Pixabay Commons Allegations of an improper sexual tryst between a high school teacher and a student are shaking up the Country Day School (CDS) community, a prestigious private academy in Costa Rica where children of well-to-do expats and powerful Ticos are predominantly enrolled. According to a report by Ariel Chaves Gonzalez of daily tabloid Diario Extra, the United States Embassy and more t...

Source: Volaris Costa Rica is currently the subject of an invasion by budget airlines, which are fighting each other for market share in the lucrative segment of flights between North and Central American destinations. As recently reported by The Costa Rica Star: Data compiled by the Directorate of Civil Aviation in Costa Rica indicates that low-cost airlines transported 9.2 percent of 4.2 mi...

USS Kauffman in Norfolk, Virginia. Source: U.S. Navy PACIFIC OCEAN (United States Navy Press Release) -- In collaboration with the U.S. Coast Guard, the guided-missile frigate USS Kauffman (FFG 59) interdicted 1,775 kg of cocaine, worth an estimated wholesale value of approximately $59 million, in international waters of the Eastern Pacific, May 16. The suspected smuggling vessel was spotte...

Source: Wikimedia Commons San Jose, May 25 (EFE).- Hospital authorities in this capital confirmed Monday the death of another of the sextuplets born in Costa Rica on May 17, only three of whom remain alive, all of them in "delicate" condition.   Neonatologist Patricia Fallas told Efe that the baby named Andres died at San Jose's Mexico Hospital when his brain, heart and kidneys sudd...

The United States today celebrates Memorial Day, and in Costa Rica the American expat community often gathers to observe the men and women who gave their lives while serving in that country’s Armed Forces. Author’s Note: The use of the noun and adjective “American” in this Article conforms to the definition in Princeton’s WordNet: (A native or inhabitant of the United States), and the recommend...

Source: MSP Officers from Fuerza Publica, the national police force of Costa Rica, rescued 81 iguanas that had been confined to a box at a hotel in San Jose. According to a press release issued earlier this week by the Ministry of Public Security (Spanish initials: MSP), the officers found the iguanas while responding to a report of larceny. Per the MSP press release, officer Keilyn Bermude...

Frankfurt and San José, 05 May 2015 - eco.business Fund has lent USD 10 million to Banco Davivienda Costa Rica to support companies that follow best practices in sectors such as agriculture or fisheries. These companies are certified by entities such as FairTrade International or Rainforest Alliance. The recently launched eco.business Fund promotes the conservation of biodiversity in Latin Amer...

The moment Teresita is rescued. Source: MSP A heartbreaking communication from the Ministry of Public Security (Spanish initials: MSP) indicates that the lifeless body of an 11-year old boy, who had been missing along with his sister in Costa Rica, was found in the bottom of a ravine in the rural canton of Upala, not far from the northern border with Nicaragua. The body of young Alexander S...

Source: MSP IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are looking for an updated report of the helicopter that crashed in the San Juan River near the border between Costa Rica and Nicaragua on Nov. 17, 2015, please visit our sister publication ICRNews: http://insidecostarica.com/2015/11/17/one-american-dead-three-persons-missing-helicopter-crash-costa-rica-nicaragua-border/   A rotary wing aircraft as...

Source: Wikimedia Commons Agents from the Office of Judicial Investigations (Spanish initials: OIJ) are investigating a shooting that left one man dead and another one injured in the outskirts of Heredia. The violent incident took place over the weekend, and the two young Asian victims are believed to have been intercepted and abducted before being shot. The decedent has been identified as ...

Source: MSP A security task force convened by the Ministry of Public Security (Spanish initials: MSP) in Costa Rica arrested a citizen from the United States who will be charged with crimes against nature. According to an official press release by the MSP, the U.S. expat was apprehended along with a citizen of Costa Rica; both men will face charges stemming from activities related to the illeg...

Source: Pixabay Commons A judicial inspector assigned to the Supreme Court of Costa Rica is currently under investigation for allegedly using a government vehicle to visit an underground brothel during working hours. The inspector was caught by field agents from the Office of Judicial Investigations (Spanish initials: OIJ) just as they were getting ready to execute a raid on an establishment w...

Source: Flickr Commons A foreign businessman was shot and killed during a robbery attempt gone sour in Costa Rica. According to a news report filed by metro journalist Gabriela Moreira Leitón of daily tabloid Diario Extra, the incident took place Wednesday night in the Concepción neighborhood of Alajuelita, part of the Greater San Jose Metropolitan Area (Spanish initials: GAM). Reports from...

Source: Wikimedia Commons (US DOJ Press Release) A six-count superseding indictment was unsealed last week in Brooklyn federal court charging husband and wife defendants Gregorio and Eleonora Gigliotti, their son Angelo Gigliotti, and a relative who is an Italian citizen, Franco Fazio, with conspiracy to import cocaine, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, importation of co...

Source: Cluster Munition Coalition The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Costa Rica has issued a strong statement of condemnation to Kingdom of Saudi Arabia after reviewing a report by Human Rights Watch, which explains that the Middle Eastern has dropped cluster munitions against Houthi rebel forces in Yemen. As has been previously reported by The Costa Rica Star, Costa Rica currently preside...

Source: OVSICORI Geologists from the Observatory on Volcanology and Seismology of Costa Rica (OVSICORI) are closely monitoring their seismographs and other instruments located around the Turrialba volcano, located in the province of Cartago, after a series of tremors were registered during lunchtime on Monday, May 11th. At this time, the OVSICORI scientists are unable to monitor the cameras...

Source: MSP Anti-narcotics officers assigned to the Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO) in the province of Alajuela arrested a tourist found in possession of nearly two kilograms of powdered cocaine hydrochloride. According to a press release by the Ministry of Public Security (Spanish initials: MSP), the tourist was trying to board a flight to Spain; he was arrested for attempting to ...

The Turrialba on May 5. OVSICORI On a clear Sunday morning in Costa Rica, the Turrialba volcano clouded the skies surrounding its crater with an ash and smoke eruption that started at 04:55 am and lasted until 05:45. Strong winds wafting around the surface crater did not allow the dark ash column to rise more than 200 meters in the air; however, the direction of the airstream transported volca...

Source: Pixabay Commons Three individuals were arrested earlier this week for their alleged participation in a ring dedicated to the sexual exploitation of young women in Costa Rica. According to a press release published by the Office of Judicial Investigations (Spanish initials: OIJ), a series of raids on underground brothels in the municipalities of Alajuela and Heredia resulted in the resc...

Earlier this week, Canadian environmentalist Paul Watson appealed to his more than 500,000 Facebook followers to sign an online petition asking prosecutors in Puntarenas to drop criminal charges pending against the controversial founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.   Here’s the message posted by Mr. Watson:   Hi everyone,   I can use your help with this ...

Source: OVSICORI Civil aviation and airport officials in Costa Rica decided to suspend flight operations at the Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO), located in the province of Alajuela, after a powerful afternoon eruption at the Turrialba volcano, located in the province of Cartago. Geologists from the National University's Observatory on Volcanology and Seismology of Costa Rica (Sp...

Source: RSN At about 6:00 am on the Monday after the May Day holiday weekend, an eruption at the Turrialba volcano was detected by scientists from the Observatory on Volcanology and Seismology of Costa Rica (Spanish acronym: OVSICORI). This latest geologic event is being described as a strong exhalation of gas, vapor and volcanic ash. According to a news report filed by Joselyne Ugarte of o...

After an afternoon press conference that got underway later than scheduled, officials from the National Commission on Emergencies (Spanish initials: CNE) in Costa Rica declared that the Red Alert issued earlier on Sunday should be downgraded to Yellow, which means that swimmers and surfers can reenter the ocean waters from Port of Caldera north to the city of Puntarenas (where the Double Tree Hilt...

IMPORTANT UPDATE: The CNE has downgraded this alert from Red to Yellow.  Please see our updated news report: http://news.co.cr/red-alert-in-costa-rica-downgraded-to-yellow/38605/ Officials from the National Commission on Emergencies (Spanish initials: CNE) in Costa Rica have issued a Red Alert on a significant section of the Pacific Coast after a barge carrying diesel fuel and 180 tons of ammon...

Source: Pixabay Commons At adult cabarets across Costa Rica, entertainers who disrobe and gyrate their shapely anatomies for captive audiences are noticing an interesting demographic trend: With greater frequency, men old enough to be their grandfathers are among their admirers. Such was the conclusion presented by Paula Ruiz Guevara, an investigative journalist from national newspaper La Pren...

Source> Facebook Timeline of Milena Solano Chiri Memorial A woman who left her native Costa Rica for the United States in search of what many people call “the American Dream” will be memorialized this weekend in Florida. Milena Solano Chiri was 38 years old when she was slain in Daytona Beach, a coastal community of Florida. Prosecutors have charged Ms. Solano's ex-husband Johan Chiri with ...

A group of malcontents allegedly conspired to commit a terrorist act that would have taken down two bridges in the Caribbean province of Limon in Costa Rica. Such was the statement made on a news report published by daily tabloid Diario Extra in late April 2015. According to Diario Extra, two employees from Lemon Stone, one of the companies subcontracted by APM Terminals to help develop a massi...

Screenshot of cached US Marshals webpage A teenager from the United States, who was allegedly held in Costa Rica for many years before returning home, wishes to see her jailed kidnappers. Mary Nunes is 19 years old; she recently returned to the U.S. along with her 50-year old stepfather Scott Kelley. In 2004, Miss Nunes was reported as having being kidnapped by her mother and Mr. Kelley and...

Source cramphibian.com San Jose, Apr 27 (EFE).- A "glass frog" discovered in Costa Rica 40 years after the last sighting of the animal anywhere in the world, is a source of constant admiration because of the translucent characteristics of its lima-green skin and insect-like sound. The Hyalinobatrachium dianae (H. dianae) was found in the rainforest of Costa Rica's Caribbean coast by U.S. bi...

Source: Facebook A team of experts from the United States Coast Guard (USCG) returned to their duty stations after an unsuccessful underwater search for the Pura Vida Princess catamaran. As previously reported by The Costa Rica Star: Three elderly tourists from Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom lost their lives at sea while enjoying a catamaran cruise off the Pacific Coast of C...

Turrialba at dawn, Source: OVSICORI Despite incandescent volcanic matter being ejected from the crater of the Turrialba volcano in Costa Rica, the Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO), located in the Alajuela province, resumed operations during the early hours of Friday. Officials from the Directorate of Civil Aviation and from Aeris, the management firm in charge of SJO, had shut down ...

Source: MSP An 8-year old girl from an indigenous tribe in Costa Rica was elated to learn that her stay at the hospital would culminate with an exciting helicopter ride over the green mountains of Talamanca. Officers from the Air Surveillance Service, a specialized unit serving the Ministry of Public Security (Spanish initials: MSP), flew a humanitarian mission to get a little girl and a relat...

Screenshot of cached US Marshals webpage Concord, NH - April 15 (U.S Marshals Press Release) – Scott Kelley, 50, a former Whitefield, New Hampshire, resident wanted by law enforcement since November 2004 for non-custodial kidnapping and unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, was arrested upon his return to the United States by the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force at an Atlanta-area airport. Mi...

The rescued French tourists. Source: MSP An offshore fishing charter expedition in Costa Rica turned deadly for a French tourist who was on vacation with friends and relatives. According to a press communication by the Ministry of Public Security (Spanish initials: MSP), officers from the National Coast Guard Service identified the victim as Huberts Nicolle. The tragic accident took place a...

THE HAGUE (ICJ Press Release) -- During the public hearings due to open on Tuesday 14 April 2015 at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, experts have been called by the Parties in the joined cases concerning Certain Activities carried out by Nicaragua in the Border Area (Costa Rica v. Nicaragua) and the Construction of a Road in Costa Rica a...

This informative and comprehensive article was kindly provided to The Costa Rica Star by Jill Ruttenberg, yoga instructor and wellness director at the AmaTierra Retreat and Wellness Center. Once upon a time, when it came to physical practice, there was just Hatha Yoga from which all other modern-day styles emerged. Those who are new to yoga can get very confused by the many types that are offer...

Source: Wikimedia Commons WASHINGTON (DOJ) —Brian Karl Brimager, 37, prior boyfriend of murdered Los Angeles woman Yvonne Baldelli, was indicted by a federal grand jury in San Diego, California, today on first degree murder charges. Brimager was arraigned in court on the superseding indictment and pleaded not guilty. Brimager has been in U.S. custody since June 2013 on charges of obstructio...

Source: Flickr Commons San Jose, Apr 17 (EFE).- A former U.S. soldier named Robert Lemon was found dead on the private Ojo de Agua Ranch in Puriscal County, San Jose province. He had been shot several times and half of his body was charred, a police spokesperson told Efe Friday. The body was found Thursday next to the stables, together with two dead dogs, by a woman who works on the ranch a...

In light of the recent eruptions and increased activity at the Turrialba volcano in the province of Cartago, the British Embassy in Costa Rica has updated its advice to travelers. The Costa Rica Star has been closely following the announcements by our country's geologists and emergency officials with regard to this active colossus, which has been compared to a “pressure cooker.” The following u...

Source: Wikimedia Commons Agents from the Office of Judicial Investigations (Spanish initials: OIJ) in Costa Rica believe that a businessman from the United States, who was shot multiple times in a shopping center located in the upscale community of Escazu, may have been targeted for assassination. As reported by The Costa Rica Star in March: An expat from the United States is in the intensiv...