NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-07-2025 3PM EST

Episode Date: February 7, 2025

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Public media counts on your support to ensure that the reporting and programs you depend on thrive. Make a recurring donation today to get special access to more than 20 NPR podcasts, perks like sponsor-free listening, bonus episodes, early access, and more. So start supporting what you love today at plus.npr.org. Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. Trade and defense, two central issues addressed during today's White House meeting between President Trump and visiting Japanese Prime Minister Shigera Ishiba. I'm pleased to say that this week my administration approved nearly a billion dollars in foreign military sales to Tokyo. Trump says they discussed security in the Indo-Pacific as well as remaining at the cutting

edge of artificial intelligence technology and confronting aggression by China. Before their meeting, the leaders held an initial joint news conference where President Trump doubled down on his widely controversial proposal earlier this week for a U.S. takeover of the Gaza Strip. Basically, the United States would view it as a real estate transaction where we'll be an investor in that part of the world and no rush to do anything. On Capitol Hill today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country's alliance with the U.S. has never been stronger.

I was deeply moved by the reception that we got, the substantive things that we discussed, making sure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon, and also making sure that Hamas is destroyed. Netanyahu is speaking today during a joint news conference with House Speaker Mike Johnson. The Palestinian militant group Hamas has named three more hostages it'll release tomorrow. It's part of a ceasefire deal struck last month in which Israel will also release Palestinian detainees. The exchange would leave 76 civilians and soldiers

still in Hamas's hands. The Treasury Department has named an ally of Elon Musk to oversee the federal government's vast payment system. NPR's Scott Horsley reports the move comes after the Trump administration sidelined a career staffer who tried to keep Musk's team at bay. The agency has tapped Silicon Valley executive Tom Krause to serve as assistant Treasury secretary overseeing a bureau within the department that's responsible for trillions of dollars in annual government payments. The move could give Elon Musk's ad hoc Department of Government Efficiency more power to control

those payments. The administration previously said Krauss and another Musk surrogate had limited read-only access to the payment system. Last week, a career staffer who oversaw that system was placed on administrative leave when he reportedly tried to block Musk allies from halting some payments. The staffer later retired. Scott Horsley in PR News, Washington. Thousands of federal government workers, employees with the U.S. Agency for International Development are hours away from being placed on administrative leave. The Trump administration is targeting

the United States agency for international development is part of a broad mandate to shrink the federal government workforce. US stocks are trading lower this hour. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 450 points or roughly 1% at 44,300. You're listening to NPR News. Panama told China that it will withdraw from Beijing's Belt and Road Infrastructure Initiative amid pressure from the U.S. to curb China's influence over the Panama Canal. NPR's John Rewich has the latest.

Panama's president, Jose Raul Molino, says his ambassador in Beijing has already given the Chinese government 90 days notice of his country's intent to leave the Belt and Road Initiative. Panama was the first Latin American country to join the plan after it switched diplomatic recognition to China from Taiwan in 2017. Molino said it was his decision to withdraw. But the announcement comes after a visit to the Central American country by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who pressured Panama to decrease China's influence over the strategically important Panama Canal. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said Beijing deeply regrets Panama's decision and China opposes US pressure and coercion to smear and sabotage the Belt and Road Initiative.

John Rewich, NPR News, Beijing. Respiratory viruses are still making the rounds in the US, but as NPR's Rob Stein explains, there are a couple of unusual trends driving all the coughing, sneezing, and fevers this year. One possible explanation is that we went through an unusually intense summer COVID surge that also started relatively late. So lots of people may still have some immunity from when they had COVID this summer and no new variant has evolved that's any better about getting around

the immunity people have built up. There's also a theory called viral interference that's when the presence of one virus kind of pushes out other viruses. NPR's Rob Stein reporting. The NASDAQ is down 1.4 percent the Dow has fallen 1 percent. I'm Lakshmi Singh NPR News.