Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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After two years of fighting, Israel and Hamas agreed to release all hostages in Gaza, getting President Trump closer to his goal of resolving the conflict.
While this is a major breakthrough for peace in Gaza, we still have a long way to go to end this war.
Plus, behind closed doors, Republicans express fears that Trump's shutdown strategy could backfire. And France's president looks for a way out of a fiscal hole that's turned into a political crisis. It's Thursday, October 9th. I'm Kate Bullivant for The Wall Street Journal. And here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today.
We begin with a breakthrough in the Middle East. Israel and Hamas have agreed to a deal that would see all of the remaining Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip released. There are 20 hostages believed to still be alive in Gaza.
Egyptian officials who mediated the talks said Hamas would let them go as soon as Sunday morning, while President Trump told Fox News that they would probably be released on Monday. Journal deputy world coverage chief Mike Amon said that while the deal marks progress toward peace, the hard part is still to come.
There are a lot of moving parts of this agreement, but this is the first step. And to make it hold, President Trump is going to have to both pressure Israel to not start the war again if Hamas doesn't follow through right away, and he will have to pressure Muslim world leaders to stay on the back of Hamas to follow through with its own agreements.
Hamas negotiators have confirmed that they will release the hostages. They've agreed to a prisoner exchange. And they have also conditioned this on the end of the war. Now, these are all very vague terms and are going to require a lot of negotiation going forward. Hamas is not going to give up the hostages without getting something in return.
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Chapter 2: What breakthrough has occurred between Israel and Hamas?
To Washington now. As a government shutdown enters its second week, we're exclusively reporting that senior Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune, have cautioned the White House against moving forward with far-reaching government cuts and mass layoffs. According to people familiar with the matter, lawmakers have told Trump's aides that such moves could backfire with the public.
The conversations reflect discomfort among some Republicans over the president's shutdown strategy, which aims to pressure Democrats into striking a deal. Democrats are so far refusing to budge, arguing that Republicans first need to agree to extend expiring health care subsidies.
Meanwhile in China, Beijing is tightening its control over critical minerals used in high-tech products like EVs and jet fighters. Some products with rare earth materials originating from China will require export licences, as will some goods produced with Chinese technology. The new rules come as President Trump and China's Xi Jinping prepare to meet at the end of the month.
They expand on previous moves by Beijing that have choked the global supply of rare earths and put them at the centre of trade negotiations with Washington. Over in Hong Kong, shares of Hang Seng Bank surged more than 25% today after HSBC offered to take it private in a $13.6 billion deal.
HSBC already owns nearly two-thirds of the lender, and the deal comes as the London-based bank sharpens its focus on Asia. And we're exclusively reporting that the Trump administration isn't planning to impose tariffs on generic drugs from foreign countries.
Generic drugs make up about 90% of medicines dispensed to Americans every day, from antibiotics to heart medications and are largely sourced from abroad. The move, which isn't final and could change in the coming weeks, significantly narrows the scope of Trump's 100% levies, targeting drugs made by companies that don't manufacture in the US.
Coming up, the prospect of French snap elections is averted for now, as President Macron prepares to name his fifth prime minister in a year. We'll check in with our Paris bureau chief on why France is becoming ungovernable. That's after the break.
French President Emmanuel Macron plans to appoint a new prime minister in the next two days, buying himself time to pull the country out of fiscal disarray. He needs his government to pass a budget that narrows the country's deficit, something four prime ministers have tried and failed to do.
Here to explain why that's proving so tricky and where that leaves Macron himself is our Paris bureau chief, Stacey Mictry. Stacey, you report that Macron has been wielding the threat of holding parliamentary elections after the abrupt resignation of his prime minister on Monday. It sounds like he's playing a bit of a game of political chess here. Can you unpack just some of the dynamics for us?
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