Wednesday morning news: October 22, 2025

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SOUND: [Cheering crowds]

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Vance in Jerusalem, Israel latest » A hostage comes home. Crowds cheered yesterday as Avinatan Or returned home. A police-escorted caravan drove him back to a settlement in the West Bank.

He told reporters:

OR: I very glad to be here, to (be) back to my place, to my home. To see all the love I get from all of the people, all the citizens of Israel...I'm very happy. My heart is blown. Thank you very much.

Meanwhile, Vice President J.D. Vance was on the ground in Israel.

VANCE: Things are going frankly better than I expected that they were...

The vice president there voicing optimism that the Trump-led roadmap to peace between Israel and the terror group Hamas will be successful.

Many in Israel though expressing frustration that while the 20 living hostages have been released, Hamas has yet to turn over all of the remains of deceased hostages. The vice president said that may take some time.

VANCE: Some of these hostages are buried under thousands of pounds of rubble. Some of the hostages, nobody even knows where they are. That doesn't mean we shouldn't work to get them, and that doesn't mean we don't have confidence that we will. It's just a reason to counsel in favor of a little bit of patience.

Over the weekend, two Israeli soldiers died during a Hamas attack in southern Gaza. That led to an Israeli airstrike. But Israel says it has returned to enforcing the ceasefire.

Hamas leaders claim they’re also dedicated to upholding the truce.

Gaza aid » Meantime in Gaza,  images released by the UN's World Food Program show the distribution of food moving smoothly. The head of the WFB in Gaza, Willy Nyeko says it aims to scale up deliveries inside amid the ceasefire.

NYEKO: We plan on expanding to 145 of those sites throughout the Gaza Strip. So as you can see, uh, the food distribution points like this are critical.

UN Agencies are distributing food boxes containing items like oil, salt, lentils, sugar, and canned beans.

WFP is aiming to provide up to 1.6 million people with bread, wheat flour, and food boxes in the first three months of the ceasefire.

Ukraine latest/Trump-Putin meeting on hold » President Trump says his plan to meet once again face to face with Russia’s Vladimir Putin is on hold:

TRUMP: I don’t want to have a wasted meeting. I don’t want to have a wasted time.

After Trump and Putin spoke on the phone last week, the White House announced a planned meeting in Budapest, Hungary, though the date had not been set.

But President Trump scrapped those plans after a phone call Tuesday between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Lavrov made clear in public comments yesterday that Russia is opposed to an immediate ceasefire without Russia’s demands being met.

Govt shutdown week three » It is officially week-three of the partial government shutdown, with Congress still locked in a stalemate.

GOP Sen. Roger Williams said House Republicans have previously passed a continuing resolution—or C-R for short— that would temporarily extend the funding that was already in place to reopen the government while the two sides negotiate.

WILLIAMS:  The same CR that eight or nine times under Biden they had voted for, but now they vote against, we passed that they need to pass there so the government can open.

Democrats have repeatedly blocked that bill in the Senate.

They insist they’re fighting for healthcare, and still say they won’t pass government funding until Republicans agree to extend Obamacare tax credits. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer:

SCHUMER:  If Congress doesn't act by October 31st, millions of Americans will see higher premiums when open enrollment begins November 1st.

Republicans say they’re willing to negotiate on those tax credits after Democrats agree to reopen the government.

Military buildup in Caribbean » The US military has continued a major buildup in the Caribbean Sea near Venezuela, raising questions about what might come next. WORLD’s Benjamin Eicher has that story:

BENJAMIN EICHER: The Trump administration has been shifting assets to the region as part of what it calls its war against narco-terrorism.

At least eight warships are in the region—along with a nuclear submarine, a special-operations mothership, missile destroyers, and an amphibious assault ship with Marines.

Analysts say the buildup likely does not signal a full-scale invasion … but rather, possible targeted strikes against cartels … or a pressure campaign against Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, not a full-scale invasion.

The White House says the mission aims to weaken cartels and cut drug-smuggling routes.

The US Navy has used deadly force in recent weeks against what the Trump administration has identified as drug-running boats in the Caribbean.

For WORLD, I’m Benjamin Eicher.

SOUND: [Crowd noises]

Sarkozy begins prison sentence » A crowd of supporters gathered around former French President Nicolas Sarkozy Tuesday, as he reported to a Paris prison to begin serving a five-year sentence.

The 70-year-old was convicted of a criminal conspiracy to finance his 2007 election campaign with funds from Libya.

Sarkozy is appealing both his conviction and sentence.

His attorneys say they’re hoping to see him freed on early release by Christmas.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Hunter Baker is standing by for today’s Washington Wednesday conversation. Plus, recovering from loss and finding purpose in pain.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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