Sarah Burke
We are now one quarter of the way through the 21st century. Landmark years like this can feel like milestones in hindsight, but in 2025, the pages of history are turning in front of our eyes.
The world is faster and more complex than ever. Finding clear, credible information amid the noise is a constant challenge. Safety and security leaders now live in an information environment facing unprecedented levels of politicization and fragmentation across internet platforms. We can also now see the early impacts of artificial intelligence in online content.
Factal editors have been busier than ever. In the last 12 months, we’ve published more than 128,500 verified updates spanning every corner of the world – an increase of 21% compared to last year. We also published 2,085 editors notes with critical context and real-time assessments of conflicting details. (These numbers don’t count our automated coverage, which provide more granular updates.)
When you break down the numbers, our most updated events of the year centered on conflict:
- Ukraine-Russia conflict
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- Israel-Iran conflict
- Syrian conflict
- Israel-Lebanon war
- Houthi attacks on Red Sea and Israel
- Sudan civil war
- Eastern DR Congo militant conflict
- Trump immigration crackdown
- Trump second term transition
Links above for Factal members.
War and Peace
Like last year, our two most updated topics in 2025 were the protracted conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine.
- Israel-Palestine: The year ends with all living Israeli hostages released from Gaza and a very fragile ceasefire in place. Tens of thousands of civilians have been killed, and a full-blown humanitarian crisis continues in the Strip. With Israeli forces seizing control of more than 50 percent of the territory, hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced. It remains uncertain whether the ceasefire will hold, or how the enclave is to be rebuilt or governed in the months and years to come. Over the course of 2025, this war continued to be a regional conflagration, drawing in Lebanon and Syria. This summer, it threatened to spread globally when war erupted between Israel and Iran, drawing in the United States. There was also an Israeli strike in Qatar, which Israel said targeted Hamas officials. Widespread pro-Palestinian protests have shut down parts of European and U.S. cities throughout the year. Israeli military operations and settlements in the West Bank continue at pace.
- Ukraine-Russia: Fighting continues along the frontlines and through nearly nightly Russian missile and drone bombardments across Ukraine. The Trump administration seemed to make it an early priority to mediate talks that could lead to a cessation of hostilities and there have been several runs at it, including high-level choreography with the Russian and Ukrainian presidents. The latest attempt to make a deal has not yet succeeded. On the ground, Russian forces continue to edge into Ukraine from the east and northeast, almost completely driving Ukrainian forces out of Russian territory in the Kursk region. Despite some high-profile tactical successes, including a drone campaign against air assets deep inside Russian territory in June, Ukraine has continued to see incremental losses on home turf. Meanwhile, suspected Russian sabotage efforts and drone overflights continue across Europe.
It was a helter-skelter year for conflict more broadly. There were some new ones: Thailand and Cambodia began cross-border fighting in May and resumed in December and a mostly dormant conflict in eastern DR Congo erupted in full force with the siege and occupation of Goma and Bukavu, displacing tens of thousands of people. The war is now at risk of spreading to neighboring Burundi after militants captured the border city of Uvira. In Sudan’s civil war, the army has all but lost Darfur to the Rapid Support Force militia which stands accused of widespread crimes against humanity in El Fasher. Fighting has moved into a new and dangerous phase in the Kordofan region, with prospects for an end to the bloodshed — and humanitarian disaster — looking distant.
Natural Disasters
The natural world continued to demonstrate in 2025 that politics and war are never alone in driving the news agenda.
We witnessed the most costly ever natural disaster in the U.S. when multiple wildfires laid siege to Los Angeles for three weeks in January. At least 31 people died directly from injuries caused by the fires, while some researchers estimate hundreds more may have died indirectly. Factal covered the events in real time as hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated and 18,000 homes and structures destroyed. Investigations continue into how the Pacific Palisades and Eaton fires were handled. Wildfires are unpredictable and extremely dangerous even in less populated areas, but in a dense urban environment they are extremely challenging to cover.
Six months later, Texas’ Hill Country was struck by catastrophic flash flooding following unusual, torrential rains linked to the remnants of Tropical Storm Barry. The devastating flooding in Kerr County happened extremely fast, on the morning of July 4, when the water levels of the Guadeloupe River rose more than 26 feet in less than an hour. Factal published verified updates from the first flood warnings after 5 am local time, through search and rescue, to the confirmation of fatalities about four hours later. More than 120 people were killed, including dozens of teachers and children at a residential summer camp. The speed and severity of the flooding has sparked conversations about the emergency warning system in this flood-prone part of the state.
Our coverage of the deadly 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Myanmar began with an eyewitness report from central Bangkok, where widespread shaking was felt simultaneously. That coverage quickly extended to Myanmar with local media reports of multiple large buildings collapsed in Mandalay. Air transit and rail transport were suspended in Thailand where people were trapped under collapsed structures in Bangkok. More than 3,300 people were killed and, despite the Myanmar junta’s announcement of a temporary ceasefire in its civil war, hostilities continued.
Trump change
Donald Trump’s second presidency has been one of the main catalysts in the domestic and global news agenda for 2025. And it is no accident: This administration has signaled its clear intention to try to create a new order at home and abroad.
Factal continues to break news across the full range of administration initiatives. We covered federal troop deployments in U.S. cities, nationwide immigration raids, federal workforce restructuring, the shuttering of USAID, and the longest-ever government shutdown. There have been widespread protests against many of these flagship domestic policies which have also been disruptive in many cities.
On the international front the administration led with imposing tariffs on most countries which continue to ripple through the globalized economy. Visa bans and travel restrictions also followed. Despite a pledge to end America’s forever wars, this administration has shown willingness to use the U.S. military, specifically with airstrikes against Houthis in Yemen, as well as against South American drug cartels in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific.
AI you can trust
While Factal’s editors rely on advanced AI to help them detect and verify information in real time, our members now have access to their own powerful AI tools built right into the platform. We call it the AI Toolkit, a growing collection of purpose-built tools for security and risk professionals.
Each tool is grounded in Factal’s verified data – not speculative social media chatter – delivering the highest-quality responses on the market. For example, “Catch me up” is a productivity tool that makes it easy to get caught up on any topic, and the “Topic summary” tool generates custom reports on the fly.
The Toolkit is also built with transparency and security in mind. It’s built on our data, not yours, so you can be confident you’re working within company policy and compliance standards.
Travel Risk Management with International SOS
Everyone wants fewer tabs, and Factal’s strategic partnership with International SOS makes it easier than ever to monitor your travelers around the world. With a flick of a switch, ISOS customers can now light up their travelers in Factal alongside their facilities, distribution centers and other physical assets.
Factal’s fast, verified alerting gives travel managers advance notice of global events that pose a risk to travelers moving through their itineraries. Our new travel solution lived side-by-side in a seamless experience with Factal’s trusted risk intelligence, threat detection, brand monitoring and mobile safety solutions.
300+ disaster relief and humanitarian aid NGOs
Soon after Factal launched, we began providing free access to qualified disaster relief, human rights, and humanitarian aid NGOs. In 2025, we reached an impactful milestone: 300 NGOs in the platform. With resources even tighter than corporate security budgets, these organizations need support now more than ever.
“Factal has not only helped us have vital historical data for our hundreds of global locations, but the resources offered, from briefings, trainings, ad-hoc incident chats, have been really helpful in keeping us informed and engaged,” said Lindsay Moore, Global Logistics and Supply Chain Specialist at Alight (formerly The American Refugee Committee).
We’re honored to support NGO teams who put their lives on the line to help others.
Factal on stage
In 2025 you saw Factal employees on stage at GSX, AIRIP, OSAC common interest groups, higher education conferences and media security events.
Factal’s leadership in the AI space is why you’ve seen Chief Product Officer Cory Bergman and Director of Product Elissa Olinsky on stage at six different conferences in 2025. Bergman led the way in requests and presentations, including many talks on how to use generative AI safely and how to be wary of AI misinformation. Expect to see him on stage again in 2026.
Olinsky spoke on the need for technology to support people at two conferences. Global Security Briefing Producer Dave Clark presented on how to use role-playing games to create short learning simulations at GSX.
Editors appeared in 21 Global Security Briefings talking about the various wars, natural hazards and threats that they cover 24/7 as well. Be sure to register for the first Global Security Briefing of 2026, happening on January 8th.
You’ll see us on stage in 2026 too.
Top photo: The Eaton and Palisade fires in Los Angeles taken by satellite on January 9, 2025 (Satellite image ©2025 Vantor)
Additional writing by Dave Clark.
What is Factal?
Trusted by many of the world’s largest companies and more than 300 humanitarian NGOs, Factal is a risk intelligence and collaboration platform that brings clarity to an increasingly noisy and uncertain world.
Powered by a hybrid of advanced AI and experienced journalists, Factal detects early signals, verifies critical details and assesses the potential impact at the speed of social media. From physical incidents to geopolitical developments, Factal offers the most trusted, real-time risk intelligence on the market.
Factal is also home to the largest security and safety collaboration network in the private sector. Members securely share information with other members in proximity to the same incident, both on Factal.com and the Factal app.
Learn more at Factal.com, and we’d love to hear from you.