
February 2025

Live Updates: Hamas Is Set to Release 6 More Hostages
The exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel appeared likely to go ahead, despite Israeli anger over Hamas’s handover of a misidentified body.

Israel Confirms Body Returned by Hamas Is Shiri Bibas
DNA testing had found that remains returned a day earlier purportedly of Ms. Bibas, a dead Israeli hostage, were in fact not hers, stirring outrage in Israel.
India’s Outrage Machine Devours a Star YouTuber Over a Crude One-Liner
A joke made by Ranveer Allahbadia, a Joe Rogan for online Indians, has brought him death threats and criminal charges.

Emboldened Kremlin Steps Up Efforts to Seize Businesses in Russia
The legal onslaught on Moscow’s second-largest airport has been seen as part of the Kremlin’s wartime drive to seize control of key assets still in private hands.

Ukraine Promises Swift Deal for Minerals as Trump Cuts Kyiv Out of Peace Talks
President Trump on Friday said the Ukrainian president had been negotiating “with no cards” and did not need to participate in all the diplomatic meetings to end the war.

Hamas Says It Has Returned Another Body It Believes Is Shiri Bibas
Less than 24 hours after Israel found that remains delivered by Hamas did not belong to Ms. Bibas, a slain Israeli hostage, the militant group said it had returned another body.

Trump Appears to Back Away From His Gaza Plan
Earlier this month, the president said he favored taking control of Gaza and displacing the Palestinian population of the devastated seaside enclave. But Egypt and Jordan flatly rejected cooperating.

Berlin Stabbing Attack at Holocaust Memorial Injures One
The police said they had detained a suspect in the assault, which occurred among the labyrinth of concrete slabs at one of the German capital’s most sacrosanct sites.

As Russia Talks Peace, Moscow Threatens New Ukraine Region
Moscow’s forces are three miles from Dnipropetrovsk, a province they have never invaded. If they cross in, the advance would be a morale blow to Ukraine and complicate any territorial negotiations.

Fate of Bibas Family Renews Fears for Israel-Gaza Cease-Fire
Hamas said it had returned the bodies of Shiri Bibas and her two sons. The Israeli military announced that the boys were murdered in Gaza and that Ms. Bibas’s body was that of someone else.