World
Stand-in Jose Raul Mulino wins Panama presidential race
The stand-in candidate for popular ex-President Ricardo Martinelli has promised to boost the economy.
Jose Raul Mulino, a stand-in for a former president banned from running, has won the country’s presidential elections.
Authorities unofficially called the race late on Sunday after three of Mulino’s closest competitors conceded defeat. The former security minister, who was a late entrant to the race after his mentor President Ricardo Martinelli was removed from power after being convicted of corruption, secured more than a third of the votes cast in the country of 4.4 million people.
At stake for the new leader is the Central American country’s woes with government corruption, a severe drought that has affected maritime traffic in the economically important Panama Canal, as well as US-bound migrants passing through Panama’s jungles in droves.
“Mission accomplished,” Mulino said after the early results were released. “This is perhaps the most important date of my life, and the greatest responsibility of a Panamanian falls on my shoulders and my family to lead the destiny of the nation.”
Running on the ticket of the Achieving Goals and Alliance parties, the 64-year-old had led opinion polls ahead of the vote as he played up his connections to Martinelli, who was initially his running mate.
The popular ex-president, who oversaw a booming economy from 2009 to 2014, was set to run with Mulino as his deputy. However, he was barred due to a money laundering conviction.
The firebrand politician still dominated much of the race, campaigning for Mulino from inside the Nicaraguan embassy, in which he took refuge on February 8 after receiving political asylum.
Mulino acknowledged Martinelli after his win, saying: “When you invited me to be vice president, I never imagined this.”
More than 77 percent of three million eligible voters cast their ballots for a new president, parliament and local governments for the next five years.
Anticorruption candidate Ricardo Lombana trailed Mulino in second place, ahead of former President Martin Torrijos and former chancellor Romulo Roux. The three conceded defeat on Sunday evening.
Power behind the throne
Mulino, who will serve as head of state and prime minister, for a single five-year term, is set to take office on July 1.
A last-minute Supreme Court decision had validated his bid to stand in for Martinelli after the former president lost an appeal against his conviction.
Mulino’s candidacy had been challenged because he had not won a primary vote or picked a running partner as required under Panama laws.
But the court dismissed that complaint in a ruling welcomed by Martinelli, whose government oversaw an infrastructure boom, including a widening of the Panama Canal and construction of Central America’s first metro line.
Mulino has promised a return to strong economic growth. Many believe ex-president Martinelli will lead the country from behind the scenes.
Voters were highly concerned about corruption and the economy. The term of outgoing President Laurentino Cortizo of the majority Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) was marred by allegations of widespread official corruption, declining foreign investment and high public debt.
Last year, the country was roiled by protests, targeting a government concession for Canadian miner First Quantum to continue operating the Cobre Panama copper mine.
Critics say that the mine endangers water sources; a particularly sensitive issue in Panama currently. Drought has effectively handicapped trade transit through the Panama Canal.
The country also faces high income inequality, with unemployment close to 10 percent, and gross domestic product (GDP) growth is forecast to slow from 7.3 percent in 2023 to 2.5 percent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund.
Mulino will also have to tackle migration issues. Some half a million migrants have streamed through the Darien Gap between Colombia and Panama. Activists warn that they face the threat of exploitation and physical danger.
President Trump said Iran had agreed to the “highest level” inspections, hours after an Iranian official said there were “no detailed discussions on the nuclear issue,” as the two sides continued to present different narratives of their latest talks.
World
Turkey detains over 200 suspects, including alleged ISIS militants, in sweeping raid ahead of NATO summit
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Turkish authorities reportedly detained more than 200 people, including suspected ISIS-linked militants, in a sweeping Tuesday raid in capital Ankara ahead of a July 7-8 NATO summit.
The raid came after Turkish authorities issued detention orders for 241 suspects, 209 of whom were taken into custody, The Associated Press reported, citing a statement from the office of Turkey’s chief prosecutor.
Among the 209 detained, 56 were allegedly ISIS militants, according to the AP. This comes after Turkish authorities said they detained 125 ISIS members in December.
The detention operations occurred just two weeks before a planned NATO summit in Ankara on July 7 that President Donald Trump is expected to attend.
TURKEY’S NATO ROLE UNDER SCRUTINY AMID NEW REPORT ON HAMAS, MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD TIES
President Donald Trump greets Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a summit in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, on Oct. 13, 2025, to support ending the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza after a breakthrough ceasefire deal. (Evan Vucci/AP Photo/Pool)
Other militants scooped up were 35 alleged members of the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front, which a Turkish statement described as “a far‑left group known for armed attacks and assassinations in Turkey,” according to the AP.
The ISIS-combating operations demonstrate the terrorist group’s ongoing activity in the region, showing the group is still functioning despite the U.S. campaign during Trump’s first term to eliminate the group’s caliphate and its control of large swaths of territory in the Middle East.
Iraqi government forces celebrate while holding an Islamis Sate (IS) group flag after they claimed they have gained complete control of the Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad, on January 26, 2015 near the town of Muqdadiyah. (YOUNIS AL-BAYATI/AFP via Getty Images)
In recent years, ISIS has spread into the African continent, prompting a strong response from the U.S. In May, Trump authorized a series of strikes in Nigeria to combat the group.
PENTAGON SLASHES NATO COMBAT COMMITMENTS AS TRUMP PUSHES EUROPE TO DEFEND ITSELF
A May 16 strike killed ISIS leader Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, who was the group’s second-in-command globally.
U.S. and Nigerian forces conducted kinetic strikes against ISIS fighters in northeastern Nigeria on May 17, 2026, AFRICOM said. (X/U.S. Africa Command)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
“Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, second in command of ISIS globally, thought he could hide in Africa, but little did he know we had sources who kept us informed on what he was doing,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social after the strike. “He will no longer terrorize the people of Africa, or help plan operations to target Americans.”
The group’s renewed activity also includes a call to supporters to make attacks on U.S. soil during the World Cup.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
By Euronews with AFP
Published on
Two whales were killed off the coast of Iceland overnight Sunday, two days after commercial hunting resumed, local media and animal rights activists reported Monday.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
The kill ends a two-year pause and marks the first catches since 2023.
Icelandic public broadcaster RUV reported that two fin whales were killed. The fin whale is the second largest animal on Earth after the blue whale.
Before the vessels set off on Friday, a protester had attached himself to one of the masts in the port of Reykjavik, but climbed down and was escorted away by police.
Iceland, Norway and Japan are the only three countries that still openly permit whaling, despite international condemnation from the public and animal welfare organisations.
Iceland cancelled its whale hunt over the past two years, partly because economic problems had cut demand and the industry was not deemed profitable enough.
“The first fin whale deaths in Iceland’s hunt this year are devastating,” said Joanna Swabe, European senior public affairs director for animal rights group Humane World for Animals.
“Iceland has killed more than 1,000 fin whales in the past two decades — not only the second largest animal on the planet but also a species classified as globally vulnerable to extinction,” Swabe said in a statement.
Iceland’s government has said it is planning to introduce a bill aimed at banning whaling this autumn.
The International Whaling Commission banned the commercial killing of whales in 1986 amid alarm at the declining stock of the marine mammals.
Iceland’s Marine and Freshwater Research Institute has recommended that no more than 150 fin whales are caught in the 2026 season.
That represents a 28-percent drop on the annual quota it recommended for the period 2018–2025, it said.
The institute has set an annual catch of 168 animals for the minke whale hunt this year, a 23-percent drop on 2018-2025.
-
Rhode Island37 seconds agoTwo Rhode Island residents charged in $6.5 billion healthcare fraud crackdown
-
South-Carolina4 minutes agoAdmiral fired in Hegseth purge wins Democratic primary in South Carolina
-
South Dakota9 minutes agoSocial media’s latest squeeze is flying off South Dakota shelves
-
Tennessee16 minutes agoNate Ament becomes Tennessee basketball’s highest NBA Draft pick since 2002
-
Texas19 minutes agoNBA Draft 2026: Chicago Bulls draft Texas standout Dailyn Swain at No. 15
-
Utah23 minutes agoUtah mother charged with international kidnapping claims she was saving kids from ‘end of times’
-
Vermont31 minutes agoVermont trooper found justified in fatal Putney shooting
-
Virginia32 minutes agoVirginia House honors ABC13’s Noreen Turyn as she retires after 36 years
