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UN Observes Minute’s Silence for 101 Staff Killed in Gaza 

Protesters take part in a rally in support of Palestinians, in front of the United Nations European headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, 11 November 2023. (EPA)
Protesters take part in a rally in support of Palestinians, in front of the United Nations European headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, 11 November 2023. (EPA)
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UN Observes Minute’s Silence for 101 Staff Killed in Gaza 

Protesters take part in a rally in support of Palestinians, in front of the United Nations European headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, 11 November 2023. (EPA)
Protesters take part in a rally in support of Palestinians, in front of the United Nations European headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, 11 November 2023. (EPA)

United Nations workers observed a minute's silence on Monday to honor the more than 100 employees killed in Gaza since the Israel-Hamas war began last month as UN flags flew at half-mast.

Staff at UN offices in Geneva bowed their heads as a candle was lit in memory of the 101 employees of UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) killed in the Israeli assault on Gaza.

"This is the highest number of aid workers killed in the history of our organization in such a short time," said Tatiana Valovaya, Director-General of the United Nations in Geneva.

"We are gathered here today, united in this very symbolic location, to pay respect to our brave colleagues who sacrificed their lives while serving under the United Nations flag."

UNRWA has said that some staff members were killed while queuing for bread while others were killed along with their families in their homes in Israel's aerial and ground war against Hamas in response to the Oct. 7 cross-border assault by the group.

Israel blames Hamas for civilian deaths in the densely populated enclave, saying the group uses the population as human shields. Hamas denies the charge.

"I would like to say that we are really facing very challenging times for multilateralism, for the world," Valovaya said. "But the United Nations is more relevant than ever."

Established in 1949 following the first Arab-Israeli war, UNRWA provides public services including schools, healthcare and aid. Many of UNRWA's 5,000 staff working in Gaza are Palestinian refugees themselves.

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World

Spain Removes Ambassador to Israel

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez delivers a speech during the opening ceremony of the first International Forum Against Hatred in Madrid, Spain, 11 March 2026. EPA/Chema Moya
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez delivers a speech during the opening ceremony of the first International Forum Against Hatred in Madrid, Spain, 11 March 2026. EPA/Chema Moya
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Spain Removes Ambassador to Israel

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez delivers a speech during the opening ceremony of the first International Forum Against Hatred in Madrid, Spain, 11 March 2026. EPA/Chema Moya
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez delivers a speech during the opening ceremony of the first International Forum Against Hatred in Madrid, Spain, 11 March 2026. EPA/Chema Moya

Spain’s government decided to remove its ambassador to Israel, according ⁠to the official state ⁠gazette published on Wednesday.

Spain's ⁠embassy in Tel Aviv will be led by a charge d'affaires, a source at ⁠the ⁠Foreign Ministry said.

Relations between Spain and the United States are "operating normally" despite US President Donald Trump's threats to cut trade with Madrid over its opposition to the US-Israeli war on Iran, the Spanish foreign minister said on Tuesday.

The leftist government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez drew Trump's ire last week after rejecting the war as reckless and illegal while banning US aircraft from using jointly operated bases in southern Spain in the offensive against Tehran.

Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told reporters both Spain's embassy in Washington and the US ⁠embassy in Madrid were ⁠operating with "absolute normalcy”

"Our embassy in Washington is operating normally and has all the contacts it should have as usual," he said, adding that the same applied to the US embassy in Madrid.

Trump threatened on March 3 to impose a full trade embargo on Madrid, also citing the latter's ⁠refusal to meet NATO's new defense spending target of 5% of national output.

World

Kremlin Says It Is in Constant Touch with Iranian Leaders

05 March 2026, Russia, Moscow: Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and President of the Central African Republic Faustin-Archange Touadera at the Kremlin. (Kremlin/dpa)
05 March 2026, Russia, Moscow: Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and President of the Central African Republic Faustin-Archange Touadera at the Kremlin. (Kremlin/dpa)
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Kremlin Says It Is in Constant Touch with Iranian Leaders

05 March 2026, Russia, Moscow: Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and President of the Central African Republic Faustin-Archange Touadera at the Kremlin. (Kremlin/dpa)
05 March 2026, Russia, Moscow: Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and President of the Central African Republic Faustin-Archange Touadera at the Kremlin. (Kremlin/dpa)

Russia is constantly in touch with the Iranian leadership and willing to contribute to efforts to stabilize the region, the Kremlin said ‌on Wednesday.

"Here ‌I can ‌only ⁠say that we are ⁠in constant contact with the Iranian side and with the Iranian leadership," Kremlin spokesman ⁠Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"As ‌President (Vladimir) ‌Putin has said, ‌Russia is always ready ‌to do what it can to restore peace and stability ‌in the region."

Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov ⁠have ⁠spoken with their Iranian counterparts in recent days, while Putin also held a phone call with US President Donald Trump on Monday.

World

UK Bans Pro-Palestinian March Over Alleged Iran Support

A boy stands at the site of an Israeli strike on a tent sheltering displaced people, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip March 9, 2026. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
A boy stands at the site of an Israeli strike on a tent sheltering displaced people, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip March 9, 2026. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
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UK Bans Pro-Palestinian March Over Alleged Iran Support

A boy stands at the site of an Israeli strike on a tent sheltering displaced people, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip March 9, 2026. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
A boy stands at the site of an Israeli strike on a tent sheltering displaced people, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip March 9, 2026. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa

The UK government has banned an annual pro-Palestinian march planned for Sunday which London police claim is organized by a group "supportive of the Iranian regime".

Interior minister Shabana Mahmood said late Tuesday she had approved the rare police request to prevent "serious public disorder" if the Al-Quds Day march and counter-protests had gone ahead.

It is the first time a protest march has been banned since 2012 but a static demonstration will be permitted, according to London's Metropolitan police.

Mahmood said she was "satisfied" a ban was "necessary" due to "the scale of the protest and multiple counter-protests, in the context of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East".

The minister added that she expected to see "the full force of the law applied to anyone spreading hatred and division".

The Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC), an NGO which organizes the annual Al-Quds Day march, said it "strongly condemns" the decision, which it called "politically charged".

"We are seeking legal advice and this decision will not go unchallenged," it added, accusing the Met of having "brazenly abandoned their sworn principle of policing without fear or favor".

It said the London force "unashamedly regurgitate Zionist talking points about the IHRC "without a shred of evidence".

The group describes the day and march as an "international demonstration ... in support of Palestinians and all the oppressed around the world".

Al-Quds day, which takes its name from the Arabic for Jerusalem, originated in Iran in 1979 in support of the Palestinian people, and is now marked annually in various countries, notably in the Muslim world. It aims to protest Israel's occupation of east Jerusalem.

But the Met's Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan said it was "uniquely contentious having originated in Iran and in London is organized by the Islamic Human Rights Commission".

He claimed that the organization was "supportive of the Iranian regime".

"The threshold to ban a protest is high and we do not take this decision lightly," AFP quoted Adelekan as saying.

He noted the Met has "a proven track record" of permitting free speech and protest rights at dozens of major pro-Palestinian and other demonstrations in recent years.

"But in our assessment this march raises unique risks and challenges," he said.

"We must consider the likely high numbers of protestors and counter protestors coming together and the extreme tensions between different factions.

"We have taken into consideration the likely impact on protests of the volatile situation in the Middle East, with the Iranian regime attacking British allies and military bases overseas."

The ban on the march and any associated counter-protest marches is valid for a month from Wednesday.