NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-13-2025 7AM EDT

Episode Date: October 13, 2025

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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 Washington, I'm Louise Skiyavoni. In the Middle East, for the first time in two years, Hamas no longer holds living, Israeli hostages. All 20 remaining captives have been turned over to Israel. The release coming as President Trump arrived in Israel for the next stage in a U.S. brokered ceasefire deal.

As the Knesset gathered in Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had effusive praise for the Trump proposals. A proposal that opens the door to an historic expansion of peace in our region and beyond our region. Mr. President, you are committed to this peace. I am committed to this peace. And together, Mr. President, we will achieve this peace. Netanyahu's office citing Jewish holidays has knocked down Egyptian reports that he'll participate in today's peace talks in Egypt. The ceasefire in Gaza is now in its fourth day. Israel is set to release nearly 2,000 detainees and prisoners and significantly more aid is poised to flow into Gaza, and PR's Ayah Betrani has the latest. The UN Humanitarian Agency Ocha says real progress

is underway with cooking gas entering Gaza for the first time in months. People in Gaza have been burning plastic, clothes, wood, tires, and other items to bake bread and boil lentils and pasta. The UN says it was also able to bring in more tents for displaced families, frozen meat, fresh fruit, flour, and medicines on Sunday. It says aid groups distributed thousands of hot meals and bread bundles. Israel is easing restrictions on aid into Gaza as part of the ceasefire deal. Aid groups had called Israel's restrictions collective punishment as cases of severe malnutrition and deaths from hunger spiked in recent months. A.L. Batrawi, MPR. News, Dubai.

Thousands of federal workers received layoff notices Friday as the government shutdown continues today into day 13. NPR Stephen Fowler reports. About 4,000 people from at least seven agencies received these reduction in force notices Friday. That includes places like the IRS, the Education Department, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. A quarter of those layoffs were with the Department of Health and Human Services, with hundreds of firing slated for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But on Saturday, some CDC employees started learning their layoff notices were reversed. That includes some of the so-called disease detectives who work on investigating outbreaks.

Stephen Fowler, NPR News, Atlanta. The Nobel Prize in Economics has been awarded to Joel Mokke, Mokker, Philip Agion and Peter Howitt, the awards committee noted each of the scholars had conducted research, demonstrating how technology can drive sustained growth. Mokker has been a professor of economics and history at Northwestern University. Peter Howard is at Brown University. Philippe Agion is an economics professor at College de France and at the London School of Economics. This is NPR News in Washington. In Alaska, the remnants of Typhoon Hallong tore through remote parts of the state with hurricane force winds and devastating flooding.

Rescue aircraft were dispatched to small Alaskan villages in the western part of the state, or as many as 20 people were potentially unaccounted for. The state's emergency management office says there have been reports that some homes floated away, possibly with people inside. This Halloween might be the year of chewy and milky, fruity treats instead of chocolate as more shoppers are spooked by higher prices. This amid a global cocoa shortage, and PR's Alina Seljuk reports. Federal data shows that the price of candy and chewing gum has grown more than 8% over the past year. That's largely because of cocoa prices at historic highs, thanks to several harvest shortfalls in West Africa, where most of the world's cocoa grows. This has brands getting creative to cut costs. Kit Kat, for example, has launched a green Halloween bar with matcha

and another with cinnamon, no chocolate. And shoppers are increasingly reaching for chewy, gummy, and sour options. Retail research firms Circona finds that Americans are still spending more dollars on chocolate Halloween candy, but by volume, in pounds, they're buying more non-choclet Halloween candy for the first time in several years. Alina Selyu and Pierre News. The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation today announced a 10-year commitment worth $50 million to Atlanta's historically black colleges and universities.

The goal is to raise graduation rates at Morehouse, Morris Brown at Spelman Colleges, and Clark Atlanta University. I'm Luis Giovanni and PR News.