Up First from NPR
USAID Programs Halted, Netanyahu in Washington, Rubio Visits Panama, Cannabis Safety
Mon, 03 Feb 2025
Nearly all foreign aid programs delivered by the US Agency for International Development, or USAID, have been halted, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in Washington, D.C. and Sec. Marco Rubio is in Panama following up on President Trump's statements about the Panama Canal. Also, a new NPR series is helping consumers find safely-sourced cannabis products.Want more comprehensive analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.Today's episode of Up First was edited by Dana Farrington, Nishant Dahiya, Sami Yenigun, Andrea De Leon, Janaya Williams and Alice Woelfle. It was produced by Lilly Quiroz, Nia Dumas, and Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Arthur Laurent. And our technical director is Neisha Heinis.A previous version of this episode included an error reported by the State Department, that Marco Rubio was the first Secretary of State in over a century to make Latin America the first visit of his tenure. Rubio is the first Secretary of State in over century to make Panama the first visit of his tenure. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
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Our lives today can feel like miniature versions of this relentless churn of activity. We find we're rushing around more crazily than ever. Somewhere, when we weren't looking, it's like busyness became a way of life.
Start listening to Oliver Berkman, Epidemics of Modern Life, available to purchase wherever you get your audiobooks.
This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Alex Ritson, and in the early hours of Monday, the 3rd of February, these are our main stories. The US Secretary of State has told Panama to reduce what he believes is Chinese influence on the canal or face the consequences, prompting outrage.
President Trump has said any pain brought by the tariffs he's imposed on America's biggest trade partners will be worth it in the long run.
Also in this podcast. Our decisions and the courage of our soldiers have redrawn the map. But I believe that working closely with President Trump, we can redraw it even further and for the better.
Israel's prime minister en route to being the first foreign leader to be received by President Trump since his inauguration. One of Donald Trump's key campaign pledges was of the United States to take back control of the Panama Canal, which connects the Caribbean to the Pacific. He claimed that China has too much influence over the waterway.
His top diplomat, Marco Rubio, has been in Panama for talks with the President, Jose Raul Molino. After the talks, the US Secretary of State said that China's influence threatened the canal and that immediate changes were needed or the US would act. The president of Panama, says the canal belongs to Panama, but he proposed technical level talks to resolve the issue.
There is no doubt that the canal is operated by our country and it will continue to be so. I do not think there's any discrepancy in that. President Trump has his opinion about the Chinese presence, which will be clarified at the appropriate time in the technical discussion of the canal.
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