Panama has urged the United States to step up its investment in the country if it is serious about countering Chinese influence around the Panama Canal, Cristina Guevara writes.

Thousands of workers will be laid off as a result, decimating U.S. foreign assistance around the world—which makes up just 1 percent of the country’s federal budget, FP’s John Haltiwanger and Christina Lu report.

U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to postpone planned 25 percent tariffs on Mexican imports in response to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s border security plan, FP’s Catherine Osborn reports in Latin America Brief.

The two leaders discussed Trump’s plans to “take over” Gaza, which rights experts have described as ethnic cleansing, contributors write in an FP roundup.

The United Nations and Congolese government have both reported continued fighting in spite of the announced pause, FP’s Nosmot Gbadamosi writes in Africa Brief.

Exit polls indicate that the winner may be the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party—which, despite holding power on the national level, hasn’t won elections in the capital territory in nearly 30 years, FP’s Michael Kugelman reports in South Asia Brief.

Thousands of people gathered to celebrate the signing of New Zealand’s founding treaty. Demonstrators also protested policies that they argue violate the rights of the Indigenous Maori population—also known as tangata whenua, as Christina Thompson explained in a 2021 Decoder.

In addition to facilitating censorship within Russia’s borders, the country’s influence operations have also infected Western media, Ian Garner wrote last year.

Around 11,000 people have fled the island as the tremors continue. Scientists warn that a bigger quake may be yet to come, FP’s Alexandra Sharp writes in World Brief.

A bird flu epidemic has led to a spike in egg-spensive poultry products across the country, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.