10 News Stories that shocked 2025
Elections, conflict, disaster and controversy shaped the news agenda throughout 2025. Here are ten of the most shocking stories that defined a turbulent year in Britain and beyond.
As we sit back and reminisce about the year that has just gone by, let’s take a moment to remember the good, the bad and the ugly of 2025. A year that was filled with advancements, while at the same time, filled with terror.
Each story will be a very quick look back, it serves as a reminder for what happened in the year, not reporting on new information.
Let’s take a look at 10 of the most shocking news stories of 2025.
Donald Trump is Re-elected US President
Although Donald Trump won the vote in November 2024, his presidency didn’t officially start until the 20th January 2025 where he was officially inaugurated. Having previously served as the 45th President of The United States, he was sworn in as the 47th this year, claiming over 77 million votes.
Once elected, President Trump began to impose tariffs to different countries across the world. He argued that it would ‘boost American manufacturing and create jobs’. His most significant was China with 67% on imported goods.
Trump and Zelensky clash in The Oval Office
In a meeting with Donald Trump to discuss the war in Ukraine, President Zelensky ended up being the center of a huge fiery debate between himself, President Trump and Vice President Vance.
The meeting, which was about the minerals deal, was cut short when President Zekensky was told he was ‘gambling with World War III,’ and said that Ukraine does not “have the cards” to end the war with Russia.
Mr Zelensky left The White House early without signing the much anticipated minerals deal and before the scheduled press conference could take place.
The LA Wildfires
On the 7th January, in LA, fires started to break out - and there was not enough rain to put them out.
A scientific study suggests that climate change would be a leading cause of the hot and dry weather which ultimately led to drought conditions, low humidity and a build up of vegetation from the previous winter - causing the fires to burn. They were then spread by the high speed winds (up to 100mph in some places) from The Santa Ana winds (devil winds).
At the time, it was believed that 31 people had died from the fires however later reports and research suggests that indirect deaths from the blaze could have been up to 440 people.
Pope Francis Dies & Pope Leo XIV Becomes The First American Pope
On Easter Monday, it was announced that Pope Francis passed away at Vatican City. He was 88 years old.
He died from a Stroke, after being hospitalised for a severe respiratory infection that developed into bilateral pneumonia, requiring a lengthy stay at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital where he battled critical respiratory crises.
He had served as Pope since 2013.
Just a few weeks later, on the 8th of May, Pope Leo XIV was elected as the 267th serving Pope. He is also the very first US born Pontiff.
In his first speech as Pope, he paid tribute to the late Pope Francis by saying ‘Let us keep in our ears the weak but always brave voice of Pope Francis, who blessed Rome - the Pope who blessed Rome and the world that day on the morning of Easter.’
Thousands of UK Flags are put up in Towns and Cities
During the football season, where the Lionesses’ campaign was becoming stronger, many Britons started to put up flags in their garden or on their home of the St George Cross or the Union Jack to show support for the Euros campaign.
This had since expanded beyond the game, as flags started to be placed everywhere, across various towns and cities. They would be on buildings, lampposts and even painted on roundabouts. This became a real headache for local councils as they figured out how to act and whether or not the flags should be taken down. Eventually, most councils decided to keep the flags on the lampposts and buildings but cleared them from being painted on public highways such as roundabouts as this classed as vandalism. The Prime Minister himself even praised the flags being placed but doubled down to make sure they were there for patriotic reasons and free from any other political motivations.
The movement started in the suburbs of Weoley Castle and Northfield in Birmingham and was supposedly claimed by activist group Weoley Warriors. In a statement, they have said that they are ‘a group of proud English men with a common goal to show Birmingham and the rest of the country how proud we are of our history, freedoms and achievements’.
Manchester Synagogue Attack
On October 2nd, Jihad Al-Shamie carried out a car ramming and stabbing attack at The Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall.
Two people were killed during the incident, as well as Al-Shamie who was shot dead by police, around 9 minutes after the first 999 call was made.
The incident had taken place on Yom Kippur, which is one of the holiest days on the Jewish Calendar.
The Synagogue reopened around 2 weeks after the attack, showing the resilience of the Jewish community.
Since the attack, a 31 year old male was arrested at Manchester Airport with regards to having connection to the attack and will face trial in 2026.
Introduction of Digital ID
Digital ID in the UK, or the BritCard, was first announced by Keir Starmer on the 26th September. The plan is to have this introduced by 2028.
It will be mandatory to hold one of these new digital cards to have the legal right to work in the UK. Keir Starmer said: “You will not be able to work in the United Kingdom if you do not have digital ID. It’s as simple as that.”
The Government said ‘digital ID can step up our fight against illegal working by making it easier to carry out Right to Work checks and cracking down on rogue employers’
It will work as an app based system, similar to any digital bank cards or the NHS App.
2,974,574 people have signed a petition to stop the enforcement of Digital ID. The petition stated that it ‘would be a step towards mass surveillance and digital control, and that no one should be forced to register with a state-controlled ID system.’
The Covid Inquiry
What started in June 2023 and ended in November 2025 was the Covid-19 Inquiry, ordered by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whose damning report finds that the UK did ‘too little, too late’, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The week-long delay it took for the government to impose a full lockdown has been found to have caused around 23,000 more deaths in England that could have been prevented.
The inquiry said it was ‘inexcusable’ that the same mistakes of spring 2020 during the first wave of lockdown were repeated in the autumn as the second wave began.
The report also found that the “toxic and chaotic” culture at the heart of the government during its response to the pandemic affected the quality of advice and decision-making.
Children were not prioritised enough with ministers failing to consider properly the consequences of school closures.
The Eat Out To Help Out scheme which was implemented by then Chancellor Rishi Sunak was not backed by any scientific advice.
Accidental Prison Releases
Between 2024 and 2025, it has been revealed that 350 prisoners have been released accidentally - most of them due to human error.
Justice Secretary David Lammy said there would always be a “human error” while prisons were using a paper-based system and that the situation would improve once a “completely digital system” was adopted.
The subject of accidental releases gained attention after Hadush Kebatu, who was jailed after sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a woman while living in an asylum hotel in Epping, was mistakenly freed.
Kebatu was re-arrested two days after his release and has now been deported to Ethiopia.
Shortly after Kebatu’s release, news emerged of two other prisoners who had been released in error - William Smith, who later handed himself in, and Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, who was rearrested.
Trump vs The BBC
US President Donald Trump is suing The BBC for $5bn (£3.7m) for defamation over an edit of his speech before the US Capitol riot on 6th January 2021 in a Panorama documentary.
The lawsuit, which has been filed in Florida, accuses the BBC of “intentionally, maliciously, and deceptively doctoring” Trump’s speech.
In his speech on 6 January 2021, Trump told a Washington DC crowd: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women.”
More than 50 minutes later in the same speech, he said: “And we fight. We fight like hell.”
In the Panorama programme, a clip showed him saying: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol... and I’ll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell.”
Before the lawsuit was filed, Mr Trump demanded an apology from the BBC as well as compensation. The BBC apologised to the President and assured him the documentary has been taken down, with no option for viewing it again on any platform. However, they refused to pay him any compensation. This is what led to the lawsuit being filed.
Eventually, this led to the resignations of the BBC’s director general, Tim Davie, and its head of news, Deborah Turness.
There were many more stories that could have made this list from 2025 - the dialogue is now open. What stories did you find the most impactful - are they in this list? If not, feel free to share them at the bottom of this page.
Happy New Year to everyone reading, let’s hope for a successful and peaceful 2026!