Industrialization without destruction: a UN project for the future

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25 December 2025

Bandage-like device brings texture to touchscreens

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Northwestern University engineers have developed the first haptic device that achieves “human resolution,” meaning it accurately matches the sensing abilities of the human fingertip.

Called VoxeLite, the new ultra-thin, lightweight, flexible, wearable device recreates touch sensations with the same clarity, detail and speed that skin naturally detects. Image credit: Northwestern University

Called VoxeLite, the ultra-thin, lightweight, flexible, wearable device recreates touch sensations with the same clarity, detail and speed that skin naturally detects. Similar to a bandage, the device gently wraps around a fingertip to give digital touch the same realism people now expect from today’s screens and speakers.

By combining high spatial resolution with a comfortable, wearable form factor, VoxeLite could transform how people interact with digital environments, including more immersive virtual reality systems, assistive technologies for people with vision impairments, human-robot interfaces and enhanced touchscreens.

The study was published in the journal Science Advances.

“Touch is the last major sense without a true digital interface,” said Northwestern’s Sylvia Tan, who led the study. “We have technologies that make things look and sound real. Now, we want to make textures and tactile sensations feel real. Our device is moving the field toward that goal. We also designed it to be comfortable, so people can wear it for long periods of time without needing to remove it to perform other tasks. It’s like how people wear glasses all day and don’t even think about them.”

“This work represents a major scientific breakthrough in the field of haptics by introducing, for the first time, a technology that achieves ‘human resolution,’” said Northwestern’s J. Edward Colgate, a haptics pioneer and senior author of the study. “It has the ability to present haptic information to the skin with both the spatial and temporal resolution of the sensory system.”

Colgate is the Walter P. Murphy Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Northwestern’s McCormick School of Engineering and director of the National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center on Human AugmentatioN via Dexterity (HAND). Colgate and co-senior author Michael Peshkin, the Allen K. and Johnnie Cordell Breed Senior Professor of Design and professor of mechanical engineering at McCormick, are longtime collaborators and pioneers in the field of haptics technology. Tan is a Ph.D. student at Northwestern’s Center for Robotics and Biosystems, where she is advised by Colgate and Peshkin.

Unsolved problems in haptics

Despite decades of progress in high-definition video and true-to-life audio, digital touch has stubbornly lagged behind. Today’s haptic feedback — mostly simple smartphone vibrations — cannot convey the rich, detailed information the fingertips naturally perceive. This is partially because the skin’s spatial and temporal resolution is notoriously difficult to simulate.

“Think of very old motion pictures when the number of frames per second was really low, so movements looked jerky. That’s due to low temporal resolution,” Colgate said. “Or think of early computer displays where images were pixelated. That’s low spatial resolution. Nowadays, both problems are solved for graphical displays. For tactile displays, however, they have been far from solved. In fact, very few researchers have even attempted to tackle both of them together.”

Individual pixels of touch

With VoxeLite, Tan, Colgate and Peshkin bring the field much closer to solving these issues. The device features an array of tiny, individually controlled nodes embedded into a paper-thin, stretchable sheet of latex. These soft nodes function like pixels of touch, each capable of pressing into the skin at high speeds and in precise patterns.

Each node comprises a soft rubber dome, conductive outer layer and hidden inner electrode. When a slight voltage is applied, it generates electroadhesion — the same principle that causes a balloon to stick to a wall after being rubbed. In their previously developed TanvasTouch technology, Colgate and Peshkin harnessed electroadhesion to modulate friction between a fingertip and a smooth touchscreen surface. In those devices, an applied electric field alters friction to create the illusion of texture, but it does not involve any moving parts.

VoxeLite moves this concept forward. The new technology applies electrostatic forces in a precise, controlled way to make each tiny node “grip” a surface and tilt to press into skin. This generates a highly localized mechanical force, so each “pixel” of touch pushes the skin on a fingertip. Higher voltages increase friction during movement, producing more pronounced tactile cues to simulate the feeling of a rough surface. On the other hand, lower voltages create less friction and, therefore, the sensation of a slipperier surface.

“When swiped across an electrically grounded surface, the device controls the friction on each node, leading to controllable indentation on the skin,” Colgate said. “Past attempts to generate haptic effects have been big, unwieldy, complex devices. VoxeLite weighs less than a gram.”

Reaching human resolution

To create the human-resolution sensations, Tan packed the nodes closely together. In the densest version of the device, nodes are spaced about 1 millimeter apart. In user testing, Tan used a version with 1.6 millimeters of spacing among the nodes.

“The density of the nodes really matters for matching human acuity,” Tan said. “The nodes need to be far enough apart that your body can tell them apart. If two nodes are less than one millimeter apart, your fingertips only sense one node instead of two. But if nodes are too far apart, they cannot recreate fine details. To make sensations that feel real, we wanted to match that human acuity.”

VoxeLite operates in two modes: active and passive. In active mode, the device generates virtual tactile sensations by rapidly tilting and indenting individual nodes as a user moves across a smooth surface, such as the screen of a smartphone or tablet. The nodes can move up to 800 times per second, covering nearly the full frequency range of human touch receptors.

Recognizing virtual textures

In a series of experiments, study participants wearing the device accurately and reliably recognized virtual textures, patterns and directional cues. People wearing VoxeLite identified those directions patterns — up, down, left and right — with up to 87% accuracy. They also identified real fabrics, including leather, corduroy and terry cloth, with 81% accuracy.

In passive mode, the device essentially disappears. Because it is extremely thin, soft and conforms to the skin, VoxeLite does not interfere with real-world tasks or block the natural sense of touch. Then, wearers can move seamlessly between real and digital experiences.

For future iterations of the device, the Northwestern team envisions a technology that can be paired with smartphones and tablets. Just like earbuds use Bluetooth to interact with our devices, VoxeLite could someday perhaps sync with devices to transform flat, smooth screens into textured interfaces. That potentially could lead to more lifelike online shopping experiences, where shoppers can feel textiles and fabrics before making a purchase. It also could lead to tactile maps for people with vision impairments or more interactive games, where players can feel the stretch of a rubber band or the bumpy rocks on a cliff.

“What makes this most exciting is combining spatial and temporal resolution with wearability,” Tan said. “People tend to focus on one of these three aspects because each one is such a difficult challenge. Our lab already solved temporal resolution with electroadhesion. Then, my challenge was to make it spatially distributed and wearable. It did take a while to get here. Now, we’re running studies to understand how humans actually receive and perceive this tactile information.”

Bandage-like device brings texture to touchscreens

By

-

25 December 2025

Table of Contents

Northwestern University engineers have developed the first haptic device that achieves “human resolution,” meaning it accurately matches the sensing abilities of the human fingertip.

Called VoxeLite, the new ultra-thin, lightweight, flexible, wearable device recreates touch sensations with the same clarity, detail and speed that skin naturally detects. Image credit: Northwestern University

Called VoxeLite, the ultra-thin, lightweight, flexible, wearable device recreates touch sensations with the same clarity, detail and speed that skin naturally detects. Similar to a bandage, the device gently wraps around a fingertip to give digital touch the same realism people now expect from today’s screens and speakers.

By combining high spatial resolution with a comfortable, wearable form factor, VoxeLite could transform how people interact with digital environments, including more immersive virtual reality systems, assistive technologies for people with vision impairments, human-robot interfaces and enhanced touchscreens.

The study was published in the journal Science Advances.

“Touch is the last major sense without a true digital interface,” said Northwestern’s Sylvia Tan, who led the study. “We have technologies that make things look and sound real. Now, we want to make textures and tactile sensations feel real. Our device is moving the field toward that goal. We also designed it to be comfortable, so people can wear it for long periods of time without needing to remove it to perform other tasks. It’s like how people wear glasses all day and don’t even think about them.”

“This work represents a major scientific breakthrough in the field of haptics by introducing, for the first time, a technology that achieves ‘human resolution,’” said Northwestern’s J. Edward Colgate, a haptics pioneer and senior author of the study. “It has the ability to present haptic information to the skin with both the spatial and temporal resolution of the sensory system.”

Colgate is the Walter P. Murphy Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Northwestern’s McCormick School of Engineering and director of the National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center on Human AugmentatioN via Dexterity (HAND). Colgate and co-senior author Michael Peshkin, the Allen K. and Johnnie Cordell Breed Senior Professor of Design and professor of mechanical engineering at McCormick, are longtime collaborators and pioneers in the field of haptics technology. Tan is a Ph.D. student at Northwestern’s Center for Robotics and Biosystems, where she is advised by Colgate and Peshkin.

Unsolved problems in haptics

Despite decades of progress in high-definition video and true-to-life audio, digital touch has stubbornly lagged behind. Today’s haptic feedback — mostly simple smartphone vibrations — cannot convey the rich, detailed information the fingertips naturally perceive. This is partially because the skin’s spatial and temporal resolution is notoriously difficult to simulate.

“Think of very old motion pictures when the number of frames per second was really low, so movements looked jerky. That’s due to low temporal resolution,” Colgate said. “Or think of early computer displays where images were pixelated. That’s low spatial resolution. Nowadays, both problems are solved for graphical displays. For tactile displays, however, they have been far from solved. In fact, very few researchers have even attempted to tackle both of them together.”

Individual pixels of touch

With VoxeLite, Tan, Colgate and Peshkin bring the field much closer to solving these issues. The device features an array of tiny, individually controlled nodes embedded into a paper-thin, stretchable sheet of latex. These soft nodes function like pixels of touch, each capable of pressing into the skin at high speeds and in precise patterns.

Each node comprises a soft rubber dome, conductive outer layer and hidden inner electrode. When a slight voltage is applied, it generates electroadhesion — the same principle that causes a balloon to stick to a wall after being rubbed. In their previously developed TanvasTouch technology, Colgate and Peshkin harnessed electroadhesion to modulate friction between a fingertip and a smooth touchscreen surface. In those devices, an applied electric field alters friction to create the illusion of texture, but it does not involve any moving parts.

VoxeLite moves this concept forward. The new technology applies electrostatic forces in a precise, controlled way to make each tiny node “grip” a surface and tilt to press into skin. This generates a highly localized mechanical force, so each “pixel” of touch pushes the skin on a fingertip. Higher voltages increase friction during movement, producing more pronounced tactile cues to simulate the feeling of a rough surface. On the other hand, lower voltages create less friction and, therefore, the sensation of a slipperier surface.

“When swiped across an electrically grounded surface, the device controls the friction on each node, leading to controllable indentation on the skin,” Colgate said. “Past attempts to generate haptic effects have been big, unwieldy, complex devices. VoxeLite weighs less than a gram.”

Reaching human resolution

To create the human-resolution sensations, Tan packed the nodes closely together. In the densest version of the device, nodes are spaced about 1 millimeter apart. In user testing, Tan used a version with 1.6 millimeters of spacing among the nodes.

“The density of the nodes really matters for matching human acuity,” Tan said. “The nodes need to be far enough apart that your body can tell them apart. If two nodes are less than one millimeter apart, your fingertips only sense one node instead of two. But if nodes are too far apart, they cannot recreate fine details. To make sensations that feel real, we wanted to match that human acuity.”

VoxeLite operates in two modes: active and passive. In active mode, the device generates virtual tactile sensations by rapidly tilting and indenting individual nodes as a user moves across a smooth surface, such as the screen of a smartphone or tablet. The nodes can move up to 800 times per second, covering nearly the full frequency range of human touch receptors.

Recognizing virtual textures

In a series of experiments, study participants wearing the device accurately and reliably recognized virtual textures, patterns and directional cues. People wearing VoxeLite identified those directions patterns — up, down, left and right — with up to 87% accuracy. They also identified real fabrics, including leather, corduroy and terry cloth, with 81% accuracy.

In passive mode, the device essentially disappears. Because it is extremely thin, soft and conforms to the skin, VoxeLite does not interfere with real-world tasks or block the natural sense of touch. Then, wearers can move seamlessly between real and digital experiences.

For future iterations of the device, the Northwestern team envisions a technology that can be paired with smartphones and tablets. Just like earbuds use Bluetooth to interact with our devices, VoxeLite could someday perhaps sync with devices to transform flat, smooth screens into textured interfaces. That potentially could lead to more lifelike online shopping experiences, where shoppers can feel textiles and fabrics before making a purchase. It also could lead to tactile maps for people with vision impairments or more interactive games, where players can feel the stretch of a rubber band or the bumpy rocks on a cliff.

“What makes this most exciting is combining spatial and temporal resolution with wearability,” Tan said. “People tend to focus on one of these three aspects because each one is such a difficult challenge. Our lab already solved temporal resolution with electroadhesion. Then, my challenge was to make it spatially distributed and wearable. It did take a while to get here. Now, we’re running studies to understand how humans actually receive and perceive this tactile information.”

Source: Northwestern University

Gaza: Humanitarian response ongoing despite restrictions

By

United Nations News

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25 December 2025

Deep concerns for Palestinians amid intense Israeli raids in occupied West Bank

“As part of these efforts, the UN and its partners offload more essential supplies at crossings around Gaza every day,” it said.

On Monday, humanitarians offloaded nearly 4,000 pallets of aid at two border crossings – Kerem Shalom/Karem Abu Salem in the southern Strip and Zikim in the north.

Table of Contents

Food, water and other supplies

Around 65 per cent of the pallets contained food supplies, while 12 per cent carried shelter items. Another 12 per cent were water, sanitation and hygiene items, and 7 per cent comprised health and nutrition supplies.

The UN also attempted to coordinate five humanitarian movements with the Israeli authorities on Tuesday. While three were facilitated, one was initially approved but never received clearance to proceed, and another was cancelled by the organisers.

“As a result, teams could redeploy staff and carry out some of the planned collection of food and health supplies from Kerem Shalom crossing, alongside other missions in areas where coordination with the Israeli authorities was not required,” OCHA said.

Winter kits for children

On the education front, partners distributed more than 2,000 winterization kits to children aged 12 to 14 years, as well as deploying and distributing 58 specialized tents across 16 learning centres.

The move aims to expand classroom space and is expected to accommodate nearly 25,000 children.

Other partners working in mine action continue inspecting key areas for potential explosive hazards. In this regard, two assessments were to support the removal of rubble in Deir al Balah and Gaza city were carried out on Monday.

Olive harvest season in the occupied West Bank, Oct 2025.

West Bank: Farming families need support

Meanwhile, more than 72,000 families in the West Bank who grow crops or raise animals require urgent emergency assistance, according to a survey by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

It finds that around 90 per cent of agricultural families have recently lost income, mainly due to sharp declines in both crop and livestock production as well as sales.

FAO stressed that supporting farmers and herders in the West Bank is critical to produce food, sustain livestock and avert a deeper crisis.

“Agricultural families urgently need assistance – both cash and in-kind – to mitigate the impacts of widespread settler violence, a deepening economic crisis and near-ubiquitous loss of income,” said Rein Paulsen, Director of FAO’s Office of Emergencies and Resilience.

Conflict, rising costs and other challenges

Agriculture remains a vital lifeline in the West Bank. Of the approximately 700,000 families there, around 115,000 depend on agriculture for their livelihoods, highlighting the sector’s importance to food security and income.

The Data in Emergencies (DIEM) survey also reveals the mounting pressures facing agricultural families. Nearly 9 in 10, or about 100,000 households, have recently experienced at least one acute “shock” such as conflict and violence, rising living costs, and job loss.

Other challenges they face include limited access to water, movement restrictions and land access constraints, as well as high fuel and transport costs.

The survey was conducted between July and August, marking the second time it was carried out this year.

Impact Stories from the EIT Community NEB: Innovation and Community Impact Across Europe

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25 December 2025

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The Delivering the New European Bauhaus – EIT Community NEB Impact Report 2025 highlights how the EIT Community New European Bauhaus (NEB) is delivering real transformation across Europe.

The NEB is the European Union’s creative and cultural dimension of the European Green Deal, merging sustainability, inclusion, and beauty to reimagine how people live together. As one of its core implementation partners, the EIT Community NEB turns this vision into practice, empowering citizens, innovators, and cities to co-create more sustainable, inclusive, and beautiful places.

Among the many initiatives showcased in the report, the following six stand out for their clear impact and replicability. These examples represent a selection of the many impact stories featured.

Remonda (Spain): Turning Orange Peel Waste into Regenerative Biomaterials

Remonda embodies the full NEB innovation pathway. Beginning as an Ignite NEB idea in Seville, the team moved through Grow NEB prototyping and ultimately registered their circular startup. The team transforms orange peel waste into regenerative biomaterials and recently showcased their work to President Ursula von der Leyen during the EU Joint Research Centre inauguration in Seville, demonstrating how citizen creativity, science, and design converge to turn local waste into European opportunity.

Naviblind (Denmark): Enabling Inclusive Urban Mobility Through AI

Naviblind is pioneering an AI-powered navigation system for blind and visually impaired citizens. With support from Catalyse NEB, the startup piloted its solution in Berlin in collaboration with the municipalityand regional transport authority, and presented its innovation at the 2025 EU Research & Innovation Days. Naviblind shows how accessible design can directly influence urban mobility systems.

Ekotekt (Finland): Scaling Sustainable Construction with HempCon 3D Panels

Ekotekt is revolutionising the construction industry with its HempCon 3D panels – a biocomposite solution offering exceptional thermal comfort, sound reduction, and fire resistance, while using 70 percent less concrete~~toring 14 kg of CO₂ pe~~ and achieving up to 90 percent waste reduction. Through Catalyse NEB, the startup has expanded rapidly – opening a 3D printing facility in Estonia, securing patents in Finland and the United States, and earning multiple European awards. Ekotekt demonstrates how NEB values can guide industrial innovation at scale.

Boldr (United Kingdom): Smarter Energy Use in Every Home

Boldr is bringing user-friendly energy efficiency into households through intelligent home energy systems. Since joining Catalyse NEB, the company has raised $3.2 million in a seed round that exceeded investor demand, expanded into North America, and launched Boldr ProPack – the first smart thermostat designed for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning contractors working with ductless units. Its inclusion in the 250 list of Europe’s fastest-growing startups and the Sifted 100 for the UK & Ireland (2025), underscores its rapid growth.

Mobilissimus (Hungary): Cooling Cities with Community-Led Design

Born in Budapest’s Losonci neighbourhood, CoolCo’s began as a community-led intervention tackling urban heat. Through Co-create NEB, Mobilissimus co-designed a shaded cooling corner with residents – a modular space that reduced surface temperatures by up to 19°C. Building on its success, the project scaled through Enhance NEB, replicating the concept in Poland and showing how simple, low-cost design can deliver practical climate resilience. By engaging elderly residents, families, and marginalised groups, CoolCo’s strengthened trust, inclusion, and collaboration between communities and municipalities.

FishArt (Italy): Revitalising a Coastal Harbour Through Art and Participation

In Anzio, FishArt is transforming the city’s harbour into a vibrant, inclusive public space where art and sustainability meet. Led by the University of Turin under Co-create NEB, the project engaged fishermen, artists, schools, and residents to reimagine the harbour as a shared cultural and ecological landmark. Through participatory workshops and environmental education, the community co-created 22 artistic installations and hosted a public event celebrating marine conservation and local identity. FishArt strengthened social cohesion, fostered pride of place, and showed how creativity can anchor sustainable transformation.

A Growing European Movement

These initiatives are a glimpse of the wider impact detailed in the EIT Community NEB Impact Report 2025. Between 2021 and 2025, the EIT Community NEB deployed 227 activities across 35+ countries, with 60 percent in Regional Innovation Scheme regions, and €5.9 million sub-granted across seven programmes. A total of 92 NEB-aligned start-ups have been accelerated to market, and over half of all project leads are women, with most projects integrating inclusive design and accessibility principles.

Together, these achievements reflect a vibrant, citizen-driven movement shaping sustainable, inclusive, and beautiful places across Europe – one project, one startup, and one community at a time.

Read the report

Weeks of monitoring lead to major cocaine seizure with key Frontex support

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25 December 2025

Weeks of monitoring lead to major cocaine seizure with key Frontex support

For weeks, Frontex monitored a fishing vessel that appeared determined to disappear. That sustained effort helped lead to the seizure of more than four tonnes of cocaine and the arrest of ten suspects linked to a Greek criminal network.

Gaza: humanitarian response continues despite restrictions

By

NewsdeskTET

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24 December 2025

“As part of these efforts, the UN and its partners are unloading more essential supplies at crossing points around Gaza every day,” it said. said.

On Monday, humanitarian workers unloaded nearly 4,000 pallets of aid at two border crossings: Kerem Shalom/Karem Abu Salem, in the south of the Gaza Strip, and Zikim, in the north.

Table of Contents

Food, water and other supplies

About 65 percent of the pallets contained food supplies, while 12 percent contained shelter items. Another 12 percent were water, sanitation and hygiene items, and 7 percent were health and nutrition products.

The UN also tried on Tuesday to coordinate five humanitarian movements with the Israeli authorities. While three of them were facilitated, one was initially approved but never received permission to proceed, and another was canceled by organizers.

“As a result, teams were able to redeploy their personnel and carry out part of the planned collection of food and medical supplies at the Kerem Shalom crossing point, alongside other missions in areas where coordination with Israeli authorities was not necessary. » OCHA said.

Winter kits for children

On the educational front, partners have distributed more than 2,000 winterization kits to children aged 12 to 14, as well as deployed and distributed 58 specialized tents in 16 learning centers.

The move aims to expand classroom space and is expected to accommodate nearly 25,000 children.

Other partners working in mine action continue to inspect key areas for possible explosion hazards. In this regard, two assessments intended to support the removal of rubble in Deir al Balah and Gaza City were carried out on Monday.

Gaza: humanitarian response continues despite restrictions

Olive harvest season in the occupied West Bank, October 2025.

West Bank: Farming families need support

Meanwhile, more than 72,000 families in the West Bank who farm or raise animals are in urgent need of emergency aid, according to a survey by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

It appears that about 90 percent of farming families have recently lost their income, mainly due to a sharp decline in crop and livestock production and sales.

FAO stressed that it was essential to support farmers and herders in the West Bank to produce food, support livestock and avoid a bigger crisis.

“Farming families urgently need assistance – in cash and in kind – to mitigate the impacts of widespread settler violence, a deepening economic crisis and near-pervasive loss of income. » said Rein Paulsen, Director of the FAO Office for Emergencies and Resilience.

Conflicts, rising costs and other challenges

Agriculture remains a vital lifeline in the West Bank. Of the approximately 700,000 families living there, around 115,000 depend on agriculture for their livelihoods, highlighting the importance of the sector for food security and income.

THE Data in Emergency Survey (DIEM) also reveals the growing pressures facing farm families. Nearly 9 in 10 households, or around 100,000, have recently experienced at least one acute “shock,” such as conflict and violence, rising costs of living, and job loss.

Other challenges they face include limited access to water, movement restrictions and land access constraints, and high fuel and transport costs.

The survey was carried out between July and August, this is the second time it has been carried out this year.

Originally published at Almouwatin.com

UN Security Council hears warnings of escalating US-Venezuela standoff

By

NewsdeskTET

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24 December 2025

Ambassadors briefing Tuesday, UN Under-Secretary-General Khaled Khiari said that the US military presence and operations off the coast of Venezuela have grown since the last Council meeting discussed the issue in Octoberwhich further increases tensions.

The United States has described its expanded military deployment as part of what it calls a “non-international armed conflict” against cartels and drug trafficking, Mr. Khiari said.

“President Donald Trump said he would use ‘the full power of the United States to take on and eradicate these drug cartels, wherever they operate.'”

The Venezuelan government, including its permanent representative to the UN, has called the actions taken by the United States “a serious threat to international peace and security,” Khiari continued.

In a December 16 letter addressed to the President of the Council, Caracas accused Washington of violating “the principle prohibiting the threat or use of force in international relations.”

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Strikes on suspected drug ships

U.S. strikes on ships allegedly carrying drugs in the southern Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific continue, Khiari said, citing U.S. officials who reported that 105 people had been killed in such strikes since September 2.

The exact locations were not disclosed, with U.S. officials saying they occurred in “international waters” or within the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights warned that the airstrikes violated international human rights law, Khiari added, emphasizing that the fight against drug trafficking is a matter of policing governed by strict limits on the use of lethal force.

Tensions continue to rise

Mr. Khiari further informed the Council that the United States has designated the Cartel de los Soles a “foreign terrorist organization” and declared Venezuelan airspace “closed in its entirety,” leading many international airlines to suspend flights.

Washington also announced that it has since seized oil tankers, imposed new sanctions and ordered what President Trump described as “a total and complete blockade” of sanctioned oil shipments.

Venezuela, in turn, denounced these actions as a “unilateral naval blockade” and a violation of international law, and in recent days its navy has reportedly begun escorting oil tankers.

UN Security Council hears warnings of escalating US-Venezuela standoff

Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, briefs members of the Security Council.

Dialogue, the only viable path

Mr. Khiari reiterated the position of the United Nations on the need for all Member States to respect international law, particularly the United Nations Charterand exercise restraint and ease tensions to preserve regional stability.

The Secretary-General stands ready to support all diplomatic engagement efforts, he added, including through his good offices, if requested by both parties.

“Dialogue is the only viable path to lasting peace and preventing further instability and human suffering,” Mr. Khiari said.

Council members call for restraint

In the debate that followed, Security Council Members and participating countries have expressed concern about the situation, and many have warned of an escalation that could destabilize the region.

Michael Imran Kanu, Sierra Leone’s ambassador, said the UN Charter’s rules on the use of force are “essential to international stability” and aim to prevent escalation, miscalculation and illegal wars of choice.

French Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative Jay Dharmadhikari stressed that efforts to combat drug trafficking must be carried out in accordance with international law. Eloy Alfaro de Alba, Panama’s ambassador, urged all states to cooperate using “relevant international instruments” and called for respect for the United Nations Charter.

Regional participants expressed contrasting views, with some expressing solidarity with Venezuela in the face of external pressure: “Their fight is our fight,” said Jaime Hermida Castillo, Nicaragua’s ambassador. Others, however, warned that the Venezuelan people suffer as a “direct consequence” of the government, “and not as external or third factors,” according to Miguel Ricardo Candia Ibarra, Paraguay’s representative.

Broadcast of the Security Council meeting.

The United States commits to eradicating cartels

US Ambassador Michael Waltz stressed that his country would eradicate drug cartels, “which have operated with impunity in our hemisphere for far too long”.

Sanctions will be applied to the greatest extent possible to “deprive [Venezuelan President Nicolás] Maduro on the resources he uses to finance the Cartel [de los Soles]”.

This, he added, includes profits from the sale of oil, as these enable “his fraudulent claim to power and his narcoterrorist activities”.

Stressing that the “illegitimate Maduro regime” poses an “extraordinary threat to the peace and stability of our hemisphere,” Waltz said the United States “will do everything in its power to protect our hemisphere, our borders and the American people.”

Venezuela says US is looking for oil

“The United States seems destined by Providence to infest Latin America with misery in the name of freedom,” said Samuel Moncada, Venezuela’s ambassador, quoting Simón Bolívar, a 19th-century Latin American independence leader and statesman.

Stressing that it is not his country – but the current US government – that poses a threat, he added: “It is not drugs, it is not security, it is not freedom – it is oil, it is mines, it is land. »

Mr. Moncada demanded that the Security Council condemn the ongoing aggression and ensure that the United States withdraws its military.

“The world knows that if the scale of armed attacks continues, we will exercise, with determination, our inalienable right of self-defense,” he said.

Click here to additional coverage of the meeting coverage of UN meetings.

Originally published at Almouwatin.com

DR Congo: Displaced people in South Kivu close to ‘utter desperation’, WFP says

By

United Nations News

-

24 December 2025

DR Congo: Displaced people in South Kivu close to ‘utter desperation’, WFP says

That’s according to the UN World Food Programme (WFP), which announced on Tuesday that it is scaling up to deliver aid to more than 210,000 people displaced by the violence after a new offensive by armed group M23 reignited hostilities earlier this month.

“This hunger crisis risks spiraling without urgent action,” said Cynthia Jones, WFP Country Director for the DRC.

She added that even the families who have provided shelter to those forced to flee are already living at emergency levels of food insecurity, “sharing their last food with displaced neighbors—pushing all of them closer to utter desperation.”

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Deprived of water and medicine

Since the violence broke out in South Kivu, health facilities have been looted, medicines are unavailable and schools remain closed. Affected communities are deprived of safe water, medical care and livelihoods. Education has been severely disrupted, with more than 391,000 children out of school, according to WFP.

As a result, many have also fled into neighbouring countries in search of food and shelter. Teams are supporting 71,000 new arrivals from DRC in Burundi, and 1,000 in Rwanda, with hot meals.

Underfunding threatens aid

WFP is trying to reach the most vulnerable displaced families and host communities in South Kivu with a survival package of cereals, pulses, vegetable oil, iodised salt and specialised nutrition to prevent malnutrition for young children and pregnant or breastfeeding women.

While some food supplies are already pre-positioned in the conflict area, the agency says it is urgently seeking $67 million to continue assistance for three months for those forced to flee DRC and $350 million to keep operations running across all programmes in the country.

“Without urgent support and additional funding, we cannot respond to a crisis that is teetering on the brink of a hunger catastrophe,” said Ms. Jones.

Eurojust’s cross-border investigations in 2025 continued to fight organised crime

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24 December 2025

In 2025, the EU’s judicial cooperation hub worked together with national authorities from all over the globe to solve complex cross-border investigation and take action against organised criminal networks harming our societies every day. From drug trafficking networks, to large-scale credit card fraud and art trafficking, Eurojust was at the heart of combatting serious organised crime in 2025.