Dengue, Chikungunya, and Zika are spread by the Aedes aegyptie mosquito (Wikimedia Commons) The number of patients confirmed to be infected with the Zika virus in the popular coastal resort city of Jacó, on Costa Rica’s central Pacific coast, has soared to 28 this week in the most serious outbreak of the Zika virus in Costa Rica to date. A total of 17 additional cases have been confirmed si...

Source: Starbucks NEW YORK, May 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Fast Company today announced its annual ranking of the 100 Most Creative People in Business for 2016, honoring an influential and diverse group of leading thinkers around the globe. Each year, the magazine's editors present an all-new list of 100 visionaries chosen according to a proprietary methodology (honorees can't repeat, and any...

A municipal health worker fumigates the restroom area of a shopping mall as part of the city's effort to prevent the spread of Zika virus' vector, the Aedes aegypti mosquito, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, in this January 26, 2016 file photo. REUTERS/Jorge Cabrera/Files A spray fumigation team from the Ministry of Public Health (Spanish initials: MSP) rushed to the Temporary Detention Center for Fo...

Black Star Line before the fire. Wikimedia Commons Late April was an unkind time for Afro Caribbean culture in Costa Rica. On April 29, a structural fire consumed the Black Star Line building in Limón, destroying an important symbol of the legacy left by Marcus Garvey in our country. Starting today, the good people of Limón will conduct a series of cultural and family events for the purpose...

Source: Red Cross Costa Rica The livelihood of foreigners who choose to live as perpetual tourists in Costa Rica is highly dependent on the stability of the land borders. It so happens that in recent months both the northern and southern borders of Costa Rica have been afflicted by the global migrant crisis; how is this affecting the lives of perpetual tourists? "Visa runs" are those trips ...

Dengue, Chikungunya, and Zika are spread by the Aedes aegyptie mosquito (Wikimedia Commons) Costa Rica has witnessed a significant surge in the number of cases of both dengue and chikungunya so far this year, according to the latest statistics by Costa Rica’s Ministry of Health. The number of cases of dengue had spiked nearly 600 percent while cases of chikungunya had increased nearly seven...

Dengue, Chikungunya, and Zika are spread by the Aedes aegyptie mosquito (Wikimedia Commons) In the most serious outbreak in the country to date, Costa Rica’s Ministry of Health confirmed on Monday that 11 individuals tested positive for the Zika virus in the central Pacific resort city of Jacó, Puntarenas, which had until now been unaffected by the virus. The patients include four children:...

The Italian man's vehicle was left with its doors wide open in a Walmart parking lot after police officers allegedly abducted the man. (OIJ photo) An Italian man remained missing in Costa Rica on Monday and authorities are releasing few details in the strange case of the man’s disappearance and suspected kidnapping from the parking lot of a Walmart in San Francisco de Heredia on Saturday. T...

(ICR-CRS Archive) The former President of Costa Rica, Laura Chinchilla (2010-2014) described U.S. Republican presidential candidate, Donald’s Trump campaign rhetoric as “dangerous” even if the billionaire does not win the general election, in an interview published Friday by the Mexican newspaper, Reforma. The biggest risk that Trump represents to Latin America is not that he is likely to w...

Fer-de-lance snake, found in the jungles of Costa Rica By Carol Blair Vaughn We should care about the Reptilian Top Ten. Here's why: Scientists from Oxford University (U.K.) and from Tel Aviv University (Israel) have created a top ten list of the world’s most popular reptiles. You call this science? It turns out, that it actually IS science. The research team discovered valuable in...

Swansea University Swansea University Media Release - Becky Cliffe, a PhD researcher from the College of Science, has spent the past five years researching sloths at the world-famous Sloth Sanctuary in Costa Rica. During her time there, Becky has compiled data on a number of poorly and orphaned animals suffering from limb deformities and albinism. These are genetic problems she believes are...

The quake's epicenter was 14 km southeast of Santa Maria de Dota, acording to OVSICORI. (OVSICORI) A moderate earthquake struck central Costa Rica at 11:59 a.m. on Friday, producing light to moderate shaking in many areas of the country’s Central Valley as well as the southern Pacific canton of Perez Zeledon.   According to the Volcanological and Seismological Observatory (OVSICORI)...

Smithsonian Institute PHILADELPHIA — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed on Monday that a scarab beetle that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agriculture specialists intercepted in a shipment of Costa Rican pineapples is the first recorded find of this species in Philadelphia. CBP discovered the beetle March 11 in a container of 1,500 cases of fresh pineapples. CBP s...

Agents with Costa Rica’s Drug Control Police (PCD) raided a marijuana grow house in Escazu on Thursday and arrested a 55-year-old Cuban national identified by the last name Ruiz. Agents said that the suspect was growing a highly potent variety of genetically modified marijuana plants, known in Latin America as “crippy.” The raid occurred around noon on Thursday. PCD agents confiscated nu...

Workers at the Miravalles geothermal plant in the province of Guanacaste, Costa Rica, March 14, 2016. TRF/Fabíola Ortiz By Fabiola Ortiz MEXICO CITY/SAN JOSE (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Mexico and Costa Rica aim to build on their position as Latin America's leading producers of geothermal power to help meet the challenges they face of curbing planet-warming emissions and making their ene...

Nelson Sanderson was returned to the United States in Wednesday in the company of agents of the U.S. Marshals service. He faces two life sentences if convicted. (Handout) A 75-year-old Florida man who had been on the run since a warrant for his arrest was issued in July 2012 on charges of child molestation was returned to Florida in the company of U.S. Marshals agents on Wednesday after being ...

Source: Wikimedia Commons The family of a 63-year old man from the United States, who passed away under mysterious circumstances in April, are asking that Federal Bureau of Investigation agents become involved in the case. According to a news report filed by Luke Roberts of the Douglas Enterprise earlier this week, Mitch McCrimmon did not survive a coma that placed him in the hospital from ...

Wikimedia Commons Washington, May 3 (EFE; additional context by The Costa Rica Star).- A U.S. Navy Seal who was advising and supporting Kurdish Peshmerga troops in Iraq died Tuesday in an attack by Islamic State fighters north of the city of Mosul. U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter confirmed the death from Stuttgart, Germany, where he is on an official visit, initially without providi...

Illustrative image. (Flickr Commons) Oliver Meißner, a 30-year old German tourist who checked into a small beachfront in Costa Rica two weeks ago, was found dead in his cabin on Monday morning. According to a recent news report by Alexander Mendez of daily tabloid Diario Extra, hotel staff had seen Mr. Meißner alive for the last time on Saturday night. Mr. Mendez explained that hotel sta...

File photo BOSTON, MA--(Marketwired) - It's a perfect storm for summer travelers, and it has nothing to do with the weather. A combination of a strong dollar, lower fuel prices and more competition from discount airlines has conspired to create the lowest airfares we've seen in the past five years. Cheapflights.com, the online leader in finding and publishing travel deals, took a look at ai...

Source: OVSICORI Residents of the Turrialba canton in the province of Cartago woke up this morning to find a white steam column atop the summit of their eponymous volcano. According to an early morning press conference given by the Observatory of Volcanology and Seismology of Costa Rica (Spanish acronym: OVSICORI), seismic activity has been on the rise at the Turrialba Volcano since the early ...

San Jose, Apr 26 (EFE).- A major strike launched Tuesday with a huge march by union groups in defense of labor rights and public institutions paralyzed classes at Costa Rica's public schools and assorted health services. "It's been a success. President (Luis Guillermo) Solis should understand that the people are not happy with his administration," the president of the ANDE teachers union, Gilbe...

Source: York University TORONTO, April 25, 2016 – The Faculty of Environmental Studies at York University opened its new Lillian Meighen Wright Centre and EcoCampus today in southern Costa Rica, offering students hands-on experiential learning from deep within a rainforest. The 400-square-metre Lillian Meighen Wright Centre overlooks the Peñas Blancas River from its prime location on York U...

A hoax, clear evidence of extraterrestrials, or something else? Watch the video above and let us know what you think in the comments! #OFFBEAT NEWS A remarkably clear video purportedly showing an unidentified flying object (UFO) hovering in the sky in Costa Rica began making its rounds on social media over the weekend. The video was uploaded to YouTube by at least two different users ov...

Pixabay Commons By Nardy Baeza Bickel ANN ARBOR—The University of Michigan will launch a new partnership that enables MBA students from one of Latin America's top business schools earn a master of public administration degree at the Ford School of Public Policy. The dual-degree program, which begins August 2016, is designed for students in the one-year MBA section with exemplary English-...

Female prisoners in Costa Rica visit with their children. (Photo courtesy of the OIJ. ICR-CRS Archive, 2013) Costa Rica’s National Institute for Women (INAMU), the ministerial-level institution charged with the protection of women in society, is urging lawmakers in Costa Rica’s Legislative Assembly to pass a bill that seeks to eliminate criminal records for women and greatly reduce them for me...

The small earthquakes late Saturday and early Sunday formed a line between the two volcanoes. (OVSICORI) A series of 75 small earthquakes that were recorded in a period of just 12 hours between Saturday night and Sunday morning in a nearly straight line between Costa Rica’s Irazu and Turrialba volcanoes have some people worried that the so-called “seismic swarm” could be the precursor to viole...

Wikimedia Commons Cancer is something that is rarely on the minds of dental tourists who come to Costa Rica to get cosmetic and restoration procedures done; however, recent medical research suggests that dental appointments can help in the early detection of malignant cell division in the lymphatic system. In the United States, the Oral Cancer Foundation works with the Head and Neck Cancer ...

Source: Wikimedia Commons On April 15, the Rhode Island State Police and the Attorney General announced the arrest of 19 men and one woman on charges relating to the management of a statewide criminal gambling organization and a marijuana distribution operation that extended to Costa Rica. The arrests were the result of an 8-month investigation led by members of the State Police Intelligenc...

Rainforest in Costa Rica By Carol Blair Vaughn Friday, April 22nd, is Earth Day, an international celebration of education about environmental issues that began in the United States in 1970, marking the birth of the environmental movement. It is now celebrated by over 1 billion people worldwide, including here in Costa Rica, as a day of action in support of environmental protection of our p...

Wikimedia Commons Forensic investigators from the medical examiner's office in Costa Rica are trying to determine the ophidian species that killed a 46-year old woman in a remote area of Los Chiles canton, province of Alajuela. According to a news report filed by Alexander Mendez of daily tabloid Diario Extra, the woman was a student at the Unified Center of Adult Education (Spanish acronym...

(Facebook / Mauricio Camareno) A group of local surfers in Boca Barranca, Puntarenas, on Costa Rica’s central Pacific coast, rescued a baby pilot whale that had become stuck in the mouth of a river early Wednesday morning. Mauricio Camareno, one of the surfers who discovered the baby whale shortly after 5 a.m., said that they first noticed what appeared to be a “black lump” near the bank of...

(Illustrative image. ICR-CRS Archive) A reform that limits landlords’ ability to increase rent paid by tenants to that of the rate of inflation that came into effect on Wednesday after receiving the signature of Costa Rican president, Luis Guillermo Solis does not apply to commercial real estate, Rep. Edgardo Araya (FA) confirmed to the radio program, Nuestra Voz. The reform, which received...

Flickr Commons The 2016 World Press Freedom Index reflects the intensity of the attacks on journalistic freedom and independence by governments, ideologies and private-sector interests during the past year. Thankfully, Costa Rica enjoys a great degree of press freedom; for this reason, Reporters Without Borders ranks our country as number six on the Index. Seen as a benchmark throughout the...

Source: Wikimedia Commons MONTREAL, April 20, 2016 /CNW Telbec/ - Air Canada announced today it will launch four new seasonal Air Canada rouge services between Montreal-Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; Montreal-San José, Costa Rica; Toronto Palm Springs, California; and Toronto-Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. The non-stop flights will give Canadian travelers more competitively-priced options when ...

(Illustrative image. ICR-CRS Archive) A reform that was passed into law late last month by lawmakers in Costa Rica’s Legislative Assembly that limits landlords’ ability to increase rent paid by tenants to that of the rate of inflation came into effect on Wednesday after receiving the signature of Costa Rican president, Luis Guillermo Solis. Until now, landlords who rent properties in colone...

By Gavin Drake of Anglican News A lay canon of England’s Liverpool Cathedral has been elected unopposed to serve as vice-chair of the Anglican Consultative Council. She joins the Archbishop of Hong Kong, the Most Revd Dr Paul Kwong, who was elected last week as chair of the body; and five new members of the Standing Committee. The Anglican Consultative Council is the legally constituted body...

(Illustrative image / Flickr) A U.S. citizen was one of four suspects arrested in a series of coordinated raids in Costa Rica on Tuesday to dismantle a criminal group that stole thousands of dollars from credit and debit card holders by cloning their cards, according to the Judicial Investigative Police (OIJ). According to an investigation, the suspects used devices known as “skimmers” to s...

Dengue, Chikungunya, and Zika are spread by the Aedes aegyptie mosquito (Wikimedia Commons) Costa Rica’s Ministry of Health on Monday confirmed the first case of Zika virus in a child in the country. According to health officials, an 8-year-old child in Carrillo, Guanacaste has contracted the mosquito-borne illness, first displaying symptoms on April 7th. The child has seemingly recovere...

Michael Adrian Salmeron, the Nicaraguan man suspected of murdering 57-year-old U.S. expat, Dirk Beauchamp, his 38-year-old Costa Rican wife and three of their children in Costa Rica. (Photo: La Prensa/Nicaragua) Michael Adrian Salmeron, the 24-year-old Nicaraguan man accused of murdering 57-year-old U.S. expat, Dirk Beauchamp, his 38-year-old Costa Rican wife and three of their small children ...