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 States plans to extend its travel ban to over 30 countries, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced on Thursday....
Chinese President Xi Jinping accompanied French President Emmanuel Macron to Chengdu on Friday, a rare gesture seemingly reserved for the leader of Eu...
U.S. President Donald Trump brought together the leaders of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda in Washington on Thursday to sign a peace deal...
A viral claim circulating online that Denmark requires sperm donors to have an IQ of at least 85 is misleading....
The United States plans to extend its travel ban to over 30 countries, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced on Thursday.
Chinese President Xi Jinping accompanied French President Emmanuel Macron to Chengdu on Friday, a rare gesture seemingly reserved for the leader of Europe’s second-largest economy, highlighting Beijing’s strategic focus on Paris in its dealings with the European Union.
Israel was cleared on Thursday to participate in the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest, a decision made by the organisers, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which sparked a major controversy.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold summit talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Friday, aiming to enhance trade with Russia’s leading buyer of arms and seaborne oil, as Western sanctions continue to pressure their long-standing relationship.
For nearly three decades following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the international system was defined by a singular, overwhelming reality: American unipolarity.
Chinese scientists have unveiled a new gene-editing therapy that they say could lead to a functional cure for HIV, making it one of the most promising developments in decades of global research.
Faced with mounting public outrage following one of the deadliest environmental disasters in the nation’s recent history, the Indonesian government has pledged to investigate and potentially shut down mining operations found to have contributed to the catastrophic flooding on Sumatra.
Britain’s King Charles III welcomed German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Wednesday, marking the beginning of his three-day state visit to the United Kingdom. The visit, the first by a German President to the UK in 27 years, comes as the two countries continue to strengthen ties post-Brexit.
Israel was cleared on Thursday to participate in the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest, a decision made by the organisers, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which sparked a major controversy.
The United States plans to extend its travel ban to over 30 countries, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced on Thursday.
Chinese President Xi Jinping accompanied French President Emmanuel Macron to Chengdu on Friday, a rare gesture seemingly reserved for the leader of Europe’s second-largest economy, highlighting Beijing’s strategic focus on Paris in its dealings with the European Union.
U.S. President Donald Trump brought together the leaders of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda in Washington on Thursday to sign a peace deal, despite ongoing fighting in the region.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold summit talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Friday, aiming to enhance trade with Russia’s leading buyer of arms and seaborne oil, as Western sanctions continue to pressure their long-standing relationship.
President Donald Trump has appointed a new architect to oversee the highly anticipated White House ballroom project, a White House spokesman confirmed on Thursday.
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