Hostages Released: Here are Five Important Things You Should Know This Week

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are returning to their neighborhoods

The News Memo

Oct 17, 2025

GetSmart Preview: Denmark has more pigs than people

Newsbites

Graph of the week: Just 25 years ago, more people lived in rural areas that urban

President Trump posthumously awarded Charlie Kirk with the Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor. The award was received on Tuesday, what would have been Kirk’s 32nd birthday, by his Wife, Erika Kirk. Trump, who landed back in the U.S. at 3:00 a.m. from the Middle East, said, “I would not have missed this moment for anything in the world, nothing.” For the first time ever, the medal had an engraved Christian cross at the center, in honor of his Faith. Afterwards, Trump declared October 14 a National Day of Remembrance for Charlie Kirk.

New York City Mayor Race: Three weeks to go until the New York City Mayor election where 33-year-old socialist Zohran Mamdani holds a 46%-32% lead in the polls against former NYC Governor Andrew Cuomo. In addition, 90% of Mamdani’s voters are “very enthusiastic” about voting for him while only two-thirds say the same of Cuomo. Mamdani has proposed government-run grocery stores, free childcare for children under the age of 5, and making City University of New York “tuition free”. He is backed by Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez.

More: On Thursday, the candidates participated in a contested debate.

President Trump and President Putin plan to meet in Hungary to discuss ending the Ukraine war. The two spoke on the phone this week and Trump called it a “very productive one”. The two agreed to have their “High Level Advisors” meet next week. Depending on the outcome, Trump and Putin will meet in-person in Hungary’s Capital city. Ukrainian President Zelensky, will visit the White House today (October 17), to make his case for more U.S. defense weapons including the Tomahawk Missiles which can travel over 1,000 miles. Trump’s productive call with Putin will likely dim the chances Ukraine gets what it hoped for.

Government shutdown update: As of Friday, (October 17), the government has been shut down for 17 days as lawmakers on both sides are unable to pass appropriation bills to fund the government. National parks, airports, and essential services like law enforcement and air traffic control remain open but with limited staffing, while agencies such as the IRS, FDA food safety inspections, and many federal offices are largely shut down or furloughed.

More: The longest shutdown ever lasted for 35 days during Trump’s first term as president.

Senator Mitch McConnell, 83, took a significant fall while at Capitol Hill this week. McConnell also fell in February on the stairs of the Senate building.

20 Living Hostages Return to Israel as Peace Deal Moves Forward

What happened?
Tuesday marked the official signing of the peace deal and a visit from President Trump to Israel and Egypt. It also set the stage for the continuing negotiations which include the total disarmament of Hamas.

Here are five important things you should know:

On Monday, Hamas released the 20 remaining Israeli hostages back to Israel. Families anxiously waited at Re’im Base to receive their loved ones they hadn’t seen in two years. Other hostages were driven directly to a local hospital to receive immediate medical attention. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv Square to celebrate the long awaited day. The crowd held up a massive banner, reading, “Nobel President Trump.” (video)
On Tuesday, President Trump traveled to the Middle East to celebrate the deal and set the stage for future negotiations. Firstly, he met directly with some of the released hostages and their families. He then gave an hour-long speech to the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) saying, “20 courageous hostages are returning to the glorious embrace of their families, and it is glorious.” He also expressed his confidence for the future of the region. “This is the historic dawn of a new Middle East.” (full speech) Finally, Trump flew to Egypt to attend the Gaza Peace Summit with leaders from Palestine, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Italy, France and others (video).

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are returning to their neighborhoods in Northern Gaza to find complete destruction and rubble (video). Many people are sleeping in tents and waiting for aid distribution, electricity and water. According to the U.N., 90% of Gazan homes have been destroyed and it would cost around $70B to rebuild.
Hamas has returned six of the deceased hostage remains to Israel. There are an estimated 19 that are expected to be returned but Hamas says it is unable to locate the rest of the bodies without specialized equipment due to all the rubble. Israeli’s are frustrated at the slow pace and the potential that some of the bodies will not be returned. One family member of a deceased hostage told BBC, “It’s clear to us that they [Hamas] could have and should have released more and they’re playing games.” The complicated process could play a role in whether the ceasefire process continues or stops.

Israel and the U.S. have made it clear that in order for the peace deal to move forward, Hamas must disarm and lay down all of their military equipment and weapons. President Trump said they have a short time to do so. “if they don’t disarm, we will disarm them, and it’ll happen quickly and perhaps violently,” he told reporters. Neteneyahu recently said if Hamas doesn’t disarm then “all hell will break loose.”

GetSmart: Denmark has more pigs than people

For every one citizen of Denmark, there are two citizen pigs. A census in 2021 showed there were 11M pigs and 5M people in the country. For more than a hundred years, Denmark has made an economic living by exporting about 90% of their pig meat. In short, it’s the lifeblood of their country. They also have beautifully colored homes.