Two massive earthquakes struck Venezuela in the evening on 24 June 2026, forcing children and their families from their homes. The twin earthquakes measuring 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude have cut off communications and power in some areas including San Bernardino, La Guaira, Altamira and Los Palos Grandes. The earthquakes struck during the evening when many people were at home due to a national holiday in Venezuela. Save the Children works with partners in the country and is working to assess urgent needs. The Civil Protection, firefighters, and medics arrived immediately to conduct search and rescue operations.

USA, 2 boys smile while giving each other a hug.

The race is on to contain an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo before it spirals further in a country where decimated healthcare systems were slow to pick up on the disease and are ill equipped to stop the disease spreading, Save the Children said.

As Save the Children prepares to launch a large-scale response to support local health systems and help Ebola-impacted families and children, the aid agency is calling for an urgent global effort to contain the virus.

In previous outbreaks of Ebola, young children infected by the disease through contact with unwell caregivers and family members have often experienced high mortality. Beyond the health risks of the disease itself, children are also at particular risk of trauma and exploitation during an Ebola outbreak. Due to the high fatality rate with the Ebola virus disease, many children may lose one or both parents in an outbreak and face being stigmatized, isolated, or abandoned.

The Ebola outbreak is yet another crisis to hit DRC which has seen a sharp uptick this year in conflict, creating one of the world's most severe humanitarian crises with 5.6 million people including about 2.5 million children internally displaced while 15 million people – almost one in every seven people – need humanitarian assistance.