In 2025 as well, only a limited set of international stories about the world received major attention in Japanese news coverage. For example, the daily news closely followed the moves of Donald Trump, who again took office as U.S. president in January 2025. The conflicts between Ukraine and Russia, and Israel and Palestine also continued to draw major attention. Looking at the “Top 10 Overseas News of 2025 Chosen by Readers” published annually by Yomiuri Shimbun, aside from the items mentioned above, the Los Angeles wildfires, the Louvre theft case, and the inauguration of a new pope also drew attention. Meanwhile, in the “Top 10 Overseas News of 2025 Selected by Jiji Press,” more than half of the items were events directly related to the United States.
Yet behind these highlighted issues, many events occurred that were larger in scale, more serious, or likely to have long-term impacts. For example, it became clear that conflict-related sexual violence in 2024 increased by 25% year-on-year. In the first half of 2025, piracy in the Strait of Malacca surged to about four times the level of the same period the previous year. On the other hand, there were also positive developments, such as the declaration of malaria elimination in Timor-Leste and a reversal to a decline in Jamaica’s homicide rate for the first time in 22 years. Japanese media, however, reported little or nothing on these kinds of issues.
At GNV, we annually compile underreported yet significant stories in a ranked list titled “The World’s Top 10 Hidden News.” This year as well, we present 10 events selected by GNV over the course of 2025. The detailed criteria (※1) used to determine the order and how we measured the amount of coverage (※2) are noted in the footnotes. Now, let’s look at the Top 10 Hidden News of 2025 starting from No. 1.
目次
No. 1 Military spending and arms makers’ revenues hit all-time highs
Over the course of 2024, government military expenditures reached an unprecedented level, and at the same time it became clear that the global arms industry posted record-high revenues. According to the United Nations and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), global military spending in 2024 rose 9.4% from the previous year to reach USD 2.7 trillion. This is the sharpest increase since the end of the Cold War. While this amount is roughly equivalent to the total GDP of Africa, funding for peacebuilding, public health, and development remains chronically insufficient. UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that “the world is spending far more on waging war than on building peace.” This surge in public spending is also reflected in record revenue growth for private arms manufacturers. In 2024, the world’s top 100 arms producers posted a combined USD 679 billion in revenues, up 5.9% year-on-year. U.S. defense giants such as Lockheed Martin, RTX, and Northrop Grumman recorded moderate growth, while the most notable increases came from companies in Asia and Europe. In particular, Japanese arms manufacturers saw the largest global increase, with combined revenues rising by about 40% in just one year, driven by an expanded defense budget and a stronger export orientation. German arms manufacturers also experienced rapid growth of 36%, benefiting from the strengthening trend of European rearmament as the Ukraine–Russia conflict continued. Similarly, South Korean arms manufacturers increased revenues by 31%, supported by surging arms exports and long-term supply contracts.
Coverage volume (※3)
Asahi Shimbun: 2 articles/867 characters
Mainichi Shimbun: 3 articles/1,482 characters
Yomiuri Shimbun: 2 articles/2,950 characters
Missile systems on display at an arms expo (Photo: Srđan Popović / Wikimedia Commons [CC BY-SA 4.0])
No. 2 The world faces a severe food crisis
According to a report by the World Food Programme (WFP), in 2025 68 countries have about 318 million people facing a severe food crisis. This figure is more than double that of 2019. Of these, about 1.4 million are in the most critical phase of “catastrophic hunger.” At the regional level, two regions—Gaza in Palestine and Sudan—were recognized as experiencing “famine.” Looking at the number of people in severe food crisis, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Sudan are the top three countries. In particular, Nigeria is facing a record situation with 30.6 million people in severe food crisis; citing funding shortfalls, the WFP suspended assistance to 1.3 million people in the northeast at the end of July, and it is projected that the number of people falling into “catastrophic hunger” will increase into 2026. Many people in Yemen, Afghanistan, and Myanmar are also facing food crises equivalent to a “humanitarian emergency.” The WFP cites four causes of the food crisis: conflict, climate, the economy, and displacement. In fact, about 70% of people facing food crises live in areas affected by conflict, and damage to agriculture from droughts and floods is pushing up food prices, worsening food crises in low-income countries.
Coverage volume (※4)
Asahi Shimbun: 0 articles/0 characters
Mainichi Shimbun: 0 articles/0 characters
Yomiuri Shimbun: 0 articles/0 characters
Nigerian refugees who fled to Niger receive food assistance (Photo: EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid/ Flickr [CC BY-NC-ND 2.0])
No. 3 Severe funding shortfalls at the United Nations
At the United Nations, the regular budget is severely underfunded due to arrears in assessed contributions from Member States, forcing far-reaching reforms of the organization itself. As of December 1, 2025, the Secretary-General warned that about USD 1.6 billion was in arrears. The peacekeeping (PKO) budget is also faltering, with unpaid contributions mounting despite representing only 0.5% of global military spending, undermining security in conflict zones. Furthermore, as of December 2025, only about 29% of the total requested global humanitarian funding channeled through the UN had been raised. Many UN specialized agencies are also facing severe funding shortfalls. For example, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), responsible for supporting displaced people, has seen the number of displaced persons rise to over 122 million—double the figure from a decade ago—while funding has remained nearly flat; in October 2025, it was reported that more than 5,000 jobs had been cut. Moreover, due to funding shortages, the UN has significantly reduced its 2026 humanitarian appeal. Funding shortfalls related to the UN are also having major impacts on civil society organizations it supports and their activities. For instance, due to funding cuts, organizations working to end violence against women and girls have halted or scaled back many of their projects around the world, leading to a loss of field expertise and response capacity, as has been reported.
Coverage volume
Asahi Shimbun: 4 articles/3,228 characters
Mainichi Shimbun: 3 articles/3,901 characters
Yomiuri Shimbun: 4 articles/1,724 characters
United Nations Headquarters in New York, United States (Photo: United Nations Photo / Flickr [CC BY-NC-ND 2.0])
No. 4 4 million people displaced in the Central Sahel as conflict persists
In its October 2025 report, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) revealed that approximately 4 million people are currently displaced in the Central Sahel region, comprising Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. The region was also identified in the 2025 Global Terrorism Index (GTI) as the area most affected by terrorism worldwide. Much of the violence in the Sahel is linked to cross-border armed groups such as Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS). In Mali, armed groups have disrupted fuel supplies to the capital, Bamako. Initially active in the three Central Sahel countries, these groups have increased attacks on coastal states such as Benin and Togo. The conflict and the resultant forced displacement have increased humanitarian needs across the region. However, of the approximately USD 410 million UNHCR appealed for from donors for humanitarian assistance, only 33% had been received as of November 2025. One factor complicating humanitarian fundraising is the emergence of military juntas in these countries following successive coups, making some donors reluctant to provide aid. In 2023, the three military regimes established the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) alliance. The AES countries themselves, fearing external influence, have restricted or halted the distribution of some humanitarian supplies.
Coverage volume
Asahi Shimbun: 0 articles/0 characters
Mainichi Shimbun: 0 articles/0 characters
Yomiuri Shimbun: 0 articles/0 characters
A displacement camp in West Africa (Photo: Ewien van Bergeijk – Kwant / Wikimedia Commons [CC BY-SA 4.0])
No. 5 Surge in antibiotic resistance linked to 3 million child deaths worldwide
New evidence has shed light on the loss of life caused by antimicrobial resistance (AMR). According to a large-scale study published in April 2025, more than 3 million children worldwide died from infections related to antimicrobial resistance in 2022. Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa were particularly hard hit, where health systems face chronic shortages, overcrowding, and limited access to diagnostic tools. Additional data released later in the year reinforced this warning. A WHO report in October 2025 found that roughly one in six bacterial infections globally in 2023 was caused by antibiotic-resistant pathogens. Between 2018 and 2023, about 40% of antibiotics used for common infections—urinary tract, gastrointestinal, bloodstream infections, and gonorrhoea—lost effectiveness. The report also noted that resistance levels in tracked drug combinations were rising by 5–15% per year. The main drivers of AMR are overuse and misuse of antibiotics—especially inappropriate prescribing for viral infections—which accelerate bacterial adaptation. In many low- and middle-income countries, weak surveillance systems, inadequate infection prevention and control, and delays in access to new-generation antibiotics exacerbate the problem. At the same time, the development of new antibiotics (particularly paediatric formulations) is lagging behind, narrowing clinicians’ treatment options. AMR is increasingly seen as a global crisis, requiring urgent action on surveillance, hygiene practices, vaccination, and equitable access to effective medicines.
Coverage volume
Asahi Shimbun: 0 articles/0 characters
Mainichi Shimbun: 1 article/285 characters
Yomiuri Shimbun: 1 article/928 characters
Bacteria undergoing antimicrobial susceptibility testing (Photo: DFID – UK Department for International Development / Wikimedia Commons [CC BY 2.0])
No. 6 Haiti’s political turmoil reaches its worst on record
In October 2025, WFP analysis revealed that a record-high 5.7 million people (51% of the total population) in Haiti are in a state of severe food crisis, and more than 1.2 million children under five live in areas experiencing severe food insecurity. If current trends continue, more than 5.9 million could face severe food crisis by 2026. This serious problem stems from the debilitation of government functions triggered by the assassination of the then-president in July 2021, which led to the rise of armed groups. Currently, 90% of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, is controlled by armed groups, and since 2025 their control has spread to neighboring departments. People have been forced to flee due to violence and instability, and in 2025 alone the number of displaced people hit a record 1.4 million. In response, the UN Security Council (UNSC) launched a Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission in 2024, but it could not stop the rapidly deteriorating situation. In September 2025, the MSS was replaced by an expanded force called the Gang Suppression Force (GSF). At the same time, there are skeptical voices regarding how much the voices of the Haitian people are reflected in this effort.
Coverage volume
Asahi Shimbun: 1 article/547 characters
Mainichi Shimbun: 0 articles/0 characters
Yomiuri Shimbun: 0 articles/0 characters
Daily life in Haiti (Photo: naTsumi / Shutterstock)
No. 7 Norway: Sovereign wealth fund changes ethics rules
On November 4, 2025, the Norwegian parliament voted to temporarily suspend exclusions based on the ethics guidelines for the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, the Government Pension Fund Global (GPF-G), which has USD 2.1 trillion in assets. Under these guidelines, investments could not be made in companies that severely infringe on individual rights in conflict situations, per the rules. Behind the vote were seven U.S. Big Tech companies—such as Amazon, Google, and Microsoft—that account for more than 15% of the fund’s equity holdings and are involved. These companies are said to be providing cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) services necessary for the implementation of genocide in Gaza by Israel, and under the fund’s ethics rules, they would ordinarily be subject to divestment. The vote was reportedly an attempt to avoid that outcome. Furthermore, on November 25, 2025, the Norwegian parliament took measures to postpone for one year decisions related to investments that violate the ethics guidelines. A proposal to revise the GPF-G ethics rules is to be submitted by October 15, 2026.
Coverage volume
Asahi Shimbun: 0 articles/0 characters
Mainichi Shimbun: 0 articles/0 characters
Yomiuri Shimbun: 0 articles/0 characters
The Norwegian Parliament (Photo: Andreas Haldorsen / Wikimedia Commons [CC BY-SA 4.0] )
No. 8 Poverty in Mexico fell by about 26% over six years
On July 30, 2025, Mexico’s National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) announced that “multidimensional poverty” in Mexico decreased by 13.4 million people (about 26%) over the six years from 2018 to 2024. “Multidimensional poverty” is a term that refers to forms of “poverty” that cannot be captured by economic aspects alone, appearing in various dimensions such as educational opportunities, health status, social security, and living standards like access to clean water and electricity. This concept was adopted by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in 2010, and Mexico was the first in the world to introduce the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI). Since a left-leaning administration took office in 2018, Mexico has bolstered social programs for seniors, farmers, and youth, household income has increased by 15.6%, and multidimensional poverty fell significantly by 2024. Furthermore, it was reported that the government, workers, and businesses agreed to raise the minimum wage by 13% in 2026 (5% in the northern border region adjacent to the United States). However, regional disparities among people in multidimensional poverty remain severe; according to the aforementioned INEGI report, the rate is 25% in urban areas (25.5 million people) versus 45.8% in rural areas (13 million people).
Coverage volume
Asahi Shimbun: 0 articles/0 characters
Mainichi Shimbun: 0 articles/0 characters
Yomiuri Shimbun: 0 articles/0 characters
Crowds at a street food stall in Mexico City (Photo: Daniel Case / Wikimedia Commons [CC BY-SA 3.0] )
No. 9 Separatists take control of southern Yemen
In December 2025, the Southern Transitional Council (STC), a southern Yemeni separatist movement backed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), launched a rapid offensive across the country’s entire east. Within a few days, STC-aligned forces seized control of Hadramawt governorate, which borders Saudi Arabia and contains Yemen’s largest oil resources, and Al Mahrah governorate, which borders Oman. The organization further took control of most of the former South Yemen territories, including Aden and Abyan. STC forces took over military bases, government buildings, and oil facilities, but there was little resistance as Saudi-aligned forces withdrew or stood aside. By mid-December, the STC flag was raised along the Omani border as well. As a result of this sequence of moves, for the first time since the unification of North and South Yemen in 1990, the areas corresponding to the former South Yemen came under the control of a single force. Meanwhile, the shift has stoked regional tensions, particularly worsening relations with Saudi Arabia and Oman, and deepened rifts among factions opposed to Ansar Allah (commonly known as the Houthi movement). Yemen’s current conflict dates back to 2014, when Ansar Allah seized the capital, Sana’a. In response, a Saudi- and UAE-led military intervention in 2015 triggered a humanitarian crisis. Since then, the country has remained split between the north controlled by Ansar Allah and the south controlled by a fractured coalition of external backers. The STC’s December 2025 offensive became one of the most significant territorial shifts in the conflict.
Coverage volume
Asahi Shimbun: 0 articles/0 characters
Mainichi Shimbun: 0 articles/0 characters
Yomiuri Shimbun: 0 articles/0 characters
Shibam, Wadi Hadhramaut, Yemen (Photo: Jialiang Gao / Wikimedia Commons [CC BY-SA 3.0] )
No. 10 2.8 million Afghan refugees forcibly returned
In 2025, Afghanistan witnessed one of the largest and fastest refugee returns in recent years in both scale and speed. A total of approximately 2.8 million Afghan refugees were forcibly returned from Iran and Pakistan—more than 1.8 million from Iran and about 930,000 from Pakistan. This large-scale movement was driven primarily by tougher forced return policies in neighboring countries. The situation in Afghanistan remains unstable and economically fragile, making voluntary return difficult for many refugees. In Iran, the announced expiration of refugee registration lists in March 2025 triggered a sharp increase in forced returns. From July to October 2025, more than 900,000 Afghan refugees were expelled or returned. In Pakistan, the government expanded its “Illegal Foreigners’ Repatriation Plan” in March 2025, requiring foreigners without valid documents to leave the country, and forcibly returning those who did not comply. This policy also affected Afghan refugees holding valid temporary protection documents. Returnees to Afghanistan are facing severe humanitarian conditions. In Afghan society—already at a breaking point from poverty and economic collapse—basic necessities such as food, shelter, clean water, medical care, and employment are in short supply. Ongoing border disputes between Pakistan and Afghanistan are further worsening the situation, adding more strain locally. The UN and aid agencies have warned that the surge in forced returns is placing an excessive burden on Afghanistan’s fragile social services and increasing risks for vulnerable people including women, children, and the elderly.
Coverage volume
Asahi Shimbun: 0 articles/0 characters
Mainichi Shimbun: 2 articles/1,649 characters
Yomiuri Shimbun: 0 articles/0 characters
Afghan refugees being forcibly returned from Pakistan (Photo: UN Women Asia and Pacific / Flickr [CC BY-NC-ND 2.0] )
As we have seen, there were many highly significant stories in 2025 that received little coverage. The top three in particular are striking. From these three, we can see a pattern in which funds needed to stop humanitarian crises and infectious diseases around the world are diverted into military spending for arms manufacturers, resulting in people in vulnerable positions being driven into severe crises. In fact, more than half of the stories that made this ranking could move much closer to resolution if adequate funding were properly allocated.
Once again this year, there were many other important stories that did not make the top 10. For example, the number of executions carried out reached a record high in Iran and Saudi Arabia. In Mozambique, where conflict is expanding, the humanitarian crisis is worsening. On the other hand, positive stories included the conclusion of Australia’s first treaty with Indigenous peoples and the formal designation of gender-based violence as a “national disaster” in South Africa. None of these received attention in Japanese media.
If news coverage can convey what is happening around the world and the reasons behind it, it may help illuminate ways to make the world a better place.
GNV will continue to report important global stories that major media overlook, in line with our philosophy of “reporting the unreported world.”
※1 For selection of the rankings, we evaluated multiple criteria such as the amount of media coverage, the magnitude of impact, and the scale of change in 2025. Even for events or phenomena that predate 2025, we included in the ranking those whose aspects became apparent in 2025 as news on par with those that occurred in 2025.
The specific method was as follows: We divided the world into 6 regions (1) East, South, and Central Asia; 2) Southeast Asia, the Pacific, and the Indian Ocean; 3) Middle East and North Africa; 4) sub-Saharan Africa; 5) Europe; and 6) North and South America), and picked 4 events or phenomena considered significant with low coverage in Japan from each region, plus 6 global events or phenomena not limited to a specific region, for a total of 30.
For each event or phenomenon, we scored five criteria—( 1 ) paucity of coverage, ( 2 ) the number of people affected and the degree of impact, ( 3 ) impact on systems such as politics, economy, society, and security, ( 4 ) cross-border nature, and ( 5 ) timeliness—each out of 3 points. Because this is a ranking that places particular emphasis on underreported matters, we doubled the weight of criterion ( 1 ) paucity of coverage. Based on these results, we narrowed the 30 candidates down to 10, and decided the order through an editorial meeting. Note that the coverage volume was tallied from January 1, 2025 to December 24, 2025.
※2 To survey the coverage volume, we used the online databases of the three newspapers Asahi Shimbun, Mainichi Shimbun, and Yomiuri Shimbun (Asahi Shimbun: Asahi Shimbun Cross-Search, Mainichi Shimbun: Mai Saku, Yomiuri Shimbun: Yomidas Rekishikan). We targeted the national and Tokyo regional morning and evening editions, focusing on both the headlines and the body text.
※3 All of these newspaper articles discussed global military spending. However, within these, we found no coverage of SIPRI’s December report stating that arms manufacturers’ revenues hit a record high.
※4 We found no articles on the global food crisis as a whole, though there were multiple pieces on food shortages in specific countries or regions such as Gaza.
Writers: Seita Morimoto, Virgil Hawkins, Hayato Ishimoto, Yosr Laarifi, Kanako Kinoshita, Maiko Takeuchi, Gaius Ilboudo, Ito Risa, Mohammad Istiaq Jawad
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