World
UN chief appoints independent panel to assess UNRWA
Panel to be led by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, who will work with European research organisations.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has announced the creation of an independent panel to assess the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
The aid agency has been under fire over accusations by Israel that 12 of its staff members were involved in the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7.
More than a dozen countries – including the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom and Sweden – have suspended funding to the agency.
The independent panel will be led by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, who will work with three European research organisations, the UN said in a statement.
The goal of the investigation is to “assess whether the agency is doing everything within its power to ensure neutrality and to respond to allegations of serious breaches when they are made”.
The European research groups working on the independent assessment are the Raoul Wallenberg Institute in Sweden, the Chr Michelsen Institute in Norway and the Danish Institute for Human Rights.
The panel is due to submit an interim report to Guterres in late March and a final one in late April with, if necessary, recommendations for “improvement and strengthening” of the agency’s mechanisms.
This assessment is separate from an internal probe that the UN launched last month after the accusations were first made against the 12 UNRWA employees.
The October 7 attacks by Hamas resulted in the deaths of 1,139 people, mostly civilians, according to an Al Jazeera tally based on official Israeli figures.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week that the UN agency has been “totally infiltrated” by Hamas, which has governed Gaza since 2007.
UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said he was looking forward to the findings of the review group.
“I welcome the appointment by UN Secretary-General of an independent review group to assess how UNRWA ensures neutrality and responds to allegations of serious breaches. I look forward to the conclusion & recommendations of the report which will be made public,” Lazzarini said in a social media post.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on Monday that his government has evidence linking the agency to “terrorism” that it plans to submit to the UN panel.
“We will submit all evidence highlighting UNRWA’s ties to terrorism and its harmful effects on regional stability. It is imperative that this committee brings the truth to light,” Katz wrote on the social media platform X.
An Israeli intelligence dossier alleged about 190 UNRWA employees, including teachers, have doubled as Hamas or Islamic Jihad fighters, the Reuters news agency reported.
Palestinian officials have accused Israel of falsifying information to tarnish UNRWA. The UN fired nine of the accused workers, condemned “the abhorrent alleged acts” and launched an investigation into the allegations.
Promising to eliminate Hamas, Israel launched a devastating bombardment and ground assault on Gaza, killing at least 27,478 people, mostly women and children, according to Palestinian authorities.
More than 80 percent of Gaza’s population has been displaced and vast swathes of the territory have been reduced to rubble during the Israeli campaign.
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US President Donald Trump has doubled down on his comments on Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, saying she asked him “over and over” for a photo when the pair met at the G7 summit in France earlier this week.
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Following the summit, Trump told an Italian journalist that he “felt sorry for Meloni” after she “begged me to take a picture with her”.
Meloni hit back in a video posted to social media, branding Trump’s claims as “completely made up” and insisting that neither she nor Italy begs anyone for anything.
The once close pair’s relationship has grown increasingly fractious in recent months, particularly since Rome refused to provide the US support for its operations in Iran and after Meloni defended Pope Leo XIV, who was criticised by the Trump administration over his remarks on the war and the US’s immigration policies.
“Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni asked, over and over, for a picture with me during the G-7 meeting in France,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account on Saturday. “She is doing poorly in Italy with her level of popularity, possibly because she turned down the United States of America, a Country that truly loves and protects Italy, when it came to denying Iran from obtaining or developing a Nuclear Weapon”.
“Now, after the United States defeated Iran militarily, she wants to be friends again in order to get her “numbers up.” No thanks!!!” Trump added.
World
‘X-Men’ Star Famke Janssen Says Marvel ‘Made a Mistake’ By Not Asking Her to Return as Jean Grey in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’
Famke Janssen said during a recent conversation with Nerdtropolis at Spacecon 2026 that Marvel “made a mistake” by not bringing her back as Jean Grey for December’s “Avengers: Doomsday.”
“I am so bad at keeping secrets that I always say to everyone I’m the worst actor in the world. It’s all on my face. You right away will read it,” Janssen said. “I think they made a mistake, but hey, who am I? I’m just a little me who thinks that.”
Janssen first appeared as the telepath Jean Grey, aka Phoenix, in 2000’s “X-Men,” and then reprised the role for 2003’s “X2: X-Men United” and 2006’s “X-Men: The Last Stand.” She also briefly appeared as Grey in 2013’s “The Wolverine” and 2014’s “X-Men: Days of Future Past.”
Janssen’s absence from “Doomsday” is notable, considering Marvel is bringing back many of her “X-Men” co-stars for the film. Patrick Stewart (Charles Xavier), Ian McKellen (Magneto), James Marsden (Cyclops), Kelsey Grammer (Beast), Alan Cumming (Nightcrawler) and Rebecca Romijn (Mystique) are all set to return.
In an October 2025 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Janssen said in every interview she does, she’s asked about the future of Jean Grey in the MCU.
“It’s interesting,” Janssen said. “I didn’t realize that was such a big part. Every interview I do, that will come up, and of everything I say, that is going to be the only thing that’s gonna be printed.”
“I should be flattered, I suppose, that this character has resonated with people,” she added. “It’s been so long, but it’s nice that people are still talking about her. I’m sure every single time there’s a new movie that they’re doing, like [is it] ‘Doomsday?’ … it’ll come up again.”
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Authorities are responding after two passenger trains crashed into each other Friday near Bedford, England, killing at least one person and injuring nearly 90 others.
The East of England Ambulance Service said it was called to a collision involving two trains at Elstow, near Bedford, at about 5:15 p.m. local time and quickly declared a “major incident.”
One person died at the scene, 11 people suffered very serious injuries, 22 were seriously injured and 56 people had minor injuries, officials said.
Bedford is roughly 60 miles north of London.
2 TRAINS COLLIDE IN DENMARK, LEAVING 5 PEOPLE CRITICALLY INJURED
Two passenger trains collided Friday in the United Kingdom. (Fox News)
All the patients with the most serious injuries have been taken from the scene to hospital.
The ambulance service said it sent numerous resources to the scene, including more than 20 ambulances, specialist hazardous area response teams and six air ambulances.
MULTIPLE STABBED IN UK TRAIN ATTACK NEAR CAMBRIDGE AS POLICE ARREST 2 SUSPECTS
Emergency crews were pictured working near the scene. (Fox News)
“Our thoughts are with everyone affected, and we thank all emergency service colleagues for their swift response,” the ambulance service wrote in a statement.
The Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service confirmed its crews were also responding.
“Please avoid the area,” fire officials wrote in a statement on X.
Sources told The Telegraph the train driver was on the phone with maintenance staff discussing a safety issue at the time of the crash.
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