NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-31-2025 3PM EST

Episode Date: January 31, 2025

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Noor Aram, NPR News. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Noor Aram. Federal authorities restricted helicopter flights near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport today. A passenger plane collided with an Army helicopter Wednesday night while attempting to land. All 67 people aboard the two aircraft are presumed dead. Darrell Feller is a retired U.S. Army National Guard pilot and is familiar with that airport. He says it can be hard to see jets approaching on that particular runway.

I-295 is right over there, you know, so moving lights, they get mixed up with ground lights, with cars. Yeah, you just can't see them, even with goggles on. Goggles actually make it worse down there. It's so bright. So a lot of times we would flip our goggles up going through that area. Federal investigators say it may take months to determine what went wrong. Secretary of State Marco Rubio heads out tomorrow on his first overseas trip, and he's staying relatively close to home, visiting five countries in

the Western Hemisphere. NPR's Michelle Kellerman reports. Secretary Rubio is vowing to make this hemisphere a priority, heading first to Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic. In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, he says the Trump administration will reward countries that cooperate with the U.S. on trade and migration, but will act quickly to punish those who don't. Rubio pointed to a public spat with Colombia last weekend over military planes for deported migrants. Panama's president says he won't discuss control over the Panama Canal when he meets Secretary Rubio. The secretary who has raised concerns about Chinese companies along the canal plans to visit it on Sunday. Michelle Kellerman, NPR News, the State Department.

Effective tomorrow, the U.S. is imposing tariffs of 25 percent on imports from Mexico and Canada. A 10 percent tariff on goods from China will also go into effect. The tariffs are likely to raise prices for the U.S. consumer and potentially disrupt the energy, auto, lumber and agriculture industries. Costco is raising pay for most of its employees as the company's unionized workers are threatening to go on strike at midnight. NPR's Alina Seljuk reports. About 8 percent of Costco store workers are represented by the Teamsters Union. That's about 18,000 people in six states. The union demands better pay and benefits, pointing

to Costco's record financial gains. And now the chain has announced a pay increase for non-union workers. According to an internal memo, the CEO sent to staff seen by NPR. Starting in March, most store workers would get a raise of a dollar per hour for a minimum above $30 an hour. Entry level pay will go up 50 cents for a minimum of $20 an hour. The raise is similar to one Costco gave last year. Costco teamsters argue it's only happening thanks to union pressure and that the company is still shorting its workers. Alina Seluk, NPR News. This is NPR News. Hamas says that tomorrow it will release another three hostages held in Gaza, including an

American Israeli man. The front-runner to be Germany's next chancellor is under fire by the country's mainstream parties. As NPR's Rob Schmitz reports, they're criticizing him for cooperating with the far-right party on a motion to restrict immigration. Friedrich Matz, the leader of the center-right Christian Democratic Union party, is cooperating with the Alternative for Germany party, or AFD, on a parliamentary motion to restrict immigration into the country. The move is being criticized because the AFD is considered to be an extremist party that is under domestic surveillance for the

threat it poses to Germany's democracy. When the AfD first gained popularity a decade ago, Merz's party and Germany's other mainstream parties made a pact to never cooperate with the AfD. Merz insists he wouldn't govern with the AfD but his move to cooperate legislatively with the party has attracted criticism from Chancellor Olaf Scholz and former Chancellor Angela Merkel. Rob Schmitz and Pyrrhus, Berlin. Two astronauts who've been stuck in space months longer than they planned took a spacewalk yesterday. Sunny Williams and Butch Wilmore left the International Space Station for about five

and a half hours to perform maintenance. The two were brought to the space station by Boeing's Starliner capsule in June on what was supposed to be a week-long mission. But NASA decided to bring the Starliner back empty June on what was supposed to be a week-long mission. But NASA decided to bring the Starliner back empty because of several problems. SpaceX is now scheduled to bring them home, but not until late March at the earliest. I'm Nora Rahm, NPR News in Washington. Wait, wait, don't tell me. Fresh air? Up first. NPR News Now, Planet Money, Ted Radio Hour, ThruLine,

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