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Middle East crisis live: US ‘committed to finishing the job’ in Iran, Rubio says, amid fresh strikes in Tehran

In the last couple of hours, Esmaeil Baghaei, spokesperson for Iran’s foreign ministry, again reiterated that Iran has not been involved in negotiations with the United States since the start of this war – and would not until US military aggression ended. He said on X: We have had no negotiations with America in these 31 days. What has occurred is the submission of a negotiation request, accompanied by a set of proposals from #America, which has reached us through certain intermediaries, including Pakistan. Our position is very clear. At present, as America’s military aggression and invasion continue with full intensity, all our efforts and capabilities are devoted to defending Iran’s essence. We have felt the previous experiences with our flesh, skin and bones, and we do not forget the betrayal that was inflicted upon diplomacy in two instances within less than a year. Earlier, the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, continued to insist that talks were talking place between Tehran and Washington. The “remaining elements” of the Iranian regime are “increasingly eager to end the destruction and come to the negotiating table, while they still can”, she claimed. She added that despite the Iranian regime’s “public posturing” and the news media’s “false reporting”, talks between the US and Iran are “continuing and going well”.

Israel passes law to give death penalty to Palestinians convicted of lethal attacks

Israel’s parliament has passed a law imposing the death penalty on Palestinians convicted of fatal attacks, a measure sharply criticised as discriminatory by European countries and rights groups. The legislation makes the death penalty the default punishment for Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank found guilty of intentionally carrying out deadly attacks deemed acts of terrorism by a military court. According to the bill, those sentenced to death will be held in a separate facility with no visits except for from authorised personnel, with legal consultations conducted only by video link. Executions will be carried out within 90 days of sentencing. Israel has rarely used the death penalty, applying it only in exceptional cases. The Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann was the last person to be executed, in 1962. The national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, one of the bill’s strongest backers, has repeatedly worn a noose-shaped lapel pin, symbolising executions under the proposal. He described hanging as “one of the options” alongside the electric chair or “euthanasia”, claiming some doctors had offered to assist. A security committee made some amendments to the bill, which last week passed its first vote. Israel’s public broadcaster KAN reported that executions would be carried out by hanging. The measure will allow courts to impose the death penalty without a request from prosecutors and without requiring unanimity, instead permitting a simple majority decision. Military courts in the occupied West Bank will also be empowered to hand down death sentences, with the defence minister able to submit an opinion. For Palestinians under occupation, the bill closes off avenues for appeal or clemency, while prisoners tried inside Israel could have their sentences commuted to life imprisonment. The legislation, initiated by the far-right Otzma Yehudit party led by Ben-Gvir, has drawn sharp criticism from opponents who warned it would mark a significant escalation in Israel’s penal policy. Military officials and ministries have said the bill could breach international law and expose Israeli personnel to arrest abroad. Once enacted, the law formally enters into force but it can still be reviewed – and potentially struck down – by Israel’s supreme court. Directly before voting began, Ben-Gvir made a bellowing speech from the podium, describing the law as long overdue and a sign of strength and national pride. “From today, every terrorist will know, and the whole world will know, that whoever takes a life, the state of Israel will take their life,” he said. When the measure passed, the chamber erupted into cheers and Ben-Gvir brandished a bottle in celebration. The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who had come to the chamber to vote yes in person, sat motionless. Israel’s leading rights groups decried the law as “an act of institutionalised discrimination and racist violence against Palestinians”. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel said it filed an appeal against the law with Israel’s supreme court. The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, condemned the legislation as a breach of international law and a doomed bid meant to intimidate Palestinians. “Such laws and measures will not break the will of the Palestinian people or undermine their steadfastness,” his office said in a statement. “Nor will they deter them from continuing their legitimate struggle for freedom, independence, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.” Last month UN experts called on Israel to withdraw the bill, warning it would violate the right to life and discriminate against Palestinians in the occupied territories. They said the measure removed judicial discretion, preventing courts from weighing individual circumstances or imposing proportionate sentences. They said hanging constituted torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment under international law. The EU’s diplomatic service also condemned the proposal, saying capital punishment breached the right to life and risked violating the absolute prohibition on torture. In February, Amnesty International urged Israeli lawmakers to reject the legislation, which it said “would allow Israeli courts to expand their use of death sentences with discriminatory application against Palestinians”. On Sunday, Britain, France, Germany and Italy expressed “deep concern” over the legislation, which they said risked “undermining Israel’s commitments with regards to democratic principles”.

Trump threatens to ‘obliterate’ Iran’s energy grid if ceasefire not reached ‘shortly’

Donald Trump has threatened to “obliterate” Iran’s power stations and fresh water plants if Tehran does not agree to peace terms “shortly”, even as he claimed diplomatic progress in ending the war that was instigated by the US and Israel. Tehran has remained defiant during the month-long conflict, describing US peace proposals as “excessive, unrealistic and irrational” and firing waves of missiles at Israel. The risk of further escalation, including a US ground operation to seize Kharg Island, continued to send tremors through financial markets. Oil prices are on course for a record monthly rise. In a post on his Truth Social network, Trump expressed confidence that a negotiated settlement would soon be reached, adding that the US was in “serious discussions” with what he characterised quixotically as “a more reasonable regime” in Tehran. But he said if a deal was not struck – including to reopen the strait of Hormuz shipping lane – US forces would destroy “all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!)”. Destroying civilian infrastructure such as power and water facilities would be illegal under international humanitarian law and would probably constitute a war crime. Later on Monday, the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said Trump would be willing to ask Arab countries to help foot the bill for the Iran war. “I think it’s something the president would be quite interested in calling them to do,” she told reporters. “It’s an idea that I know that he has.” The proposal adds a striking new dimension to the warfare, suggesting Washington may seek to offload war costs on to the very Gulf states now scrambling to broker a peace deal. The US president’s social media post and indications from the White House press team came amid continued garbled messaging. In an interview with the Financial Times, Trump said his preference would be to “take the oil in Iran”, which analysts believe would require using US troops to seize Kharg Island, the terminal through which nearly all of Iran’s oil exports pass. Esmail Baghaei, the Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson, on Monday acknowledged Tehran had received a 15-point proposal from the Trump administration after talks on Sunday between the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. However, he said there had been no direct negotiations with Washington, adding that the US demands were “excessive, unrealistic and irrational”. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s parliamentary speaker, dismissed the talks in Islamabad as cover for more US troops being brought to the region, adding that Iranian forces were “waiting for the arrival of American troops on the ground to set them on fire and punish their regional partners for ever”, according to state media. Human rights groups criticised Trump’s threat of punitive strikes on civilian infrastructure. Erika Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty International’s senior director for research, advocacy, policy and campaigns, said: “Intentionally attacking civilian infrastructure such as power plants is generally prohibited. Even in the limited cases that they qualify as military targets, a party still cannot attack power plants if this may cause disproportionate harm to civilians. “Given that such power plants are essential for meeting the basic needs and livelihoods of tens of millions of civilians, attacking them would be disproportionate and thus unlawful under international humanitarian law, and could amount to a war crime.” While Trump officials, most prominently Pete Hegseth, his bellicose defence secretary, have sneered at conflict law, Washington’s conduct of its joint war with Israel against Iran has had serious diplomatic ramifications. Spain announced on Monday that its airspace was closed to US planes involved in the conflict. Keir Starmer, the UK’s prime minister, reiterated: “This is not our war and we are not going to get dragged into it.” And in an unusually forceful intervention, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the Egyptian president, called on Trump to end the Middle East war, now in its second month. “I say to President Trump: no one will be able to stop the war in our region, in the Gulf … Please, help us to stop the war, you are capable of it,” Sisi said at a press conference in Cairo, underlining the growing international discomfort. There is a lack of clarity over the status of Pakistan’s efforts to mediate talks aimed at ending the war, which is threatening to plunge the global economy into recession and trigger shortages of food and pharmaceuticals. Oil rose to almost $117 a barrel, close to the $119.50 a barrel figure reached earlier in March, before easing back. Brent crude is now on track for its largest ever monthly gain. It is up by 54% since the start of March, beating the previous record of 46% in September 1990 after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. The International Monetary Fund said “all roads lead to higher prices and slower growth worldwide” should the conflict in the Middle East continue to throttle flows through the Gulf. Amid weekend reports in the US media that the Pentagon was preparing for weeks of ground operations in Iran, Tehran appeared to be calling for volunteers for a so-called Janfada – “sacrificing life” – operation, recalling the human wave of assaults from the Iran-Iraq war of 1980 to 1988, which included young volunteers. Experts have warned that a US ground operation would probably push the conflict towards an ever deepening regional war. Maziyar Ghiabi, the director of the Centre for Persian and Iranian Studies at the University of Exeter, said: “As the US president prepares for a ground invasion – even though it may be limited to Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf – the trajectory of the war is moving towards a point of no return.” Ghiabi warned of the risk of “a full regional conflict involving Yemen and the Bab-el-Mandeb strait, Iraq, as well as Lebanon, which is already going through an Israeli ground invasion. The effects of this turn of events will be unpredictable and very long-lasting in terms of humanitarian as well as economic outcomes.” Meanwhile, Tehran struck a critical water and electrical plant in Kuwait and an oil refinery in Israel, while Israel and the US launched a new wave of strikes on Iran. Fighting continued to spread in Lebanon as Israel moved to seize more territory in the country’s south. At the weekend, Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired missiles at Israel for the first time since the war began. The UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon said two of its personnel were killed on Monday in the second deadly incident in 24 hours in the country’s south. The United Nations interim force in Lebanon (Unifil) said two Indonesian peacekeepers were killed “when an explosion of unknown origin destroyed their vehicle”. Two other peacekeepers were wounded, one of them seriously. Unifil said it had launched an investigation into Monday’s deaths, which came a day after another Indonesian peacekeeper was killed and three others wounded by a projectile, also of unknown provenance, that exploded near a Unifil position. Elsewhere, Syria’s military said a large-scale drone attack had targeted its bases near the border with Iraq, in the latest such incident since the outbreak of the war. It was not immediately clear who had launched the attack.

Avi Lewis, elected to lead Canada’s New Democratic party, promises ‘NDP comeback’

Canada’s embattled New Democratic party (NDP) has elected the former broadcaster and self-proclaimed socialist Avi Lewis as its new leader, as it looks to rebuild following a devastating federal election last year that saw it lose official party status. A record number of members voted in the three-day NDP leadership convention, giving Lewis a first-ballot win that underscored widespread support. Lewis pledged to convert the “tremendous momentum” of the convention into an “NDP comeback”. Speaking to supporters on Sunday after his win, the 58-year-old documentary film-maker and former television host pledged to centre the party around the pursuit of equity, promising higher wealth taxes, green energy and tuition-free education. “We can already hear the howls from the establishment: ‘But how will you pay for all this?’ It is time, far past time, to properly tax the corporations and billionaires that have been riding a tidal wave of profits while the 99% have been suffering and struggling,” he told a cheering crowd in Winnipeg. Lewis took aim at the moral failings of the governing Liberals, telling energised supporters that an NDP government would challenge the dominance of oil companies and “grocery baron[s]” that enjoy billions in profits. “The NDP will start winning again because we will become that beacon to the 99%, illuminating the darkening sky of these terrifying times with the energising light of collective struggle.” Lewis, the grandson of the former party leader David Lewis and son of the former Ontario NDP leader Stephen Lewis, was joined on stage by supporters and his wife, the acclaimed author Naomi Klein. He faces a daunting set of tasks in rebuilding a party that has just six MPs, weak polling and about C$13m in debt. That effort will probably be complicated by the fact that he has never held political office and does not hold a seat in parliament. In winning at the leadership convention, he beat the MP Heather McPherson, who placed second, the union organiser Rob Ashton, the British Columbia city councillor Tanille Johnston and the farmer Tony McQuail. The prime minister, Mark Carney, and the Conservative party leader, Pierre Poilievre, each issued statements of congratulations to Lewis, saying they looked forward to working with the newly appointed leader. Both Carney’s Liberals and Tories were beneficiaries of the party’s collapse in the last election, which saw the NDP lose 17 of its 24 seats, as well as official party status. The then leader Jagmeet Singh resigned after losing his own riding. Now polling at about 6% federally, the party was dealt another blow earlier this month when the MP Lori Idlout crossed over to the Liberals, leaving it far short of the 12 MPs needed for official party status. In 2011, under former leader Jack Layton, the party won 103 seats in parliament. Unlike other federal parties, the NDP has deep ties with its provincial counterparts. Lewis appeared on stage with the Manitoba premier, Wab Kinew, whose NDP party won a strong majority in the province in 2023, and who consistently polls as the country’s most popular premier. But reactions from some provincial leaders following Lewis’s victory underscore the challenges he faces in unifying the party. While British Columbia’s NDP premier, David Eby, applauded Lewis’s win, he also noted his government’s aim of increasing jobs in the technology and mining sectors – both industries criticised by Lewis. “Our priority is lifting up working people and growing prosperity,” said Eby. Lewis has looked to bolster the party’s environmental credentials, calling for a green energy deal and an export tax to be placed on oil and gas shipped to the US. He also wants to invest 2% of Canada’s gross domestic product in the fight against the effects of the climate crisis. Alberta’s NDP leader, Naheed Nenshi, who has clashed with Lewis over oil and gas development, warned that a perceived ideological shift in the federal party would not be helpful to its provincial version in Alberta. “It is clear that the direction of the federal party under this new leader, someone who openly cheered for the defeat of the Alberta NDP government, is not in the interests of Alberta,” he said. In Saskatchewan, the NDP leader, Carla Beck, said she had declined to meet with Lewis, calling his positions “ideological and unrealistic”. She pointed to a video Lewis had posted in which he opposes new pipeline projects. The interim leader, Don Davies, said the party was ready to rebuild after a devastating result last April, telling convention attenders that he believed voters were concerned that Carney was becoming increasingly conservative. “There is something I’d like to clear up arising from my speech at the press-gallery dinner,” Davies said on Sunday. “I erroneously said, when Prime Minister Carney played hockey, that he was a goalie. I was mistaken. He’s clearly a rightwinger.” • This article was amended on 30 March 2026 to correct a reference to Heather McPherson as a former MP; she is the sitting MP for Edmonton Strathcona. A misspelling of Lori Idlout’s surname was also corrected.

IMF warns Middle East conflict will lead to higher prices and slower global growth

The International Monetary Fund has warned that “all roads lead to higher prices and slower growth worldwide” should the conflict in the Middle East continue to throttle the amount of oil, gas and fertiliser making its way out of the Gulf. In a stark message that countries on all continents will be affected, the Washington-based organisation said a rise in energy and food costs would harm economic growth this year and could leave lasting scars on the global economy. Coming only hours after Donald Trump threatened to obliterate Iran’s energy infrastructure unless it agreed to a peace deal, the IMF’s analysis is likely to be viewed as a warning to the White House over the war’s lasting consequences for struggling households. In a blogpost by the IMF’s main department heads, including the chief economist, Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, the IMF said governments with high levels of borrowing will also have limited access to funds that could be used to cushion the worst effects of the crisis. “Although the war could shape the global economy in different ways, all roads lead to higher prices and slower growth,” it said. While some countries that are net exporters of oil and gas, such as the US, will gain from higher fossil fuel prices, the rise in bills for petrol, diesel and food will harm living standards, the analysis found. Businesses are also forecast to come under pressure to raise prices, possibly forcing central banks to raise interest rates to combat inflation. “A short conflict might send oil and gas prices soaring before markets adjust, while a long one could keep energy expensive and strain countries that rely on imports,” the blogpost warned. “Or the world may settle somewhere in between – tensions linger, energy stays costly, and inflation proves hard to tame – with ongoing uncertainty and geopolitical risk.” “Much depends on how long the conflict lasts, how far it spreads, and how much damage it inflicts on infrastructure and supply chains,” it said, adding: “Historically, sustained oil‑price spikes have tended to push inflation higher and growth lower. About a third of fertiliser production travels through the strait of Hormuz, pushing up prices. UN Food and Agriculture Organisation projections indicate that global prices could average 15% to 20% higher in the first half of 2026 if the crisis persists. Natural gas prices have more than doubled in the UK since last December to about £140 a therm, while a barrel of Brent crude that cost about $60 before the conflict hit more than $116 on Monday before falling back to $112. Forecasts for sharp rises in the cost of gas and electricity in Europe next winter are forcing governments to consider higher subsidies and welfare payments to the worst-affected households. The IMF added: “In Europe, the shock is reviving the spectre of the 2021–22 gas crisis, with countries such as Italy and the UK especially exposed by their reliance on gas‑fired power, while France and Spain are relatively protected by their greater nuclear and renewables capacity.”

US reopens embassy in Venezuela in significant thawing of relations

The US government is resuming operations at its embassy in Venezuela, the state department announced on Monday, nearly three months since former president Nicolás Maduro was abducted from the country and locked up in the US. The resumption of US diplomatic operations in Venezuela marks a significant step in the US-Venezuela relationship, as the Trump administration begins to work closely with the government of Delcy Rodríguez, the acting president who replaced Maduro after his forcible ousting by US troops. Rodríguez was Maduro’s vice-president. The US embassy in Venezuela has not been operational since March 2019. Heightening tension between both countries, escalating for decades, led to the rupture of diplomatic relations between the two. The US government has not had an ambassador in Venezuela since 2010. In 2018, Maduro expelled the charge d’affairs in Venezuela, leading to the US government to withdraw all its diplomatic personnel from the country the following year. Since then, US relations towards Venezuela have been carried out from the US embassy in neighboring Colombia. Many of the typical US government operations housed in the embassy, including law enforcement investigations, also had to be performed from outside the country. Following the US military’s invasion of Venezuela and abduction of Maduro and his wife, the US has been working to forge ties to the country. “Today, we are formally resuming operations at the US embassy in Caracas, marking a new chapter in our diplomatic presence in Venezuela”, a state department spokesperson announced. The US government has accused Maduro and other high-ranking Venezuelan officials of participating in drug trafficking and of providing cover to other Latin American criminal groups. The Delta Force raid that led to Maduro’s capture earlier this year, based on a federal indictment, was widely condemned internationally. Maduro and his wife are currently sitting inside a federal prison in New York, waiting for their court case to proceed. Since the abduction, Laura F Dogu, a longtime US diplomat and intelligence official who served as US ambassador to Honduras and Nicaragua, has been in Caracas, working to restore the US embassy in the country. Dogu is the current charge d’affaires to Venezuela. “Dogu’s team is restoring the chancery building at the US embassy in Caracas to prepare for the full return of personnel as soon as possible and the eventual resumption of consular services,” the state department said. “The resumption of operations at US embassy Caracas is a key milestone in implementing the president’s three‑phase plan for Venezuela and will strengthen our ability to engage directly with Venezuela’s interim government, civil society and the private sector.”

Harrods’ closure of compensation scheme for survivors of alleged sexual abuse called ‘neither fair nor just’

Harrods has been accused of being “neither fair nor just” over its decision to close a compensation scheme for survivors of alleged sexual abuse by the luxury department store’s former owner Mohamed Al Fayed. Kingsley Hayes, partner at KP Law, which is representing nearly 280 survivors, questioned why the scheme was being closed on Tuesday 31 March, before Harrods had completed an internal investigation into what happened and who knew about it. “We are concerned that the decision appears to be driven by financial considerations rather than what is fair and appropriate for survivors,” the law firm said in a statement. Harrods set up a compensation scheme in March last year which it said at the time would only run until 31 March this year. The scheme was set up after dozens of women came forward with allegations of abuse by the late entrepreneur going back as far as 1977 after the broadcast last year of the BBC documentary Al Fayed: Predator at Harrods. Hayes said the scheme provided an alternative resolution for survivors who did not wish to pursue litigation. “It is therefore wrong to impose a self-serving deadline,” he said. “Today we are calling on Harrods to ‘do the honourable thing’ and delay the closure of the redress scheme and commit to publishing the findings of its long overdue internal investigation into what happened and who knew. Survivors are being asked to make life-altering decisions without access to the full picture. That is neither fair nor just.” Harrods said more than 220 people had now engaged with the redress scheme which it said had been designed in consultation with specialist barristers, survivors and their legal representatives. It said compensation had been paid to more than 70 survivors and it added “any partial submissions will continue to be recognised and progressed to completion after this date”. A spokesperson for Harrods said: “We recognise differing views, however Harrods has always stated that the scheme represents only one form of redress available to survivors. “It was designed to provide resolution without the need for a protracted legal process and to ensure all reasonable legal fees could be paid and the full compensation award would go to the individual. Our commitment to redress does not end with the application deadline. “Harrods recognises the remarkable bravery of survivors who come forward and continue to shed further light on this dark chapter to our history. The intention of the Harrods redress scheme has been to support survivors of the despicable sexual abuse perpetrated by Fayed, for which we have accepted vicarious liability and utterly condemn. We stand by the progress made through this scheme, and our commitment to these survivors continues.” The Metropolitan police said last year that 111 women had made allegations against Fayed; the youngest is thought to have been 13 at the time. In documents on the scheme’s website, Harrods “apologises unreservedly” for the sexual abuse survivors suffered and “wants everyone who is eligible to receive this compensation”. Those eligible for its redress scheme could apply for a number of types of redress including general damages of up to £200,000 and a work impact payment of up to £150,000 as well as payments for “wrongful testing” and treatment costs. All eligible applicants are offered a meeting with a senior Harrods representative to receive an apology in person or by video, as well as an individual written apology. The scheme, developed with the law firm MPL Legal and funded by Harrods did not require survivors to undergo medical assessment and claims could be based on “documentary evidence” without alleged victims having to speak in person about their experiences.

Ivanna Maszczak obituary

My friend Ivanna Maszczak, who has died aged 100, survived a brutal seven-year spell in a Siberian labour camp in the late 1940s and early 50s before moving to the UK, where she made a new life for herself. A native of Ukraine, Ivanna had fallen foul of the Soviet authorities when they discovered her support for Ukrainian independence. After serving her sentence and arriving in Britain during the mid-60s, she kept up her connections with Ukraine – and her support for its independence movement – via the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain and worship at the Ukrainian Catholic cathedral in Mayfair, London. Small and tough, she lived the whole of her life in the UK in a third-floor flat in Notting Hill, west London, working as a librarian. Over the years she became a local celebrity and a well-known face in the Ukrainian community in London. Ivanna was born in the village of Krupets, to Osyp Przepiórski, a Greek Orthodox priest, and his wife, Iryna (nee Marenin), a teacher. She went to school in the nearby town of Sokal, and had a happy childhood in a creative family, surrounded by music, poetry, amateur dramatics and lively group discussions. During the German occupation of Ukraine in the second world war she finished her education at the Ukrainian State Trade College in Sokal, where she graduated in 1943. During Soviet rule of the country she was forcibly resettled, in 1947, to the Olsztyn region of Poland. It was there that she was arrested by the security forces in 1948 for collaborating with the Ukrainian underground movement. Sentenced to 10 years’ hard labour in the sub-arctic gulag at Magadan, Kolyma, 10,000km away, she endured torture and other unspeakable hardships across seven years before being released in 1955 after the death of Stalin. In 1956 she began working in a library in the Polish town of Kentrzyn, and during that time completed a librarianship course at the Polish ministry of culture and arts in Gdynia. In 1965 she was able to visit a friend in London, and there was introduced to a fellow Ukrainian, Wolodomyr Maszczak, a newspaper administrator, who proposed to her five days after they met. She remained in London, where they married the same year. Initially Ivanna worked in London as a clerk for Barclays Bank, before moving back to being a librarian at the Association of Ukrainians. Once she retired, she began painting, and discovered she had a talent for it, creating beautiful, delicate scenes, including of traditional wooden churches from her homeland. She also wrote two volumes of memoirs, Roads from the Past (2010) and Love and Pain (2024). Although she had endured great horror and pain, she never showed any self-pity, treating her extreme experiences as “just one of those things that happened”, and instead focusing on the joy of being alive. She was entirely herself, never bending to anyone else’s will. Her dignity, warmth and wonderful sense of humour – you could joke with her about anything – won her friends of all ages. Wolodomyr died in 2012. Ivanna is survived by two nieces.