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

This article is published in association with United Nations.

The UN Secretary-General has expressed his sorrow over Tuesday’s deadly shooting at a school in rural Canada that left at least eight dead and 25 wounded.

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.