This roundup summarises the most important news stories around the world in the last month (December 2025).

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Mass violence and mass protests marked the final month of 2025. There was a terrorist attack on the Jewish community in Australia (leaving at least 15 dead), stabbings in Japan, and mass shootings in the United States (US) (including at Brown University, with at least two dead).

Separately, violence erupted on the Cambodia–Thailand border, after a five-month ceasefire. Following three weeks of deadly fighting, a ceasefire agreement was signed. Across the South East Asia region, cyclone-fuelled flooding killed over a thousand people, especially in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam.

In Bulgaria, thousands rallied against a 2026 budget plan, particularly against increases to social security contributions and taxes on dividends. In Iran, large-scale protests, the country’s largest in three years, were driven by deteriorating economic conditions, especially a rapid currency depreciation and signs of imminent hyperinflation. The protests further spread to universities in several cities beyond Tehran.

Electoral developments

In Chile, a right-wing candidate was elected president, in a campaign dominated by security, immigration, and crime issues. In Honduras, a candidate backed by US president Donald Trump narrowly won a disputed election. In Hong Kong, roughly a third of registered voters elected a new legislature, with many turning away from politics since a crackdown which stifled dissent in the city. Relatedly, media mogul and critic of China Jimmy Lai was found guilty on all charges in a landmark national security trial.

And in Switzerland, voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to tax inherited fortunes over 50 million francs (S$80 million). On New Year’s Eve, over 40 people were killed in a bar fire at a ski resort town in the Swiss Alps.

Other political news

• Australia enacted a world-first ban on social media accounts for children under 16 years old.
• Benin: The army successfully thwarted a coup, following other recent coup attempts in West Africa.
• Malaysia: Former leader Najib Razak was sentenced to 15 years in prison as well as ordered billions in fines and assets seizures over a case related to the misuse and looting of a government fund.