Tom Fletcher, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, is currently in Venezuela, where he has been meeting with government officials to assess the country’s humanitarian response following the recent earthquakes.

During a virtual meeting on Wednesday with ministers organized by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Fletcher issued an urgent appeal for $296 million to fund emergency relief operations.

“We have a clear plan. We need $296 million to address the socioeconomic needs of 1.3 million people over the next six months. It is a time-bound plan,” Fletcher said. He also acknowledged the support already received, adding, “Donors are stepping up, and I pay tribute to them and thank them.”

The emergency appeal comes in addition to the $632 million humanitarian response plan launched earlier this year for Venezuela, where nearly eight million people were already in need of humanitarian assistance before the earthquakes.

According to UN officials, that plan had secured only $115 million in funding before the twin earthquakes struck. Following a new wave of international contributions, the total funding has now reached $300 million.

A German palliative care physician was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday by a Berlin court after being convicted of murdering 15 patients during home visits, in a case the presiding judge described as that of a “serial killer.”

The court found the 41-year-old doctor, identified as Johannes M., guilty of killing 12 women and three men between September 2021 and July 2024 by administering lethal combinations of sedatives.

Prosecutors argued that the physician first injected a sedative followed by a muscle relaxant, a combination that allegedly caused paralysis of the respiratory muscles, leading to respiratory failure and death within minutes.

Although the conviction covers 15 victims, investigators believe the doctor may be responsible for a significantly larger number of deaths. Authorities said additional homicide investigations remain ongoing.

In addition to receiving the maximum sentence of life imprisonment, the court imposed special measures intended to prevent the possibility of early release. Johannes M. was also permanently barred from practicing medicine.

Judge Sylvia Busch described the case as “inconceivable” and “extraordinary,” referring to the defendant as a “serial killer” while fully upholding the prosecution’s requests.

The death toll from the twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela on June 24 rose to 3,535 on Monday, while the number of injured remained at 16,740, according to a statement released by the Venezuelan government.

Authorities have not disclosed an official number of missing persons. However, the United Nations estimates that as many as 50,000 people could still be unaccounted for, although other projections suggest the figure may be closer to 10,000.

Search and recovery operations continue in the state of La Guaira, neighboring Caracas and the region hardest hit by the earthquakes, as emergency crews and volunteers work to recover victims and provide them with dignified burials.

On Sunday, authorities began burying unidentified victims.

More than 150 unidentified bodies were laid to rest at La Esperanza Cemetery in the municipality of Catia La Mar, according to journalists from AFP.

Rows of individual graves now stretch across a dry section of the cemetery, each marked by white stones outlining the burial plots.

Every grave bears a small bouquet of flowers at the base of a white cross, along with a plaque reading “Special Identification” and the date of death: June 24, 2026.