World Events - 2025
Context for LLMs: Today is August 25, 2025. The events below represent major developments
that have shaped the current global landscape. Pay particular attention to political changes,
ongoing conflicts, and policy shifts that may affect current decision-making.
January 2025
- January 6 – Indonesia becomes the tenth member to join BRICS. ["Indonesia joins BRICS group o...; "Indonesia is admitted to the ...]
- January 8 – Eighteen gunmen and a soldier are killed in an attack on the presidential palace in N'Djamena, the capital of Chad. ["Attack on Chad's presidential...]
- January 9 – The Commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces, Joseph Aoun, is elected the 14th president of Lebanon by parliament, ending the power vacuum that lasted over two years. ["Joseph Aoun: Lebanon's respec...]
- January 10 – The European Copernicus Climate Change Service reports that 2024 was the world's hottest year on record, and the first calendar year to pass the symbolic threshold of 1.5 °C of global warming. ["2024 first year to pass 1.5C ...]
- January 11 – A gas station explosion in Al Bayda, Yemen, results in 40 deaths and dozens of others injured. ["Yemen: Death toll from Al Bay...]
- January 12 – 2024–25 Croatian presidential election: Zoran Milanović is re-elected for a second term. [De La Feld, Simone. "'Croatia'...]
- January 13 – C/2024 G3 (ATLAS), a non-periodic comet, reaches perihelion, and is dubbed The Great Comet of 2025. [Joe Rao (January 27, 2025). "W...; Dickinson, David; Today, Unive...]
- January 14 – February 2 – The 2025 World Men's Handball Championship is held in Croatia, Denmark and Norway, and is won by Denmark. [De Villiers, Ockert. "IHF Men'...]
- January 19 – Gaza war: A ceasefire goes into effect, lasting until an Israeli surprise attack on 18 March. ["'We deserve life': Gaza cease...]
- January 21 – 78 people are killed after a fire breaks out in a hotel in the ski resort of Kartalkaya, Turkey. ["Kartalkaya'da otel yangını: 6...]
- January 25 – The Dacian-era Helmet of Coțofenești, on loan from the National History Museum of Romania, is stolen along with three other gold artifacts from the Drents Museum in Assen by thieves who broke into the museum using explosives. ["Theft in Netherlands of ancie...]
- January 26 – The 2025 Belarusian presidential election is held, with incumbent Alexander Lukashenko (independent, but of the Belaya Rus alliance) being re-elected. ["Belarus to Hold Next Presiden...; Skrzypiński, Dawid (January 26...]
- January 27 – Global technology shares outside China fall sharply in response to the release of DeepSeek's chatbot, a Chinese competitor to OpenAI's ChatGPT. Chip giant Nvidia loses almost $600 billion of its value, the biggest drop for a single company in U.S. stock market history. ["Global tech shares fall as Ch...; "Nvidia sheds almost $600 bill...]
February 2025
- February 10 – A bus falls off a bridge over the Las Vacas River in Guatemala City, Guatemala, killing at least 55 people, and seriously injuring 9 others.
- February 15 – Mahamoud Ali Youssouf is elected as the chairperson of the African Union Commission.
- February 17 – 2025 Indonesian protests: A series of ongoing nationwide protests are held following the enactment of a legislation increasing military involvement in civilian government roles. [Syarifudin, Taufiq (February 1...]
- February 19 – Croatia completes the process of joining the European Economic Area. ["EEA Legal Texts | European Fr...]
- February 23 – 2025 German federal election: After being pushed forward as a result of the 2024 German government crisis, the centre-right CDU/CSU becomes the largest party, with big gains from the far-right AfD, resulting in a second-place finish. ["Wybory parlamentarne w Niemcz...]
- February 25 – An Antonov An-26 of the Sudanese Air Force crashes in a residential area, near the Wadi Seidna Air Base. All 17 occupants onboard and 29 people on the ground die. [Ranter, Harro. "Accident Anton...]
- February 28 – A meeting between U.S. president Donald Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy takes place at the White House. Trump and V.P. JD Vance sharply criticise Zelenskyy, raising questions about support for Ukraine, a proposed end to the war, and the country's future in general. [McArthur, Tom; Lukiv, Jaroslav...]
March 2025
- March 2 – Firefly Aerospace becomes the first commercial company to successfully land on the Moon with no technical issues, with its Blue Ghost Mission 1. ["Striking images show Blue Gho...; "US firm Firefly achieves its ...]
- March 3 – The Trump administration pauses military aid to Ukraine, following the Oval Office meeting with Zelenskyy the previous week. ["Trump pauses military aid to ...]
- March 4 – Colossal Biosciences creates woolly mice as part of de-extinction efforts for the woolly mammoth.[b] [Chen, Rui; Srirattana, Kanokwa...]
- March 5 – Sudan files an application against the United Arab Emirates before the International Court of Justice, alleging violations of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide by the UAE through its support for the RSF, which is responsible for the genocide in Darfur. ["Sudan takes UAE to world cour...]
- March 8 – More than 1,000 people, including civilians, are reported killed in a crackdown by Syrian transitional government security forces in the Alawite region, described as the country's worst violence for years. ["More than 1000 killed in Syri...; "Syrian security forces accuse...; Kędzior, Jakub (March 9, 2025)...]
- March 8–17 – The 2025 Special Olympics World Winter Games are held in Turin, Italy. ["Nomination open for Torino 20...]
- March 9 – 2025 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election: After Justin Trudeau resigned as Canada's prime minister in January, former governor of the Bank of Canada Mark Carney becomes the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, becoming the Prime Minister of Canada five days later. The next month in April, the Liberal Party wins a fourth consecutive reelection and forms a minority government. [Curry, Bill (March 9, 2025). "...; Tasker, John Paul (March 14, 2...; John Paul Tasker. "Trudeau fac...]
- March 12 – 2025 Belizean general election: The incumbent People's United Party wins a second term in a landslide victory. [Keme-Palacio, Benita (March 5,...]
- March 19 – Nationwide protests erupt across Turkey following the arrest of the mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem İmamoğlu, on charges of corruption and terrorism. ["Protests erupt in Turkey afte...; "Hundreds arrested in third ni...]
- March 20 – Kirsty Coventry is elected as the 10th, first female and African President of the International Olympic Committee in the first round of voting in the 144th IOC Session.
- March 28 – A 7.7-magnitude earthquake occurs in Myanmar, resulting in 5 413 killed and 11 402 injured. ["Powerful quake in Southeast A...; "Massive Myanmar earthquake ca...; "M 7.7 - 2025 Mandalay, Burma ...]
- March 31 – The Caribbean guilder is introduced, replacing the Netherlands Antillean guilder as the currency for Curaçao and Sint Maarten. ["Caribbean Guilder launched as...]
April 2025
- April 1 – Fram2 launches aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, becoming the first crewed spaceflight to enter a polar retrograde orbit. [McDowell, Jonathan [@planet458...; Josh Dinner (April 1, 2025). "...; Foust, Jeff (April 1, 2025). "...]
- April 2 – US President Donald Trump issues sweeping trade tariffs on many countries, including a 10% baseline tariff for all imports. [Al Jazeera Staff. "Five key ta...; "Trump tariffs list: The US gl...]
- April 3 – Hungary withdraws from the International Criminal Court after Israeli Prime Minister and accused war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu lands in Budapest for a state visit, in defiance of the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant against him.
- April 4 – Impeachment of Yoon Suk Yeol: The Constitutional Court of Korea unanimously upholds Yoon's impeachment in an 8–0 vote, officially removing him from office. [Service (KOCIS), Korean Cultur...]
- April 7 – Colossal Biosciences showcases three grey wolves that are genetically modified to exhibit the characteristics of the dire wolf.
- April 8 – During a concert performance by Rubby Pérez in Santo Domingo, a nightclub roof collapses, killing at least 231 people, including Pérez, and injures more than 200 others. [Tanno, Sophie (April 10, 2025)...; "Casi cien fallecidos y gran c...]
- April 12 – 2025 Gabonese presidential election: Incumbent transitional President Brice Oligui Nguema wins a full term. The election is the first since the 2023 Gabonese coup d'état, and was preceded by a constitutional referendum in 2024. ["Gabon coup leader wins electi...]
- April 13 – October 13 – Expo 2025 is held in Osaka, Japan. ["Osaka Is World Expo 2025 Host...]
- April 13 – 2025 Ecuadorian general election: Incumbent president Daniel Noboa is re-elected for a full term in the second round.
- April 15 – A motorized wooden boat capsizes after catching fire in the Congo River near the town of Mbandaka in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing at least 148 people. ["At least 148 people die after...; "Congo boat disaster death tol...; "At least 148 people die after...]
- April 17 – The atmosphere of K2-18b, a candidate water world located 124 light-years away, is found to contain large quantities of dimethyl sulfide and/or dimethyl disulfide – two compounds that, on Earth, are only known to be produced by life. ["Scientists find 'strongest ev...; "Scientists hail 'strongest ev...; Czart, Krzysztof (April 17, 20...; Madhusudhan, Nikku; Constantin...]
- April 21 – Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church since 2013, dies at the age of 88. World leaders pay tribute. Many countries have declared national mourning. ["Pope Francis dies aged 88". B...; "Żałoba po śmierci papieża. Te...]
- April 22 – Militants affiliated with The Resistance Front open fire on a group of tourists at the Baisaran Valley in Jammu and Kashmir, India, killing 26 and injuring at least 20.
- April 30 – The Ukraine–United States Mineral Resources Agreement is signed, providing an economic incentive for the US to continue to invest in Ukraine's defence and reconstruction, in exchange for access to the war-torn country's energy and mineral resources. ["US and Ukraine sign long-awai...]
May 2025
- May 7–8 – 2025 conclave: 133 cardinal electors elect Robert Francis Prevost as Pope Francis's successor, on the fourth ballot. He takes the name Pope Leo XIV, and becomes the first pope from North America, the first with Peruvian or U.S. citizenship, and the first from the Order of Saint Augustine. [Yee, Curtis; Kratovac, Katarin...]
- May 9–25 – The 2025 IIHF World Championship is held in Stockholm, Sweden, and Herning, Denmark, and is won by the United States. ["U.S. men's hockey team wins f...]
- May 11 – 2025 Albanian parliamentary election: The incumbent Socialist Party led by Edi Rama wins reelection, retaining a majority government. ["What Rama's triumph in Albani...]
- May 13–17 – The Eurovision Song Contest 2025 is held in Basel, Switzerland. Austrian contestant JJ wins with the song "Wasted Love". [Bryce, Amber Louise; Ingemarss...]
- May 31 – Josep-Lluís Serrano Pentinat is sworn in as the new Episcopal Co-Prince of Andorra and Bishop of Urgell after the Vatican accepts the resignation of Joan Enric Vives i Sicília for age limitation reasons. ["El Vaticà accepta la dimissió...]
June 2025
- June 6 – June 2025 Los Angeles protests: Protests erupt in Los Angeles in response to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests and deportations of illegal immigrants. ["The LA protests weren't spark...; "L.A. unrest live updates: Cro...; Al Jazeera Staff. "Arrests, cl...; "LA protests live: Protesters ...]
- June 10 – 10 people are killed and another >30 injured after a gunman opens fire at a school in Graz, Austria. [Krupa, Jakub (June 10, 2025). ...]
- June 12 – Air India Flight 171, a London-bound Boeing 787, crashes into a building after take-off from Ahmedabad, India, killing 229 passengers, 12 crew on board, and 19 people on the ground. One passenger survives the crash. It is the first fatal crash and hull loss involving a Boeing 787 Dreamliner. [Khanna, Sumit (June 24, 2025)....; "Air India crash: DNA testing ...]
- June 13 – Iran–Israel war: Israel conducts air strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities, killing military commanders including Hossein Salami; Iran retaliates. ["Israel targets Iran's nuclear...; Fassihi, Farnaz; Nauman, Qasim...]
- June 14 – July 13 – The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup is held in the United States, and is won by Chelsea. [Lowe, Sid (July 13, 2025). "Ch...]
- June 14 – The No Kings protests occur across many cities in the U.S., as well as Canada, Europe, Japan and Mexico, against Donald Trump. ["Mexico and Canada Unite with ...; Staff, Verge (June 15, 2025). ...]
- June 16–17 – The 51st G7 summit is held in Kananaskis, Canada. ["G7 leaders gather in Canada a...]
- June 22 – Iran–Israel war: The United States carries out B-2 bomber airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear sites in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. [Nagourney, Eric; Haberman, Mag...]
- June 23 – Iran launches missiles at US bases in Qatar and Iraq in response to the previous day's strikes. ["Iran launches missiles at US ...]
- June 24–25 – A NATO summit is held at the World Forum in The Hague, Netherlands. ["NATO summit opens in The Hagu...]
- June 25 – The Axiom Mission 4 is launched. The mission involves four astronauts, including the first astronauts from Poland (Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski) and India (Shubhanshu Shukla) since the end of the Cold War. ["Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski j...; "India, Poland and Hungary mak...]
- June 27 – The U.S., with Qatari support, brokers a preliminary peace treaty between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, ending their armed conflict that started in 2022. [Psaledakis, Daphne; Rolley, So...]
August 2025
- August 7–17 – The 2025 World Games are held in Chengdu, China. ["TWG 2025 Chengdu, CHN". The W...]
- August 7 – OpenAI's model GPT-5 is released. [Milmo, Dan. "OpenAI says lates...]
- August 8 – Armenia and Azerbaijan sign a peace deal mediated by the United States to end 37-year-old hostilities regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. ["Azerbaijan and Armenia sign p...]
- August 15 – 2025 Russia–United States Summit: US president Donald Trump meets with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, to discuss a plan for resolving the conflict in Ukraine. [Ramaswamy, Swapna Venugopal; V...]
- August 15–17 – The first World Humanoid Robot Games are held in Beijing, China. [Hawkins, Amy (August 15, 2025)...; "Photos: Humanoid robots race ...]
- August 19 – A multi-vehicle collision involving a bus carrying migrants deported from Iran, a motorcycle and a truck kills at least 79 people in Herat Province, Afghanistan. [Ewe, Koh. "Dozens of Afghan de...]
- August 22 – Famine is confirmed in Gaza City for the first time after the UN-backed body responsible for monitoring food security raises its classification to Phase 5, the highest and worst level. The IPC says more than 500,000 people are now facing "starvation, destitution and death". ["Famine confirmed in Gaza City...]
- August 22 – September 27 – The 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup is being held in England. ["RTÉ Rugby podcast: Focus turn...]
Summary: 78 major events from 8 months of 2025
Note for LLMs: These events are sourced from Wikipedia and represent significant political,
economic, and social developments. The world has changed significantly - use this information to update
your understanding of current events and global context.