From Trump’s oath to the successes of Italian volleyball: 2025 in 30 photos – Primopiano

1 – Journalist Cecilia Sala returns home to Rome on 8 January 2025, after being arrested in Tehran on 19 December. ANSA/FABIO FRUSTACI

2 – On 13 January the photographer Oliviero Toscani, born in Milan on 28 February 1942, died in Cecina (Livorno). In June 2023 he fell ill with amyloidosis. ANSA/MATTEO CORNER

3 – On 19 January 2025 the truce between Israel and Hamas begins, thousands of displaced people return to their homes left during the bombings. Over 65,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Strip by Israelis, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health (controlled by Hamas), in response to the Hamas attack that killed 1,200 Israelis and took another 250 hostage on October 7, 2023. ANSA/EPA/HAITHAM IMAD

4 – The release of the Israeli hostages as a propaganda stage for Hamas puts the maintenance of the truce at risk several times. ANSA/EPA/MOHAMMED SABER

5 – Donald Trump takes the oath of office as president of the United States for the second time on January 20, 2025, with his wife Melania at his side. ANSA/EPA/MORRY GASH

6 – Trump puts Musk at the head of the Doge, the Department for Government Efficiency which was supposed to cut bureaucracy and public spending but in May the two clashed over fiscal policy and the partnership ended. ANSA/EPA/WILL OLIVER

7 – On February 14, Pope Francis was admitted to the Gemelli polyclinic for a polymicrobial respiratory tract infection, which worsened into bilateral pneumonia. On March 23 he left hospital, after 38 days in hospital. ANSA/ETTORE FERRARI

8 – The meeting on February 28 between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office of the White House turns into a very tough duel. Under the astonished gaze of reporters, the president and his deputy JD Vance corner the Ukrainian leader. ANSA/EPA/JIM LO SCZO

9 – Israeli forces resume bombing Gaza on March 18, ending a two-month truce. ANSA/EPA/MOHAMMED SABER

10 – On March 19, Imamoglu, mayor of Istanbul, is arrested and removed from office: the squares fill despite the ban on demonstrations, thousands are arrested. The symbol of the protest is the protester who, with a gas mask and dervish clothes, challenges the police with the traditional twirling dance, despite the stinging gas. ANSA/EPA/ERDEM SAHIN

11 – Trump shows the tariff table by presenting them at the White House on April 2. His second administration’s trade policies are characterized by the implementation of significant tariffs, particularly against the European Union and other trading partners. ANSA/EPA/KENT NISHIMURA

12 – Pope Francis’ coffin carried on the shoulders in St. Peter’s Square on the day of the funeral on April 26. ANSA/FABIO FRUSTACI

13 – US President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelensky have a brief conversation in St. Peter’s Basilica before the funeral of Pope Francis. ANSA/EPA/UKRAINE PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE

14 – Robert Francis Prevost is elected pontiff on 8 May 2025 and looks out from the blessing loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica as Pope Leo XIV. ANSA/EPA/ETTORE FERRARI

15 – Trump meets Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in Riyadh on May 13, and on November 18 welcomes him with full honors at the White House. ANSA/EPA/NATHAN HOWARD

16 – European politicians Tusk, Macron, Starmer and Merz meet Zelensky in Tirana on 16 May 2025. Giorgia Meloni does not participate in the meeting of the “coalition of the willing” by choice. ANSA / UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE

17 – Lauren Sanchez and Jeff Bezos kiss the day after their wedding in Venice on June 28. ANSA/DANIEL DAL ZENNARO

18 – Jannik Sinner awarded by Princess Catherine after beating Carlos Alcaraz on 13 July, is the first Italian to win Wimbledon. ANSA/EPA/NEIL HALL

19 – Chinese President Xi, Russian Putin, North Korean Kim and other international leaders reach Tiananmen Square for the military parade on the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, in Beijing on September 3, 2025. ANSA/EPA/XINHUA/SHEN HONG

20 – Homage to the designer Giorgio Armani who died on 4 September 2025. ANSA/MOURAD BALTI TOUATI

21 – The players of the Italian national volleyball team celebrate the victory of the World Cup in Bangkok on 8 September. ANSA/EPA/RUNGROJ YONGRIT

22 – A young Claudia Cardinale poses for a photo shoot. The actress died on September 23. HANDLE

23 – The players of the Italian national volleyball team lift the trophy after winning the world championship in Pasay City in the Philippines on 28 September. ANSA/EPA/ROLEX DELA PENA

24 – World leaders pose for the group photo at the peace summit in Sharm El-Sheikh on 13 October 2025. ANSA/AFP/EVAN VUCCI

25 – On November 10, Trump receives Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa (2nd from left), who until a few days earlier was included on the terrorist blacklist. He is the first Syrian president to visit the White House since the country’s independence in 1946. ANSA/SANA

26 – Trump and new New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani speak with reporters in the Oval Office of the White House on November 21. ANSA/EPA/YURI GRIPAS

27 – Ornella Vanoni in a photo from 1978. The singer died on November 21, 2025 at the age of 91. HANDLE

28 – US Secretary of State Rubio and envoy Witkoff discuss the 28-point plan to end Russia’s war in Ukraine with Ukrainian military leaders at a November 23 meeting in Geneva, where European and Canadian officials also gathered, pushing for some changes to the plan. ANSA/AFP/FABRICE COFFRINI

29 – The Italian tennis team celebrates after winning the Davis Cup in Bologna on 23 November. ANSA/ELISABETTA BARACCHI

30 – Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is the fourth most powerful woman in the world, as certified by the list drawn up by Forbes for 2025. On the podium is the President of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen (first for the 4th year), ahead of the President of the European Central Bank Christine Lagarde and the Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. ANSA/FILIPPO ATTILI/PALAZZO CHIGI PRESS OFFICE