Volcanoes are erupting in The Philippines, but on-fire Australia received some welcome rain. The Iran war cries have been called off and The Donald’s military powers are about to be hamstrung by the Senate. Meanwhile, his impeachment trial is starting, and we’re all on Twitter for a front-row seat.
What Could Go Right? Yes Means Yes
A new consensus around consent has quietly developed in Europe.
Emma Varvaloucas
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Yes Means Yes
As Americans were celebrating Thanksgiving last week, a bill that would have redefined rape as nonconsensual sex was stalling out in Italy’s Senate.
The bill followed France’s announcement in October that its own laws had undergone a consent-based update. This change was a result of the globally publicized case of Gisèle Pelicot, whose husband had for more than a decade drugged her unconscious before inviting dozens of men to have sex with her. While on trial last year, several of those men argued that they had not committed rape under the law as it stood, a contention that incited public outrage.
France and Italy are only the latest in Europe to revisit what are known as coercion-based rape laws, which usually require violence or threat to upgrade an assault to a rape. (Italy’s law lists “violence, threats, or abuse of authority;” France’s old one, “violence, coercion, threat, or surprise.”)
Since 2017, there has been a quiet sea change on the continent around these laws. Then, only seven countries had consent-based laws. Today, more than 20 do, including Norway, as of earlier this year, and the Netherlands and Switzerland, since 2024.
The specifics of consent-based laws vary by country but generally fall under two models: yes means yes, and no means no. Under yes means yes, a rape has occurred if consent was not expressed—through words, behavior, or another form of “voluntariness”—and if circumstances have not affected a person’s free will. In the no-means-no model, rape has occurred if the act goes against the victim’s known intention.
“Freezing,” for example, a common response to sexual assault, might be classified as rape under a yes-means-yes model, and not under a no-means-no framework. But both models extend to obviously repugnant cases that nonetheless failed to meet older definitions of rape, such as a 2016 assault in Spain, for which the perpetrators of a gang rape were convicted of a lesser sexual assault charge because the five men had neither threatened the woman nor become violent. (They had, however, filmed the attack.) That case led to national reform, and a yes-means-yes model has been in effect in the country since 2022.
It’s possible, over time, that consent-based laws could spread throughout the rest of Europe, as countries face pressure from NGOs and media attention, and norms evolve.
Even Italy’s bill is not yet dead—one of the country’s conservative parties is asking for changes to certain parts of the legislation. In the meantime, a new law was approved last week, which for the first time classifies femicide as a separate crime in the Italian penal code.
By the Numbers
82%: Denmark’s expected emissions reductions by 2035, compared to 1990 levels
60%: Drop in London homicides in the first nine months of 2025, compared to 2003
46: Percentage point drop in Tanzania’s multidimensional child poverty rate since 2000
34M: People lifted out of poverty in Bangladesh, 2010–2022
25: Number of drugs for which Medicare prices have been renegotiated by the Biden and Trump administrations
Quick Hits
🌎 The 2025 ozone hole is the fifth-smallest since 1992, a sign that the ozone layer is continuing its recovery. Scientists expect a return to 1980 levels by 2066.
🥤 Romania, once a recycling laggard, now has beverage-container recycling rates of more than 90%, thanks to a deposit return system that is the world’s largest.
🚍 Move over, Mamdani: Residents of Iowa City haven’t paid bus fare since 2023. The two-year pilot program was so popular that it has been extended into 2026.
🦠 Cabo Verde, Mauritius, and Seychelles have eliminated measles and rubella, the first sub-Saharan countries to achieve this milestone. The measles vaccine is one of the most successful public health interventions in history, saving nearly 59 million lives since 2000.
🏳️🌈 The European Union’s highest court ruled that all bloc members must recognize same-sex marriages occurring abroad. Though this doesn’t mean that nations must change their own laws, it does mean that they are not allowed to discriminate against couples married in places where same-sex marriage is legal.
🏭 While still increasing, projected levels of methane emissions have fallen since 2020 and are expected to reduce further by 2030. If implemented, national action plans could lead to an 8% cut by then, compared to 2020 levels.
🧬 Seven people have now been cured of HIV—the latest somewhat by accident. A stem-cell treatment for blood cancer has unexpectedly left a patient HIV-free. Scientists don’t know why.
💉 Eswatini and Zambia have received their first doses of lenacapavir, the breakthrough shot that provides near-total protection against HIV. It’s the first time a new treatment has reached Africa in the same year that it was approved in the United States.
💰 The US has maintained its Global Fund commitment and pledged $4.6 billion, a surprise to the public health community after the draconian cuts to USAID. Work by the Global Fund against AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria has saved 70 million lives since 2002.
👀 What we’re watching: Following in Australia’s footsteps, Malaysia is planning to ban social media for under-16s next year, and the European Parliament has backed the rule as well.
💡 Editor’s pick: Don’t be fooled by extreme online discourse from both the right and the left. By and large, American views on masculinity are boring (in the best way).
TPN Member Originals
(Who are our Members? Get to know them.)
- The right attitude to gratitude | The Atlantic ($) | Arthur C. Brooks
- ‘Catch them doing something good.’ | Our Towns | Deborah Fallows
- What I love when I love America | NYT ($) | David Brooks
- The myth of the $140,000 poverty line | TFP ($) | Tyler Cowen
- The National Guard shooting | Tangle | Isaac Saul
- The Devil’s plan to ruin the next generation | After Babel | Jonathan Haidt
- Hot rocks, new politics | Faster, Please! | James Pethokoukis
- Strongmen around the world are increasingly inspired by America’s example | WaPo ($) | Fareed Zakaria