U.S. and world news for Oct. 13

Hostages released

After two years of the Israel-Gaza war, all 20 living hostages have now been freed and are in Israel. Thousands of Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, singing and cheering as the initial hostages were released. The remains of the dead hostages were not immediately returned. Reports said that some fighting continued in Gaza involving Hamas and forces that have opposed Hamas. Nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israel were being freed as part of the first phase of the ceasefire deal that the U.S. helped put into place. A conference in Egypt was being held to try to work out what happens next in Gaza.

Trump proposes pardon for Netanyahu

When President Trump spoke to the Israeli parliament today he proposed that Israel’s president issue a pardon for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who is facing charges of corruption. Netanyahu’s trial has been postponed while Israel pursued military action in Gaza. Some of Netanyahu’s critics have alleged that he kept the war going in order to avoid being put on trial. During Donald Trump’s speech, he heaped praise on himself and took credit for having worked out the ceasefire agreement that led to the release of the hostages and also the release of the 2,000 Palestinians held prisoner by Israel.

Obama calls for taking a stand against Trump

In an interview on a podcast with comedian Marc Maron, Former President Barack Obama said that law firms, universities and businesses that bowed to demands from Donald Trump should have taken a stand against Trump’s demands. He said that they should refuse to be bullied into hiring or promoting people based on some criteria cooked up by Trump’s White House aide Stephen Miller. Obama said that Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to Chicago is an end run around the law. He said it represents a weakening of democracy.

Trump administration fires four thousand

The government shutdown is entering its 13th day, with Congress still gridlocked over a funding agreement. Top House leaders signaled Sunday that there is virtually no appetite for their parties to cross the aisle and engage with the other side’s demands. Meanwhile, more than 4,000 federal employees were given layoff notices amid the ongoing impasse, the Trump administration revealed in a court filing. President Trump vowed to target workers deemed to be aligned with the Democratic Party. Roughly 1.4 million other federal employees have been furloughed or are working without pay, according to a Bipartisan Policy Center review.

About half of fired CDC employees remain fired

Hundreds of staff mistakenly fired from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday have been reinstated, according to the American Federation of Government Employees. After a new round of layoff notices was sent late Friday to around 1,300 workers at the CDC, approximately 700 were reinstated on Saturday, while about 600 remain laid off, according to the union. The story given out by the Trump administration is that the employees were sent incorrect notifications due to a coding error. Among reinstated employees are those who publish the agency’s flagship journal, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, along with others from the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, the Global Health Center, and the Public Health Infrastructure Center.

Severe weather causes travel disruptions

A powerful nor’easter is hammering the mid-Atlantic coast with damaging winds, heavy rain and coastal flooding as it slowly tracks north. In the New York Metro area, the winds and rainfall were not as intense as forecast. Coastal storms like this are called a nor’easter due to the prevailing wind direction from the northeast ahead of the storm’s center. These northeast winds push water toward the coast, causing floods and beach erosion. The storm was disrupting air travel at major Northeast airports, with ground delays due to weather having affected Boston Logan and John F. Kennedy airports, according to the FAA.