SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) — Costa Rica put forward Wednesday longtime diplomat and former Vice President Rebeca Grynspan as a candidate to be the next secretary-general of the United Nations.
The economist is currently the secretary-general of U.N. Trade and Development in Geneva.
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Former Vice President Rebeca Grynspan gives a press conference in San Jose, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Diaz)
Foreign Minister Arnoldo André Tinoco, left, and former Vice President Rebeca Grynspan shake hands in San Jose, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Diaz)
Former Vice President Rebeca Grynspan gives a press conference in San Jose, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Diaz)
FILE - Ibero-American Secretary Rebeca Grynspan speaks during a closer press conference of the XXVI Ibero-American Summit in Antigua, Guatemala, Nov. 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Oliver de Ros, File)
She was a major player in the U.N. effort to ship Ukrainian and Russian grains to global markets at the start of the war in Ukraine and outgoing Secretary-General António Guterres designated her as the senior U.N. official to deal with the Russians.
“This candidacy will be formally registered at the United Nations in the coming weeks,” Costa Rica President Rodrigo Chaves said in a video message Wednesday. “We trust that the career and commitment of Rebeca Grynspan, who has very broad experience in issues of development, international cooperation and regional leadership, will significantly contribute to strengthening multilateralism.”
Speaking at a news conference in San Jose on Wednesday, Grynspan said she would campaign for the position, capitalizing on being well known in diplomatic circles. She also acknowledged that there would be competition for the position, including from within Latin America.
“I know the United Nations well, I know it well enough to reform it and well enough to defend it,” Grynspan said. “The United Nations requires both things. Right now, being a multilateralist means being a reformer.”
Grynspan served as Costa Rica’s vice president in the administration of ex-President José María Figueres (1994-1998) and later worked in various multilateral organizations.
Guterres' term ends Dec. 31, 2026, and the process to replace him will run through the final quarter of 2026. Changes have been made in recent years to make the selection process more transparent, including public discussions with the candidates and a series of straw polls to measure support before a formal resolution. Previously the selection process was opaque and dominated by the Security Council.
Former Vice President Rebeca Grynspan gives a press conference in San Jose, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Diaz)
Foreign Minister Arnoldo André Tinoco, left, and former Vice President Rebeca Grynspan shake hands in San Jose, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Diaz)
Former Vice President Rebeca Grynspan gives a press conference in San Jose, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Diaz)
FILE - Ibero-American Secretary Rebeca Grynspan speaks during a closer press conference of the XXVI Ibero-American Summit in Antigua, Guatemala, Nov. 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Oliver de Ros, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — The FBI said it found explosive residue in a Pennsylvania storage unit as part of an investigation into two men charged with bringing homemade bombs to a protest outside the home of New York City’s mayor.
Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, told police after their arrests Saturday that they were inspired by the Islamic State group, according to law enforcement officials and a criminal complaint.
The men live in the Philadelphia suburbs and traveled together to New York City to carry out the attack near Gracie Mansion in Manhattan, officials said. In response to police questioning, Balat said he hoped to accomplishing something “even bigger” than the Boston Marathon bombing, which killed three people, the complaint said.
Overnight Monday, FBI bomb technicians conducted controlled detonations of the explosive residue found at a public storage facility in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, near where Balat’s family lives, the agency said.
The explosion resulted in “several loud bangs,” the Middletown Township Police Department said Tuesday, adding that there was no threat to residents. The FBI said Monday that it had conducted multiple searches in connection with the investigation.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday called the attack "absolutely despicable" and said government investigators and prosecutors won’t rest until the perpetrators are brought to justice.
Much remains unknown about the motives, planning and relationship between Balat and Kayumi.
Court documents show Emir Balat’s father, Selahattin Balat, is a native of Turkey who was granted asylum in the United States in 1998 and later became a U.S. citizen. In a 2009 bankruptcy filing, he listed his occupation as painter and said he had three children.
Emir Balat is a senior at Neshaminy High School in Langhorne. A school spokesperson said he enrolled in a virtual program in September and had not attended in-person classes since.
His lawyer, Mehdi Essmidi, said his client had “complicated stuff going on” in his personal life, without elaborating. Essmidi said he did not believe the two young men had known each other for long.
Kayumi is from Newtown, about 4 miles (6.5 kilometers) north of Langhorne. He graduated in 2024 from Council Rock High School North, according to a school spokesperson.
His attorney did not speak to reporters following a court hearing Monday and declined to comment when reached by The Associated Press.
Prosecutors, police and FBI officials say Balat and Kayumi drove to New York City on Saturday and joined a throng of counterprotesters at a small, anti-Muslim rally organized by the far-right Christian nationalist Jake Lang.
Journalists photographed Balat hurling a device, smoking with a lit fuse, that was later found to contain the explosive TATP. The object, which also contained nuts and bolts, extinguished itself without harming anyone.
Balat then dropped a second object near some police officers and tried to run, but was tackled and arrested, according to a court complaint.
Balat and Kayumi were being held without bail after their court appearance on charges that include attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and using a weapon of mass destruction. They were not required to enter a plea.
New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Monday there were no indications that the attack was connected to the ongoing war in Iran, but said the city remained on a heightened state of alert.
On Tuesday afternoon, a park near the mayor’s residence was evacuated and several surrounding streets were closed as police investigated reports of a “suspicious device.”
The object was later determined to be non-threatening.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani was not home at the time and Gracie Mansion was not evacuated, a City Hall spokesperson said.
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Associated Press reporter Anthony Izaguirre contributed to this report.
NYPD police officer and K-9 dog walks outside Carl Schurz Park as they investigate suspicious device, Tuesday, March 10, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Jake Lang demonstrates outside Gracie Mansion after a news conference by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani , Monday, March 9, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks during a news conference at Gracie Mansion, Monday, March 9, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)
Emir Balat, left, and Ibrahim Kayumi, far right, are escorted into Manhattan federal court in New York, Monday, March, 9, 2026, for arraignment on charges that include attempting to provide material support to a terrorist organization and using a weapon of mass destruction after they were arrested for bringing and throwing explosives at a protest two days earlier. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)
From left, defense attorney Mehdi Essmidi, defendant Emir Balat, defense attorney Michael Arthus and defendant Ibrahim Kayumi wait for the start of arraignment proceedings in Manhattan federal court in New York, Monday, March, 9, 2026, on charges that include attempting to provide material support to a terrorist organization and using a weapon of mass destruction in New York after Balat and Kayumi were arrested for bringing and throwing explosives at a protest two days earlier. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)
Police detain Emir Balat after he attempted to detonate an improvised explosive device during a counterprotest against far right influencer Jake Lang staging an anti-Islam protest outside Gracie Mansion, Saturday, March 7, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Julius Constantine Motal)
