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Laura Fernandez declares victory in Costa Rica’s presidential election

Laura Fernandez declares victory in Costa Rica’s presidential election

Right-wing candidate’s closest challenger concedes defeat as partial results showed her on verge of winning the presidency. By News Agencies Published On 2 Feb 20262 Feb 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Right-wing candidate Laura Fernandez has declared victory in Costa Rica’s presidential election after preliminary results gave her a commanding lead and her closest challenger conceded defeat. The move early on Monday came after Supreme Electoral Tribunal said that votes tallied from 81 percent of polling stations showed the candidate of the Sovereign People’s Party winning 48.9 percent of the vote. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list In her victory speech, Fernandez promised “deep and irreversible change” and announced that ‍Costa Rica was entering a new political era. The Central American nation’s second republic, which began after the 1948 civil war, “is a thing of the past,” she said. “It’s up to us to build the third republic,” Fernandez told flag-waving supporters. The 39-year-old politician also pledged to lead a nation that is “respectful and firm on the rule of law”. “Any law that is ineffective, that has become obsolete, that has become a hindrance to development, will be modified or repealed,” she added. Fernandez’s closest challenger was economist Alvaro Ramos of the National Liberation Party, who obtained 33 percent. At third was Claudia Dobles, a progressive architect and former first lady, who was just shy of 5 percent of the vote. Ramos conceded on Sunday night and pledged to lead a “constructive opposition,” but one that would not let those in power get away with anything. “In democracy dissent is allowed, criticizing is allowed,” he said. Fernandez ‌needed at ‌least 40 percent to win the election outright and avoid ‌a run-off on April 5. The politician is the handpicked successor of incumbent President Rodrigo Chaves, and campaigned on continuing his tough security policies. Advertisement She has pledged to complete a maximum-security mega-prison that Chaves started to build in August, saying that it would “isolate leaders of organised crime”, cutting them off from the outside world. She has also advocated for mandatory prison labour and stricter criminal sentencing. Al Jazeera’s Julia Galiano, reporting from capital San Jose, said that the main issue during the campaign was security, with homicides reaching an all-time high in 2023. “Without a doubt, the increasing insecurity was the main issue for everyone that we spoke to here. Costa Rica has long been considered as the Switzerland of Central America. It’s a nation known for its long history of a stable democracy,” she said. Fernandez’s tough line on security has prompted worry among the opposition, Galiano said. “They fear the changes that her government will do will ultimately erode the democratic nature of this country. But in her victory speech, she did say that above all, she would remain democratic and that her government would never turn authoritarian,” our correspondent added. Costa Ricans also voted for the 57-seat National Assembly on Sunday. Fernandez’s party is projected to win a majority of 30 seats in the 57-seat Congress, up from its current eight seats, but short of ​a “supermajority” that would give it greater powers. Some 3.7 million Costa Ricans were eligible to vote in Sunday’s elections. Adblock test (Why?)

Pakistani forces kill 145 fighters in Balochistan after deadly attacks

Pakistani forces kill 145 fighters in Balochistan after deadly attacks

Pakistani security forces have killed at least 145 fighters in the restive Balochistan province in a manhunt launched after a series of coordinated gun and bomb attacks that left nearly 50 people dead. The announcement on Sunday came a day after the attacks, which began early on Saturday at multiple locations across southwestern Balochistan and left 31 civilians, including five women, and 17 security personnel dead. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list The assault, claimed by the banned separatist Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), prompted authorities to impose months-long security restrictions on the province, banning public gatherings, demonstrations and limiting traffic movement. The measures also ban the use of face coverings that conceal the identification of individuals in public places, the Dawn newspaper reported. Sarfraz Bugti, the provincial chief minister, told reporters in Quetta that troops and police officers responded swiftly to the attacks, killing 145 members of “Fitna al-Hindustan,” a phrase the government uses for the BLA. The number of fighters killed over the past two days was the highest in decades, he said. “The bodies of these 145 killed terrorists are in our custody, and some of them are Afghan nationals,” Bugti said. He claimed that the “Indian-backed terrorists” wanted to take hostages, but failed to make it to the city centre. Pakistan’s military said 92 fighters were killed on Saturday, while 41 were killed on Friday. “We had intelligence reports that this kind of operation was being planned, and as a result of those, we started pre-operations a day before,” Bugti said. Advertisement Bugti also accused Afghanistan of backing the assailants, and said senior leaders of the BLA were operating from Afghan territory. Both New Delhi and Kabul deny the allegations. ‘Baseless allegations’ In a statement on Sunday, India denied the assertion, accusing Islamabad of deflecting attention from its own internal problems. “We categorically reject the ‌baseless allegations made by Pakistan,” the spokesperson for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, Randhir Jaiswal, said, adding that Islamabad should instead address the “longstanding demands of its people in the region”. Balochistan, which is also Pakistan’s poorest province, has faced decades-long violence and separatist attacks by ethnic Baloch seeking greater autonomy and a larger share of the area’s natural resources. The BLA regularly targets Pakistani security forces and has attacked civilians, including Chinese nationals, who are among thousands working on various projects in the province. Officials said the latest assaults on Saturday were launched almost simultaneously across the Quetta, ​Gwadar, Mastung and Noshki districts, with armed men opening fire at security installations, including a Frontier Corps headquarters, attempting ‌suicide bombings and briefly blocking roads in urban areas. Outside a damaged shop, private security guard Jamil Ahmed Mashwani said the attackers struck shortly after midday. “They hit me on my face and head,” he said. Burned vehicles stand inside a torched police station on the outskirts of Quetta following the series of attacks carried out by Baloch separatists [Banaras Khan/AFP] ‘Audacious operation’ Al Jazeera’s Kamal Hyder, reporting from the Baloch capital, Quetta, reported that the BLA targeted at least 12 locations during what he described as an “audacious” operation. “The attackers were able to strike at the heart of the provincial capital, penetrating the centre of the city while also blocking major highways,” he said. In Quetta, the aftermath was visible in burnt-out ‍vehicles at a police ⁠station, bullet-riddled doors and streets sealed off with yellow tape, as security forces tightened patrols and restricted movement following the attacks. Businesses were also forced to shutter, with residents telling Al Jazeera they fear more attacks. According to Pakistan’s junior interior minister, Talal Chaudhry, the attackers dressed as civilians entered hospitals, schools, banks and markets on Saturday before opening fire, “In each case, the attackers came in dressed as civilians and indiscriminately targeted ordinary people working in shops,” he said, claiming that the fighters also used civilians as human shields. Advertisement Pakistani Minister of Defence Khawaja Asif said that two of the attacks involved female fighters. He noted that the attacks were now increasingly targeting civilians, labourers and low-income communities. The United States condemned the attacks, with its charge d’affaires, Natalie Baker, calling them acts of terrorist violence and saying Washington stood in solidarity ‍with Pakistan. The BLA is designated by the US as a foreign terrorist organisation. Pakistan has also faced periodic attacks by armed groups elsewhere in the country, including factions linked to the Pakistan Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP. Adblock test (Why?)

Portland mayor demands ICE leave city after federal agents use tear gas on protesters ‘Sickening decisions’

Portland mayor demands ICE leave city after federal agents use tear gas on protesters ‘Sickening decisions’

The mayor of Portland, Oregon, is calling on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to leave his city after federal agents deployed tear gas at a crowd of demonstrators, including young children, outside an ICE facility over the weekend. Mayor Keith Wilson characterized the protests on Saturday as peaceful, as federal agents reportedly used tear gas, pepper balls, flash-bang grenades and rubber bullets against the anti-ICE demonstrators. Wilson urged ICE agents to resign and for the agency to leave Portland, denouncing their “use of violence” and the “trampling of the Constitution.” “Today, federal forces deployed heavy waves of chemical munitions, impacting a peaceful daytime protest where the vast majority of those present violated no laws, made no threat, and posed no danger to federal forces,” he said in a statement on Saturday. CHICAGO MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON PUTS ICE ‘ON NOTICE’ WITH EXECUTIVE ORDER SEEKING PROSECUTION OF AGENTS “To those who continue to work for ICE: Resign. To those who control this facility: Leave. Through your use of violence and the trampling of the Constitution, you have lost all legitimacy and replaced it with shame. To those who continue to make these sickening decisions, go home, look in a mirror, and ask yourselves why you have gassed children. Ask yourselves why you continue to work for an agency responsible for murders on American streets. No one is forcing you to lie to yourself, even as your bosses continue to lie to the American people,” the mayor continued. The mayor added that this nation “will never accept a federal presence where agents wield deadly force against the very people they are sworn to serve.” “I share the impatience with those who demand we use every legal tool at our disposal to push back against this inexcusable, unconscionable, and unacceptable violence against our community,” Wilson said. “I share the need to act. Actions that can withstand the scrutiny of the justice system take time – and we cannot afford to lose this fight.” CBP/BORDER PATROL AGENTS PLACED ON ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE AFTER DEADLY CONFRONTATION WITH ALEX PRETTI Portland officials are working to operationalize an ordinance, which went into effect last month, that imposes a fee on detention facilities that use chemical agents, the mayor said. “As we prepare to put that law into action, we are also documenting today’s events and preserving evidence. The federal government must, and will, be held accountable,” he wrote. “Portland will continue to stand firmly with our immigrant neighbors, who deserve safety, dignity, and the full protection of the communities they help build,” he continued. “We are also proud of the Portlanders who showed up today in peaceful solidarity, demonstrating the strength and clarity of those shared values in the face of federal overreach.” This comes amid national unrest and bipartisan scrutiny of immigration enforcement tactics following two killings of U.S. citizens by federal immigration agents last month in Minneapolis. Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed by ICE agent Jonathan Ross on Jan. 7 in Minneapolis, and Alex Pretti was fatally shot on Jan. 24 by Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa and Customs and Border Protection officer Raymundo Gutierrez while he was recording immigration enforcement operations in the same city. Pretti, an ICU nurse, appeared to be attempting to assist a woman agents had knocked down when he was sprayed with an irritant, pushed to the ground and beaten, according to video and witness accounts. An agent was later seen pulling Pretti’s lawfully owned firearm from his waistband before other agents fired several shots, killing him.