Sunday, February 23rd, 2025 

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that he is “ready” to resign from the presidency in exchange for NATO accession as part of a potential peace agreement. (CNN)

U.S. President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announces the removal of multiple senior U.S. officers from their current roles, including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Charles Q. Brown Jr. and the Chief of Naval Operations Lisa Franchetti. (CNN) 

The United States Department of Defense announces it will jointly lay off 4,500 probationary workers, cutting 5-8% of the civilian workforce. The United States Forest Service also announces it will lay off 2,000 employees. (AP) 

American news agency The Associated Press files a lawsuit for freedom of speech against three Trump administration officials after they banned the news agency from attending presidential press events after the agency refused to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America”. (NPR) 

The European Space Agency announces that the chances of asteroid 2024 YR4 impacting Earth in 2032 has decreased to 1.5% (1-in-67), and is likely to decrease further to less than 1%. (Nature) 

Norwegian drama film Dreams (Sex Love) wins the Golden Bear award at the 2025 Berlin International Film Festival, while Tilda Swinton is awarded the Honorary Golden Bear for her range and legacy. (DW) (Berlinale) 

At least three ISIS fighters were killed and no civilians were harmed after Puntland armed forces, working with U.S. Africa Command, launched an airstrike targeting ISIS militants hiding in the Cal Miskaad Mountains in the Bari Region of Puntland, Somalia. (Horseed Media)

The University of Newcastle publishes the final findings of its eight-year long attempt to record and map all major massacres of Indigenous Australians during the colonisation of Australia, finding that at least 10,000 were killed. (The Guardian) 

Israel launches airstrikes in the Baalbek area in northeastern Lebanon and other areas in the south of the country. (Times of Israel) 

American Airlines Flight 292 is forced to divert to Rome Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Italy, after a bomb threat. The New York – Delhi flight was flying over the Caspian Sea near Turkmenistan when it diverted back towards Europe. (English Jagran) 

Germans vote to elect the 630 members of the 21st Bundestag in the fourth snap election in Germany after World War II with the highest turnout since the reunification. The election was scheduled for September 28 but was brought forward due to the 2024 German government crisis. (BBC News)

Saturday, Februrary 22nd, 2025 

Hamas releases six living hostages, including pre-war hostages Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, both captive for more than nine years. (Times of Israel) 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders the delay of the release of 620 Palestinian prisoners indefinitely, citing the “humiliating” procedure of the hostages’ release. (NBC News) 

A 69-year-old Portuguese man is killed and seven other people are injured in a mass stabbing attack by a 37-year-old man at a market in Mulhouse, France. The stabbing is being treated as a suspected Islamic terrorist attack. (CNN) 

Hundreds of Congolese police officers join the M23 movement in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, as the rebel group consolidates its control of the city. Around 1,800 police officers have surrendered their weapons to the new authorities, according to the Congo River Alliance. (Reuters) 

Houthi forces launch surface-to-air missiles at a U.S. fighter jet and MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Red Sea for the first time with both missiles missing their target. (Reuters) 

The Tuareg independence movement accuses Malian soldiers and Wagner Group mercenaries of killing 24 civilians, which constitutes a war crime. (Al Jazeera) 

The death toll following the structural collapse of a metal roof of the Real Plaza Trujillo in Trujillo, Peru, rises to eight. The La Libertad government announces a period of mourning from February 22–23. (La Republica) 

A bus carrying passengers to a wedding ceremony overturns in Ranhghati, Rajasthan, India, killing two people and injuring 30 others. (The Times of India) 

The Cook Islands signs a five-year memorandum of understanding to collaborate with China in seabed mining, which includes technology transfer, logistics support, and deep-sea ecosystem research. (DW) (The Guardian) 

Two people, including a police officer, are killed and seven other people are injured in a mass shooting at the UPMC Memorial Hospital in West Manchester Township, York County, Pennsylvania, United States. (Fox News) 

One person is killed and another is injured in a shooting at the Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. The FBI is investigating the shooting but it is believed the incident was not an act of terrorism. (ABC News) 

Mohamed Amra, a French criminal and suspected drug lord known as “The Fly”, is recaptured in Romania, nine months after escaping during an ambush that killed two French prison officers. (Sky News) 

The Vatican City issues a statement informing of the worsening health of Pope Francis after more than a week in hospital due to respiratory problems. Vatican officials say Pope Francis is now in critical condition and that the prognosis “remains guarded”. (Reuters) 

Friday,  February 21st, 2025 

Israel says that forensic testing revealed one of the bodies returned by Hamas yesterday does not match with Shiri Bibas nor with any other hostages. Her sons Ariel and Kfir, as well as Oded Lifshitz, were all positively identified. Israel accuses Hamas of violating the ceasefire and demands the return of her body along with the other remaining hostages. (BBC News) 

Hamas claims that Shiri’s body was “mistakenly mixed” with others who were killed and buried under the rubble in Gaza, and returns an additional body the group says is hers. The identity is soon afterwards positively confirmed by Israel. (BBC News) 

Hamas claim that Shiri’s body was “mistakenly mixed” with others who were killed and buried under the rubble in Gaza. (Al Arabiya) 

The Financial Action Task Force removes the Philippines from its grey list and adds Laos and Nepal to the list. (Reuters) 

At least 6 people are killed and 79 others are injured after a roof collapses at the Real Plaza Trujillo shopping mall in Trujillo, Peru. (Metro) 

Twelve people are killed and twenty-one others were injured in a bus crash in São Paulo, Brazil. (TRT World) 

South Sudan orders the closure of all schools in the country for two weeks due to a heat wave, with temperatures expected to reach 42 °C (108 °F). (DW) 

A norovirus outbreak with a large number of ill passengers is reported on the MS Iona cruise ship in Belgium. (Metro) 

Egypt, Jordan, and the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council meet in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to address possible future developments in the Gaza Strip. (The Times of Israel) 

Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan sign an agreement to delimitate their border, solving a decades-old border dispute that had sparked clashes between different ethnic groups that had killed over a hundred people. (Reuters) 

South Korean police file a case against impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol for obstructing his arrest warrant. (Reuters) 

Veolia Water agrees to pay $53 million in settlement for all remaining active class action lawsuits for the contamination of drinking water in Flint, Michigan, United States, but refuses to acknowledge any fault in the crisis. (WNEM) 

Hadi Matar is found guilty by a U.S. jury of attempted murder and assault for his stabbing attack on author Salman Rushdie in 2022. (ABC News) 

Three people are killed in a shooting outside of a motor vehicle office in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. (The Independent) 

Three people, including two police officers, are killed during a traffic stop in Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States. (The New York Times) 

The Supreme Federal Court of Brazil orders the suspension of online video platform Rumble for refusing to comply to court orders and for refusing to remove the account of Brazilian fugitive Allan dos Santos. (AP) 

A 30-year-old Spanish tourist is seriously injured in a stabbing attack at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin, Germany. A 19-year-old Syrian man is arrested. (DW) 

One person is seriously injured in a stabbing attack at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin, Germany. (AP News) 

Demonstrations continue against the government in several cities in Indonesia. Nine students have been arrested and two are injured, along with four injured policemen and two parliament members. (Tempo) (Barron’s) 

The End Sunday 

The End

Above posted Sun 02.23 6:30pm