Latest news for 13 October 2025

ISRAEL

Hostages released.

Hamas has now returned all remaining living hostages ahead of Monday’s midday (5am ET) deadline, while the first bus carrying released Palestinian prisoners has now arrived in Gaza. Meanwhile, President Trump has touched down in Israel, where he’s received a standing ovation in the country’s Knesset before he heads to join ~20 other world leaders in Egypt for an international summit on Gaza. There are also breaking reports that the president of Indonesia (which doesn’t recognise Israel) will visit Israel tomorrow, presumably around the same Egypt summit. (BBC)

Comment: We explored the war’s impact here, and examined the peace deal’s prospects here. One of our doubts (whether Hamas will disarm) bubbled up over the weekend, with violence breaking out between Hamas and rival Gazan factions. It’s hard to see any group disarming amid the presence of armed rivals.

FRANCE

Sixth time lucky?

President Macron has appointed his sixth prime minister in under two years, and the winner is… the same guy (Lecornu) who just resigned as PM last week. (Politico)

Comment: Obviously the big question is whether Lecornu 2.0 will do any better than Lecornu 1.0, who just broke records as France’s shortest-lived PM. Both France’s populist left (France Unbowed) and populist right (National Rally) have already pledged to torpedo his government, so it’ll come down to what the Socialist Party decides — politically that might mean ditching Macron’s pension reforms, though economically that might worsen the fiscal mess Macron is trying to solve in the first place.

NETHERLANDS

I’ll take that, thanks.

The Dutch government has taken control of China-owned chipmaker Nexperia, and ousted a top exec (a Chinese national), in what it’s calling a “highly exceptional” move. The Dutch say they intervened to secure critical chip supplies after noticing “serious governance shortcomings". (CNBC)

SPAIN

Defending their honour.

Madrid’s defence minister has cited Spain’s deployments abroad to argue “Spain is one of NATO’s most serious and reliable allies”, after President Trump mused about ousting Madrid from the alliance. It comes after Spain’s shockingly handsome leader (Sanchez) declined to join NATO’s new 5% spending target in June. (Euractiv)

INDONESIA

Dual use.

Indonesia is hoping planned new tax and regulatory arrangements for Bali might help diversify the tourist hot-spot into a financial hub too, with an influx of Patagonia-clad finance bros potentially helping revive growth. (Straits Times)

Comment: Interestingly, the proposal appears to have emerged out of discussions with Bridgewater founder Ray Dalio, who moonlights as an advisor to Indonesia’s president. It looks a bit to us like a reboot of Paul Romer’s ‘charter cities’ idea.

ECUADOR

“Noboa out, out!”

Protests continue to spread after President Noboa ditched costly diesel subsidies last month, nearly doubling prices in the process. It’s looking a bit more like anti-government unrest, with groups burning tyres and blocking streets as the leader maintains a state of emergency in almost half of Ecuador’s 24 provinces. (AP)

Comment: It’s still unclear whether last week’s motorcade incident was an assassination attempt on the young conservative president, or just rock-throwing protestors — various media fact-checkers have struggled to find evidence of gunfire.

SOUTH AFRICA

New name?

Lawmakers are debating whether to rename the country’s famous Kruger National Park, arguing Paul Kruger (a 19th century leader) represents a racist past. Others warn a rebrand could inflame community tensions (Kruger is an anti-colonial hero to some). (BBC)