“These infections can cause severe complications, such as chronic pain and infertility and, in the case of syphilis, problems with the heart or nervous system,” said Bruno Ciancio, the head of the agency’s Directly Transmitted and Vaccine-Preventable Diseases unit.

According to an alert from the IPC, a global food security monitoring system, thresholds for acute malnutrition were surpassed in two new areas of North Darfur – Um Baru and Kernoi – following the fall of the regional capital, El Fasher, in October 2025 and a massive exodus.

December assessments found acute malnutrition levels among children of 52.9 per cent in Um Baru – nearly twice the famine threshold – and about 34 per cent in Kernoi.

The IPC stressed that the alert does not constitute a formal famine classification but warned that conditions are deteriorating rapidly – and action is urgently needed.

“These alarming rates suggest an increased risk of excess mortality,” the experts said, adding that many other conflict-affected or inaccessible areas may be facing similarly catastrophic conditions.

See our UN News explainer on the evidence-based IPC index here.

Um Baru and Kernoi

Um Baru and Kernoi are in remote areas of northwestern North Darfur, near key displacement corridors leading toward the Chadian border.

Both areas have absorbed large numbers of civilians fleeing fighting in and around El Fasher, where conflict has shattered markets, disrupted livelihoods and sharply curtailed humanitarian access.

Sudan’s war, which erupted in April 2023 between the once-allied Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has devastated food systems nationwide, triggering mass displacement, market collapse and repeated disruptions to health, water and nutrition services.

Across the country, nearly 4.2 million cases of acute malnutrition are now expected in 2026, including more than 800,000 cases of severe acute malnutrition, representing a sharp increase from 2025 levels, according to IPC projections.

What the alert means

The IPC alert is intended to draw urgent attention to the worsening conditions and does not introduce any new formal classification.

It builds on earlier IPC analyses that confirmed famine (IPC Phase 5) in El Fasher, North Darfur in 2024, and Kadugli, South Kordofan, in September 2025 – and projected famine risk in at least 20 other areas across greater Darfur and greater Kordofan.

The new findings indicate that famine-like conditions are likely spreading beyond previously assessed locations, driven by continued fighting, displacement and the collapse of food, health and water systems, IPC analysts said.

Greater Kordofan at risk

The IPC also warned of rapidly deteriorating conditions across Greater Kordofan, where famine was already confirmed in Kadugli and severe conditions were projected in Dilling and the Western Nuba Mountains.

Renewed fighting since late October has displaced more than 88,000 people in the region, pushing total displacement above one million. Markets there are among the least functional in Sudan, with food prices far above national averages.

Without an immediate end to the fighting and large-scale humanitarian access, IPC experts said preventable deaths are likely to rise.

The cryptocurrency ecosystem endured another bruising year in 2025, with stolen funds continuing their upward trajectory and attack patterns growing more extreme. New analysis from blockchain intelligence firm Chainalysis shows that while some areas of crypto security have improved, attackers — particularly North Korean state-linked groups — are achieving fewer but far more devastating breaches.

From January through early December 2025, more than US$3.4 billion in cryptocurrency was stolen globally. Nearly half of that total came from a single incident: the US$1.5 billion Bybit hack in February, now one of the largest crypto thefts ever recorded. Beyond the headline figure, however, the data reveal deeper structural shifts in how crypto crime is unfolding across centralized platforms, decentralized finance (DeFi), and individual users.

Crypto theft has always been outlier-driven, but 2025 marked a new extreme. For the first time, the ratio between the largest hack and the median incident exceeded 1,000 to 1, meaning the biggest breach was more than a thousand times larger than a typical theft. The top three hacks alone accounted for 69% of all service-related losses, concentrating risk into a handful of catastrophic events.

Centralized services remain particularly vulnerable. Although large exchanges and custodians invest heavily in professional security teams, private key compromises continue to represent a fundamental weakness. Such incidents are relatively rare, but when they occur, they are massive. In the first quarter of 2025, private key compromises accounted for 88% of all stolen value from services.

The most consequential threat actor remains the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). In 2025, North Korean hackers stole at least US$2.02 billion in cryptocurrency, a 51% increase over 2024 and the highest annual total ever attributed to the country. DPRK-linked operations were responsible for a record 76% of all service compromises, pushing the estimated cumulative total of North Korean crypto theft to US$6.75 billion.

Strikingly, this record haul was achieved with far fewer known attacks. Analysts attribute the shift to a strategy focused on patience, access, and scale. Rather than frequent smaller hacks, DPRK-linked actors appear to concentrate on penetrating high-value targets and extracting enormous sums in single operations — as seen with Bybit.

A key enabler is the regime’s evolving IT worker infiltration model. North Korean operatives embed themselves inside exchanges, custodians, and Web3 firms to gain privileged access. More recently, they have inverted the model entirely, impersonating recruiters at major crypto and AI companies. Victims are lured into fake hiring processes or investor meetings designed to harvest credentials, source code, and access to corporate systems.

The scale of DPRK thefts has also provided unprecedented insight into how a nation-state launders crypto. Unlike other cybercriminals, North Korean actors move stolen funds in smaller on-chain tranches, with over 60% of transfers below US$500,000, even though the total sums stolen are far larger. This contrasts with non-DPRK criminals, who typically move funds in multi-million-dollar chunks.

Chainalysis data show clear preferences in laundering infrastructure. DPRK-linked actors rely heavily on Chinese-language money laundering and guarantee services, cross-chain bridges, and mixing services, while largely avoiding lending protocols, peer-to-peer exchanges, and even no-KYC platforms more commonly used by other criminals. This pattern suggests tight integration with professional illicit networks across the Asia-Pacific region, consistent with Pyongyang’s historical reliance on China-based financial intermediaries.

Following major hacks, DPRK laundering tends to unfold in three waves over roughly 45 days: an initial rush to distance funds via DeFi protocols and mixers; a transitional phase using bridges and limited-KYC exchanges; and a final integration phase involving Chinese-language services, instant exchanges, and selected centralized platforms. The consistency of this timeline offers valuable intelligence for law enforcement and compliance teams.

While nation-state hacks dominate headlines, personal wallet compromises remain a growing concern. Theft incidents surged to 158,000 in 2025, nearly triple the number recorded in 2022, with at least 80,000 unique victims. This growth reflects expanding crypto adoption, particularly on networks like Solana, which recorded the highest number of affected users.

Yet despite more victims, the total value stolen from individuals fell from US$1.5 billion in 2024 to US$713 million in 2025. Attackers appear to be targeting more users but extracting smaller amounts per wallet. Risk also varies significantly by network: Ethereum and Tron show the highest theft rates per active wallet, while Solana and Base exhibit lower victimization rates despite large user bases.

One of the most unexpected findings in 2025 is the divergence between DeFi growth and hack losses. Total value locked (TVL) in DeFi rebounded strongly from 2023 lows, yet thefts remained suppressed. This breaks with earlier cycles where rising TVL reliably attracted more attacks.

Improved security appears to be a key factor. The September 2025 incident at Venus Protocol illustrates the shift. Thanks to real-time monitoring and rapid governance action, Venus detected and neutralized an attempted US$13 million exploit within hours, ultimately recovering all funds and freezing remaining attacker assets. In a notable reversal, the attacker ended up losing money.

The 2025 data paint a complex picture. Crypto crime is not disappearing; it is concentrating, professionalizing, and, in the case of North Korea, becoming more strategic. The DPRK’s ability to steal more with fewer attacks underscores a growing sophistication that poses systemic risks to high-value platforms.

As cryptocurrency continues to mature, the challenge for 2026 will be preventing these rare but devastating breaches. Detecting DPRK’s distinctive laundering patterns, hardening centralized key management, and extending the security gains seen in DeFi will be critical. The lesson of 2025 is clear: in crypto, a single successful attack can still define an entire year.

Israeli security forces raided the organisation’s offices in Ramallah and Hebron on 1 December, vandalising property and detaining staff. 

According to OHCHR, people present in the buildings were blindfolded, handcuffed and made to kneel or lie on the floor for several hours. Eight men were detained.

The union (UAWC) is licensed under Palestinian law and has supported farmers and rural communities for decades – particularly those facing settler violence or the threat of forced displacement. 

The group is one of six Palestinian NGOs labelled “terrorist” by Israeli authorities in 2021 under legislation the UN says is overly broad and allows for sweeping, unjustified restrictions on civil society. The rights office stressed that Israel has not presented evidence to back up the allegations.

Most violent olive harvest on record

The raid followed several weeks of harassment and public incitement by Israeli settlers and settler leaders who targeted UAWC during the peak of the olive harvest. This year’s harvest has been the most violent on record: by mid-November, OHCHR had documented 167 settler attacks affecting 87 Palestinian communities.

Violence has increasingly extended beyond farmers themselves. Since 1 October, the UN office has recorded 81 violations by settlers and Israeli security forces against human rights defenders, volunteers providing protective presence, and NGOs supporting communities targeted by settler violence or threatened by settlement expansion. These include 48 arrests or detentions, and 22 physical assaults.

OHCHR said unnecessary or disproportionate force, arbitrary detention, and ill-treatment remain common features of Israeli security operations in the West Bank. 

‘Unlawful annexation’

The cumulative effect, it warned, is a rapid shrinking of both physical and civic space for Palestinians, as settlement expansion and what the UN describes as Israel’s “unlawful annexation” of the territory continue.

Ajith Sunghay, head of OHCHR in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said the international legal position is unequivocal: “Israel must end its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and remove all settlers in accordance with the conclusions of the International Court of Justice.”

“As an occupying power, Israel has clear duties under international law,” he added, including respecting and protecting Palestinians’ rights to earn a living and to exercise freedom of expression and association. 

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The continent is witnessing an “unprecedented” spike in mpox cases since January, with 15 countries reporting outbreaks. As of Thursday, 2030 cases and 13 deaths were confirmed this year, compared with 1,145 cases and seven deaths in the whole of 2023.

Mpox is a viral illness caused by the monkeypox virus (commonly abbreviated as MPXV), a species of the genus Orthopoxvirus.

Common symptoms include a skin rash or mucosal lesions that can last for two to four weeks accompanied by fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, low energy and swollen lymph nodes.

It can be transmitted to humans through physical contact with someone who is infectious, with contaminated materials, or with infected animals.

Treatment is supportive and aimed at alleviating the symptoms. Various therapeutics that may be effective against mpox are being developed and tested.

Interrupting transmission the priority

According to WHO, the Democratic Republic of the Congo accounts the highest number (90 per cent) of the reported cases, including a new variant that emerged last September. Cases from that variant have also been reported in neighbouring Rwanda and Uganda, as well as Kenya, while analysis of cases is ongoing in Burundi.

Matshidiso Moeti, the agency’s Regional Director for Africa, highlighted that the “priority is to rapidly interrupt the transmission of the virus”.

“We are collaborating with partners in support of countries to reinforce outbreak control measures and ensure that communities are central to ongoing efforts to effectively end these outbreaks,” Dr. Moeti said.

Actions on the ground

WHO is working through country teams and experts deployed on the ground to support national authorities to strengthen key response areas, including disease surveillance, diagnosis testing and clinical care, infection prevention and control.

It is also working with the health authorities to access therapeutics, decentralize laboratory services for enhanced diagnostic capacities, and ramp up efforts to raise awareness about the risk of the disease among communities.

Field investigation and active case finding are also being reinforced in the affected and at-risk countries, and the UN health agency is coordinating closely to enhance contact tracing and mobilizing financial support to help countries respond.

Assessing international risk

Furthermore, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday called for an emergency committee of experts meeting to determine whether the outbreak in Africa constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

“The committee will meet as soon as possible and will be made up of independent experts from a range of relevant disciplines from around the world,” he said, speaking in Geneva.

The chief executive of NHS Blood and Transplant, Dr Jo Farrar, said the service had an “incredible response” from donors after an earlier appeal last month.

“However, seven weeks on, the need for O negative blood in particular remains critical,” she said.

The latest data shows, external that national stocks of O negative blood are currently running at only 1.6 days in England, well below the six-day target.

The shortage is blamed in part on a ransomware attack on the pathology firm Synnovis last month.

Before a patient can be given a blood transfusion, hospitals routinely check their blood type to make sure the donated blood is compatible.

Since the cyber-attack in June, a number of major London hospitals that contracted with Synnovis, including King’s and Guy’s and St Thomas’, have not been able to run those checks as quickly as normal.

Instead doctors have been forced to use universal O-type blood, which is draining stock levels across the whole system in England.