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World News in Brief: School shooting in Canada, cholera outbreak in DR Congo, evacuations in Gaza

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António Guterres was “saddened to learn of the tragic shooting in Tumble Ridge, British Columbia,” his spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said at the daily news briefing.

“[Mr. Guterres] extends his deepest condolences to those affected and his sympathies to the Government and people of Canada,” Mr. Dujarric added.

Two crime scenes

According to media reports, the dead included at least three female students, two male students and a teacher. Two additional people were found dead at a nearby home, who local police have reportedly identified as the suspect’s mother and stepbrother.

The suspect – who was born male but was transitioning and identified as female, according to police – was found at the school having died from an apparent self-inflicted wound.

Two of the several dozen injured were airlifted to hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Tumbler Ridge, located in the Canadian Rockies more than 1,000 kilometres northeast of Vancouver, is a small community near the Alberta border. The secondary school serves around 175 students from Grades seven to 12.

DR Congo: UN urges urgent scale-up as cholera outbreak worsens

The UN relief coordination office, OCHA, has warned that the spiralling cholera outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo demands an immediate scale-up of the response.

It is reportedly the country’s worst outbreak in 25 years. Since the start of 2026, more than 1,300 suspected cases and 35 deaths have been recorded.

Last year, over 71,800 suspected cases were reported, with more than 2,000 deaths.

Humanitarian support

Humanitarian partners, alongside the Government and the UN, continue to provide support, but major gaps remain. Water, sanitation and hygiene services are critically underfunded, health workers are overstretched, supplies are running low and access to treatment facilities remains difficult.

On Monday, $750,000 was allocated from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to help health partners rapidly expand life-saving assistance and curb transmission.

OCHA stressed that more flexible funding is urgently needed to bolster health services and contain the outbreak.

Gaza: UN scales up evacuations and education support

In Gaza, UN teams supported the medical evacuation of 18 patients and 26 companions through the Rafah Crossing on Tuesday.

Teams also received 41 additional returnees at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, where a reception area is being operated to assist those arriving.

Since Rafah reopened in early February, just over 220 people in each direction have been facilitated through the crossing, according to UN Spokesperson Dujarric.

“I reiterate that we would like to see more people having the opportunity to move voluntarily and safely, in both directions, especially to access services that they need,” he said on Wednesday.

Hoping to expand aid operation

“We also hope to see the movement of cargo enabled through Rafah, to increase the volume of humanitarian supplies entering, and further expand the scale up of the humanitarian response.”

Humanitarian partners working to provide educational support have delivered stationery and toys in recent days to improve learning conditions for thousands of children.

Four new temporary learning spaces were established last week, bringing the total across Gaza to about 450, serving more than 5,500 students.

Between 29 January and 4 February, child protection partners provided winter assistance, psychosocial support and safe spaces to more than 6,500 children and caregivers, including warm clothing for nearly 3,800 children.

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From lunch tray to lifelong health: WHO sets global standards for school meals

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The UN agency’s new global guidance on evidence-based policies and interventions shows that healthy food in schools can help children develop healthy dietary habits for life. 

“The food children eat at school, and the environments that shape what they eat, can have a profound impact on their learning, and lifelong consequences for their health and well-being,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. 

Food habits start early 

Overweight childhood obesity and obesity are rising globally, while undernutrition remains a persistent challenge. 

Child obesity levels surpassed underweight cases around the world for the first time in 2025. 

Around one in 10 school-aged children and adolescents were living with obesity last year, and one in five – or 391 million – were overweight.

Additionally, a recent WHO report revealed that diabetes now affects over 800 million people globally and one in 6 pregnancies. 

As of October 2025, 104 Member States had policies relating to healthy school food, but only 48 countries had policies that restrict the marketing of foods high in sugar, salt or unhealthy fats, according to WHO. 

For the millions of children that spend a large chunk of their day at school, the food environment they are exposed to can shape their future dietary habits. 

“Getting nutrition right at school is critical for preventing disease later in life and creating healthier adults,” said Tedros. 

More pulses, less sugar

WHO recommends increasing the availability of healthy foods and beverages while reducing unhealthy foods. That means limiting free sugars, saturated fats and sodium, while offering more whole grains, fruits, nuts and pulses. 

Other recommendations include implementing ‘nudging interventions’ – changes  in the packaging, placement or portion size of foods designed to encourage children to select healthier foods.

The organisation will support countries with technical assistance, knowledge-sharing and other collaborative measures, to realise the new guidance. 

In the Amazon, a school becomes a beacon of climate resilience

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On a sandy riverbank, a modest school crowned with a solar-paneled roof tells a different story – one of resilience, ingenuity, and hope for the next generation.

A school built for the future

For three years, the Maria Naura Gouvêa Municipal School has been living out one of COP30’s central themes: adaptation.

Its flood- and erosion-resistant walls, insulated roofing, solar-powered energy systems, and satellite internet make it a rare safe haven. A 150-meter well ensures clean water – a luxury in many parts of the region.

During our visit, Kamal Kishore, head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), called the school “a guiding light,” adding: “I would like to see at least 100,000 schools like this one across the globe.”

Droughts, erosion and rising seas

Barcarena’s mayor, Renato Ogawa, explained that climate impacts here are subtle, but disruptive:

“The main event is the drought of rivers and streams. One week, students manage to arrive by boat; the next, because of tidal variations, they cannot reach school on time and must walk along slopes and freshwater beaches that, due to sea-level rise, have started to flood, causing erosion.”

Containment walls now line the riverbanks, but Mr. Ogawa warned: “If nothing is done, over the years we will need to raise and expand that wall.”

Sea-level rise is also altering fish movements, threatening local diets as river water grows saltier.

These challenges have pushed Barcarena to the forefront of climate adaptation, earning it global recognition.

UN News/Felipe de Carvalho

For the past three years, the Maria Naura Gouvêa Municipal School, in Pará, Brazil, has been putting into practice one of the themes debated at the COP30: adapting to a world full of dangerous climate events.

Local leadership on the global stage

In 2023, Barcarena became the world’s 25th Resilience Hub – and the first in the Amazon. These UNDRR-identified hubs are cities recognized for their strong track record in disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation, and they commit to mentoring other municipalities by sharing practical solutions and expertise.

UN-Habitat Executive Director Anaclaudia Rossbach stressed why COP30 must amplify voices like Mr. Ogawa’s: “We must protect people to protect the planet. And another key point is the importance of local governments, local action and local leadership.”

Recognition, she added, is not enough: “It must be accompanied by solid and robust mechanisms for implementation.”

UN News/Felipe de Carvalho

‘An exception in the Amazon’

Brazil’s Minister of Cities, Jader Filho, praised Barcarena’s progress but noted: “The school is an exception and does not reflect the educational reality of the wider Amazon. But it shows what is possible when financing and political will align.”

Students showcased projects turning cooking oil into soap, creating natural dyes from vegetables, and planting trees to combat heat.

Lyndisse Wandra Santos summed up their spirit: “Each tree planted is a gesture of love and hope; to adapt is to keep moving forward despite difficulties.”

Kamal Kishore said he was inspired by their vision: “Brazil is a success story,” he noted, citing more than 2,000 cities worldwide in the Making Cities Resilient campaign, many of them Brazilian.

COP30’s legacy in Barcarena

Mayor Ogawa revealed that COP30 has already accelerated investments: “By the end of the year, we will achieve 90 per cent sewage treatment coverage and potable water for 95 per cent of the municipality. These goals would otherwise take 10 to 15 years.”

Next on his agenda: transitioning public transport boats to clean energy.

UN-Habitat chief Ms. Rossbach warned that similar investments are urgently needed elsewhere, especially in housing, as millions live in precarious conditions under growing climate threats.

UN News/Felipe de Carvalho

From ‘Forest COP’ to ‘Cities COP’

She pointed to Rio’s Maré slum, where temperatures can routinely soar 6°C above the city average, based on data collected by residents themselves.

Her hope is that “this Forest COP [as COP30 is billed because it is being held in Belém, Brazil, near the Amazon rainforest] must also strengthen the urban agenda, prioritizing protection for the most vulnerable.”

As COP30 unfolds in Belém, Barcarena’s story offers a powerful lesson: climate resilience begins at the local level. From solar-powered classrooms to student-led projects, this Amazon municipality shows that adaptation is not just possible – it’s already happening. And in a world facing rising seas and shifting tides, these lessons matter more than ever.

UN News is reporting from Belém, bringing you front-row coverage of everything unfolding at COP30.

Sudan: As children continue to suffer, school remains a distant hope

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After more than two years of civil war, more than 25 million people are now acutely hungry and at least 20 million require health services urgently.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) also warned that displaced families in some areas have not received any aid for three months, as it announced that for the first time, funding shortfalls have forced it to pull back support in areas where it does not have access.

“The scale of needs in Sudan are so big that we have to make tough decisions on who receives assistance and who doesn’t. Those are heartbreaking decisions to make,” said WFP’s Leni Kinzli, in an urgent appeal for more international funding to help all those affected by more than two years of war.

Children are especially vulnerable, humanitarians have warned, with malnutrition “surging”, particularly among youngsters and their mothers.

Education the latest victim

According to the UN reproductive health agency UNFPA, and partners working in education, around 13 million of the 17 million youngsters who have remained in Sudan are now out of school.

This includes seven million who are enrolled but unable to attend classes because of the conflict or displacement – plus six million school-age children who haven’t registered for the school year.

Nonetheless, UNFPA said that as of this month, 45 per cent of schools in Sudan – nearly 9,000 – have now re-opened, citing the Global Education Cluster that groups 60 UN and NGO entities.

And while the situation in Sudan remains so dire, going back to school might not appear to be a priority, but aid agencies insist that without it the impact on young lives can be devastating, given how much additional support can be provided in schools, over and above learning.

In schools helped to reopen by UN-partner Save The Children, for instance, additional support includes meals, safe water, sanitation and counselling training for teachers to help youngsters process their trauma.

Picking up the pieces

From November 2024 to July this year, more than two million people have returned to their former homes across Sudan, to some 1,611 locations.

The bulk of these returnees have reached Aj Jazirah (48 per cent), Khartoum (30 per cent), Sennar (nine per cent), Blue Nile (seven per cent) and White Nile (five per cent). The UN migration agency (IOM)’s Displacement Tracking Matrix notes that only around one per cent went to River Nile and West Darfur.

A breakdown of IOM data indicates that around 77 per cent (or 1.5 million) returned from temporary homes inside Sudan, while 23 per cent (around 455,000) came back from abroad.

This is a fraction of the more than 4.2 million refugees who crossed into neighbouring countries since war erupted on 15 April 2023, between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Other key IOM findings of Sudanese displacement impacting all 18 states:

  • When war erupted, people were uprooted primarily from Khartoum (31 per cent), South Darfur (21 per cent), and North Darfur (20 per cent).   
  • The highest proportion of internally displaced people were in South Darfur (19 per cent), North Darfur (18 per cent), and Central Darfur (10 per cent).
  • Over half (53 per cent) of those fleeing violence were reportedly children.

Case study: Life slipping away

Among the young victims of the conflict, 18-month-old Aysha Jebrellah has been admitted for treatment for severe acute malnutrition in Port Sudan Paediatric Hospital.

Her mother, Aziza, has been by her daughter’s side as medical teams provide lifesaving nutritional support and address the medical complications that Aysha has suffered, linked to her condition.

Aziza was displaced with her family from Khartoum when conflict erupted more than two years ago, fleeing first to Kassala, then moving to Port Sudan where she lives with relatives.

She described how her daughter had diarrhoea and fever for about two weeks before she was admitted to hospital. By that time she had stopped eating and appeared to be slipping away before their eyes.

“When she refused to even taste anything and kept getting weaker, I was afraid I would lose her,” Aziza says. “Now I have hope that she will recover.”

To support health needs in Sudan, the UN World Health Organization (WHO)’s $135 million appeal is just one-fifth funded. “It’s only a fraction of what is urgently needed,” the agency said.

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80 million more children benefiting from school meals, WFP reports

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The number of children receiving school meals through government-led programmes has gone up by 20 per cent since 2020, found the latest edition of the WFP’s flagship biennial report The State of School Feeding Worldwide.

Now, nearly 80 million more children are able to enjoy nutritious meals at school, bringing the global total to approximately 466 million.

Beyond health and diet, national programmes can benefit employment, agriculture, and other sectors.

“School meals are so much more than just a plate of nutritious food – important as that is. For the vulnerable children who receive them, they are a pathway out of poverty and into a new world of learning and opportunity,” said Ms. McCain.

“They are proven to be one of the smartest, most cost-effective investments any nation can make to improve the long-term health, education and economic prosperity of future generations,” she added.

Example of what’s possible

The increase in the number of children receiving school meals comes thanks to the expansion of these programmes internationally, and especially by countries that are part of the School Meals Coalition, a network led by over 100 governments with the WFP as its secretariat.

Global funding for school meals has more than doubled, rising from $43 billion in 2020 to $84 billion last year. Africa is leading the surge with an additional 20 million children in the continent now fed through national programmes but domestic funding still remains lower in low-income countries.

“The surge in nationally funded school meal programmes is a powerful sign of what’s possible, even in challenging times. But in low-income countries, where needs are greatest, progress remains at risk as global aid shifts and domestic resources fall short,” said Carmen Burbano, director of school meals at WFP.

Meals improve learning outcomes

Children who are hungry might not attend school or could struggle to focus even if they do, according to the report. Providing meals at school can both incentivize attendance and help students stay engaged and more easily absorb educational material.

The report found that school meals are a significantly more effective way to improve the quality of education compared to other popular programmes and policies like teacher training and tech inputs.

A nutritious diet has also been associated with an increased attention span, higher cognitive function and better attendance.

“It’s only now that we’re really recognizing that the wellbeing of school children and adolescents is key to their learning ability,” said Professor Donald Bundy, co-editorial lead for the report, at a press briefing on Wednesday.

A catalyst for the economy

The report estimates that delivering school meals to 466 million children generates around 7.4 million cooking jobs globally, with further employment across logistics, farming, and supply chains.

On a national level, school meal programmes typically generate approximately 1,500 jobs for every 100,000 children.

Preliminary findings in some African countries suggest that the programmes are cost-beneficial in terms of the gains obtained in the education, health and nutrition sectors. In Malawi, for example, every $1 invested brought economic benefits ranging to $2 to $18 depending on the district.

Local procurement of school food can also create reliable and predictable markets for smallholders and family farmers, which ultimately encourages crop diversification, boosts rural economies, and fosters sustainable agricultural practices.

Funding cuts could push 6 million more children out of school, warns UNICEF

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Official Development Assistance (ODA) for education is projected to fall by $3.2 billion – a 24 per cent drop from 2023 – with just three donor governments accounting for nearly 80 per cent of the cuts.

Such a decline would push the number of out-of-school children worldwide from 272 million to 278 million, UNICEF said – the equivalent of shutting every primary school in Germany and Italy combined.

“Every dollar cut from education is not just a budgetary decision, it’s a child’s future hanging in the balance,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.

Children in crisis hit hardest

The heaviest impact is expected in regions that are already vulnerable. West and Central Africa could see 1.9 million children lose access to school, while 1.4 million more could be pushed out across the Middle East and North Africa.

In total, 28 countries stand to lose at least a quarter of the education aid they rely on. Côte d’Ivoire and Mali face some of the steepest risks, with enrolment projected to fall by 340,000 and 180,000 students respectively.

Primary education will be hit hardest, with funding expected to drop by one-third. UNICEF warns this could deepen the global learning crisis and cost those children affected an estimated $164 billion in lost lifetime earnings.

In humanitarian contexts, the cuts could be devastating. In the Rohingya refugee response, 350,000 children risk losing access to basic schooling permanently.

Displaced children in a classroom in Baghdad, Iraq.

Call to protect education

The crisis will also threaten vital services. School feeding programmes – sometimes a child’s only reliable meal – could see funding halved, while support for girls’ education is likely to shrink. At least 290 million children who remain in classrooms could also face a decline in learning quality.

UNICEF is calling on donors to direct at least half of all education aid to least developed countries, safeguard humanitarian funding, and prioritise early years and primary schooling. It also urges reforms to make financing more efficient and sustainable.

“Education, especially in emergency settings, often serves as a lifeline,” Ms Russell said. “Investing in children’s education is one of the best investments in the future – for everyone.”

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Gaza: With a suitcase for a school bag, classrooms have become shelters

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“We carry a bag of clothes instead of a school bag,” she told UN News.

Diana and other students shared their eagerness to get back in the classroom, speaking from schools that have been converted into shelters for Gaza’s displaced, where most of the 2.3 million Palestinian residents have been forced to move multiple times during the nearly two-year-long war sparked by the Hamas-led terror attacks and Israel’s subsequent offensive.

Nearly 660,000 children remain out of school, according to the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNWRA. In one UNRWA school corridor now transformed into crowded living quarters, Diana explained her ordeal.

“We no longer play or learn,” said Diana, a child displaced with her family from the Shujaiya neighbourhood in Gaza City. “There is no education now. We live inside the school, where we are displaced, eating and sleeping.”

A child from Gaza, who lost her father during the war, said “two years of our lives are gone for nothing.”

Searching for food instead of school supplies

Misk lost her father during the war. She said her tragedy was compounded by the loss of learning.

“Two years of our lives were wasted,” she said. “If it weren’t for the war, I would now be preparing for school, buying pens and school supplies. Now, we search for water and food, running after water and community kitchens.”

She fought back tears as she continued.

“We are children,” she said. “We want to live like other children. My father was killed in the war. What is my fault that I became an orphan at an early age? What is my fault that I was deprived of my family and everything?”

Many displaced people in Gaza have found shelter in UNRWA schools.

‘We were learning and getting diplomas’

Nine-year-old Jana said she wants to go back to studying.

“We live in a school, and we want to go back to studying there,” she said. “We were displaced because of the war and now, there is no food or drink.”

We want to go home and live a normal life. This is not life.

Maya said life before the war “much nicer”.

“Children went to school, learned and received their diplomas,” she said.

Instead of focusing on her homework, Malak searches for plastic and cardboard to use as fire starters for cooking. She hopes the war will end so she can return to school.

“We want the war to end,” she said. “We want to go home. We want to go back to school. We want to do something useful. It’s been so long since we ate healthy food. We want to go home and live a normal life. This is not life.”

Malak hopes the war will end so she can return to school.

Deprivation of education

UNRWA, established in 1949 to serve Palestine refugees, warned that as students have been deprived of education, they are at risk of becoming “a lost generation”.

“The war in Gaza is a war on children and must stop. Children must be protected at all times,” the UN agency said in a statement, noting that “nearly one million children in the Strip are suffering from profound psychological trauma.”

More than 90 per cent of Gaza’s schools have been either destroyed or severely damaged. Repairing and reconstructing them will take significant resources and time, according to a recent UN report.

West Bank: Classes are silent in Jenin camp

Some 46,000 Palestine refugee children are also set to begin a new school year in UNRWA schools across the West Bank.

The schools remain a safe haven for children, providing them with quality education and support amid escalating violence and displacement, said Roland Friedrich, director of UNRWA affairs in the West Bank.

“This time last year, I opened the school year with children in Jenin camp,” he said.

“Now, these students have been forcibly displaced from their homes, and UNRWA schools in the camp stand silent.”

Of the more than 30,000 Palestinians displaced in the northern West Bank, more than one third are children from the Jenin, Tulkarm and Nur Shams camps.

“In East Jerusalem, for the first time in our history, UNRWA has been prevented from opening its six schools after they were forcibly closed by Israeli authorities in May, affecting some 800 children,” he said.

“Only some of these students have been able to enroll in other schools.”

Violation of children’s right to education

Mr. Friedrich warned that this not only violates the right to education for Palestine refugee children, but also breaches Israel’s obligations as a Member State of the United Nations.

Regardless, UNRWA continues to be the second-largest provider of education in the West Bank after the Palestinian Authority, reaching students through schools, training centres and hybrid learning modalities.

“This back-to-school season, we are proud of our students and teachers who continue to show resilience in the face of hardship,” he said. “We wish all children a school year filled with excitement for learning, friendships and curiosity.”

UNRWA said around 660,000 children in Gaza have been deprived of education for the third consecutive year due to the ongoing war.

Desks become beds as Haitian school shelters people displaced by violence

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The classrooms at Anténor Firmin school in Hinche in central Haiti are no longer studiously quiet.

Once a place of learning, it now echoes with the sounds of babies crying, water containers clanking, and voices murmuring through the night.

Over 700 people displaced by violence are crammed into the crumbling compound, sleeping on floors where children once solved math problems.

Among them is Edens Désir, a former teacher, who continues to believe that education should be the key to a more prosperous and peaceful future for this beleaguered Caribbean Island nation.

Edens Désir teaches a class at Anténor Firmin school.

A trained accountant and former secondary-school teacher, his life was upended by the violent clashes that erupted in March 2025 in Saut-d’Eau and Mirebalais, two small towns south of Hinche.

Like 6,000 others, he fled massacres, rape, arson, and looting.

“Everything I built, little by little, was destroyed,” he said. “I walked away with nothing.”

Warring gangs have long controlled most of the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, some 30 miles (48 km) away.

It is only recently that their sphere of influence has moved to more the more rural areas of Centre department where, Hinche and Saut-d’Eau are located.

Edens Désir, found refuge in the school where he once studied, a place now stripped of its purpose. Desks have become beds. Classrooms have turned into shelters. Families lie packed into rooms never meant to house them.

A classroom at Anténor Firmin school in Hinche now serves as both a shelter and an informal learning space for displaced children.

Even in these crowded rooms, he found a way to start over. Not for himself, but for the children around him. With a whiteboard, a marker, and quiet determination, he has brought a sense of purpose to lives that have been thrown off course.

“Ever since I was a kid, I loved teaching,” he explained. “It’s what matters most to me. I’d rather be in front of a class than sitting around doing nothing. For these kids, school is the only real chance they’ve got.”

Living in limbo

Once on the verge of expanding a small business, Mr. Désir now lives in limbo. “That plan is gone. Violence made sure of it. My only option now is to leave and try to start over somewhere else. But as long as I’m here, I will keep sharing what I know.”

These days, he takes life one day at a time. “I can’t make plans anymore,” he said. “Each day, I just figure things out as they come. Each night, I wonder if there will be food tomorrow.”

Clean water is scarce. Long queues stretch at distribution points, where women and children wait patiently, balancing heavy containers.

Hygiene conditions are dire. With few latrines and showers available, hundreds are left without privacy or sanitation. The health risks are growing, especially for the most vulnerable.

Food is just as uncertain. “There are nights I go to sleep without eating,” he says. “But I keep teaching because the kids are here.”

IOM staff and a civil protection agent asses the needs of displaced people

Delivering aid to the displaced is no easy task. The main road between Port-au-Prince and Hinche remains blocked by insecurity, cutting off supply routes and isolating entire communities.

Despite the hurdles, the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) has reached over 800 families across 17 displacement sites, providing emergency items such as shelter kits, blankets, kitchen sets, and jerrycans.

IOM teams continue working directly with displaced families, host communities, and local authorities to assess needs and provide relief.

Site committees and civil protection teams are being trained to better manage the shelters. The most fragile sites are being relocated to safer areas and mental health support is offered to those affected by the violence.

Protect the vulnerable

These efforts aim to protect the most vulnerable, especially children, from a crisis they did not choose but are now forced to navigate.

Edens Désir believes that knowledge is the best defence against dehumanization. When violence tears everything apart, forcing children into displacement, splitting families, and cutting off access to education, teaching becomes an act of resistance.

Even when the days feel heavy, he keeps showing up for the children who still believe in him.

“If we want things to change, we need people who grow into better citizens,” he said. “I don’t know if what I’m doing is enough to make that happen, but it gives me purpose. It breaks my heart to know that one day I’ll have to leave them behind and look for a better future.”

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Four children dead in ‘horrific’ attack on school bus in Baluchistan: UNICEF

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The attack which left others wounded, took place in the district of Khuzdar, about 250 kilometres south of Quetta, Balochistan’s provincial capital. The area has long been troubled by separatist insurgency and militant activity.

Deadly journey

The school bus, which was reportedly transporting students to a Pakistani military-run school, was completely destroyed in the explosion that occurred around 10 kilometers from the centre of Khuzdar. News reports said more than 40 students were on board when it was targeted by a vehicle-borne explosive device. 

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) strongly condemned the horrific attack, calling for an end to the devastating violence.

“Earlier today, children in Balochistan set out on what should have been a routine journey – eager to begin another day of learning alongside friends,” the agency said.

Instead, they were caught in a brutal act of violence. Young lives, dreams, and futures shattered. Families devastated. The physical and emotional scars left for child survivors to bear.”

Never target children

According to news reports, no militant group has claimed responsibility so far for the bus bombing.

“Children are not, and must never be, the targets of violence,” UNICEF said. The agency extended deepest condolences to the families impacted, reiterating that simply going to school should never be a “dangerous act” for any child.

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New horror in Gaza as double strike on school shelter kills 30

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The UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, maintained that Israeli forces hit the school in Al Bureij, Middle Gaza, at around 6pm on Tuesday and again at 10.20pm.

“The school sustained severe damage and a fire broke out in the shelter, making it difficult to evacuate the casualties. Residents had to open a hole in the wall to evacuate the dead and wounded,” UNRWA told UN News.

Since the start of the war between Hamas and Israel on 7 October 2023, more than 400 schools have received a direct hit, according to satellite imagery analyzed by the UN.

Deadly aftermath

Footage from the scene provided by the UN agency showed walls and floors blown out in the main school building.

In the courtyard, hundreds of people can be seen standing amid crumpled metal sheeting on the morning after the attack, with rubble and wooden planks strewn around where their shelters had been standing just hours earlier.

“Our colleagues are reporting that surviving parents and children are trying to salvage their belongings among the blood and body parts of their relatives and neighbours,” UNRWA said.

The agency noted that fatalities included women and children, while search and rescue operations are ongoing for several people still missing.

Many of those living at the school when it was hit have been displaced “countless times” by the war, which began on 7 October 2023, following Hamas-led terror attacks on Israel, UNRWA stressed.

The attack also sparked a fire in an adjacent school where more tents and temporary shelters were burned and damaged.

Education destroyed

According to the UN Satellite Service, UNOSAT, 95.4 per cent of schools in Gaza have sustained damage since the start of the war.

Of the enclave’s 564 schools, 501 will either need full reconstruction or major rehabilitation work to be functional again.

“There is no humanity left in Gaza, and no humanity left as the world continues to watch day after day as families are bombed, burned alive and starved,” UNRWA said after the latest attack.

Failed strategy won’t work: Türk

In a related development, the UN human rights chief Volker Türk on Wednesday condemned Israel’s reported plans to forcibly transfer Gaza’s population to a small area in the south of the Strip.

The move fuels concern that Israel’s intention is to make life for Palestinians “increasingly incompatible with their continued existence in Gaza”, he said in a statement.

Surviving parents and children are trying to salvage their belongings among the blood and body parts of their relatives and neighbours – UNRWA

“There is no reason to believe that doubling down on military strategies, which, for a year and eight months, have not led to a durable resolution, including the release of all hostages, will now succeed,” insisted the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Expanding the offensive on Gaza “will almost certainly cause further mass displacement, more deaths and injuries of innocent civilians, and the destruction of Gaza’s little remaining infrastructure”, he continued.

Rights experts warn of irreversible consequences

Escalating atrocities in Gaza mark a critical moral turning point and demand urgent international action, UN-appointed independent human rights experts said in a statement.

“While States debate terminology – is it or is it not genocide? – Israel continues its relentless destruction of life in Gaza,” they warned, citing attacks by land, air and sea, and a soaring civilian death toll.

“No one is spared – not children, persons with disabilities, nursing mothers, journalists, health professionals, aid workers, or hostages,” they said, noting that on 18 March alone, 600 Palestinians were reportedly killed, 400 of them children. The independent experts are appointed by the Human Rights Council, are not UN staff members and receive no salary for their work.

Occupied West Bank update

In the occupied West Bank, meanwhile, UN aid teams warned of worsening conditions for Palestinian communities because of “violence by Israeli forces and settlers”.

The alert comes after Israeli forces on Monday demolished more than 30 structures in Khallet Athaba, a hamlet in Hebron governorate, displacing nearly a dozen families – or around 50 people.

“This constitutes most of the structures in the community and marks the third and largest demolition there since February,” said UN aid coordination office, OCHA. It noted that the area is designated by Israel as a military training zone.

In addition, Israeli forces also began demolishing six homes in Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarm on Monday, impacting 17 families. They are among more than 100 buildings slated for demolition, following an Israeli notice issued at the start of the month.

Forcible transfer fears

OCHA described how dozens of families in the camp were given little time on Monday to collect their belongings before their homes were demolished.

The agency highlighted the “strong push” to uproot Palestinians living in the area “once again raising concerns about the risks of forcible transfer of the population”.

Under international law, Israel as the occupying power, has the responsibility to protect Palestinians in the West Bank and ensure their safety and dignity, OCHA insisted.

Humanitarian partners are mobilizing assistance, but urgent international engagement is needed to stop these coercive measures and protect vulnerable communities, the UN aid office said.

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Child abuse affects brain wiring

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Impaired neural connections may explain profound and long-lasting effects of traumatic experiences during childhood

  • For the first time, researchers have been able to see changes in the neural structures in specific areas of the brains of people who suffered severe abuse as children.
  • Difficulties associated with severe childhood abuse include increased risks of psychiatric disorders such as depression, as well as high levels of impulsivity, aggressivity, anxiety, more frequent substance abuse, and suicide.
    Severe, non-random physical and/or sexual child abuse affects between 5-15 % of all children under the age of 15 in the Western world.
  • Researchers from the McGill Group for Suicide Studies, based at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute and McGill University’s Department of Psychiatry, have just published research in the American Journal of Psychiatry that suggests that the long-lasting effects of traumatic childhood experiences, like severe abuse, may be due to an impaired structure and functioning of cells in the anterior cingulate cortex. This is a part of the brain which plays an important role in the regulation of emotions and mood.
  • The researchers believe that these changes may contribute to the emergence of depressive disorders and suicidal behaviour.

Crucial insulation for nerve fibres builds up during first two decades of life

For the optimal function and organization of the brain, electrical signals used by neurons may need to travel over long distances to communicate with cells in other regions. The longer axons of this kind are generally covered by a fatty coating called myelin. Myelin sheaths protect the axons and help them to conduct electrical signals more efficiently. Myelin builds up progressively (in a process known as myelination) mainly during childhood, and then continue to mature until early adulthood.

Earlier studies had shown significant abnormalities in the white matter in the brains of people who had experienced child abuse. (White matter is mostly made up of billions of myelinated nerve fibres stacked together.) But, because these observations were made by looking at the brains of living people using MRI, it was impossible to gain a clear picture of the white matter cells and molecules that were affected.

To gain a clearer picture of the microscopic changes which occur in the brains of adults who have experienced child abuse, and thanks to the availability of brain samples from the Douglas-Bell Canada Brain Bank (where, as well as the brain matter itself there is a lot of information about the lives of their donors) the researchers were able to compare post-mortem brain samples from three different groups of adults: people who had committed suicide who suffered from depression and had a history of severe childhood abuse (27 individuals); people with depression who had committed suicide but who had no history of being abused as children (25 individuals); and brain tissue from a third group of people who had neither psychiatric illnesses nor a history of child abuse (26 people).

Impaired neural connectivity may affect the regulation of emotions

The researchers discovered that the thickness of the myelin coating of a significant proportion of the nerve fibres was reduced ONLY in the brains of those who had suffered from child abuse. They also found underlying molecular alterations that selectively affect the cells that are responsible for myelin generation and maintenance. Finally, they found increases in the diameters of some of the largest axons among only this group and they speculate that together, these changes may alter functional coupling between the cingulate cortex and subcortical structures such as the amygdala and nucleus accumbens (areas of the brain linked respectively to emotional regulation and to reward and satisfaction) and contribute to altered emotional processing in people who have been abused during childhood.

The researchers conclude that adversity in early life may lastingly disrupt a range of neural functions in the anterior cingulate cortex. And while they don’t yet know where in the brain and when during development, and how, at a molecular level these effects are sufficient to have an impact on the regulation of emotions and attachment, they are now planning to explore this in further research.

Compulsory Yoga/Games in high school level for holistic development of children

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The Minister of State (I/C) for Youth Affairs and Sports Shri Vijay Goel said in the Rajya Sabha today that education falls under the Concurrent List, majority of schools fall under State Examination Boards and the school curriculum is determined by the State Governments. However, the National Curriculum Framework 2005 recognizes the role of sports and physical education in the holistic development of children and youth in the country. As part of this policy, the Government has made access to play fields, equipment for sports & games and engagement of physical education instructor- a mandatory requirement for all schools under the Right to Education Act.

In a written reply he said, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) places special importance on co-scholastic areas which includes sports and physical fitness. Details of salient measures taken by CBSE to promote sports in schools are given in the Annexure. It is expected that State Education Boards would also emulate the CBSE example.

Annexure

Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) & (b) of the Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2558 to be answered on 08.08.2017 regarding ‘Compulsory yoga/games in high school level’ by SHRI MOHD. ALI KHAN:

Salient steps taken to promote yoga/games/sports in the schools affiliated to CBSE are as

follows:

In classes VI-X any two activities out of the following are compulsory:

a. Sports/Indigenous sports (Kho-Kho etc.)

b. NCC/NSS

c . Scouting and Guiding

d. Swimming

e. Gymnastics

f. Yoga

g. First Aid

h. Gardening/Shramdaan

2. The Board has advised schools that there should be at least 40-45 minutes of physical Activities or Games period for Classes I-X every day. For Classes XI- XII schools should ensure that all the students participate in physical Activity / Games / Mass P.T. / Yoga with maximum health benefits for at least two period per week ( 90- 120 min week).

3. The Board also organizes ‘Inter school Sports and Games Competitions’ in as many as 24 disciplines at Cluster, Zone and National level. Over 1.5 lac students participate in it each year. In order to identify, recognize, nurture and develop the extraordinary talent among the students studying in class VIII onwards in sports and games, the Board provides Chacha Nehru Scholarship.