More than 500 aftershocks have struck Venezuela since twin earthquakes of magnitude 7.5 and 7.2 hit last Wednesday, including a 5.2-magnitude tremor early Monday, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for the country said.
Gianluca Rampolla del Tindaro, Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for Venezuela, briefed reporters in New York City virtually, saying authorities continue operating in a “high-risk environment” amid the ongoing seismic activity.
Seven states have been affected, with La Guaira state and the Capital District of Caracas hit hardest, he said.
As of the latest update Sunday night, 1,450 people had died, more than 3,000 were injured and over 12,000 displaced, according to government figures cited by Rampolla del Tindaro. He said the toll would “unavoidably and sadly keep on growing” as search-and-rescue operations continue.
The government-led response remains focused primarily on search and rescue, he said. Although the response has passed the 72-hour window considered critical for finding survivors, rescuers continue pulling people from the rubble alive.
“Yesterday alone, seven persons were pulled out of the rubble alive,” he said.
Twenty-seven countries have mobilized more than 40 search-and-rescue teams, comprising over 2,000 personnel and more than 160 dogs, he said.
At least 2,500 structures have been affected, most of them fully collapsed, he said, with humanitarian partners procuring 10,000 body bags as a contingency measure agreed with national authorities.
“At least 2500 structures affected, most of which fully collapsed. So, we are definitely looking at a number that is higher than the one already reported. I can give you an approximate indicator – we are procuring (and this is something that has been agreed with the authorities here) 10,000 body bags,” he said.
Secretary-General António Guterres told the General Assembly that global instability, economic hardship and the misuse of emerging technologies are creating fertile ground for terrorism, as the UN opened its 2026 Counter-Terrorism Week.
“We meet at a moment of acute instability,” Guterres said today (29 Jun). “Conflicts are triggering energy shocks, inflation and hunger across the globe. Temperatures are rising. Millions are displaced. And millions more face economic hardship. These conditions – of want, of fragility, of mistrust – are ideal circumstances for terror to thrive.”
Guterres said sustainable development and human rights were central to prevention efforts. “This is why advancing sustainable development and upholding human rights are vital to counterterrorism,” he said. “In practice, this means expanding economic opportunity; ensuring greater inclusion for minorities; enabling the meaningful participation of women and youth; supporting local peacebuilding efforts; and protecting civic space. A more equal world is a safer world. That is the power of prevention.”
He pointed to victims’ testimony and private-sector cooperation as key tools in countering extremist narratives. “Victims share powerful testimonies that challenge terrorist narratives,” Guterres said. “And the private sector plays a crucial role in sharing insight and securing the technologies terrorists seek to exploit. Our allies are found across society – and by working together, we enhance our reach and our legitimacy.”
The Secretary-General warned that terrorist groups have grown adept at exploiting artificial intelligence, digital platforms and unmanned weapons to recruit members, raise funds and plan attacks, but said the same technologies could be turned toward prevention.
“Terrorists have grown adept at exploiting emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, digital platforms, and unmanned weapons,” he said. “These tools have supercharged their ability to recruit, finance and plan attacks. But technology also offers powerful tools to detect threats early, stop the flow of illicit assets, and understand pathways to terrorist radicalization.”
He noted that Member States had committed to harnessing digital tools for the public good through the Pact for the Future and the Global Digital Compact and said the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI would provide further guidance.
Guterres also said terrorism was evolving and that the international community must adapt accordingly, calling for prevention, cooperation and a steadfast commitment to human rights to build a world where people can live free from fear.
Guterres’ remarks opened the Fourth United Nations High-Level Conference of Heads of Counter-Terrorism Agencies of Member States, running 29-30 June under the theme “A Future Free from Terrorism: Consolidating the Global Commitment to Multi-Stakeholder Approaches to Counter Terrorism, notably through Member States’ Leadership and Action.”
Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
High-level Conference on Counter-terrorism
Deputy Secretary-General
Venezuela
Afghanistan/Pakistan
Lebanon/Israel
Security Council
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Security Council/Afternoon
Sudan
UNDP Report
Day of the Tropics
Financial Contribution
Guest today
High-level conference on Counter-terrorism
This morning, the Secretary-General delivered remarks at the 4th High-level conference on Counter-terrorism. He told participants that this year’s meeting takes place at a moment of acute instability.
This year also marks the twentieth anniversary of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, and an opportunity to assess progress and to strengthen our resolve.
Looking ahead, the Secretary-General highlighted four priorities. He highlighted prevention, cooperation, technology and values.
He told Member States that our response must be rooted in the very principles that terror seeks to destroy, adding that our efforts must be firmly grounded in the rule of law and in human rights.
Terrorism is evolving, the Secretary-General said and so must we.
Through prevention, through cooperation, and through unwavering commitment to human rights, we can build a safer world, where people everywhere live free from fear.
Venezuela
In Venezuela, we, along with our humanitarian partners are rapidly scaling up life‑saving assistance, as the Government continues to lead the response. Our colleagues at the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs tell us international search and rescue operations are fully mobilized, with more than 70 search and rescue teams and other specialized teams, and more than 2,300 personnel working side by side with national authorities. Several people have already been rescued alive from the rubble, even as the death toll continues to rise and many remain unaccounted for.
As the critical window to save lives narrows, humanitarian partners are expanding emergency support across health, shelter, water and sanitation, and logistics, including through multisectoral assistance sites in La Guaira and other affected municipalities.
Our colleagues from the World Food Programme are on the ground, providing logistics, food and other assistance as part of the broader humanitarian response.
The UN Refugee Agency prepositioned core relief items are already being actively utilized in the emergency response by partners and authorities. Caritas Venezuela is supporting the establishment of shelters for affected persons in Caracas and La Guaira, including through the use of 400 tents previously donated by UNHCR.
The Fundación para el Desarrollo del Servicio Eléctrico (Fundelec), attached to the Ministry of Electric Energy, reported that it will install 182 solar powered streetlights previously donated by UNHCR in affected areas of La Guaira.
For its part, working alongside the Government of Venezuela, the United Nations system and other humanitarian partners, UNICEF has activated a scaled-up emergency response, deploying additional staff and mobilizing supplies to reach an estimated 650,000 people, including 234,000 children, with assistance across health, nutrition, water and sanitation, child protection and education.
A first UNICEF air shipment of 20 metric tons of medical supplies, water and sanitation items arrived in Valencia from UNICEF’s regional warehouse in Panama on 27 June. A second shipment from UNICEF’s global supply hub in Copenhagen is planned in the days ahead. Together, the two shipments are expected to support more than 100,000 people.
Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2026-06-29
Comments to the media by Jérôme Bonnafont, Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations, on behalf of Denmark, Greece, Latvia, the United Kingdom and France (E5 members) on the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Press Conference by Arsenio Dominguez, Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), on the Strait of Hormuz.
Following an attack on a vessel in the Gulf of Oman, IMO has decided to temporarily pause its evacuation operation pending further clarity, the Secretary-General of the Organization said.
The chief of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Arsenio Dominguez spoke to reporters today (26 Jun) via video link from London.
Dominguez said he is currently working with several parties, in particular Oman, the United States and Iran, to reconfirm that the necessary safety guarantees continue to be in place for the ships on its evacuation list and all those in the region.
The evacuation was paused on Thursday (25 Jun) after a container ship, the Ever Lovely, was struck while transiting the strait near Oman’s coast.
Dominguez explained that the attacked vessel did not transit under IMO’s evacuation framework, adding that the Organization is waiting on the investigation of exactly what happened to the vessel.
The IMO chief reiterated that the safety of the seafarers remains paramount. Therefore, to ensure a coordinated approach and navigational safety, the evacuation plan will be paused until further clarity is obtained.
He said, “while we have paused the evacuation of IMO, there are still some vessels that are transiting in the southern part of the Strait of Hormuz. And this is why it’s important to reactivate the mechanism, in order to provide more safety guarantees for all the vessels that are waiting to transit. “
Dominguez also said, “the most recent information that I have from this morning. And again, I still need to fully verify, but four vessels were reported to transit using the northern corridor, and eleven vessels transit through the southern corridor.”
He continued, “it is important to also highlight that the southern corridor, the United States together with Oman, have continued to provide some assistance to the vessels. So even though the mechanism from IMO has been paused for the time being, there are still vessels that are actually utilizing the southern corridor in order to transit out of the Strait of Hormuz.”
The IMO Secretary-General reiterated, “shipping should not be used as collateral in any conflict and we all have been experiencing the very negative impacts on the economy, on food security whenever shipping gets affected.”
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) said that 115 ships carrying roughly 2,500 crew members had left the Gulf during the first three and a half days of the operation. The figures offered the first concrete measure of an evacuation launched this week to rescue some 11,000 mariners stranded aboard 600 vessels since the war pitting Israel and the United States against Iran erupted in late February.
Briefing by Hannan Sulieman, Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF, on reports of the Secretary-General on the Sudan and South Sudan.
“The violence children face in Sudan extends far beyond the battlefield. Since the conflict began, the United Nations has verified more than 5,700 grave violations against children. More than 5,000 children have been killed or maimed, but the real figure is undoubtedly much higher,” she said.
“Children are being killed in their homes. They are being injured while fleeing violence. They are being caught in crossfire, shelling, drone strikes, and attacks using explosive weapons in populated areas. During the first four months of this year alone, nearly 80 per cent of reported child casualties were linked to drone attacks,” Sulieman said.
She also flagged the war’s impact on education. “Nearly half of Sudan’s school buildings can no longer function as classrooms. Today, at least eight million children are out of school. For girls, the consequences are particularly severe, increasing the risks of child marriage, sexual violence, and other forms of exploitation,” Sulieman said.
Press Conference by Pekka Haavisto, Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General for Sudan, on the situation in the country.
Haavisto expressed alarm about ongoing hostilities around the city of El-Obeid, in North Kordofan State, and warned “a further escalation of the situation would place thousands of people at the risk.”
Haavisto told reporters in New York that hostilities, including frequent drone strikes, “are already affecting the civilians and affecting too humanitarian aid to the city.”
He said, “unfortunately, the situation reminds a little bit of the earlier developments in Darfur and around El-Fasher and reminds that there are immediate risks for the civilian population.”
The using of the drones, the Special Envoy said, “has been increasing and the drone attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure has been increasing,” adding that these drones “are not Sudan made. They come from the international market.”
He expressed hope that the so-called Quad (United States, Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt) “could advance with the humanitarian truce, which would help a lot the civilian situation on the ground, but also, help a lot our other goals to have a peaceful solution to the conflict.”
Haavisto said both the head of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo (Hemedti) and the Commander of the Sudanese Armed Forces, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, “still think that something can be achieved militarily in this conflict.”
To conclude, he said, “there should be one Sudan. Its border should be respected. Its sovereignty should be respected. This would be a Sudanese owned, Sudanese led process in the end of the day. And what we are trying to do as United Nations and as a quintet, of course, is helping Sudanese to find a path towards that kind of future. And that’s our starting point.”
Briefing by Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, on reports of the Secretary-General on the Sudan and South Sudan.
"The window to avert a wider escalation in El Obeid is rapidly narrowing," said Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs.
DiCarlo said, “Last week, the Secretary-General warned of the catastrophic consequences for civilians should the fighting in El Obeid intensify further. Over the past two weeks, drone attacks by both parties in the area have increased significantly, while the Rapid Support Forces have expanded their presence around the city.”
DiCarlo said the fighting was not confined to one city. “Beyond El Obeid, fighting in Sudan continues on multiple fronts. The wider Kordofan region remains the epicentre of the conflict, with intensified fighting taking place around Dilling, Kadugli and Babanusa as both parties continue to contest key strategic areas,” she said.
She also said, “The parties could not sustain this pace of fighting without the sophisticated weaponry they obtain through external support. We renew our urgent call on all external actors to use their influence to help end this war, rather than be complicit in it.”
DiCarlo warned, “There are clear warning signs of worse things to come if we don’t act. Sudan’s escalating conflict is unfolding amid rising tensions between Sudan and neighbouring states.”
DiCarlo added that a political settlement hinges on clarity over what comes next. “At the same time, it has become clear that knowing what Sudan’s political future looks like is key for the parties and their allies to agree to stop fighting. They want a road map for what happens the day after they agree to lay down their weapons,” she said.
She stressed the role of regional and international mediators. “Central to progress on the political front is the strong partnership among the Quintet members – the African Union, the European Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, the League of Arab States and the United Nations,” DiCarlo said, before turning to the Council itself: “We welcome the recent Council press statement on El Obeid. Your words and your actions matter. We call on you to do more.”
Eighty-one years after the signing of the United Nations Charter in San Francisco, Guterres said the Charter “was a promise to the world that humanity can choose cooperation over chaos, law over lawlessness, dignity over domination, and hope over fear.”
He said, “for 81 years, we have strived to keep that promise alive.”
The Secretary-General said, “no border can hold back a warming planet. No country can govern artificial intelligence alone, and the pandemic alone, or shield its people from global shocks alone. In a world of shared dangers, cooperation is not naivete. It is the clearest idealism there is. But cooperation only works when it’s grounded in rules. Rules that apply to all. Rules that protect all, rules set out in the Charter.”
Since 1945 the Charter has been a cornerstone of the international order and guiding framework for multilateralism. The vision set out in the Charter, to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, and to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom, remains one of the most consequential collective commitments made.
New street drugs are now hundreds of times stronger than heroin, with traffickers seeking alternatives that can evade detection and regulations. The World Drug Report 2026 breaks down the profound implications that the shift from plant-based opioids to synthethics carries for the illicit drug supply and the harm it does to human health.
