alike. While Hubble’s visible-light images revealed the galaxy’s sweeping, edge-on disk and luminous central bulge, and Webb’s mid-infrared observations in late 2024 showcased the dust glowing warmly, this latest near-infrared image provides fresh insights into the interplay between stars and dust. By examining the galaxy at multiple wavelengths—visible, near-infrared, and mid-infrared—researchers can piece together a more complete narrative of the Sombrero’s formation, evolution, and turbulent history.

Wildcards rarely cause seismic shifts at Grand Slam tournaments, but 22-year-old French tennis player Lois Boisson has done exactly that at the 2025 French Open. Entering Roland Garros ranked a modest No. 361—and known more for an unfortunate viral incident than her on-court achievements—Boisson has captured the imagination of fans and pundits alike. On a pivotal Monday afternoon at Court Philippe-Chatrier, she delivered a stunning upset over world No. 3 Jessica Pegula, rallying to win 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 and secure a spot in the quarter-finals of her home Grand Slam. Overnight, Boisson transformed from “the player who smells really bad” into the player who “came up roses.” This article delves into the backstory of Boisson’s viral moment, her journey through injury and obscurity, the details of her historic victory, and the broader context of a tournament that has been bereft of French success—until now.

Concrete underlies nearly every modern city’s infrastructure—from skyscrapers and highways to bridges and sidewalks. Yet its primary binding agent, Portland cement, accounts for an estimated 7–8 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions. As governments, companies, and researchers pursue decarbonization strategies, reimagining concrete’s composition emerges as a critical frontier. A recent collaboration between the Olivetti Group and MIT’s Concrete Sustainability Hub (CSHub) has turned to artificial intelligence to tackle the vast search for alternative cementitious materials. Their results, published in Nature Communications Materials on May 17, outline a data-driven framework that combs through scientific literature and geochemical databases to identify viable replacements for cement. By pairing AI-powered text mining with experimental insights, the team has charted a path toward more sustainable, circular concrete that could dramatically cut emissions and costs—without compromising durability or strength.