---
title: "The headline news about 2025 news headlines"
description: "A collection of the world’s best — and most boring — headlines from around the world in 2025."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "FONTS OF WISDOM"
author: "Mike Wills"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/mike-wills/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-12-21-the-headline-news-about-2025-news-headlines/"
published: "2025-12-21T19:29:28"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 736
---

# The headline news about 2025 news headlines

> A collection of the world’s best — and most boring — headlines from around the world in 2025.

By Mike Wills · Published 21 December 2025, 21:29 SAST

## Key points
- A humorous collection of entertaining, alarming, and mundane headlines from 2025 showcases the year's language creativity and captures various absurdities in global news.
- 2025 witnessed a revival of clever headlines, with notable mentions from top publications including Daily Maverick .
- The year’s best puns spanned various topics, from golf scandals to tech company success stories.
- Highlights included alarming stories and ‘thank God for that!’ moments reflecting a diverse array of news.
- Headlines ranged from absurd to alarmingly trivial, showcasing the quirky spectrum of global journalism.

## Content

For five years now, it has been my self-appointed duty to provide Daily Maverick readers with a selection of the year’s headlines that have entertained, amused or bewildered me. I have long collected these things (don’t ask why) and have also long bemoaned the decline of the great headline puns or wordplays, which used to be commonplace.

Well, I must admit that 2025 has seen something of a revival of the decent headline. I have no fewer than seven from the past year that I consider gems of the genre (even including, for the first time, one from Daily Maverick itself). The rest are headlines that simply made me chuckle or double-take or splurt “huh?” out loud.

The rule for qualification on this esteemed list is that the headline must have appeared on a vaguely reputable news website — not a clickbait factory (although, once again, I have stretched the definition of vague news credibility to include iol.co.za).

### Clever stuff

- [Colonel Bogey](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-01-29-air-force-and-army-chiefs-blasted-for-playing-golf-while-sa-soldiers-die-in-drc/) – *Daily Maverick* on a story about South African National Defence Force chiefs playing golf while SA soldiers die in DRC.
- [Xiaomi The Way](https://www.economist.com/podcasts/2025/07/25/xiaomi-the-way-a-chinese-tech-giant-gets-bigger) – *The Economist* on the raging success of the Chinese company Xiaomi.
- [Upwardly Mobiles](https://www.ft.com/content/f320b060-2b46-453f-9a42-ecfb136e8d8d) – *Financial Times*on the designer trend towards mobiles.
- [Graze Anatomy](https://www.news24.com/newsletter/gmsa/graze-anatomy-the-south-african-food-dictionary-20250923-0222) – *News24.com* on a review of a new SA Food Dictionary
- [Love rats: Canadians get chance to feed rodents named after old flames to owls](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/12/canada-owl-rats-valentines-day) – *TheGuardian.com*
- [On your Marx, get set, Zo! Socialist Mamdani wins race for mayor](https://nypost.com/cover/november-5-2025/) – *New York Post*

### Most alarming headlines of the year

- [Remote sex toys could be weaponised against users](https://x.com/HannahJBetts/status/1878171268090048563) – *TheTimes.co.uk*
- [Unruly passenger swallows rosary beads on chaotic flight to Miami](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/12/us/american-airlines-passenger-rosary-beads.html)– *NYTimes.com*
- [Father uses three-month-old baby to wipe snow off car in disgraceful viral video](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14334289/texas-father-uses-baby-wipe-snow-car-video.html) – *DailyMail.co.uk*

### Least interesting headlines of the year

- [Which crisps are the best to dunk in hummus? Our science editor finds out](https://www.thetimes.com/uk/science/article/crisps-dips-hummus-new-years-eve-2024-d0z9mpn3k) – *TheTimes.co.uk*
- [The real reason flight attendant always says a friendly ‘Hello’ as you board plane](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14508323/United-passenger-punches-gate-agent-knocks-out.html) – *DailyMail.co.uk*
- [Madikizela-Mandela’s former PA shares fondest memory of David Mabuza](https://www.ewn.co.za/2025/07/04/madikizela-mandela-s-former-pa-shares-fondest-memory-of-mabuza) – *EWN.co.za*

### ‘Artificially unintelligent’ headlines of the year

- [‘AI doesn’t know what an orgasm sounds like’: audiobook actors grapple with the rise of robot narrators](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/jul/03/audiobook-voice-actors-ai-robot-narrators) – *TheGuardian.com.*
- [ChatGPT plans the perfect holiday … to places that don’t exist](https://www.thetimes.com/world/article/chatgpt-perfect-holiday-ai-tech-x9lntjdsv) – *TheTimes.co.uk.*
- [Chicago Sun-Times confirms AI was used to create reading list of books that don’t exist](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/20/chicago-sun-times-ai-summer-reading-list#:~:text=By%20Tuesday%20evening%2C%20the%20publication,Sun%2DTimes%20and%20other%20newspapers.)– *TheGuardian.com.*
- [Regulating AI hastens the Antichrist, says Palantir’s Peter Thiel](https://www.thetimes.com/business/technology/article/palantir-founder-peter-thiel-antichrist-lectures-religion-qzmpth35t)*– TheTimes.co.uk*

### ‘Thank God for that!’ headline of the year

- [Gwyneth Paltrow breaks silence on socialite who fled her Hamptons home after ‘catastrophic’ diarrhea incident](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-14513129/Gwyneth-Paltrow-breaks-silence-socialite-fled-Hamptons-home-catastrophic-diarrhea-incident.html) – *DailyMail.co.uk*

### From the sports pages

- [Amateur urinates in Rae’s Creek at Masters and says I’d do it again](https://www.thetimes.com/sport/golf/article/jose-luis-ballester-amateur-urinates-wee-raes-creek-at-masters-gzsk7prs6) – *TheTimes.co.uk*
- [Sophie Cunningham hit by flying sex toy](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/wnba/article-14974589/WNBA-flying-sex-toy-hit-Sophie-Cunningham.html)– *DailyMail.co.uk*
- [Great North Run apologises over ‘Newcastle map’ medals that actually show Sunderland](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/sep/08/great-north-run-apologises-newcastle-map-medals-sunderland) – *TheGuardian.com*
- [Trump opens golf course in Scotland after ‘stopping a war’](https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/trump-new-golf-course-scotland-sffv7lrjx) – *TheTimes.co.uk*
- [Wales and Belgium World Cup qualifier delayed by pitch-invading rat](https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6714130/2025/10/13/wales-belgium-rat-pitch/) – *NYTimes.com*

### From our political correspondents

- [MK Party ‘ready and able to fix Joburg’](https://www.businessday.co.za/bd/national/2025-06-10-mk-party-ready-and-able-to-fix-joburg/) – *Businesslive.co.za*
- [Merafong municipality appoints deputy CFO – a position that doesn’t exist](https://www.news24.com/southafrica/news/merafong-municipality-appoints-deputy-cfo-a-position-that-doesnt-exist-20250817-1096) – *News24.com*
- [Dr Iqbal Survé is a threat to Cyril Ramaphosa and the South African capitalist oligarchy](https://iol.co.za/news/opinion/2024-04-26-dr-iqbal-surv-is-a-threat-to-cyril-ramaphosa-and-the-south-african-capitalist-oligarchy/) – *IOL.co.za*

### And in other news…

- [‘I don’t even like cheese’, says winner of cheese-rolling competition](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/05/26/annual-cheese-rolling-wake-competition-gloucestershire/) – *Telegraph.co.uk*
- [World’s oldest boomerang doesn’t actually come back](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cren818q5x1o) – *BBC.com*
- [Sea Otters Are Stealing Surfboards in California. Again.](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/science/sea-otters-surfboard-santa-cruz.html) – *NYTimes.com*
- [Nasa tells Kim Kardashian: Yes, we’ve been to the moon before](https://www.thetimes.com/us/news-today/article/kim-kardashian-moon-landing-nasa-txsngwzc2) – *TheTimes.co.uk*
- [Brigitte Bardot, 91, releases statement insisting she is not dead](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-15218277/Brigitte-Bardot-statement-denying-died-hospital.html) – *DailyMail.co.uk*
- [Pizza restaurant charges £100 for Hawaiian to deter customers](https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/food-drink/article/pizza-restaurant-charges-100-for-hawaiian-to-deter-customers-wj5wxv33h) – *TheTimes.co.uk*
- [Jeff Bezos alters Venice wedding plans after threat of inflatable crocodiles](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jun/24/jeff-bezos-lauren-sanchez-change-wedding-reception-location-in-venice-after-threatened-protest)– *TheGuardian.com*
- [Calls to ban naked bike riding in Britain after nude cyclist is attacked by vigilante binman at ‘charity’ event](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15309293/Calls-ban-naked-bike-riding-Britain-nude-cyclist-attacked-vigilante-binman-charity-event-campaigners-warn-happen-again.html)– *DailyMail.co.uk*
- [Norwegian man wakes up to find cargo ship in his back garden](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/05/23/norwegian-man-wakes-to-find-cargo-ship-in-his-back-garden/) – *Telegraph.co.uk*
- [Gangster lectures German tourist on dangers of smoking in Signal Hill mugging](https://www.news24.com/southafrica/news/gangster-lectures-german-tourist-on-dangers-of-smoking-in-signal-hill-mugging-20251020-1148) – *news24.com*
- [Doorbell prankster that tormented residents of German apartments turns out to be a slug](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/sep/08/doorbell-prankster-that-tormented-residents-of-german-apartments-turns-out-to-be-a-slug) – *TheGuardian.com*
- [Is this Brazilian judge really called Edward Albert Lancelot Dodd Canterbury Caterham Wickfield?](https://www.thetimes.com/world/latin-america/article/brazilian-judge-faked-being-british-aristocrat-bdl2s9wxb?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1748590680-2) – *TheTimes.co.uk*
- [Historians dispute Bayeux tapestry penis tally after lengthy debate](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/25/bayeux-tapestry-historian-genitalia-dispute) – *TheGuardian.com* **DM**

*Mike Wills is a Cape Town based writer and radio talk show host.*