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Philippine lawmakers weigh impeachment for President Marcos

By Mikhail Flores

MANILA, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Philippine lawmakers met on Tuesday to decide whether to advance impeachment complaints against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who is accused of betraying the public's trust, corruption and violating the constitution.

Marcos, who is midway through his six-year term and denies wrongdoing, faces two ‌separate complaints filed by a lawyer and activists, which hurdled an initial step at the House justice committee on Monday when lawmakers said ‌both were "sufficient in form".

The committee reconvened on Tuesday to determine whether there was "substance" to move the complaints forward. The committee's decision, regardless of which way it goes, would be put to a vote of the lower house of Congress, which is dominated by allies of the president.

If the complaints against Marcos succeed in a vote of the House, he ⁠would be the second Philippine head ‌of state to be impeached after Joseph Estrada, whose 2001 trial was aborted when some prosecutors walked out.

HANDOVER OF EX-PRESIDENT DUTERTE

The complaints include Marcos' decision to allow his predecessor ‍Rodrigo Duterte to be arrested and taken to The Hague to face trial at the International Criminal Court over thousands of killings during his notorious "war on drugs".

Marcos is also accused of abusing his authority in spending public funds that led to a corruption scandal over flood-control projects. His alleged drug use, which he has denied, also made him unfit to ‌run the country, according to one of the complaints.

The office of Marcos said he respects the process.

"Even before, the president already said he did not do anything wrong, did not violate the law and did not commit an impeachable offence," Presidential press officer Claire Castro told a briefing on Monday.

If the lower house decides to impeach Marcos, it would be sent to the Senate for trial, where its 24 members serve as jurors. Five top ⁠officials have been impeached in the Philippines and of those, only one, a former chief justice, was convicted and removed from office.

PRESIDENT AND VP FACE IMPEACHMENT BIDS

Among the five was Marcos' estranged Vice President Sara Duterte, whose impeachment was struck down by the Supreme Court last year. She is facing new impeachment ‍complaints and denies wrongdoing.

Gerville Luistro, ⁠who heads the justice committee, said its members would decide whether the alleged offences Marcos was accused of were enough to impeach him.

"It's not enough that an impeachable official committed wrongdoing. That wrongdoing must constitute ⁠an impeachable offence," Luistro told broadcaster Teleradyo.

Luistro said if lawmakers vote in favour of advancing the complaint, Marcos would have the chance ‌to respond to the allegations. The backing of one-third of the House is needed to impeach ‌the president.

(Reporting by Mikhail Flores; Editing by Martin Petty)

byVincento Seyarto

in

February 02, 2026

Philippine lawmakers weigh impeachment for President Marcos

By Mikhail Flores MANILA, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Philippine lawmakers met on Tuesday to decide whether to advance i...

NFL-No plans for ICE immigration enforcement at Super Bowl, sources say

By Frank Pingue and Max A. Cherney

SAN JOSE, California, Feb 2 (Reuters) - The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has no plans to conduct immigration operations at the Super Bowl, two people familiar with the security arrangements said on Monday.

Security at Sunday's game in Santa ‌Clara that will see the Seattle Seahawks face off against the New England Patriots is expected to be consistent with past ‌Super Bowls, according to one of the people, who cited an email sent last week from the Bay Area Host Committee to elected officials in the Bay Area.

ICE immigration enforcement is not typically conducted at Super Bowls.

President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement policies have come under scrutiny after the killing of two U.S. citizens ⁠in Minnesota last month by ICE ‌agents, sparking protests across the U.S.

The star of this year's Super Bowl halftime show will be Puerto Rican rapper and 2026 Grammy winner Bad Bunny, who ‍skipped performing in the continental United States on his recent concert tour, saying he feared federal agents would show up to arrest his fans.

Asked about ICE enforcement operations at the Sunday game, National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell said the league was working with local, state and federal law enforcement to "make sure it's a safe ‌environment".

The "federal government is a big part of that, including this administration and every other administration before that," he told a press conference on Monday.

In prior years at the Super Bowl, a unit of ICE called Homeland Security Investigations has played a role in security operations, the second source said. This year, HSI is responsible for helping coordinate several federal agencies that are handling security at the event.

The sources were ⁠not authorised to speak to media and declined to be identified.

ICE is part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Around 1 p.m. Pacific Time (2100 GMT) outside the NFL's Opening Night event in San Jose on Monday, a small crowd of fewer than 100 people staged a protest ‍over ICE's actions.

Bad Bunny's ⁠inclusion in the halftime show has triggered backlash from right-wing conservative groups, including DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.

On Sunday at the 2026 Grammy awards show, he declared "ICE out" during his acceptance speech.

"We're ⁠not aliens," he said on stage, after being honored for his album "Debí Tirar Más Fotos" with the Best Music Urbana ‌award. "We are humans and we are Americans," he added.

(Reporting by Max A. Cherney and ‌Frank Pingue in San Jose; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)

byVincento Seyarto

in

February 02, 2026

NFL-No plans for ICE immigration enforcement at Super Bowl, sources say

By Frank Pingue and Max A. Cherney SAN JOSE, California, Feb 2 (Reuters) - The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enfo...

Laura Fernandez, Costa Rica's next president, aims to keep on populist path

By Alvaro Murillo and Alexander Villegas

SAN JOSE, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Laura Fernandez will be Costa Rica's next president, pushing forward with a populist mandate set by her predecessor that includes promises of constitutional reforms and the suspension of civil liberties to fight crime at a time of surging drug violence.

Fernandez, 39, built her career as a political adviser ‌and civil servant at Costa Rica's Ministry of National Planning and Economic Policy, where current President Rodrigo Chaves appointed her minister in 2022.

A fierce supporter of Chaves, Fernandez ‌went on to be his chief of staff, before launching her own campaign for president.

Lawmaker Pilar Cisneros, who leads the government's faction in Congress and is seen as a key figure in Chaves' rise to power, said a group of about 10 people close to Chaves, including the president, hand-picked Fernandez.

"Few people know the state like she does — she knows where the knots are," Cisneros said.

Known for her theatrical speaking style and ⁠taste for dancing that she often shows off ‌at campaign rallies, Fernandez was born in Esparza in the coastal province of Puntarenas, and grew up in the capital of San Jose.

She is married with a young daughter and is a conservative Catholic with a ‍strong family message, which has helped her attract support from the country's growing evangelical groups.

She has spoken of her admiration for El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, known for his hard-line approach to crime and gangs, and has said she would enact states of emergency in high-crime areas that would limit civil liberties. She has also vowed to finish building a high-security penitentiary modeled after El Salvador's CECOT mega prison.

Bukele congratulated Fernandez on her ‌win late on Sunday, and on Monday morning, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington looked forward to working closely with her administration.

Opponents during the election campaign accused Fernandez of being a "puppet" for Chaves and questioned her autonomy. In her first press conference after winning the vote, on Monday, Fernandez said the doors of her next cabinet were "wide open" for Chaves.

"The one who is going to govern is her — she will be the president — but she would be foolish not to show she has Don Rodrigo's backing. She is loyal to ⁠our political project," Cisneros said.

Flanked by supporters in San Jose after declaring victory on Sunday, Fernandez promised a new era of politics in Costa Rica.

"Change will be deep and irreversible," Fernandez said, announcing that the Central American nation was entering a new political era.

Costa Rica'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 will ⁠be Costa Rica's second female president after Laura Chinchilla, who governed from 2010 to 2014. Since leaving office, Chinchilla has taken on a number of roles at international organizations and universities and become a vocal opponent of the governments in Venezuela ⁠and Nicaragua.

She has also become one of the most outspoken critics of the current Costa Rican government and its political movement, saying it follows a "predictable script" of ‌other authoritarian leaders in the region. She has called Fernandez "rude and populist" and "a bad copy of the president."

(Reporting by Alvaro ‌Murillo and Alexander Villegas, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien and Lincoln Feast)

byVincento Seyarto

in

February 02, 2026

Laura Fernandez, Costa Rica's next president, aims to keep on populist path

By Alvaro Murillo and Alexander Villegas SAN JOSE, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Laura Fernandez will be Costa Rica's ne...

USDA to release flies near US-Mexico border to fight screwworm pest

By Tom Polansek

CHICAGO, Feb 2 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Agriculture will disperse glow-in-the dark, sterile flies in Mexico, closer to the U.S. border, and in southern Texas, as officials race to keep flesh-eating New World screwworm pests from spreading in Mexico, the agency said.

Screwworms are parasitic flies whose females lay eggs in wounds on warm-blooded animals, often livestock. Once the eggs hatch, hundreds of screwworm larvae ‌use their sharp mouths to burrow through living flesh, eventually killing their host if left untreated.

The USDA has halted U.S. imports of Mexican livestock to keep out the pest, worsening a cattle ‌shortage that has pushed beef prices to record highs for consumers.

The agency also produces 100 million sterile flies per week at a facility in Panama and disperses them in Mexico to prevent wild screwworm flies from reproducing. Now, the agency says, it is going to take the same flies further north near the border.

The shift came after the USDA has reported 20 screwworm infestations since December 26 in animals in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, which borders southern Texas.

"Given that we need to protect ⁠Texas and the U.S., I think it's definitely something ‌that had to be done," Sonja Swiger, an entomologist at Texas A&M University, said on Monday.

MORE STERILE FLIES NEEDED

Experts said the USDA needs well more than 100 million sterile flies per week to eradicate the pest in Mexico. The agency announced ‍last year that it intended to build a production facility in Texas, but that could still be at least a year away from opening. Last month, the agency said it would spend up to $100 million on other projects that aim to boost sterile fly production and help fight screwworm.

For now, the USDA will start releasing sterile flies north of where Mexico has reported active cases to attempt to create a "buffer zone" to halt the pest if it continues moving north, according to a statement ‌issued late on Friday. The new dispersal area will include operations about 50 miles into Texas, along the U.S. border with the state of Tamaulipas, according to the USDA.

The northernmost active case in Mexico was about 200 miles away from the U.S. border, and cases have continued to spread in Tamaulipas and further south in Mexico, said Dudley Hoskins, a USDA under secretary.

"Our highest priority is protecting the United States from screwworm," he said in the agency's statement.

GLOWING FLIES

The USDA said it would apply fluorescent dye to sterile flies before they hatch so officials can distinguish them from wild flies that pose a threat. The sterile ⁠flies will glow under ultraviolet light and may also be visible to the naked eye, the agency said.

The U.S. decision to direct the release of sterile flies toward the border region was consistent with technical proposals Mexico has been making since November 2025, Mexico's government said in a statement.

The U.S. eliminated screwworms in the 20th century by flying planes over hotspots to drop boxes packed with sterile flies.

"They're pretty effective as long as ‍you can outnumber the population," said Max ⁠Scott, an entomology professor at North Carolina State University.

Screwworm can be detected in new areas when livestock are transported from an infested region. However, rising cases in Tamaulipas signal a local population of flies has likely started to establish there, experts said.

Unseasonably cold weather in Texas could temporarily ⁠help prevent the pest's movement, Tyson Foods COO Devin Cole said on an earnings call. The meatpacker's beef business has bled money as tight cattle supplies have raised costs.

"We don't really have ‌anything that would give us any insight as to when the government would open the border," Cole said.

(Reporting by Tom Polansek in ‌Chicago. Additional reporting by Cassandra Garrison in Buenos Aires; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)

byVincento Seyarto

in

February 02, 2026

USDA to release flies near US-Mexico border to fight screwworm pest

By Tom Polansek CHICAGO, Feb 2 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Agriculture will disperse glow-in-the dark, st...

Costco Recalls Beignets After a Major Labeling Error

If you're a Costco shopper and you have serious food allergies in your household, you'll want to be aware of the warehouse chain's latest recall. One of the store's popular bakery items has had its labels mixed up, which could lead to a dangerous situation,according to a recall letter posted to Costco's recall website. Here's everything you need to know about the recall.

A plastic container holds 24 powdered sugar-coated round doughnuts. A hand on the right side is reaching to pick up one of the doughnuts.

What's Wrong with the Recalled Costco Bakery Items?

Costco just brought back its mini beignets in the bakery, and they've been sold with the wrong label.

According to the Costco recall letter, mini beignets that were filled with chocolate hazelnut spread were labeled as being filled with caramel instead. That means the allergen information on the labels was incorrect, which could lead to some people with serious nut allergies consuming the beignets filled with hazelnuts by accident. The mislabeled mini beignets contain tree nuts, a serious allergen that would normally be noted on the packaging.

A clear plastic container of Kirkland Signature mini caramel beignets with a white label listing ingredients, allergens, and price. The sell-by date is Feb 01, 2026, and the package contains 22 pieces for $9.99.

According to the recall letter sent to Costco members who purchased the product, people with tree nut allergies "run the risk of severe life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume this product."

How Do I Tell if My Beignets Were Recalled?

The recalled Costco beignets are labeled as Mini Beignets Filled with Caramel, which is item #1181272. They were sold between January 16 and 30, 2026, in 22 states:

Alabama
Arizona
California
Colorado
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Iowa
Louisiana
Michigan
Missouri
Nevada
New Jersey
New York
Ohio
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Tennessee
Virginia
Washington

If you purchased the recalled mini beignets, you probably have already gotten a letter from Costco. Some members are also reporting on Reddit that they have received a call from Costco alerting them of the recall as well.

"PSA I just received a call from Costco saying these were accidentally made with hazelnuts and that anyone with a nut allergy should not eat them,"explained one Costco member. Many others chimed in with the same experience.

What Should I Do if I Have the Recalled Beignets?

If you have a tree nut allergy and have purchased the recalled Costco Mini Beignets Filled with Caramel, do not eat them.

But because this is a labeling issue and not a problem with the beignets themselves, it should be OK to eat them as long as no one in your household has any allergies to any of the ingredients in the chocolate hazelnut filling. If there is any doubt, do not eat them, and do not give them to anyone else to eat.

Anyone who has purchased the recalled mini beignets can return them to Costco for a full refund.

Costco Recalls Beignets After a Major Labeling Error

If you're a Costco shopper and you have serious food allergies in your household, you'll want to be aware of the ...