NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-13-2025 5AM EDT

Episode Date: October 13, 2025

NPR News: 10-13-2025 5AM EDTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life. Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors on our new show, Sources and Methods. NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people, helping you understand why distant events matter here at home. Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in New York City, I'm Duhahli, Syk. Kowtel. Israeli hostages held in captivity for the last two years began returning home today. At this hour, according to the Red Cross, seven hostages have been handed over to them, and they're making their way to IDF and Shinbet forces in the Gaza Strip.

Here's what it sounded like at a release watch party in Cologne. is expected to release the remaining 13 living hostages later today. NPR reporters on the ground say the military is flying hostages by helicopter from southern Israel to local hospitals. President Trump arrived in Israel shortly after hostages were being transferred. In Tel Aviv, at Hostages Square, the site of countless past candlelight vigils, tens of thousands gathered waving blue and white Israeli flags. As part of the exchange and ceasefire deal, NPR's Ayat-Bitra reports, Israel is releasing a little more than 1,700 Palestinians taken away from Gaza who'd been imprisoned during the war. Dr. Hussam Abel Safaya, Director of the Kamal-Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, is on the list of

detainees set to be released back to Gaza, according to a person briefed by Israeli officials who spoke anonymously in order to discuss the matter. Dr. Abel-Safia was detained 10 months ago after weeks of sustained Israeli attacks on his hospital that killed patients and staff and wounded him. He became a prominent figure in the war for refusing to leave his patients or the hospital grounds, even after his son was killed in an Israeli drone strike and buried in the hospital's courtyard. Israel had been holding him without charge after raiding the hospital, which is among several now destroyed. The World Health Organization and prominent rights groups had called for his release and that of several hundred other Palestinian medics.

by. Authorities still don't have an answer to what caused an explosion that killed 16 people at a Tennessee munitions plant on Friday. Caroline Eggers with member station WPLN reports. The company is called Accurate Energetic Systems. According to its website, AES produces several types of explosives, including TNT or trinitrotolulene. But officials involved in the investigation have not disclosed what type of explosives were in the building. During a press conference, Agent Tyra Cunningham of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives said more verification was needed. Any information that we give to the community, we want to be 100% spot on, so I will not speculate. TNT is one of the most common explosives used by the military.

The company also produces a component of C4. For NPR News, I'm Caroline Eggers in Nashville. This is NPR News. In western Alaska, along coastal communities, the remnants of Typhoon Halong tore houses off their foundations. The governor said at least eight homes were washed away in two Alaskan villages. Officials said search efforts continued into the night using rescue helicopters. Hundreds of people took shelter at a local school, according to the nonprofit coastal villages region fund in Kipnuk. Measles continues to spread across the country.

Sanpiers Maria Godoy reports the U.S. has now confirmed 1,563 cases this year, the highest number in three decades. In South Carolina, 153 unvaccinated schoolchildren in two schools are now subject to a 21-day quarantine after being exposed to measles. Measles was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000. The recent resurgence comes as vaccination rates in the U.S. continue to slide. Infectious disease, Dr. Adam Ratner, says measles is an incredibly contagious disease. It spreads incredibly quickly from unvaccinated people to unvaccinated people. He says the ongoing outbreaks put the country at risk of losing its measles elimination status. Maria Godoy and PR News.

Markets in Asia fell over renewed tensions between the U.S. and China. President Trump days ago threatened 100 percent tariffs on China. these goods in retaliation to Beijing's new restrictions on rare earth minerals used in production of smartphones, drones, and possible military purposes. I'm Dwahli Saikoutel, NPR News. Making time for the news is important, but when you need a break, we've got you covered on all songs considered, NPR's music podcast. Think of it like a music discovery show, a well-deserved escape with friends, and, yeah,

some serious music insight. I'm going to keep it real. I have no idea with this story. hear new episodes of all songs considered every Tuesday, wherever you get podcasts.