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Top 6 US news stories

October 13 2025

Greg Loving

13 Oct 2025 • 8 min read

The Israeli military said in a statement that 13 hostages were handed over to Israeli military forces by the Red Cross inside the Gaza Strip. They are the last living hostages who had been held in Gaza. Saher Alghorra for The New York Times

All Hostages Freed as Trump Arrives in Israel to Hero’s Welcome

Stock Futures Rally After Trump Moderates Tariff Threats Against China

Economists See Higher Growth From AI Boom, But Slower Job Gains

U.S. Moves to Secure Supply Chains as GM's Bet on American-Made Magnets Pays Off

U.S. Intelligence Aiding Ukrainian Strikes on Russian Energy Facilities

Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics Awarded for Theory of 'Creative Destruction'

…US GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN ENTERS 13th DAY…

1. All Hostages Freed as Trump Arrives in Israel to Hero’s Welcome

All 20 remaining hostages alive in Gaza returned to Israel after being released by Hamas, closing a chapter in the two-year war, as President Trump arrived at the country's parliament to a warm welcome ahead of his address. The Knesset speaker called him “the best friend that Israel has ever had.” The hostage release was a requirement of the current cease-fire and a step that could push forward Trump's broader proposal to end the war and rebuild the enclave. Following the release, Israel and Hamas are expected to begin negotiating a peace deal that would see the U.S.-designated terrorist group disarm and give up power in Gaza.

Air Force One is flying over Hostages Square on its way to land at Ben Gurion Airport. President Trump’s arrival in Israel could not have been timed more exactly: It coincides with the crossing of the first seven released hostages from Gaza into Israeli territory. Hannah Mckay/Reuters

Israelis gathered, sang and celebrated as the captives were returned.

The bodies of around 28 hostages who have died are to be handed over later in what could be a drawn-out process.

As part of the deal, buses carrying Palestinian prisoners left Israeli prisons. Israel is set to release 250 Palestinians from prisons and 1,700 who have been detained in Gaza.

A cease-fire in Gaza went into effect Friday and aid has resumed flowing.

Palestinians rushed toward aid trucks in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on Sunday.

A host of details still need to be resolved in a subsequent phase of the agreement, including how the Gaza enclave is to be governed.

"The war is over," Trump said as he traveled to the region to address Israel’s parliament. He is then set to attend a summit in Egypt aimed at spurring momentum for the broader plan.

As Trump makes his way through the Knesset to give his address, it is clearly a friendly crowd, even among many in the Israeli opposition. In the audience, some are wearing red MAGA-style baseball caps, emblazoned with the words, “TRUMP THE PEACE PRESIDENT.” Kenny Holston/The New York Times

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2. Stock Futures Rally After Trump Moderates Tariff Threats Against China

Stock futures and broader markets rallied after Friday's selloff, as comments from President Trump and Vice President JD Vance eased fears of a revived trade war with China. “Don’t worry about China, it will all be fine! Highly respected President Xi just had a bad moment," Trump said Sunday on his Truth Social platform, adding “The U.S.A. wants to help China, not hurt it!!!” JD Vance said the U.S. had a lot of leverage over China, but added that "Donald Trump is always willing to be a reasonable negotiator," in a Fox News interview over the weekend. Assets ranging from cryptocurrencies to major commodities rallied early Monday. The dollar strengthened and stock futures jumped 1% or more, with contracts for the Nasdaq-100 up roughly 2%. U.S. Treasury markets were shut for Columbus Day. On Friday, Trump said he would hit China with a 100% extra tariff and impose new export controls, after Beijing imposed sweeping curbs on rare-earth exports. Trump's threats sparked a market rout, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite notching their worst days since April. As a new week begins, the government shutdown continues, with many federal workers set to miss their first full paychecks. Trump said Saturday that military servicemembers will still get paid.

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3. Economists See Higher Growth From AI Boom, But Slower Job Gains

Prospects for U.S. economic growth are looking up, as investment in artificial intelligence booms and risks around tariffs diminish, according to economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal. The survey was conducted earlier this month, before President Trump threatened to impose massive tariffs on China. Even as the economists have raised estimates for economic growth, they have lowered prospects for jobs. Behind the strange dichotomy: Employers are reluctant to hire given political uncertainty and rising costs, even as their investment, especially in AI, is boosting productivity and economic growth. On average, economists expect gross domestic product adjusted for inflation to increase 1.7% in the fourth quarter this year from a year earlier, up sharply from the July survey average of 1%. For 2026 they still expect growth of 1.9%. One reason for the upgrade is that while tariffs continue to weigh on the economy, there is more certainty around them. Trump has struck agreements with key trading partners including Japan and the European Union. Tariffs are also having less effect on prices than expected. Economists now expect them to add 0.5 percentage point to year-over-year inflation as measured by the personal-consumption expenditures price index in the fourth quarter, down from 1 percentage point in April’s survey.

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4. U.S. Moves to Secure Supply Chains as GM's Bet on American-Made Magnets Pays Off

A. The Pentagon has sought to procure up to $1bn worth of critical minerals as part of a global stockpiling spree to counter Chinese dominance of the metals that are essential to defence manufacturers. The Trump administration’s accelerated effort to bolster the national stockpile is outlined in public filings published in recent months by the Pentagon’s Defense Logistics Agency. It follows export restrictions imposed on many of the materials by China, which dominates the supply chains for critical minerals and permanent magnets needed for technologies from smartphones to fighter jets. Last week China introduced new draconian restrictions on rare-earth magnet exports, a reminder of its power to disrupt global supply chains—and cause American manufacturers, including carmakers, to halt production.

B. American auto companies have long relied on China for the magnets, which are essential for making everything from electric motors to headlights and windshield wipers. But today, one automaker, General Motors has less reason to fret. In 2021, GM made the bold bet of investing in rare-earth magnet production in the U.S., as part of a broader effort to cut its reliance on China for parts, components and materials. As a result, in the coming months, GM is now set to be the only U.S. automaker with a large direct supply of American-made rare-earth magnets from multiple factories. It has been a risky bet. GM had to commit to long-term purchase agreements with new suppliers, in some cases relatively unproven ones, whose magnets are more expensive than the Chinese ones.

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C. JPMorgan Chase said Monday that it would directly invest $10 billion in companies it deems critical to U.S. national security, part of an initiative to help protect the American economy as trade tensions with countries such as China escalate. The bank said it had committed to facilitating $1.5 trillion in investments for companies deemed “critical to national economic security and resiliency” over the next 10 years. That includes the $10 billion of its own capital it plans to use to take stakes in companies such as defense contractors, mineral manufacturers and artificial-intelligence firms. “It has become painfully clear that the United States has allowed itself to become too reliant on unreliable sources of critical minerals, products and manufacturing—all of which are essential for our national security,” said Chief Executive Jamie Dimon.

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5. U.S. Intelligence Aiding Ukrainian Strikes on Russian Energy Facilities

The US has for months been helping Ukraine mount long-range strikes on Russian energy facilities, in what officials say is a co-ordinated effort to weaken Vladimir Putin’s economy and force him to the negotiating table. American intelligence shared with Kyiv has enabled strikes on important Russian energy assets including oil refineries far beyond the frontline, according to multiple Ukrainian and US officials familiar with the campaign. The previously unreported support has intensified since midsummer and has been crucial in helping Ukraine carry out attacks that Joe Biden’s White House discouraged. Kyiv’s strikes have driven up energy prices in Russia and prompted Moscow to cut diesel exports and import fuel. The intelligence sharing is the latest sign that Trump has deepened his support for Ukraine as his frustration with Russia has grown. The shift came after a phone call between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy in July, when the FT reported the US president asked whether Ukraine could strike Moscow if Washington provided long-range weapons.

6. Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics Awarded for Theory of 'Creative Destruction'

Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt were awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for their work explaining how innovation and creative destruction drive economic growth. Mokyr is a professor at Northwestern University and Aghion is affiliated with universities in France and the U.K., while Brown is a professor at Brown University.

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October 13 1977: Palestinians hijack German airliner

Four Palestinians hijack a Lufthansa airliner and demand the release of 11 imprisoned members of Germany’s Baader-Meinhof terrorist group, also known as the Red Army Faction. The Red Army Faction was a group of ultra-left revolutionaries who terrorized Germany for three decades, assassinating more than 30 corporate, military and government leaders in an effort to topple capitalism in their homeland. The Palestinian hijackers took the plane on a six-country odyssey, eventually landing at Mogadishu, Somalia, on October 17, after shooting one of the plane’s pilots. Early the next morning, a German special forces team stormed the aircraft, releasing 86 hostages and killing three of the four hijackers. Only one of the German commandos was wounded. The Red Army Faction’s imprisoned leaders responded to the news later that day by committing suicide in their jail cell, in Stammheim, Germany.

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