AnewZ Morning Brief - February 22nd, 2025

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."

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