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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the weekend. Here’s today’s news:
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
Israel will delay the release of 620 Palestinian prisoners planned for last Saturday until the release of further hostages “has been assured,” and Hamas commits to releasing them without “humiliating ceremonies,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced yesterday. Hamas, which released six Israeli hostages on Saturday, condemned the delay as representing a “clear violation” of the terms of the ceasefire agreement. Isabel Kershner, Aaron Boxerman, Adam Rasgon, and Fatima AbdulKarim report for the New York Times; Reuters reports.
White House envoy Steve Witkoff yesterday said he will travel to the Middle East on Wednesday to discuss the possibility of extending the first phase of Gaza’s ceasefire deal with Israel, Qatar, and Egypt. Barak Ravid reports for Axios.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR — U.S. AND INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
The Trump administration on Friday has called on Ukraine to replace its draft U.N. resolution condemning Russia’s war with a U.S.-sponsored statement with no mentions of Russian responsibility, according to diplomats. Ukraine refused to withdraw the resolution, an official added. Siobhán O’Grady, Karen DeYoung, Michael Birnbaum, and Ellen Francis report for the Washington Post.
U.S. negotiators have raised the possibility of cutting off Ukraine’s access to the SpaceX-owned Starlink satellite internet system if Ukraine does not agree to a minerals deal, according to sources. On Saturday, the Polish deputy prime minister said that Poland has been paying for Ukraine’s Starlink subscription and “cannot imagine” a contract for a commercial service to which Warsaw is a party being terminated. Andrea Shalal and Joey Roulette report for Reuters; Reuters reports.
The United States expects an agreement on U.S. access to Ukraine’s minerals to be signed this week, President Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said yesterday. Kanishka Singh reports for Reuters.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
Ukraine and the United States are still negotiating the deal to trade Ukraine’s minerals for American aid, Zelenskyy said yesterday, adding that he rejected the latest U.S. proposal requiring Ukraine to pay $500 billion using its natural resources revenues. Constant Méheut and Andrew E. Kramer report for the New York Times.
Zelenskyy yesterday said he is ready to give up his position in exchange for peace in Ukraine or NATO membership. Max Hunder, Anastasiia Malenko, and Yuliia Dysa report for Reuters.
Russia has launched its largest drone attack against Ukraine to date on the eve of the third anniversary of Moscow’s invasion, Zelenskyy said yesterday. Elena Giordano reports for POLITICO.
SYRIA
Syria’s national dialogue conference will start on February 25th, two members of its preparatory committee said yesterday. Reuters reports.
Israel will not tolerate the presence of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) forces in southern Syria and wants the territory to be demilitarized, Netanyahu said yesterday. Reuters reports.
OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
Germany’s mainstream conservative party won the national election yesterday, with the far-right Alternative for Germany party doubling its previous result to become the nation’s second-largest party according to provisional results. Vanessa Gera reports for AP News.
Israel has expelled the residents of the occupied West Bank’s Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nur Shams refugee camps, Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz said yesterday. The “empty” camps would be occupied by the Israeli military for the coming year to “prevent the return of residents and resurgence of terrorism,” with tanks deployed into the West Bank for the first time in more than 20 years, Katz added. Tom Bennett reports for BBC News; Raneen Sawafta and James Mackenzie report for Reuters.
Tens of thousands of mourners yesterday participated in the long-delayed public funeral for Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah, killed by an Israeli airstrike in September. Freddie Clayton reports for NBC News.
Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces paramilitary signed a charter to form a parallel government with allied political and armed groups on Saturday, signatories said. Meanwhile, Sudan’s army yesterday said it had seized back control of the el-Gitaina town and broke RSF’s year-long siege on the city of el-Obeid. Khalid Abdelaziz reports for Reuters; Samy Magdy reports for AP News.
A Kenyan police officer was killed in Haiti yesterday during an operation to help combat gang violence in the country, officials said, in what appears to be the first death of a Kenyan officer forming part of the international contingent stationed in Haiti. Yan Zhuang reports for the New York Times.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
The Office of Personnel Management on Saturday sent a mass email instructing federal government workers to summarize their accomplishments for the week by today. In an earlier post on X, Elon Musk said employees who do not answer would lose their jobs. The employees of several federal agencies were told by their agency leaders not to reply to the email pending further guidance. Kate Conger, Eileen Sullivan, and Christina Jewett report for the New York Times; Jonathan Landay, Joseph Ax and Sarah N. Lynch report for Reuters.
Trump on Friday announced he is replacing the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Brown with a retired three-star officer, Lt. Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine. Shortly afterwards, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he would dismiss five other senior officers, including Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the first female chief of naval operations, and Gen. James Slife, a top Air Force officer as well as the three top military lawyers in the Army, U.S. Air Force, and Navy. Missy Ryan and Dan Lamothe report for the Washington Post.
FBI Director Kash Patel is expected to be named chief of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), a White House official said. Separately, Trump yesterday announced he was naming conservative podcaster Dan Bongino as Deputy FBI Director. Yamiche Alcindor, Ryan J. Reilly, and Nnamdi Egwuonwu report for NBC News; Jessica Piper reports for POLITICO.
The Social Security Administration was investigating Leland Dudek on suspicion of improperly sharing information with DOGE when Trump elevated Dudek last week to be acting Commissioner of the agency, sources say. Lisa Rein reports for the Washington Post; Ken Thomas reports for the Wall Street Journal.
The Trump administration on Friday removed the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Caleb Vitello, from his post amid frustration over the pace of deportations, sources say. It is not yet clear who will replace Vitello. Michelle Hackman and Josh Dawsey report for the Wall Street Journal.
The Pentagon will fire 5,400 civilian probationary workers starting this week, a senior Defense Department personnel official said in a Friday statement. Eric Schmitt reports for the New York Times.
Kash Patel on Friday told FBI employees he wants to move 1,000 officers from the Washington D.C. area to field offices across the country and reassign 500 support staff members to the bureau’s Alabama campus, sources say. Adam Goldman and Devlin Barrett report for the New York Times.
The Trump administration has drawn up plans to start deporting unaccompanied migrant children and is ramping up plans to detain undocumented immigrants at military sites across the United States, according to sources and internal documents. Marisa Taylor, Ted Hesson, and Kristina Cooke report for Reuters; Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Hamed Aleaziz, and Eric Schmitt report for the New York Times.
OTHER U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio was arrested outside the Capitol on Friday and charged with assaulting a female protester. Owen Hayes, Ryan J. Reilly, Frank Thorp V, and Dareh Gregorian report for NBC News.
The Washington D.C. police on Friday confirmed they are investigating Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL) in connection with a report of an assault on a woman last week. Aimee Ortiz reports for the New York Times.
The federal judge overseeing the corruption case against New York Mayor Eric Adams declined to immediately grant the DOJ request to drop the charges against Adams, appointing an outside lawyer to present a case against the move. Jeremy Roebuck and Shayna Jacobs report for the Washington Post.
The Supreme Court on Friday ruled a group of Jewish Holocaust survivors could not sue Hungary in the United States to recover the proceeds of property stolen by its state-owned railway. Adam Liptak reports for the New York Times.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
The Trump administration yesterday notified at least 1,600 U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) staffers they were fired and told most of its staffers worldwide that they were on administrative leave as of today. Ellen Knickmeyer reports for AP News.
Russian and U.S. teams are planning to hold a meeting this week to further discuss improving relations, a senior Russian diplomat said yesterday. Reuters reports.
Germany’s likely next Chancellor Friedrich Merz yesterday said Europe should achieve “independence” from the United States “as quickly as possible” due to Trump’s “indifference” to the region’s fate. Anne-Sylvaine Chassany, Laura Pitel, and Olaf Storbeck report for the Financial Times.
The U.S. military yesterday announced it transported about 15 new migrant detainees from Texas to Guantánamo Bay. Carol Rosenberg reports for the New York Times.
Deportees from the United States arrived in Costa Rica in a state of “visible distress,” not knowing where they were and desperately seeking to reach their relatives, according to a sharply critical report released on Friday by Costa Rica’s ombudsman. Annie Correal and David Bolaños report for the New York Times.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
The Supreme Court on Friday ruled that Trump cannot yet bring an appeal seeking to remove Hampton Dellinger, the head of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, holding Trump’s application in abeyance until a temporary restraining order issued by a lower court expires in two days. Zach Schonfeld reports for the Hill.
A federal judge on Friday ruled the Trump administration can for now proceed with a move to put thousands of USAID’s workers on administrative leave, saying that the plaintiffs have not shown irreparable harm that would justify the grant of an injunction. Zoë Richards reports for NBC News.
The Trump administration’s bid to cut funding from DEI programs violates the First Amendment by penalizing private organizations based on their viewpoints and chilling federal contractors’ speech, a federal judge ruled Friday. Kyle Cheney reports for POLITICO.
A federal judge on Friday extended an order blocking DOGE’s access to Treasury Department payment systems, citing the Treasury’s “rushed and ad hoc process” for granting access to the systems. Michael Stratford reports for POLITICO.
A federal judge on Friday agreed to extend an order blocking the National Institutes of Health from reducing funding to medical and scientific research institutions. Zach Montague reports for the New York Times.
The Associated Press on Friday filed a lawsuit accusing three Trump administration officials of interfering with its freedom of speech by blocking the service’s access to presidential events. David Bauder reports for AP News.
New York City on Friday sued Trump and administration officials over the White House clawback of $80 million earmarked for immigrant services in the city. Joe Anuta reports for POLITICO.
Did you miss this? Stay up-to-date with our Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions
