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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)

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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 imp...

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)

byNeo

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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)

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in Celebrity, Lifestyle, Politics, ShowBiz, Sport

February 02, 2026

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Players' union frustrated with WNBA's lack of urgency in CBA talks

The WNBA and its players' association met on Monday to continueongoing negotiationstoward a new collective bargaining agreement.

The two sides talked face-to-face in New York City at the NBA's offices, the first such meeting in weeks. The league arrived to the meeting with no response to the WNBPA's last proposal, a person with knowledge of what transpired told USA Today Sports.

"They volunteered that they did not have a proposal prepared at the top of the meeting," Nneka Ogwumike toldFront Office Sports. "That kind of set the tone for the conversation because we were hoping to hear otherwise."

The sides instead spent time hammering out sentiments and philosophies around their last proposals, the person with knowledge of the meeting said. The WNBPA's position, according to the same person, is that the league is not moving with a sense of urgency and have not shown up with a willingness to compromise.WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert attended Monday's meeting along with members of the labor relations committee andNew York and Liberty owners Clara Wu and Joe Tsai. From the player side, union vice president Alysha Clark, treasurer Brianna Turner and player representative Stefanie Dolson, player rep for the Washington Mystics, were in attendance as well.

Vice presidents andUnrivaled co-founders Napheesa Collier(travel issues) andBreanna Stewartdid not attend in person and participated virtually.Los Angeles Sparks guard and vice president Kelsey Plum, who was traveling with Collier, also attended via video call. Secretary Elizabeth Williams was also on the call from Turkey, where she is playing this offseason.

Close to 40 players joined the meeting via zoom including the executive committee members.

1. A'ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces Las Vegas Aces star A'ja Wilson had one of the best seasons in WNBA history and earned the top spot on our list. Wilson led the Aces to their third title in four years after sweeping nearly every major award in the calendar year. She earned her second WNBA scoring title, third Defensive Player of the Year award, an unprecedented fourth MVP and her second Finals MVP, becoming the first player in WNBA or NBA history to accomplish it all in a single season. Becky Hammon said it best: Wilson is "Everest. There is no one else around." Wilson isn't ready to be in the GOAT conversation just yet. "I still got a little bit more winning to do before you put me in that conversation. When you're compared to greats, when you're compared to legends, that means you're doing something right and I'm so grateful," she said after sweeping the Phoenix Mercury in the 2025 WNBA Finals.