From Donald Trump’s second term in the White House to a loaded football calendar, here are five things to watch in 2025:
Trump 2.0
In the days following his convincing victory in the US presidential election, Donald Trump named several of his nominees to form his future cabinet in the White House, ahead of his inauguration on January 20.
With a roster that includes vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary and Elon Musk heading the Government Efficiency Administration, there is concern about what a second Trump term might mean for the United States and the world.
The swearing-in ceremony in front of the US Capitol building in Washington will witness Joe Biden (82 years old) handing over the mantle to Trump, who, when he is two years younger than him, will become the oldest American president in history at the end of his four-year term.
climate
Could 2025 be the year that greenhouse gas emissions stop rising around the world?
The researchers point to signals from China, the world’s biggest polluter, responsible for 30% of global emissions, where carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels are expected to rise only marginally this year.
Total carbon dioxide emitted from burning coal, oil and gas worldwide could peak in the next few years, says Glenn Peters, of the Global Carbon Project.
This carbon pollution is the main driver of increasingly dangerous climate change.
But even if there is a peak, Ignacio Aroniz Velasco, of think tank E3G, said countries cannot afford to “relax” and must then quickly cut their emissions with the aim of achieving carbon neutrality.
Football madness
Can there be too much of a good thing? In 2025, the issue of football overplay and player fatigue is likely to dominate amid a highly charged calendar.
An expanded Club World Cup featuring 32 clubs awaits players in the summer, when they would normally have time to recover from the national leagues.
It comes after a particularly busy season that saw the long-awaited extended Champions League – Europe’s leading club competition – in a new format.
It’s all part of a trend in football to increase the number of high-profile matches, with the next World Cup in 2026 hosting an additional 16 countries, resulting in 104 matches instead of 64.
The specter of Saudi Arabia will loom large as the 2034 World Cup host nation pumps more money into the game, with potentially transformative consequences.
Another controversy likely to cause a spark is the continued use of VAR, currently locked in a love-hate relationship with players, fans and pundits.
Kumbh Mela
The largest gathering of humanity on the planet will take place from January 13 to late February, when tens of millions of people will be showered with rose petals and sacred ashes in a spectacular Hindu festival on the banks of a sacred river in India.
The huge festival known as the Kumbh Mela, classified by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage, is held every three years.
The place alternates between four holy places, in the waters of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers, which are considered among the most sacred places in Hinduism.
In 2025, this will happen in the northern city of Prayagraj. The last time the festival was held was in 2013, it attracted 120 million people.
Oasis and BTS are back
On the one hand, the horrific bad boys of British pop, and on the other, the fresh-faced K-Pop fans.
Both Oasis and BTS are scheduled to make a comeback in 2025, much to the delight of their fans, after periods of being away from the stage for completely different reasons.
Led by Gallagher brothers Liam and Noel, Oasis will return after a huge row in 2009 – one of many – which led to a 15-year split.
The band behind “Wonderwall” and “Champagne Supernova,” two songs that achieved anthem-like status in the 1990s, is embarking on a world tour starting in Britain and Ireland and then heading to North and South America.
In the initial scramble to buy tickets from official websites, many fans who missed out sought alternative sources – leading to a major collapse in ticket scams.
It will be very different in South Korea, where the hugely popular boy band BTS has promised to reunite in June after its members finish their mandatory military service.
It’s the comeback that millions of fans and an entire multi-billion dollar industry have been waiting for.
Experts say the return of stars to performing and public life could lift South Korea’s cultural exports to even greater levels.