Armed conflicts and attacks

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)

• https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjry3jzedl1o

Armed conflicts and attacks

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. (Al Arabiya) (BBC News)

• https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2025/02/21/hamas-says-shiri-bibas-remains-mixed-with-other-human-remains-after-israeli-airstrike
• https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjw20d3l4jpo

International relations

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)

• https://www.timesofisrael.com/arab-leaders-gather-in-saudi-arabia-to-hash-out-alternative-to-trumps-plan-for-gaza/

Law and crime

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

• https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/south-korea-police-say-building-case-against-yoon-obstructing-arrest-2025-02-21/

Law and crime

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. (AP) (DW)

• https://apnews.com/article/germany-berlin-stabbing-holocaust-memorial-1710be90a0e733d016e32db4d8353e1c
• https://www.dw.com/en/suspect-in-berlin-stabbing-wanted-to-kill-jews-police/a-71712971

Law and crime

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)

• https://abcnews.go.com/US/salman-rushdie-stabbing-suspect-found-guilty-attempted-murder/story?id=118903519

Law and crime

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

• https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/22/us/virginia-beach-police-shooting.html?searchResultPosition=1

Politics and elections

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)

• https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/21/politics/trump-fires-top-us-general-cq-brown/index.html

Politics and elections

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". (AP) (NPR)

• https://apnews.com/article/ap-lawsuit-trump-administration-officials-0352075501b779b8b187667f3427e0e8
• https://www.npr.org/2025/02/21/nx-s1-5305226/ap-sues-white-house-gulf-of-america-mexico-trump

Politics and elections

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)

• https://en.tempo.co/read/1978141/police-deploy-2460-joint-personnel-for-indonesia-gelap-protest-in-jakarta-today
• https://www.barrons.com/news/thousands-protest-against-budget-cuts-in-indonesia-5ac272a2

Science and technology

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)

• https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00552-y