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Thank you. It's Thursday, the 10th of April.

Welcome to the PDB afternoon bulletin.

I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage.

All right.

Let's get briefed. First up, tensions between America and China over the Panama

canal are heating up as the U.S. inks a new defense and security pact with Panama, and China

accuses Defense Secretary Pete Hegeseth of, quote, spreading rumors and sowing discord. Later in the

show, a Russian-American ballerina who had been wrongfully detained

in Russia for more than a year, was freed by the Kremlin on Thursday in the latest prisoner's

swap with the U.S. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. Tariffs aren't the only serious point

of contention currently between the U.S. and China, as tension builds over

the Trump administration's push to exert more influence on the Panama Canal. Chinese Communist

Party officials are now accusing Secretary of Defense Pete Hengseth of deliberately attempting to sow discord

in the region. The latest flare-up came during a trip by Hegsetz to Panama earlier this

week, where he met with Panamanian leaders in the hopes of strengthening ties to counter what he

described as China's, quote, malign influence in the region. Now, after a day of meetings,

...