An A-Z list of 2025’s biggest stories | Interactive News

Scroll back through the last year, and the same words come up again and again.

The top-trending terms of 2025, from artificial intelligence to Zohran Mamdani, shaped headlines across politics, conflict, technology and climate.

As the year comes to a close, AJ Labs has compiled an A to Z list of names, places and issues that generated sustained interest throughout 2025, according to a loose analysis of our own most-viewed story tags and those that appeared in Google’s most searched.

Taken together, these terms are a patchwork of issues that are also likely to spill into 2026, from ongoing conflicts to a changing technosocial landscape not seen since the dawn of the internet.

This is 2025 from A to Z, by the words that made the year.

Artificial Intelligence

AI adoption is rapidly growing, and some of the biggest conversations this year have been on how it will shake up the workplace and reimagine economies.

In October, the Reuters Institute carried out a survey in six countries and found that the proportion of respondents who said they used a generative AI system such as ChatGPT jumped from 40 percent to 61 percent this year. As governments try to regulate the fast-growing technology, fears of job losses and echoes of a dotcom-style bust have also resounded with big AI players such as Nvidia, Google, Meta and OpenAI making monumental circular deals this year.

According to UBS projections, global annual AI spending is expected to swell to $375bn by the end of the year before topping $3 trillion annually by 2030 – this includes spending on AI infrastructure, as well as power and resources for electricity demand.

Bitcoin

Bitcoin surged to new heights in 2025, driven by institutional inflows and the maturation of crypto ETFs in the US.

President Trump positioned himself as the “crypto president,” and propelled family crypto ventures and the broader sector into the mainstream. He overturned the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s crackdown on crypto companies, rewarding those pro-crypto executives and firms who donated millions in the 2024 election cycle to support candidates aligned with their agenda.

On October 6, Bitcoin reached an all-time high of $126,080, marking a defining moment for the digital asset, before reminding investors how quickly momentum can reverse as it finishes the year at $88,400.

Charlie Kirk

Conservative activist and media figure Charlie Kirk became a central and controversial figure in 2025 following his assassination, which sent shockwaves through US politics and globally.

As the founder of Turning Point USA, Kirk had spent years at the centre of campus culture wars, where he built a large following through provocative speeches on university campuses and through his close alignment with Donald Trump and the MAGA movement.

On September 10, he was shot dead near where he was engaged in a debate at Utah Valley University. His assassination triggered reactions across the political spectrum, and intensified debates around political violence and extremism in the US.

Donald Trump

US President Donald Trump warrants a standalone article for the scale, speed and unprecedented nature of changes he unleashed during his second term, and for the wide web of issues tied to his leadership.

In 2025 alone, he signed 225 executive orders, surpassing the number he signed during his entire first term.

Returning to office on January 20, he began his term by pardoning those involved in the 2021 Capitol Hill riots. Soon after, he announced sweeping global tariffs – but often focused on China, followed by the “One Big Beautiful Bill”, which triggered deep federal spending cuts and stripped funding from major US programmes, including USAID. His administration tightened immigration enforcement and rolled back environmental and diversity policies.

Internationally, he questioned longstanding alliances, scaled back support for Ukraine and escalated pressure on Iran, including US strikes on its nuclear facilities. Domestically, his policies polarised Americans and politicians alike, especially when it came to healthcare and defence spending, which led to the longest government shutdown right before Thanksgiving.

And that’s just some of what he did this year.

Elections

Following an unprecedented election cycle in 2024, polls were a little more muted this year, but still noteworthy, with some 69 elections taking place globally, involving hundreds of millions of eligible voters worldwide.

National elections took place in countries such as Germany, Canada and Japan, alongside dozens of parliamentary, presidential and local contests across Africa, Asia and Europe. In Japan, Sanae Takaichi became the first woman to hold the post of prime minister.

Far right

Far-right politics took centre stage, especially on social media, where such narratives were prominent in shaping public opinion.

In Europe, far-right parties recorded some of their strongest results on record, including becoming the second-largest force in Germany’s federal election, where the AfD won 20.8 precent of the vote.

Elsewhere, rallies in the UK, such as “Unite the Kingdom”, led by right-wing activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, known as Tommy Robinson, caused a huge turnout of protesters and counter-protesters in August. Elon Musk’s role in the rally – where he appeared in front of protesters via a live link – highlighted the influence social media networks now play in promoting particular narratives and the powerful figures steering the wheel.

Gaza

Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza passed two years, with Israeli forces continuing their air and ground assaults, displacing the population repeatedly. A particular turning point was when the IPC declared famine in Gaza in August, following Israel’s continued blockade of aid and the purposeful starvation of the population.

In 2025 alone, Israel killed at least 25,000 Palestinians and injured 62,000 others.

In October, a ceasefire was brokered between Hamas and Israel. However, Israeli attacks have continued.

Houthis

The Iran‑aligned Houthis in Yemen were central in the wider Middle East crisis, drawing global attention for both military actions and diplomatic developments.

The group’s attacks on commercial shipping and military targets in the Red Sea and against Israel continued to disrupt a key global trade route, prompting Israeli and US air strikes on Houthi positions and infrastructure throughout the year.

According to ACLED, there were more than 48 strikes on Yemen in 2025 from Israel, including strikes on Hodeidah port.

Iran

On June 13, Israel launched a barrage of strikes, hitting dozens of nuclear, military, and infrastructure sites across Iran, including the country’s main nuclear facility in Natanz.

During the 12-day conflict, Israel also attacked residential neighbourhoods, killing several nuclear scientists and military commanders. Iran retaliated with hundreds of ballistic missiles against Israeli cities.

On June 22, the situation escalated when the United States joined the attacks, bombing three nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.

The attacks drew widespread international concern, prompting emergency UN Security Council meetings and sparking sharp retaliation from Iran, including ballistic missile launches toward US bases in the region and threats to global shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

Jeffrey Epstein

In 2025, the Jeffrey Epstein saga continued to make headlines as new documents, emails and images were released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, with the New York Times claiming more than 130,000 papers have been released to date.

Photos of Epstein’s private island, call logs and email exchanges with high‑profile figures were published by the House Oversight Committee, drawing global attention and sparking heated political debate.

Among the most talked‑about revelations in late 2025 were emails in which Epstein allegedly referenced Donald Trump and claimed a victim had spent time at his house, leading to fierce partisan disputes over context and accuracy. The White House called the disclosures a smear, while critics argued they raised uncomfortable questions about elite networks.

Kendrick Lamar

Kendrick Lamar was one of the most-talked-about artists in music, driven by the ongoing effect of his song Not Like Us, which became his longest-charting rap song ever, spending more than 50 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100.

The song also topped charts after Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime performance, which was watched by more than 133.5 million viewers.

Louvre

In October, the Louvre Museum in Paris was shaken by one of the most audacious art robberies in recent memory, when thieves made off with priceless French crown jewels worth an estimated $102m.

Using a truck‑mounted lift to reach a second‑floor window, the gang broke in during broad daylight, cut display cases with power tools and escaped on scooters in a brazen raid that took less than eight minutes while the museum was open to visitors.

French authorities launched a nationwide manhunt, but the bulk of the stolen jewels remains missing. The heist exposed significant security gaps at the world’s most‑visited museum, prompting emergency upgrades.

Migration

This year, migration debates continued to grip government chambers worldwide, with polarising policy changes adopted in different countries.

In Europe and North America, asylum rules and border controls were tightened – a deal between France and the UK for a “one in, one out” plan on small boat crossings came into effect under the Labour government.

Across the pond, the US saw one of the most aggressive immigration enforcement policies, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) escalating operations in the country. More than 68,000 people were detained by ICE, and hundreds of thousands are reported to have been deported.

Nuclear

As it stands, in 2025, there are 12,241 nuclear warheads active worldwide, with several countries increasing or modernising their stockpiles instead of reducing them, as they have for the past two decades.

Most significantly, the year was marked by direct US and Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, with Pentagon officials saying it delayed Iran’s nuclear programme by about one to two years.

On the energy front, 2025 saw a mix of expansion and contraction in nuclear power. The US and UK signed a landmark partnership to accelerate advanced and small modular reactors, promising thousands of jobs. While in Germany, nuclear phase-out continued, with the closing of ageing plants, despite other European nations looking towards nuclear power for green energy.

Occupied West Bank

In parallel to Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, it launched the largest military assault in decades on the West Bank, expanded illegal Israeli settlements, and carried out regular home demolitions.

The UN’s OCHA documented 1,680 attacks by Israeli settlers in more than 270 communities across the West Bank so far in 2025 – an average of five incidents per day.

The olive harvest has also continued to be marked by widespread settler violence, with 178 attacks documented in October and November in 88 communities.

Pope

In April, the Catholic Church underwent a historic leadership transition with the death of Pope Francis and the election of a new pontiff.

The 2025 conclave was notable for being the largest in the Church’s history, with 133 cardinal electors gathering in the Sistine Chapel to vote on the next pope, surpassing previous limits on electors and reflecting the global diversity of the College of Cardinals.

After several rounds of secret ballots, the cardinals selected Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who took the name Pope Leo XIV, marking the first time a pope has been elected from the United States.

Qatar

In 2025, Qatar was not only a key diplomatic player, but also a flashpoint in the region’s wider conflicts.

In September, Israel carried out an unprecedented air strike on Doha, targeting Hamas leaders who were meeting to discuss a US‑backed ceasefire deal, killing a Qatari security official and others, and triggering widespread condemnation of the attack as a violation of Qatari sovereignty and international law.

The strike prompted emergency meetings of Gulf and Islamic bodies in solidarity with Doha, as it became the sixth country that Israel attacked this year.

RSF

Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) were a central driver of the country’s devastating civil war, expanding their territorial control and deepening what the United Nations described as one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

The paramilitary group consolidated its grip over large parts of western Sudan, including areas around el-Fasher in North Darfur, where UN officials and rights groups reported mass killings that left tens of thousands of civilians dead and widespread destruction of displacement camps.

According to ACLED, at least 4,200 civilians were killed by the RSF. They were accused of systematic abuses, including ethnically targeted violence, sexual assault, looting and attacks on hospitals and aid convoys.

Syria

December 8 marked one year since the al-Assad dynasty, which lasted more than half a century, was removed from power by a rebel offensive.

The 14-year-long war led to one of the world’s largest migration crises, with some 6.8 million Syrians, about a third of the population, fleeing the country at the war’s peak in 2021.

More than 782,000 Syrians documented by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) have returned to Syria from other countries over the past year.

Tariffs

On April 1, Trump imposed reciprocal tariffs on the US’s trading partners, rattling global trade and increasing tensions in international relations.

The levies also led to a number of companies saying they would shift supply chains. It is estimated that the US-imposed tariffs generated more than $124.5bn in revenue between January and September 2025. However, the Tax Foundation estimates that Trump tariffs amount to an average tax increase of $1,100 per US household in 2025.

Ukraine

The war in Ukraine entered its fourth year in 2025 and was defined by intensified fighting, stalled diplomacy and a shift in US policy that reshaped the conflict’s trajectory.

On the battlefield, Russian forces controlled roughly 19 percent (118,000 square kilometres or 45,550sq miles) of Ukrainian territory, having made incremental but costly gains over the course of the year on the eastern front.

The conflict saw a marked escalation in advanced warfare, including expanded use of long-range missiles and, significantly, the use of drones on both sides.

Venezuela

Another foreign policy campaign under the Trump administration that drew global attention was the situation in Venezuela, where Trump’s mandate against “narcoterrorists” transformed the Caribbean into a new battlefield.

Since August, Washington deployed thousands of troops, warships and aircraft across the region, reopened military bases in Puerto Rico and conducted drills, in what analysts describe as the largest US presence in Latin America in decades.

In September, the US began a series of strikes on Venezuelan boats it claimed were trafficking drugs to the US, with the total death toll as a result of these attacks tallying more than 100 dead.

Weather

The year 2025 kicked off with the devastating Palisades Fire in Los Angeles, which destroyed thousands of homes and buildings. According to Gallagher Reinsurance Brokers, total global insured loss for the first nine months of 2025 for natural catastrophes and climate-related events was estimated at $105bn, making it the sixth consecutive year with losses of more than $100bn.

Other extreme weather events, such as heavy rains and flooding, also battered large parts of Asia in late 2025: Northern Vietnam experienced historic flood levels after prolonged tropical rainfall, while India and Pakistan dealt with monsoon‑related floods that were among the deadliest of the year. Typhoon Ragasa and other Pacific storms brought intense winds and floods to the Philippines, Taiwan and southern China.

In October, Hurricane Melissa became the strongest storm to hit Jamaica, making landfall as a Category 5, causing widespread damage.

Xi Jinping

Xi Jinping pushed for strategic autonomy and regional dominance in 2025.

At home, he oversaw China’s 14th Five-Year Plan, with state media citing steady growth and laying the groundwork for 2026. He also chaired the 25th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin, hosting more than 20 heads of state and positioning China as a central force in Global South and Eurasian security.

Relations with the US were dominated by renewed and aggressive trade and technology tensions, following Trump’s tariff mandate, which saw both sides escalate into a tit-for-tat of levies, which, at one point, entered triple digits, but a mid-year truce saw pressure ease on global markets.

Yoon Suk Yeol

In December 2024, South Korea was thrust into a political crisis after then-President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law, citing rising unrest and an alleged threat to national security.

It resulted in the deployment of troops, detention of opposition lawmakers and the curtailing of press freedom. A year on, prosecutors indicted Yoon Suk Yeol for insurrection on December 15, accusing him of seeking to provoke military aggression from North Korea to help consolidate his power.

Earlier this month, special prosecutor Cho Eun-seok told a briefing that his team had indicted Yoon, five former cabinet members, and 18 others on insurrection charges, following a six-month probe into his declaration of martial law last year.

Zohran Mamdani

After Trump, the most talked about US politician in 2025 might just be Zohran Mamdani, who became New York City’s first Muslim, South Asian and African-born mayor by winning 50.8 percent of the vote.

Campaigning on rent freezes, universal childcare, public transit and green infrastructure and galvanising multiracial working-class coalitions across the city, he won the primaries in June.

However, his campaign experienced intense scrutiny and backlash online, with Equality Labs tracking more than 17 million social media posts about him in 2025 containing Islamophobic, xenophobic and polarising content.

Mamdani is scheduled to be sworn in on January 1, 2026.