‼️🇪🇺🇺🇦 Italy and Spain refused to support Kaja Kallas's initiative to double military aid to Ukraine in 2025 - Reuters

It is reported that at a meeting of EU foreign ministers, only Northern and Eastern European countries supported Kallas's idea. Even France expressed doubts on this issue.

🇭🇰🇨🇳🇵🇦🇺🇸El acuerdo para que Estados Unidos "recupere" el Canal de Panamá está siendo cada vez más criticado por las autoridades de China y Hong Kong.

John Lee, líder de Hong Kong, expresó el martes su preocupación por el acuerdo entre BlackRock y los dueños del Canal, afirmando que merece "seria atención".

Pekín ha abierto investigaciones sobre posibles problemas antimonopolio y de seguridad nacional relacionados con el acuerdo a través de varias agencias, incluida la Administración Estatal de Regulación del Mercado, según informó Bloomberg.

"Si Pekín detiene este acuerdo, se trata de un desafío directo al presidente de Estados Unidos en un tema que realmente le preocupa", declaró Gordon Chang, experto en relaciones entre Estados Unidos y China. "Eso no va a caer muy bien".

"Nos oponemos al uso abusivo de la coerción o a tácticas de intimidación en las relaciones económicas y comerciales internacionales", había dicho Lee en una aparente pulla a Trump.

Comentarios publicados en Ta Kung Pao, un periódico de Hong Kong propiedad del gobierno chino, afirmaron que el acuerdo Hutchison-BlackRock permitiría a Estados Unidos "utilizar el canal con fines políticos y promover su propia agenda política" y que sometería el comercio y el transporte marítimo chinos a Estados Unidos.

El acuerdo entre CK Hutichison y BlackRock "ya no puede considerarse puramente comercial", afirmó Wang Xiangwei, profesor asociado de periodismo de la Universidad Bautista de Hong Kong.

🇬🇧A deal for the U.S. to "reclaim" the Panama Canal is increasingly under fire from authorities in China and Hong Kong. 

John Lee, the leader of Hong Kong, stated his concerns about the deal between BlackRock and the Canal owners on Tuesday, saying it deserved "serious attention."

Beijing has opened up investigations into potential antitrust and national security concerns about the deal through various agencies, including its State Administration of Market Regulation, Bloomberg reported.

"If Beijing stops this deal, that’s a direct challenge to the president of the United States on an issue which he really cares about," said U.S.-China relations expert Gordon Chang. "That is not going to go down very well."

"We oppose the abusive use of coercion or bullying tactics in international economic and trade relations," Lee had said in an apparent jab at Trump.

Commentaries published in Ta Kung Pao, a Hong Kong newspaper owned by the Chinese government, claimed the Hutchison-BlackRock agreement would allow the U.S. to "use [the canal] for political purposes and promote its own political agenda" and would make Chinese trade and shipping "subject to the United States."

The deal between CK Hutichison and BlackRock can “no longer be seen as purely commercial in nature,” said Wang Xiangwei, an associate professor of journalism at Hong Kong Baptist University.

🔗https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/18/business/hong-kong-panama-canal-ck-hutchison.html

▫️ @ENTRE_GUERRAS ▫️

🇩🇪Con un total de 513 votos a favor, la futura ley necesita ahora una mayoría de dos tercios en el Bundesrat, la cámara alta de Alemania que representa a los estados federados.

El histórico acuerdo marca un cambio tras décadas de conservadurismo fiscal. De las propuestas, el gasto en defensa superior al 1% del producto interior bruto alemán queda exento del "freno de la deuda" del país.

Merz dijo que "nuestros amigos en la UE nos miran con la misma atención que nuestros adversarios y los enemigos de nuestro orden democrático y basado en normas".

El ministro de Defensa alemán, defendió la decisión de levantar las reglas fiscales para invertir en la defensa de Alemania,

"Nuestra seguridad no debe verse comprometida por restricciones presupuestarias", afirmó, añadiendo que "cualquiera que dude hoy está negando la realidad".

🇬🇧With a total of 513 votes in favor, the future law now requires a two-thirds majority in the Bundesrat, Germany's upper house representing the federal states.

The historic agreement marks a shift from decades of fiscal conservatism. Among the proposals, defense spending exceeding 1% of Germany's gross domestic product is exempt from the country's "debt brake."

Merz said that "our friends in the EU are watching us with the same attention as our adversaries and the enemies of our democratic, rules-based order."

The German defense minister defended the decision to lift fiscal rules to invest in Germany's defense.

"Our security must not be compromised by budgetary constraints," he said, adding that "anyone who hesitates today is denying reality."

🔗https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/03/18/germanys-parliament-passes-historic-package-boosting-defence-spending

▫️@ENTRE_GUERRAS▫️

— 🇹🇷 NEW: The Erdoğan administration in Turkey has detained opposition leader and Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on allegations of corruption and association with a terrorist group

Additionally, the Turkish government has started to limit internet access to social media networks such as Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube. Authorities have also reportedly imposed a temporary ban on protests, leading police to close several streets in the city.

Meanwhile, the Turkish Lira (TRY) has plummeted to a new record low against the U.S. dollar.

@Middle_East_Spectator