The Supreme Court of Panama is winding up deliberations that will decide whether a Hong Kong company can run two ports at either end of the Panama Canal, a decision closely watched in Washington and Beijing, the Wall Street Journal reported. The case carries the weight of geopolitical competition between the U.S. and China. President Trump has said he wanted to take back control of the canal, which the U.S. built in the early 20th century and handed over to Panama in late 1999.

The U.S. will put a 25% tariff on any country that does business with Iran, President Trump said on Monday, raising pressure on the Middle Eastern nation after days of protests against the government, the Wall Street Journal reported. “Effective immediately, any Country doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran will pay a Tariff of 25% on any and all business being done with the United States of America,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

As U.S. President Donald Trump moves quickly to put together a $100 billion effort to revive Venezuela's oil industry, the administration has yet to finalize the fate of the crown jewel of the country's foreign assets, U.S. refining company Citgo Petroleum, Reuters reported. Houston-based ​Citgo has been tied up in the lengthy auction of its parent, PDV Holding, organized by a Delaware court to pay billions of dollars to creditors for ‌debt defaults and expropriations in Venezuela.

A new report by insolvency firm MNP Ltd. suggests Canadians are expecting their household finances will come under pressure this year, the Canadian Press reported. The report says 71 per cent anticipate higher living costs heading into the new year, while 59 per cent anticipate a worsening economy and 52 per cent see job market weakness coming. MNP president Grant Bazian says Canadians expect most aspects of daily life to worsen rather than improve in 2026.

Wood lot mix-ups, slow permitting processes, and extreme cold have made it a difficult winter for some of Yukon's firewood harvesters, CBC.ca. Bill Whimp, owner of Bill's Woodcutting, said he's been harvesting firewood for over a decade and he isn't sure his business will survive the rest of the season. "I can't pay the bills anymore," Whimp told CBC News. Last month, Whimp moved his operation from his home community of Watson Lake to Haines Junction, 600 km away, because, he said, all accessible woodlots around Watson Lake had been picked over.

Western oil companies have been fighting to recoup tens of billions of dollars that they say Venezuela owes them — debts that could play a prominent role in efforts by President Trump to compel U.S. businesses to produce more oil in the country, the New York Times reported. Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips top the list of oil companies with big financial claims against Venezuela, whose president, Nicolás Maduro, was captured by U.S. forces over the weekend in Caracas.

Company executives, customs brokers and trade lawyers are bracing for a Supreme Court ruling on the legality of President Donald Trump's sweeping global tariffs - and a potential fight over obtaining perhaps $150 billion in refunds from the U.S. government for duties already paid by importers if he loses, Reuters reported.

The U.S. ouster of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro has jolted Cuba, which has long relied on Venezuela for oil imports that have barely kept its tiny economy from collapsing, the Wall Street Journal reported. It opens a new and perilous chapter for the island’s Communist regime during an economic implosion that already rivals the crisis suffered by Cuba after the collapse of the Soviet Union more than three decades ago. Cuba has been in a perpetual economic crisis, which has intensified since the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Trump administration plans to control future sales of Venezuelan oil and hold the proceeds in U.S. accounts, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said, making the clearest statement yet on Washington’s strategy to bring the impoverished nation’s crude to market and control its most valuable resource, Bloomberg News reported. Wright, who spoke at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. conference in Miami Wednesday, said initially the barrels would come from crude Venezuela is holding in storage, which has been filling up amid the U.S. blockade and threatening to force some production off line.