Overview

• Starting May 1, German spouses and parents can adopt or assign double surnames, with or without hyphens, under new family law reforms.
• Digital photos will become mandatory for passport and ID applications from May 1, with a transition period allowing paper photos until July 31.
• Bio-waste in Germany must meet a stricter contamination limit of three percent starting May 1, or risk being left uncollected.
• Microsoft will retire Skype on May 5, encouraging users to transition to Microsoft Teams, while WhatsApp will cease support for older devices the same day.
• Friedrich Merz is set for a May 6 chancellor vote, contingent on the final approval of the CDU-CSU-SPD coalition agreement.