Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief: here are the top news stories for February 22nd, covering the latest developments you need to know.
1. Gaza ceasefire, hostage swap deal
Hamas military wing Al-Qassam Brigades announced Friday the names of six Israeli captives set to be released on Saturday in the seventh hostage-prisoner exchange of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire. Israel will free hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in return.
Eliya Cohen, Omer Shem-Tov, Omer Wenkert, Tal Shoham, Avera Mengistu, and Hisham Al-Sayed will be set free, according to spokesperson Abu Obeida.
2. Trump official says Zelenskyy will sign US minerals deal ‘in the very short term’
The White House national security adviser, Mike Waltz, said on Friday that the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, was expected to sign a minerals agreement with the United States imminently, as part of broader negotiations to end the war with Russia.
“Here’s the bottom line: President Zelenskyy is going to sign that deal, and you will see that in the very short term,” Waltz said during remarks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
3. German leaders hold final campaign rallies
Conservative opposition leader and chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz will hold his final campaign rally in the southeastern city of Munich while Chancellor Olaf Scholz will meet voters at his final campaign event in Potsdam, near Berlin.
Recent polls show Merz's center-right CDU/CSU alliance leading with 30%, though unable to secure an outright majority in parliament. Analysts expect him to seek a coalition with either the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) or the Greens to form a government. Chancellor Scholz's SPD currently stands at 16%, with the Greens at 14%.
The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is positioned to become parliament's second-largest party at 20%. However, the AfD appears unlikely to be part of any coalition government, as all other parties have rejected working with the far-right group.
4. French bill banning headscarves in sports 'exclusivism'
A French bill banning headscarves in sports is exclusivism, a representative organization for youth in sports told Anadolu.
“This law directly targets the exclusion of women who wear a sports headscarf,” said ANESTAPS President Lily Rogier.
The French Senate will debate and vote on a bill to extend the ban on religious symbols, including headscarves, to all sports competitions in France.
The proposed legislation also seeks to prohibit collective prayers in publicly funded sports facilities.
5. Trump fires top US general in unprecedented Pentagon shakeup Trump said in a post on Truth Social that he would nominate former Lieutenant General Dan "Razin" Caine to succeed Brown, breaking with tradition by pulling someone out of retirement for the first time to become the top military officer.
6. Hack attack steals $1.4B from crypto exchange Bybit
A crypto exchange, Bybit, announced Friday that a hack attack related to a cold wallet caused a loss of 401,346 Ethereum ($1.4 billion).
Chief Executive and co-founder Ben Zhou announced on X that the theft is only related to Ethereum cold wallet, "warm wallet and all other cold wallets are fine."
The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) has warned that France risks undermin...
SOCAR has completed the acquisition of a 99.82% stake in Italiana Petroli (IP) from API Holding after receiving all r...
Fuel exports from Azerbaijan to Armenia are continuing, with eight rail wagons carrying 479 tonnes of diesel fuel dis...
Health authorities are monitoring a widening hantavirus alert after new suspected cases emerged in Spain and on a remote South Atlantic island, day...
Russia is holding a significantly scaled-back Victory Day parade in Moscow on 9 May 2026, reflecting heightened security concerns and the ongoing w...
The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) has warned that France risks undermining the self-determination rights of the Kanak Indigenous People in New Caledonia amid proposed political and constitutional reforms.
SOCAR has completed the acquisition of a 99.82% stake in Italiana Petroli (IP) from API Holding after receiving all required regulatory approvals.
Fuel exports from Azerbaijan to Armenia are continuing, with eight rail wagons carrying 479 tonnes of diesel fuel dispatched as part of the latest shipment between the two South Caucasus neighbours.
Health authorities are monitoring a widening hantavirus alert after new suspected cases emerged in Spain and on a remote South Atlantic island, days after an outbreak on a cruise ship left three people dead and several others infected.
The U.S military said it carried out retaliatory strikes on Iran on Thursday (7 May). Meanwhile, Iran's Joint Military Command accused the U.S. of breaching the ceasefire, by striking an Iranian oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz and launching attacks on several Iranian cities.
The U.S. and Iran exchanged fire in and around the Strait of Hormuz, though both sides signalled they did not want escalation. The clashes come as Washington awaits Tehran’s response to a proposed deal to end the war while leaving key disputes, such as Iran’s nuclear programme, unresolved for now.
Singapore has isolated and is testing two of its residents who travelled aboard a cruise ship linked to a deadly hantavirus outbreak, the Communicable Diseases Agency (CDA) said on Thursday.
Efforts to end the U.S.-Iran war appeared to stall as the two sides exchanged fire in and around the Strait of Hormuz. A reported CIA assessment suggested Tehran could withstand a U.S. naval blockade for months despite mounting sanctions and renewed Gulf attacks.
Ukraine’s military said it struck a Russian Karakurt-class small missile carrier in the Caspian Sea near Russia’s Dagestan region on Thursday. The extent of the damage is still being assessed, according to Kyiv.
The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) has warned that France risks undermining the self-determination rights of the Kanak Indigenous People in New Caledonia amid proposed political and constitutional reforms.
Somalia is facing a severe malnutrition crisis and urgently needs additional humanitarian funding to prevent conditions deteriorating further, the World Food Programme has warned.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed to carry on as leader on Friday (8 May) after his ruling Labour Party suffered heavy losses in local elections. Labour lost hundreds of councillors across the country, as some figures in the party said he should stand down.
Indonesian rescue teams have located two Singaporeans who went missing after Mount Dukono erupted on Friday (8 May) on the island of Halmahera, though authorities say it remains unclear whether they are alive.
Health authorities are monitoring a widening hantavirus alert after new suspected cases emerged in Spain and on a remote South Atlantic island, days after an outbreak on a cruise ship left three people dead and several others infected.
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