PANAMA CITY (AP) – Two ports run for years by a Hong Kong-based company at either end of the Panama Canal have thrust Panama into a geopolitical tug-of-war between the United States and China. Even before taking office for his second term, U.S. President Donald Trump complained that China was running the Panama Canal.
Wall Street's losses deepened as the ongoing fallout from the war in Iran keeps pushing oil prices higher. After briefly easing early Friday, crude oil prices rose again, bringing the benchmark oil price back above $100 a barrel. The S&P 500 fell 0.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.3% and the Nasdaq composite dropped 0.9%.
PANAMA CITY (AP) – Panamanian investigators carried documents Thursday out of offices belonging to a Hong Kong-owned company that operated ports at either end of the Panama Canal until its concession was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court last month.
BEIJING (AP) – Over the years, a regular Chinese campaign of sending warplanes flying toward Taiwan – the self-governing island it claims as its territory – has raised alarm from Taipei to Washington. Now, a sharp drop in the number of flights in the past two weeks has analysts scratching their heads about what China’s military may be up to.
BANGKOK (AP) – Hong Kong is protesting Panama’s seizure of two ports on a canal vital for global trade that were operated by a Hong Kong-based company for decades, the city’s government said Tuesday. Hong Kong’s Commerce and Economic Development Bureau said in a statement it had lodged “stern protests” with Panama’s consulate.
PARIS (AP) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that the U.S. 30-day waiver on Russian oil sanctions amid the Iran war is “not the right decision” and won’t help bring a stop to Russia’s more than 4-year-old invasion of Ukraine.
PANAMA CITY (AP) – The Panamanian government on Monday issued a decree ordering the occupation of two ports at the entrances of the Panama Canal, a move triggered by a final Supreme Court ruling that declared the operating concession held by Hong Kong-based company CK Hutchison unconstitutional.
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MEXICO CITY (AP) – The navies of El Salvador and Mexico announced drug seizures in the Pacific Ocean this week of more than 10 tonnes of cocaine, in contrast to deadly strikes by the U.S. government that just this week left 11 people dead on three boats suspected of carrying drugs in Latin American waters.