By Anisha De and Judith Langowski
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Welcome to the last edition of the Daily Briefing in 2025!
Thank you for spending the year with us. We hope we were able to bring you the information and context needed to keep up with the news, inspiring photography, and deeper dives with our special reports.
In this edition, we're sharing today's top news, but also some top stories of the past year. And we are interested in which news shaped your 2025: What news and which moments stayed with you when reflecting on the past year? What are you hoping to see in the coming year?
Please share your thoughts by emailing dailybriefing@thomsonreuters.com and we might publish responses in next year's newsletter. Other feedback or comments for the newsletter? You can also send those to the above address.
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US President Donald Trump is expected to push for progress in the stalled ceasefire in Gaza when he meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Mar-a-Lago. Jerusalem correspondent Maayan Lubell tells the Reuters World News podcast why the meeting is a test of how far Netanyahu can push Israel's interests.
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At a joint news conference over the weekend, Trump said that he and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy were "getting a lot closer, maybe very close" to an agreement to end the war in Ukraine, while acknowledging that the fate of the Donbas region remains a key unresolved issue.
- China launched its most extensive war games around Taiwan to showcase Beijing's ability to cut off the island from outside support in a conflict, testing Taipei's resolve to defend itself and its arsenal of US-made weapons.
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Syria’s government has ordered soldiers to guard a mass grave created to conceal atrocities under Bashar al-Assad and has opened a criminal investigation, following a Reuters report that revealed a yearslong conspiracy by the fallen dictatorship to hide thousands of bodies on the remote desert site.
- Since Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariffs pushed the US bond market into revolt in April, his administration has carefully tailored its policies and messaging to prevent another flareup. But the truce remains fragile, some investors say. Read our analysis.
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Will China's leading private rocket firm beat SpaceX to an IPO? Landspace is preparing to go public to fund its future projects, just as its bigger and far more successful US rival considers an initial public offering of its own.
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Stories that shaped the year
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Stoplights change in front of the US Capitol as Republican lawmakers struggle to pass Trump's sweeping spending and tax bill, June 30, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard
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President Donald Trump's second term has already expanded his power and reshaped America's relations with the world. But as he enters the New Year and midterm elections loom, his once unshakeable hold on Republicans is slipping, say historians and analysts. For more US politics analysis, sign up to our newsletter.
- One of our most-read stories in the US looked at a government-backed campaign following Charlie Kirk’s assassination that led to firings, suspensions, investigations and other action against more than 600 people.
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Trump and Elon Musk's DOGE made dramatic forays across Washington in the early months of the presidency by cutting the budgets of federal agencies and drawing bi-partisan criticism. However, DOGE was disbanded eight months ahead of scheduled end in July 2026, following Musk's unceremonious exit.
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The war in Ukraine is set to enter its fourth year. It crushed the fate of a group of young Ukrainian recruits who enlisted as part of a drive to refresh its depleted ranks. We delved into their stories.
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A deadly military strike on a Gaza hospital in August killed our cameraman Hussam al-Masri, alongside five other journalists. A Reuters investigation in to the attack upended Israel's official story. Their deaths are among some 200 journalist killings by Israel that it has yet to fully explain.
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South Asia narrowly dodged another war in May, as escalating hostilities between India and Pakistan were brought to a halt by behind-the-scenes diplomacy. Here’s how it happened.
- A year into the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime, we reviewed how his legacy still grips Syria and underscores the country's struggle to build a stable new order.
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The year's biggest business story? The rise of Artificial Intelligence. The subsequent race by companies all around the world to catch up with the new technolgy has led to some concering develpoments Read about the use of AI in Chinese fraud schemes and a tragic death linked to a Meta chatbot.
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Our newest podcast On Assignment takes you past the headlines. In this episode, join our journalists for a rare look behind the scenes at the UN General Assembly, as they tackle high-stakes diplomacy, broken escalators and the challenges of global politics.
- And the financial asset of 2025 is: the 30-year U.S. Treasury bond, says Reuters financial commentator Jamie McGeever. It's price hasn't risen at all this year, but it's still remarkable, even compared to AI stocks or gold. Read why here.
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The year ahead for markets
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In a strong year for Wall Street, companies that rely on Americans' willingness to shop have dragged behind, as consumers struggle with rising prices and a cooling labour market. Kristina Hooper of Man Group tells Reuters that she expects that to get worse in 2026, as AI could start to mean even higher-income consumers lose their jobs. Watch the video here.
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The stories behind 2025's pictures
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Wong reacts after claiming his wife is trapped inside Wang Fuk Court during a major fire, in Tai Po, Hong Kong, China, November 26, 2025. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/ File Photo
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Reuters photographer Tyrone Siu said he saw Wong by the roadside gesturing with frantic grief when he arrived at the scene of the deadly Hong Kong fire in November. “My wife is inside,” he screamed, pointing at the flames engulfing the apartment block. The photo became a symbol for the fire: “No matter where you are from in the world, you can feel what Mr. Wong is feeling, the helplessness and the pain,” Siu said of the picture.
Reuters photographers were present all over the world in 2025. Their photos are sometimes moving, sometimes funny, sometimes surprising and sometimes, all of those at once. Below is a selection of just a handful of their photos, with back-stories from those who took them.
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Newsletters we launched in 2025
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This year, we launched the following newsletters, spanning new topics and new regions of the world. Sign up to dive deeper with Reuters journalists each week.
Looking for uplifting news each week? The Reuters Beacon delivers delightful stories and solutions in response to global crises to your inbox. In 2025, newsletter editor Kate Turton (you know her from the Daily Briefing) covered an amputee designing prosthetics, 3D-printed snacks, a sea turtle conservation project in Angola, and more. Sign up here.
Reuters Gulf Currents covers the Gulf region and broader Middle East. Doha-based deputy bureau chief Andrew Mills provides a weekly curated dive into and catch up on the region’s most pressing issues. And if you're an Arabic speaker, you can also sign up to the Reuters Arabic Daily Briefing.
The rise of Artificial Intelligence will keep shaping our lives. To stay up to date on the latest industry developments and research trends, sign up to Krystal Hu's Artificial Intelligencer, which she sends every Wednesday straight from San Francisco.
The ups and downs of tariffs kept markets spinning this year. We introduced Tariff Watch to help you keep up with the news. You can sign up here.
And finally, please check out what our colleagues over at Breakingviews, Reuters' brand for financial commentary, are writing: The Week in Breakingviews newsletter provides an excellent roundup of their insights and ideas.
Happy New Year and see you on January 5th, 2026!
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