
Costa Rica's President Laura Fernandez fired Foreign Minister Manuel Tovar for attending a US-led anti-cartel meeting in New York without informing her, calling it a strategic failure.
AI-generated summary
Costa Rica's President Laura Fernandez dismissed Foreign Minister Manuel Tovar after he attended a US-led security meeting without her prior knowledge or consent.
Costa Rica’s President Laura Fernandez on Thursday fired her foreign minister for attending a meeting on Latin America’s security led by US President Donald Trump without telling her.
Fernandez said she should have been the one to attend the meeting of Trump’s anti-cartel “Shield of the Americas” alliance in New York, and that Foreign Minister Manuel Tovar’s failure to consult her caused “great strategic damage.”
The meeting took place on Tuesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
Tovar attended “without giving prior notice or informing” the president, a conservative Trump ally, of his participation, Costa Rica’s government said.
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Costa Rica will review protocols for ministerial participation in international meetings
Likely · Within weeks
The United States may seek clarification on Costa Rica's commitment to the Shield of the Americas initiative
Possible · Within weeks

Taipei mayoral candidate Shen Boyang went to Zhongyuan Night Market in Wanhua District to sweep the streets on the evening of September 24, sparking heated discussions among local writer Shi Jingyao and netizens, saying that his approach of going deep into unpopular areas was rare and thoughtful, highlighting the new look of grassroots interaction in the election campaign.

Four Republican senators sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Rubio and Secretary of War Hergseth, urging the release of more than $15 billion in security aid to Taiwan, and expressed concern about Trump's remarks that Taiwan is used as a bargaining chip in negotiations with Xi Jinping. Rubio responded that arms sales to Taiwan need to take into account factors such as the United States' own needs and are still under evaluation. At the same time, seven cross-party congressmen sent a letter to Trump urging him to tell Xi Jinping that arms sales to Taiwan do not require consultation with the CCP in order to maintain long-term policies towards Taiwan.

U.S. President Trump and his wife Melania held a state visit ceremony at the White House on the 24th Eastern Time, grandly welcoming Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit, and then held bilateral talks. The state banquet in the evening will be attended by Huida CEO Huang Renxun and many other CEOs of American technology companies. The two will discuss security, technology and artificial intelligence issues. Xi Jinping announced that he will invite 100,000 American teenagers to come to China for exchange and study in the next five years. The day before, Trump and his wife welcomed Xi Jinping and his wife at Joint Base Andrews. It was the first time in 11 years that a US president went to the airport to receive a foreign leader. There were protests outside the Andrew base and clashes with the welcoming crowd. Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Jiang Bin urged the United States to abide by the three Sino-U.S. joint communiqués and stop arms sales to Taiwan.

On the first anniversary of the recovery from the flood, the Hualien County Council was preparing to hold a Thanksgiving Day. Speaker Zhang Jun revealed that legislator Fu Kunqi had called to pressure the parking lot contractor to refuse the lease of the venue. The Kuomintang County Council caucus demanded that the apology be withdrawn. Both sides accused each other of false gratitude and true struggle. The incident highlighted the tension between post-disaster reconstruction and political opposition.

Republican Senator Bernie Moreno and Democratic Senator Elissa Slotkin agreed to delay their fast-track effort to pass a permanent ban on Chinese cars in the U.S. Senate until next week to win over holdout Senator Rand Paul, after initially planning a vote on the same day as the Trump-Xi summit in Washington.

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency released an election infrastructure security plan 40 days before the November midterms, outlining threats such as software vulnerabilities, hacks of voter registration databases, insider threats, and physical security incidents like bomb threats targeting polling locations in 2024. The plan, delayed from its original mid-August release date promised by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, aims to support state election officials amid criticism that federal efforts came too late after the Trump administration reduced the agency’s election security workforce last year.