Reuters World News - Hostages, Diane Keaton and an India matchmaking dilemma

Episode Date: October 12, 2025

Emotional scenes in Tel Aviv as families count down the hours until Monday’s deadline to release the hostages. Near Chicago, more clashes between protestors and police outside an ICE facility. And fans remember Diane Keaton, revered for her comic timing and legendary role as Annie Hall. In Kalundborg, Denmark, Novo Nordisk employs the equivalent of a third of the population. Learn about how that's impacted the city, in the latest episode of On Assignment here. Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter here.  Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast here. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices.  You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt out of targeted advertising.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi, I'm Kim Vinal. It's Sunday, October 12th. Today, Israelis await the release of hostages as the deadline for the Hamas handover nears. Matchmakers in India grapple with US visa changes. And the discovery of a new rogue planet, eating everything around it at a record-breaking pace, changes what we know about interstellar loners. This is Reuters World News, bringing you. you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, seven days a week. Tens of thousands of Israelis gather in what's become known as hostages square in Tel Aviv, awaiting the release of hostages from Gaza.

US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and daughter, Ovanca Trump, took to the stage, as well as US Middle East envoy, Steve Whitkoff. Whitkoff praised Trump's efforts in brokering the ceasefire. But when he turned to thank Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the mood shifted. To Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The jeers continued underscoring the deep frustration many hostage families feel toward Netanyahu, accusing him of dragging out the conflict and failing to act quickly enough to bring their loved ones home. Israeli troops have already pulled back from major urban areas in Gaza,

and the clock is now ticking for Hamas to release the hostages. Here's Reuters Israel correspondent, Mayan Lubell. The hostages are supposed to be released by Monday at noon. That's the deadline. So it could happen any time between now and the deadline. The hostages will be handed over by Hamas to the Red Cross, and the Red Cross will then hand them over to the Israeli forces. Unlike the ceasefire in January,

when 33 Israeli hostages and five Thai hostages, were released. We're not expecting any kind of parade or ceremony like we saw when Hamas was leading hostages onto a stage in Gaza before handing them over to the Red Cross. After that happens, after the Israeli hostages are returned, then Israel will release the hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees in exchange. The Gaza ceasefire signing ceremony in Egypt is shaping up to be a major international event. Egypt's president, Abdul Fata Al-Sisi, and Donald Trump will co-chair the summit in Shamal Sheikh, joined by more than 20 world leaders,

including France's Emmanuel Macron and the UK's Kyrs Stama. Reuters' Gulf Deputy Bureau Chief Andrew Mills says, while Hamas may lose leverage by releasing all the hostages before a future governance plan is in place, the turnout will send a strong message. I think that signals that although this is Trump's so-called deal, and this is one that has his stamp on it, that he will stand shoulder to shoulder with leaders from Muslim and Arab countries and other Western countries.

And if Israel decides it does want to try to go back to war, it's going to have to answer not just to Trump, but to the leaders of those countries, some of which are Israeli allies. Protesters clash with riot police outside an ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois. Police lock arms and formation, then use batons against demonstrators. It comes as a federal appeals court blocked the Trump administration's attempt to deploy National Guard troops to the state. Ruling troops already there can stay put for now, but more can't be mobilized. Similar legal battles are playing out in Oregon and Los Angeles, as Democratic governors push back on what they call politically motivated deployments.

Looking ahead to markets this week, where we are heading into earnings season, In the wake of President Trump's Friday announcement of 100% tariffs on China, markets correspondent Lewis Krascoff is in New York. I think investors had largely shaken off any trade tension issues and any tariff issues. But Friday served as a stark reminder that tariffs remain a front burner issue, especially when it has to do with the United States and China. This is a big earnings week. You've got a number of major banks reporting earnings to start the week, including J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs.

And it's really the kickoff of third quarter earnings season in the United States, which will be very important to keep the stock markets gains intact for this year. You'll also get earnings from Johnson & Johnson and BlackRock and some other companies. Across to India now, where Trump's country, clab down on the H-1B visa for skilled workers is impacting those looking for love. Families once eager to pair their kids with U.S.-based Indians are hesitating. While marriage for love is growing, especially in cities, family matchmaking and arranged marriages are still common. Reuters reporter Rashika Saddam says some are now weighing the risk of marrying into visa

uncertainty. Several matchmakers we spoke to older, they're cautious. this panic about, is this a safer option of going to the U.S. and settling down there? Or should they look at some match in India or other countries and nations like Australia, Canada, they're kind of weighing their options of what if somebody leaves their career and just goes to the U.S. gets married to somebody and then they wouldn't have a job or the person they're married to does not have a job? What would it mean financially for them? Matchmakers are having to pacify these families down, give them alternate options on where they can

look at. Roshika says online matchmaking services in India are taking notice, like the Not Dating app, an invite-only service focused on marriage. So when Not Dating wanted to expand their presence in India, they've spoken to several families, and the first thing the families told them was how important is it for them to have a feature on the app, displaying the visa status of the potential suitor. So that's when Not Dating introduced this particular feature showing the visa status. Abanaya Vajaya Rajavan is another Reuters reporter who worked on the story.

She spoke to one matchmaking agency whose founder Nikita Anand makes sure her team are across all the changes happening in the US. She talks about how their team is regularly trained on like visa categories and US policies and they make sure the profiles are verified when they come in to see that these people do have legitimate US visas. And they've conducted checks. So as reforms adapt, they are also adapting how they will verify a visa state is and what are the documents that they will collect when they register. Scientists have discovered the galaxy's biggest gobbler, or at least the biggest one found so far.

Astronomers spotted rogue planet, which they've casually named Char 1107-76626, which is devouring gas and dust at 6 billion tons per second. It's not orbiting a star like most planets do. And Reuters science reporter Will Dunham says that could mean big things for our understanding of how these loner planets form. It's located in our Milky Way galaxy, about 620 light years from Earth. They discovered that this rogue planet is about 5 to 10 times more massive than Jupiter, our solar system's largest planet. And they observed it as it grew rapidly as the center of a disk of gas. and dust in interstellar space. In fact, it formed much like a star does,

and it gobbled up its surrounding material at an astonishing rate. Astronomers think that rogue planets can arise in one of two different ways. They can, as this one seems to be doing, form at the center of an interstellar cloud of gas and dust. Or they can form like an ordinary planet in a disk of material spinning around a newborn star, only to get ejected somehow out of that planet. system. Either way, this rogue planet is providing a fuller understanding of this class of strange worlds free-floating in interstellar space. Oscar-winning actress Diane Keaton has died at the age of 79. Known for her iconic roles in Annie Hall, the godfather and father of the bride, Keaton passed away in

California, surrounded by loved ones, according to a family spokesperson. Keaton's family, including her two adopted children have asked for privacy as tributes pour in from around the world. And for today's recommended read, how a retired Dutch engineer helped uncover a Nazi looted painting in Argentina, thanks to his father's wartime diaries. We've got a link to that in today's podcast description. And in case you missed this weekend's episode of Reuters on Assignment podcast, make sure you check that out, where Christopher Waljasper takes you to what's become known as a as Novo Town, the small town in Denmark transformed by Novo Nordisk,

and is now being challenged by the slowdown of its hit weight loss drug, Wigovi. For more on any of the stories from today, check out Reuters.com or the Reuters app. Don't forget to follow us on your favourite podcast player. If you're listening on a smart speaker, just ask for the latest news from Reuters seven days a week. I'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show.