New Year is always such a overwhelming time, full of anxieties regarding what’s about to come, what’s about to change, what’s the next thing to happen, however, it is important to hold a neutral position about what’s to come, and it would be even better if one finds things to look forward to. Here are the top 10 things you can await with pleasure over the next year.

Future of TikTok?

Congress has overwhelmingly passed legislation for TikTok to be banned from US app stores by January 19 unless Beijing-based ByteDance sells its stake. However, after they appealed to the Supreme Court on grounds that the ban violates First Amendment rights to free speech, the court will hear the case on January 10th.

Yet, with Trump’s aligned conservatives in the court and Trump himself batting for the app saying, “We got to keep this sucker around for a little while”, it will be interesting to see if both US and ByteDance’s concerns could be satisfied.

Photo Credit: Reuters

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams returning back

NASA announced that the stranded astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore will be coming back to Earth by March 2025, after yet another delay.

The astronauts had left for the ISS on June 5th 2024, aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft as a part of a test flight, with plans to return back to Earth a week later, but technical issues in the spacecraft delayed their return.

Photo Credit: Reuters

Oasis reunion

Brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher are reuniting for an Oasis Live 2025 tour after a 15-year-long feud between them. The tour will begin on July 4th, 2025 in Cardiff, Wales, although the band has promised more dates outside the UK later in the year.

This finally answers one of rock’s biggest will-they-won’t-they questions.

In a release, they stated, “There has been no great revelatory moment that has ignited the reunion – just the gradual realisation that the time is right.”

Photo Credit: @Oasis on Instagram

Grand Theft Auto VI release

Although the release date of Grand Theft Auto VI has not been disclosed, it is expected to fall sometime in fall 2025. The game has already broken a Guinness World Record for most-viewed video game reveal with its trailer with more than 168 million views.

Grand Theft Auto V, has sold over 190 million units.

Photo Credit: @gta6ixofficial on Instagram

COP 30 in Brazil

The 2025 UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP 30) will convene in November 2025 in Belém, Brazil, and will include the 30th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 30). but ironically, the meeting might harm the environment.

A new highway, Avenida Liberdade, has been approved for the facilitation of traffic into and out of Belém, that will cut through its protected area, and disturb wildlife movement.

Session of COP 28 in Dubai, where COP 30 was formalized in Brazil, in Belém

Jubilee of 2025

Italy’s capital is gearing up for a spectacular celebration as the Catholic Church’s Jubilee returns in 2025. This momentous event, which occurs every 25 years, is expected to draw millions of devout pilgrims to the city.

The festivities will commence on December 24, 2024, with a symbolic ceremony: the Opening of the Holy Door.

One of the highlights of the Jubilee is the historic Seven Churches Pilgrimage. This revered tradition, which dates back to the 16th century, involves a 25km journey on foot through the city and surrounding countryside, visiting seven major basilicas along the way.

Photo Credit: Reuters

World Expo 2025

Osaka is preparing to host the World Expo in 2025, 55 years after setting a record for the best-attended Expo of the 20th century in 1970. The city is determined to surpass its previous success, and its plans are nothing short of impressive.

Renowned Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto has designed a breathtaking centerpiece for the Expo: a 20-meter-high, 2-kilometer-long Grand Ring that will encircle the entire site. Visitors will be able to walk along the ring, taking in stunning views of the Expo and Osaka Bay.

With its unique blend of architecture, technology, and international collaboration, Expo 2025 is shaping up to be an unforgettable experience.

Photo Credit: @expo2025japan on Instagram

TV Shows

2025 will be an exciting year for television shows as the most anticipated shows are returning after quite some gap. Be it comedies, mysteries or dramas, the year will be a jam-packed one.

• Yellowjackets (survival thriller and drama) will be returning with a Season 3 of the show. The show will premiere on February 16th, 2025.
• The White Lotus (dark comedy, social satire) will be returning in February 2025, and will be set in Thailand.
• The Handmaid’s Tale (dystopian fiction), based on the novel by Margaret Atwood, will also be released in 2025 with Season 6 of the show. This will be the final season for the show.
• The Last Of Us (post-apocalyptic drama) is a zombie drama series based on a video game of the same name, which became HBO’s most watched debut season.
• Stranger Things (supernatural action-drama) will wrap up its final season on Netflix. The series pays homage to Stephen King and Steven Spielberg. The fourth season was the second-most-streamed Netflix show of all time.

Photo Credit: @strangerthingstv on Instagram

Movies

• Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, the eight movie of the franchise sees the 62 year old Tom Cruise reprise his role as Ethan Hunt. It will pick up from where 2022’s Dead Reckoning Part One left off.
• Superman, which sees David Corenswet play the 25-year-old version of DC character, is given the title “Chapter One: Gods and Monsters”. Rachel Brosnahan stars as Lois Lane in the movie.
• 28 Years Later, starring Cillian Murphy, is a zombie apocalypse movie bringing the undead to run. This is the first in a planned trilogy.
• Snow White, co-written by Greta Gerwig stars Rachel Zegler in the titular role with Gal Gadot playing the Evil Queen.
• Michael, Lionsgate’s most anticipated movie of the year, is a biographical film chronicling the life of Michael Jackson. The movie stars the pop icon’s nephew, Jaafar Jackson.

Photo Credit: @28yearslatermovie on Instagram

Books

• How to Sleep at Night by Elizabeth Harris; the book follows a couple who have grown apart because of their political differences. The book is about romantic and sibling love, how identities evolve over time, ambition and monogamy.
• Three Days in June by Anne Tyler; this is the Pulitzer prize winning author’s 25th novel, which revolves around a marriage story, not something one would quite expect.
• Tilt by Emma Pattee, is a natural disaster adventure novel that anxieties surrounding motherhood, marriage and career.
• The Next Day by Melinda French Gates; a memoir in which she explores themes of life’s changes, becoming a parent and recent departure from a foundation she started with her ex-husband Bill Gates.
• Matriarch: A Memoir by Tina Knowles; Beyonce and Solange’s mother tells her story through this book, about how she raises superstar daughters and the challenges that come along the way, basically how she came to be one of the most famous moms in the world.

Photo Credit: @melindafrenchgates on Instagram