
-
'Frightening': US restaurants, producers face tariff whiplash
-
Cuba looks to sun to solve its energy crisis
-
Experts warn 'AI-written' paper is latest spin on climate change denial
-
PSG eye becoming France's first 'Invincibles'
-
Late birdie burst lifts Ryder to Texas Open lead
-
Five potential Grand National fairytale endings
-
Trump purges national security team after meeting conspiracist
-
More work for McIlroy even with two wins before Masters
-
Trump hopeful of 'great' PGA-LIV golf merger
-
No.1 Scheffler goes for third Masters crown in four years
-
Where Trump's tariffs could hurt Americans' wallets
-
Trump says 'very close to a deal' on TikTok
-
Trump tariffs on Mexico: the good, the bad, the unknown
-
Postecoglou denies taunting Spurs fans in Chelsea defeat
-
Oscar-winning Palestinian director speaks at UN on Israeli settlements
-
With tariff war, Trump also reshapes how US treats allies
-
Fernandez fires Chelsea into fourth as pressure mounts on Postecoglou
-
South Korea court to decide impeached president's fate
-
Penguin memes take flight after Trump tariffs remote island
-
E.T., no home: Original model of movie alien doesn't sell at auction
-
Italy's Brignone has surgery on broken leg with Winter Olympics looming
-
Trump defiant as tariffs send world markets into panic
-
City officials vote to repair roof on home of MLB Rays
-
Rockets forward Brooks gets one-game NBA ban for technicals
-
Pentagon watchdog to probe defense chief over Signal chat row
-
US tariffs could push up inflation, slow growth: Fed official
-
New Bruce Springsteen music set for June 27 release
-
Tom Cruise pays tribute to Val Kilmer
-
Mexico president welcomes being left off Trump's tariffs list
-
Zuckerberg repeats Trump visits in bid to settle antitrust case
-
US fencer disqualified for not facing transgender rival
-
'Everyone worried' by Trump tariffs in France's champagne region
-
Italy's Brignone suffers broken leg with Winter Olympics looming
-
Iyer blitz powers Kolkata to big IPL win over Hyderabad
-
Russian soprano Netrebko to return to London's Royal Opera House
-
French creche worker gets 25 years for killing baby with drain cleaner
-
UK avoids worst US tariffs post-Brexit, but no celebrations
-
Canada imposing 25% tariff on some US auto imports
-
Ruud wants 'fair share' of Grand Slam revenue for players
-
Lesotho, Africa's 'kingdom in the sky' jolted by Trump
-
Trump's trade math baffles economists
-
Gaza heritage and destruction on display in Paris
-
'Unprecedented crisis' in Africa healthcare: report
-
Pogacar gunning for blood and thunder in Tour of Flanders
-
Macron calls for suspension of investment in US until tariffs clarified
-
Wall St leads rout as world reels from Trump tariffs
-
Mullins gets perfect National boost with remarkable four-timer
-
Trump tariffs hammer global stocks, dollar and oil
-
Authors hold London protest against Meta for 'stealing' work to train AI
-
Tate Modern gifted 'extraordinary' work by US artist Joan Mitchell

Costa Ricans choose among 25 presidential candidates
Costa Ricans head to the polls Sunday with a crowded presidential field and no clear favorite for tackling growing economic concerns in one of Latin America's stablest democracies.
Often referred to as the region's "happiest" country, Costa Rica is nonetheless grappling with a growing economic crisis, and the ruling Citizen's Action Party (PAC) is set for a bruising defeat.
The economy has tanked under President Carlos Alvarado Quesada. And the PAC candidate, former economy minister Welmer Ramos, seems to be paying the price for sky-high anti-government feeling, polling at just 0.3 percent.
"The ruling party is completely weakened and has no chance" after two successive terms in office, said political analyst Eugenia Aguirre.
"The presidential unpopularity figure of 72 percent is the highest since the number was first recorded in 2013," she added.
It means the country's traditional political heavyweights -- the centrist National Liberation Party (PLN) and the right-wing Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC) -- could return to the fore after decades of a near political duopoly only recently broken by the PAC.
According to one poll published this month, former president Jose Maria Figueres (1994-98) of the PLN leads the race with just over 17 percent of stated support, followed by the PUSC's Lineth Saborio on just under 13 percent.
Presidents cannot seek successive reelection.
- Problems have 'worsened' -
To win outright in Sunday's first round, a candidate needs 40 percent of the vote, otherwise there will be a runoff on April 3 between the top two.
Polls show that about a third of the country's 3.5 million voters are undecided as they are faced with a choice from 25 presidential candidates.
Unemployment, corruption and living costs are the top concerns.
Costa Rica is known for its eco-tourism and green policies: its energy grid is entirely run on renewable sources.
Unlike many of volatile Central American neighbors, Costa Rica has no army, has had no armed conflicts since 1948 and no dictator since 1919.
But the worsening economic situation has hit confidence in the political class.
Voters under 40 have only known "periods in which not only problems have not been resolved, but they have worsened," university student Edgardo Soto, one undecided voter, told AFP.
- 'Frustration' -
Unemployment has been steadily rising for more than a decade and reached 14.4 percent in 2021.
Apathy and abstentionism are features of Costa Rican elections.
In 2018, 34 percent of voters stayed away, though participation is technically obligatory.
Polls show evangelical Christian singer Fabricio Alvarado Munoz of the right-wing New Republic Party (PNR) in third spot with just over 10 percent.
He commands support from the evangelical community, which makes up about 20 percent of Costa Rica's five million people.
In fourth place is economist Rodrigo Chaves of the newly-formed centrist Social Democratic Progress Party. The highest-polling left-wing candidate is Jose Maria Villalta of the Broad Front.
For the PLN's Figueres, 67, the crowded field "is a reflection of this whole frustration that has built up."
"If there are 25 options it is because the parties are not understanding the needs of a society that is changing right before their eyes," he said.
D.Sawyer--AMWN