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

Episode Date: October 13, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Rylan Barton. It's an historic day in the Middle East as the last of the living hostages held by Hamas were freed today in a ceasefire deal. NPR's Daniel Estrin reports from Tel Aviv on reunions of the 20 freed hostages that they had with their families. Videos show the moments freed hostages first saw their families. The mother of 23-year-old Barr Cooperstain threw herself onto her son, reciting a Jewish woman. prayer and tears. 32-year-old Avina Tan Orr returned from captivity today and greeted his girlfriend, a former hostage, with a scream and kisses.

Hamas said it was returning only a few of the deceased Israeli hostages' bodies today. Israel said a deliberate delay would violate the ceasefire deal. Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Republican Speaker Mike Johnson says the federal government shutdown may become the longest in history, saying he won't negotiate with. Democrats until they hit pause on their health care demands. Johnson said he was unaware of the details of the thousands of federal workers being fired by the Trump administration during the shutdown. Vice President J.D. Vance has warned of painful cuts ahead

even as employee unions sue. Thousands of flights have been delayed and hundreds more have been canceled as a result of a nor'easter. The storm began over the weekend and continues to drench parts of the Mid-Atlantic. NPR's Julianna Kim reports. More than 5,000 U.S. flights have been affected so far, with the most delays reported at Boston-Logan International Airport and LaGuardia Airport in New York. There were also nearly 900 U.S. flights canceled. On social media, both airports advised passengers to check in with their airlines about their flights. Over the past few days, a slow-moving storm slammed states along the East Coast, bringing fierce winds, coastal flooding, and power outages. A state of emergency was declared in New Jersey and parts of New York.

The storm is expected to linger into Tuesday. Juliana Kim, NPR News. After a flare-up in tensions over trade between the U.S. and China, Beijing says threats and high tariffs are not helping. NPR's John Rewich has more. Relations between China and the United States have worsened sharply over the past week, with China adding restrictions to exports of rare earth minerals, and President Trump pledging fresh 100% tariffs on Chinese goods in retaliation. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian was asked about Trump's new tariffs at a briefing in Beijing.

He says China stands firmly against a string of steps by the U.S. that he says have seriously harmed China's interests. Lin says the two sides should resolve their concerns through dialogue based on equality, mutual respect, and reciprocity. But he also issued a warning. If the U.S. persists on doing things its own way despite opposition, he says China will take resolute countermeasures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests. John Rewitch, NPR News, Beijing. This is NPR News. Ukrainian president Volodemir Zelensky will travel to Washington on Friday for talks about the possibility of getting long-range weapons from the U.S. President Trump warned Russia over the weekend that he may send Keeve, long-range tomahawk missiles.

Russia says the move would seriously damage relations between Moscow and Washington. Officials have identified the 16 people killed in a devastating blast. at a rural Tennessee explosives plant last week. Investigators are still trying to figure out what happened. Pieces of evidence may be miles apart because of the intensity of the blast. Scientists say the answer to a 180-year-old mystery surrounding a penguin-like bird, the Great Ock, hunted into extinction in 1844, has been hiding in plain sight at a museum in Cincinnati. Tana Weingartner of member station WVXU explains,

The last two great oaks were taxidermied and lost to time. Now Cincinnati Museum Center curator of zoology, Heather Farrington, says scientists using tissue saved during the taxidermy process and other records confirm a specimen at the museum is the last female ock. What they were trying to do was match soft tissues. They knew came from those two individuals to taxidermy mounts from museum collections around the world. and the male was found in a previous scientific study, but the female was not. The discovery continues an odd tradition. The world's last passenger pigeon died at the Cincinnati Zoo in 1914 and was sent to the Smithsonian. Farrington says the last great auk will stay in Cincinnati.

For NPR news, I'm Tanao Weingartner. It's NPR.