Officers from the Operational Support Group (Spanish initials: GAO) detained five men suspected of belonging to a criminal group that preyed upon tourists in the Caribbean region of Costa Rica. The gang reportedly used strong-arm robbery tactics on foreign visitors, many of them from North America and Europe, who visited the communities of Cahuita, Manzanillo and Puerto Viejo, all within the Ta...

Bull shark. Wikimedia Commons DALLAS, June 2, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) is partnering once again with Discovery Channel's Shark Week, taking television's longest-running and most anticipated summer event to new heights.  Today, the companies unveiled the first-ever Shark Week-themed 737-700 aircraft proudly displaying the majestic sea life that is widely cel...

Mayfair Games Mayfair Games, a renowned publisher of board and roleplaying games in the United States and United Kingdom, recently released a new educational title that prominently features Costa Rica and her biodiversity. The game, which is titled "Costa Rica: Reveal the Rainforest," is described by the publisher as follows:   Welcome to Costa Rica! This land is renowned for its r...

Gamesa, Spanish engineering company, to bring wind energy production to Guanacaste The Alisios Wind Projects, owned and sponsored by Globeleq Mesoamerica Energy (Wind) Limited (“GME”), a subsidiary company of Globeleq Generation Limited and Mesoamerica Power Ltd., have secured USD149 million in long-term debt financing. The project debt financing and syndication was completed in April 2016 ...

Blue Zone Retreat Costa Rica Tambor, Costa Rica -- (ReleaseWire) -- 05/31/2016 --Encouraging harmony, well-being, and a centered experience for their guests, Blue Zones Rejuvenation Retreat makes summer plans. Situated in the heart of Costa Rica, the wellness center promises seclusion in paradise. How so? Blue Zones treats the whole body via healing diets and detox programs, massage therapy in...

Source: NORCECA GROS ISLET, St Lucia, May 29, 2016 - Costa Rica swept Guatemala 3-0 to claim first place at the NORCECA Inter Zonal Men’s Beach Volleyball Tournament, the third round of the Continental Cup towards the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.   Nicaragua, U.S. Virgin Islands, El Salvador and Trinidad & Tobago completed the top six countries qualified to the final round to b...

Source: OIJ On Monday afternoon, undercover agents from the Office of Judicial Investigations (Spanish initials: OIJ) arrested a 50-year old man from Colombia after he broke into a car rented by German tourists visiting Costa Rica. The undercover OIJ agents were from the regional office assigned to Jaco Beach and nearby Playa Hermosa. It was at the latter coastal town that they decided to c...

(CRS Archive) Panama City, May 30 (EFE).- The Panama Canal Authority, or ACP, said Monday that the repairs to a wall in the southern section of the Miraflores lock that collapsed over the weekend is progressing at a steady pace, but will take at least five weeks to complete. "All the canal's operations are continuing in an absolutely normal way. It is estimated that the first phase of the w...

Source: Rolling Thunder Facebook By Britt Nelson Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff. On Sunday, more than 500,000 motorcyclists rode into Washington, DC as the annual Rolling Thunder “Ride for Freedom” Rally over the Memorial Day weekend got under way with presidential candidate Republican...

The United States today celebrates Memorial Day, and in Costa Rica the expat community often gathers to observe the men and women who gave their lives while serving in the dear Armed Forces of their country. 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 recomme...

Flickr Commons Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson announced last Friday that six men from Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island have been variously charged in a 37-count indictment for running an illegal Internet gambling operation that took over $13 million in wagers on various professional and collegiate sporting events and wired payments to an off-shore location. District Attorney Thom...

Source: FEDESURF CR Costa Rica is scheduled to defend her World Surfing Games championship later this year in Jaco Beach, but organizers are closely following news headlines related to the Zika virus situation in Rio de Janeiro and how it may affect the Olympics. As previously reported by The Costa Rica Star, Jaco Beach has been subject to an outbreak of the Zika virus: Costa Rica’s Minist...

The unpopular Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) of the United States has set off a rash of similar legislation around the world, and Costa Rica has been eager to adopt these international asset reporting treaties, which many taxpayers consider overreaching and in violation of financial privacy. The Costa Rica Star has reported on FATCA numerous times, and in September 2014 we reported ...

Source: FEDEFUTBOL CR The National Men's Football Teams of Costa Rica and Venezuela played their final match before the Copa America Centenario at the Chinese-donated National Stadium in La Sabana Metropolitan Park. It was an exciting, though rain-soaked match for both national teams, and it was a considerable improvement over their previous friendly encounter in Venezuela, which was an ugl...

Source: Wikimedia Commons A 52-year old man from the United States passed away in Las Playitas, a coastal community located in Quepos, in the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica.   According to a news report filed by Alexander Mendez of daily tabloid Diario Extra, Ajit R Abhyankar had been in Costa Rica about a week when he drowned in a strong rip current. The unfortunate incident took plac...

Source: Air France French culture is known to be classy and stylish, and these are cultural aspects that certainly apply to travel. Air France, an airline that recently announced new flights to Costa Rica, is taking classy and stylish to a very high level with an actual sleeping suite and even fashionable pajamas that match the decor. As previously reported by The Costa Rica Star, Air Franc...

Flickr Commons Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal announced today the arrests of forty-six (46) individuals, the execution of forty-six (46) search warrants in three states (New Jersey, New York, and Florida), as well as the seizure of approximately $2,000,000 in U.S. currency. The arrests, search warrants, and seizures are the result of an investigation into a large-scale, multi...

Source: Correos de Costa Rica A cadre of 19 legislators from eight political parties in Costa Rica have signed a request for Papal intervention against the potential legalization of abortion. The request was announced earlier this week during an ordinary session of the Legislative Assembly; of the eight parties that signed the petition, seven are well-established in Costa Rica, only Restaur...

2016 Rio Olympics Logo LOS ANGELES--(Business Wire)--Global nutrition company Herbalife announced today it will be the official sponsor of the Costa Rican, Israeli, Italian and Vietnam National Olympic Committees all traveling to the Rio 2016 Olympics and Paralympic Games. Herbalife will also support more than 50 athletes and 19 Paralympians from over 16 countries. These Olympic athletes will...

Source: EFE Caracas, May 24 (EFE).- The Coca-Cola Company of Venezuela said in a communique that it has used up its inventories of refined sugar for industrial use, which has in turn forced the company to temporarily suspend all lines of soft drinks containing that ingredient, though they will continue to produce others. "The sugar shortage means a temporary interruption of lines of soft dr...

IsmaelCala.com MIAMI, May 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Following the success of the inspirational trips organized by Ismael Cala, particularly the most recent one in India, others are now being created. The new destinations and projects retain the objective of the participants' personal growth. Ismael Calá is a renowned journalist and news host of his eponymous show on the CNN Español network. ...

Source: Pure Hospitality LAS VEGAS, NV -- (Marketwired) -- 05/23/16 -- Pure Hospitality Solutions, parent Company of the Central American-Caribbean online travel Agency (OTA) Oveedia, announced today, that the overall response from Expotur 2016 has proven to be overwhelmingly successful for the Company''s OTA, as nearly 100 hotels and tour providers have expressed interest in aligning with Oveed...

HINGHAM, MA--(Marketwired - May 24, 2016) -  DigitalX Limited is pleased to announce that Telefónica Internacional S.A.U. ("Telefónica") is the Company's first strategic partner in Latin America following the successful integration of the DigitalX AirPocket App into Telefónica's network. The mobile phone giant signed a marketing, distribution and sales agreement with DigitalX, which was announc...

SCOTTSDALE, AZ / ACCESSWIRE / May 23, 2016 / BioNovelus executives President and CEO Jean Ekobo, and CFO, Mark Johnson, will be in Costa Rica the week of May 23, 2016 touring and evaluating five coffee farms participating in a Pilot Test that has revealed CR-10 to be an effective coffee leaf rust killer. Additionally, BioNovelus has signed a Letter of Intent with a prominent Costa Rican distrib...

Longline tuna haul. Source: Greenpeace. FAO Media Release - 16 May 2016, Rome - Illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing is about to become much more difficult thanks to the imminent entry into force of the Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA), a ground-breaking international accord championed by FAO. Now that the required threshold has been reached, with 30 Members having formally...

Source: Half Moon Bay Trading ATLANTIC BEACH, FLORIDA • HEREDIA, COSTA RICA - “QUASI-THAI”… as in “Comparatively, outwardly, relatively... Thai!” As we manufacture in tropical Costa Rica, utilizing fresh, tropical ingredients sourced within similar latitudinally lush growing environments, we played on this comparison, and that the “Sí” of “SíRacha” is obviously also “Yes” in Spanish. *And t...

Passengers of Delta flight 325, which departed from Atlanta, were eager to land at the Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO) yesterday; alas, the most active volcano in Costa Rica forced the aircraftto land in Nicaragua instead. The ash column rising out of the Turrialba volcano, located in the Cartago province, has reached heights of 3,000 meters as the colossus releases geological energ...

An EgyptAir Airbus. Wikimedia Commons By Britt Nelson Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff. Just as soon as EgyptAir Flight 804 crashed into the Mediterranean Sea early Thursday presidential candidate Republican Donald Trump -- without any real evidence -- claimed the tragic incident to be “...

Source: Google Google has not enjoyed the success it hoped to get from its Chromebook line of portable computers powered by the browser-centric Chrome OS, but that could change very soon. In a move that could eat into the market share of Android tablets, Google announced that Chromebooks will soon offer extensive support for Android apps; in fact, the Google Play store will be fully compati...

Flickr Commons London, May 21 (EFE; betting context by IDSca.com).- A remarkable goal by Jesse Lingard in the second half of extra time gave Manchester United a 2-1 victory here Saturday over Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final, the Red Devils' record-tying 12th title in soccer's oldest tournament. After a first half short on excitement at Wembley Stadium, Marouane Fellaini and Anthony Marti...

Wikimedia Commons Electronic dance music artist Marina Ann Hantzis, better known as Sasha Grey, will perform in Costa Rica as part of her ongoing world tour, which has already stopped in Argentina, Chile and Peru. Ms. Hantzis has been involved in EDM since 2011, which was the year when she announced her retirement from the pornographic film industry. As Sasha Grey, she first gained notoriet...

BICSA in Panama. Wikimedia Commons Fitch Ratings-New York-20 May 2016: Fitch Ratings has affirmed Banco Internacional de Costa Rica's (BICSA) Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'BB+' and its Viability Rating (VR) at 'bb' following a peer review of Panama's midsized banks. Fitch also affirmed BICSA's National Ratings in Panama. The Rating Outlook for the bank's IDR and Long-Term National ...

The following alert was recently posted on the flight operations webpage of U.S. budget airline JetBlue: Due to volcanic ash in the San Jose, Costa Rica area, we will waive change/cancel fees and difference in airfare for customers traveling on Friday, May 20, 2016 through Saturday, May 21, 2016 to/from the following airports: -San Jose, Costa Rica (SJO) Affected customers may rebook their ...

The Turrialba on May 5. OVSICORI A series of powerful eruptions by the hyperactive Turrialba volcano have left the Central Valley of Costa Rica coated with ultra-fine ash, prompting savvy street merchants to offer surgical masks at busy pedestrian intersections in the capital city. Street sales of surgical masks have been brisk in San Jose ever since the Ministry of Public Health (Spanish i...

Source: Zoo Ave Field officers from the Ministry of the Environment (Spanish initials: MINAE) rescued a pair of baby coyotes that were found separated from their mother and pack in Guacimo, a farming community in the Caribbean region of Limon. The two cubs were transported to the Zoo Ave Wildlife Rescue Center in La Garita, province of Alajuela. According to a news report filed by Alejandro...

Wikimedia Commons GENEVA  – The diversity of the needs of older persons is invisible in current policies related to ageing in Costa Rica despite the existence of good practices in the country, the United Nations Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons, Rosa Kornfeld-Matte, said on 18 May. “Older persons are not a homogenous group,” the expert stressed at the...

The Greenback IMF Media Release - On May 16, 2016, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the Article IV consultation with Costa Rica. Costa Rica bounced back quickly from the 2008–09 global crisis, but growth, despite picking up in the last two years to 3.75 percent, has stayed below trend, while macro vulnerabilities, mainly from the weak fiscal position, h...

Conservationists from the Leatherback Trust, an international non-profit conservation organization that protects leatherback turtles and other sea turtle species from extinction, recently released rare drone footage of a female olive ridley swimming away from a beach in Costa Rica. The nesting event was filmed in Las Baulas National Park, located in the Playa Grande sector of the Guanacaste pro...

Flickr Commons LinkedIn, the largest business-oriented social platform and one of the most popular social networks in the world, is warning members about a major data breach and is forcing a massive reset of passwords as a security measure. An update posted to the LinkedIn corporate blog yesterday explained the situation: In 2012, LinkedIn was the victim of an unauthorized access and discl...

Los Altos del Monte ATENAS, COSTA RICA (PRWEB) MAY 18, 2016 - Located in the lushly verdant Costa Rican mountains, on the outskirts of the picturesque town of Atenas, The Retreat at Altos del Monte (theretreatcostarica.com) has completely refreshed their spa menu. The renewed list of options is a return to the property’s tropical nature, using fresh, organic and local ingredients, which creates ...