NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-12-2025 9PM EDT

Episode Date: October 13, 2025

NPR News: 10-12-2025 9PM EDTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Support for NPR comes from NPR member stations and Eric and Wendy Schmidt through the Schmidt Family Foundation, working toward a healthy, resilient, secure world for all. On the web at theshmit.org. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst. President Trump is heading to the Middle East as the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas enters its third day. The hostage and Palestinian detainee exchange is set to get underway tomorrow. But word now that a survivor of the Hamas attack on Israel nearly two years ago has died in an apparent suicide. Empires Daniel Estrin has more. Roi Shalev was at the Nova Music Festival in Southern Israel on October 7, 2023. It was the deadliest single attack Hamas carried out that day.

At a hospital that evening, Shalev told NPR, he and his girlfriend dove under a parked truck and played dead. Then they were shot. It was a huge nightmare. didn't see myself getting out alive, he said. Later, he discovered his girlfriend didn't survive. Weeks later, his mother killed herself. This past Friday, the day Israel announced a Gaza ceasefire, Shalev was found dead in a torched car. In a social media post, he asked for forgiveness and said he couldn't bear the pain. He was 30 years old. Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Tel Aviv. It's day 12 of the government shutdown, and there's no apparent movement to end the stalemate.

Democrats say any short-term measure has to include the extension of health insurance subsidies. The Trump administration is using the shutdown to lay off thousands of federal workers, and Pierre Stephen Fowler has more. The White House said ahead of time the scope of these cuts would be, quote, substantial. But in court documents late Friday, the number for now is around 4,200 or so people across at least seven agencies. That includes things like IT positions for the Internal Revenue Service, the entire remaining staff of the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, more than 100 people at the country's top mental health agency,

and offices within the already decimated Department of Education. MPR. Stephen Fowler reporting. Wall Street will be watching the country's biggest banks this week for clues about the health of the economy. MP Morgan-Chase and Goldman Sachs are among the big banks unveiling their quarterly report cards on Tuesday to kick off the latest round of financial updates from big companies. Investors expect good news overall. Corporate profits have been beating expectations this year.

That's despite spikes of market chaos, an ongoing uncertainty over how President Trump's tariffs are reshaping the global economy and raising prices for consumers. The big banks in particular have a window into how consumers and businesses are spending money, or cutting back. That's especially important during the ongoing government shutdown when federal data about the jobs market and inflation is delayed. Maria Aspen and PR News, New York. U.S. futures contracts are trading higher at this hour.

Dow futures up about 8 tenths of a percent. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. New Orleans next leader will be Helena Moreno, a city council member and critic of Mayor Latoya Cantrell, who is term-limited and facing federal criminal charges. Aubrey Yuhas of Member Station, W.W.N.O. has more. Marino, a Democrat, won outright Saturday with 55% of the vote, avoiding a runoff. She was the first candidate to enter the race almost a year ago

and consistently led in fundraising and polls despite a crowded field. In her victory speech, Moreno said the city gives so much of itself to visitors, but gets little in return. Meanwhile, locals are getting priced out. We are losing population fast because of lack of opportunity, lack of affordability, and because it is just too hard to live here. So bottom line, we cannot afford to fail, and I will not fail you. Moreno and other council members have regularly clashed with Cantrell in her second term, including over the city's finances and her overseas trips. For NPR News, I'm Auburn U. Haas in New Orleans.

Tomorrow, barring bad weather or mechanical problems, Elon Musk's SpaceX will conduct the 11th flight test of its starship and booster from the company's star base in southern Texas. SpaceX hopes it will build on August's successful flight, which was the first to complete all its primary mission goals. The stainless steel starship will be uncrewed. The company says it's not planning an upright fixed platform landing for this test. Instead, like the previous mission, starship will splash down in the Indian Ocean. I'm Janine Herbst, NPR News, in Washington. This message comes from Wise, the app for using money around the globe. When you manage your money with Wise, you'll always get the mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees.

Join millions of customers and visit wise.com. T's and Cs apply.