Mariam Natasha Sibaja Bermudez (July 2, 1990, San Isidro, Costa Rica) is a model, beauty queen and medicine student who has participated in several national and international contests, making herself known in 2014 for participating in the Miss Costa Rica pageant.      ...

The Bat Islands are one of the premiere scuba diving destinations in Costa Rica. Located in the far north of the Guanacaste off the coast of Santa Rosa National Park. The area has been protected as a marine preserve by the country as part of the national park. The Bat Islands are full of marine life. There are huge schools of different species of fish ranging in size from small to huge. There are ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxYefkIMCjA...

Bangkok, Oct 27 — Thai firms are preparing to export insects for human consumption to the European Union, which organized a conference in Bangkok this week to explain new regulations covering this category of food products. Fried silkworm salad, Facebook. Thailand is one the world's largest consumers of insects and has some 20,000 insect farms. Products made from these invertebrates are als...

OSLO, Norway, Oct. 25 – At least 330 U.S. Marines will be stationed at Norway's Vaernes military base beginning in 2017, the Norwegian Defense Ministry announced. U.S. military DASH-8 aircraft. Wikimedia Commons Norway, like the United States, is an original NATO member and has expressed concern over Russian military maneuvers since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. Norway shares a short borde...

Montevideo, Oct 25 — Uruguay is a "stable and legally safe" country that constitutes a gateway to Mercosur for Chinese investments, an official who was on this month's Uruguayan government mission to the Asian country said on Tuesday. Antonio Carambula, executive director of the institute of investment and exports Uruguay XXI, told Radio Uruguay that his country "is an open door" for China to t...

Brasilia, Oct 25 — About 3,000 cowboys and cowgirls on horseback rode Tuesday into Brasilia's Esplanade of the Ministries, which connects all of the government buildings in the Brazilian capital, to protest a Supreme Court ruling banning traditional bullfighting festivals. Vaquejada in Brazil, Facebook. The protest tied up traffic for an hour in downtown Brasilia, where demonstrators create...

Los Angeles, Oct 24 — A life-size statue of a completely naked Donald Trump was auctioned for $22,000. (Wikimedia Commons) As reported in the Los Angeles Times, the statue of the U.S. Republican presidential nominee, created by a street artist who in August placed it on Hollywood Boulevard, was sold at Julien's Auctions to a private collector. Prior to the auction, it has been estimated ...

https://vimeo.com/187785304...

Costa Rica is not only about nature and adventure. The Sanatorio Durán took place and a health rehab project began successfully as first world class hospital, giving a life opportunity to people affected by Tuberculosis. It was 1915, up in the mountains near the Irazu Volcano in Cartago. When the epidemic was finally controlled and eradicated. The hospital was then used as a jail until 1973,...

Carolina Rodríguez Durán (born 23 April 1989) is a Costa Rican teacher, model and beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss Costa Rica 2016. She will represent Costa Rica in Miss Universe 2016. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.  By Britt Nelson Facebook meme. Voters in the United States of America have a choice to make on Nov. 8. Red, Blue, Green and Libertarian are among the choices in almost all states. Republican Donald Trump promises to shaking up establishment politics ...

A seizure of over 9 million contraband cigarettes is made in Petén, Guatemala in March, photo courtesy of Belize's Corozal Daily, Facebook. Guatemala City, Oct. 20 — An Asian man has been arrested along with two Guatemalans in the capital of the Central American country after being accused of coordinating the entry of a container filled with cigarettes smuggled from China, judicial sources sai...

Guatemala City, Oct 19 — A group of Guatemalan women on Wednesday joined a global initiative against gender-based violence, taking part in a sit-in here to demand respect for their rights and an end to femicides. Reyna Sofia Lantan, the artist who participated in the protest in Guatemala City, from Facebook. Feminist Silvia Trujillo, who took part with around 30 other women in the brief sit...

Brussels, Oct. 19 - The European Police Office announced Wednesday the results of an international operation that hit hard against organized crime in the European Union. Photo for illustrative purposes. In a report released on its website, Europol said agents participating in operation Ciconia Alba seized 2.62 tons of cocaine, identified 529 victims of human trafficking, and arrested 314 ...

SAN JOSÉ, Costa Rica, Oct. 19 — A recent study paints a panoramic picture of a surging global trade in illicit cigarettes that is funding groups from Hezbollah and Hamas to the Central American Los Zetas cartel. Contraband cigarettes in Singapore, Facebook, photo for illustrative purposes. The study, "From Ant Smuggling to an Elephant in the Market,” was conducted by CID Gallup for the Cost...

Washington, Oct. 14 — El Salvador came out on top last Friday in its long-running arbitration dispute with OceanaGold Corporation, a Canadian-Australian gold and copper mining company. A gold mine in Myanmar, to give an idea of what even the beginning of such an operation looks like. Photo for illustrative purposes, source - Facebook. The company had sought $250 million in compensation for ...

Mexico, Oct 18 — The executive board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) approved a controversial resolution on Jerusalem's holy sites yesterday that has sparked the outrage of Israel, a spokesman said. Israeli soldiers at the Temple Mount, source Facebook. The international agency's board adopted the motion by consensus (24 votes in favor), alth...

LONDON, Oct. 18 — Today marks the 7th anniversary of Michael Dixon’s disappearance in the seaside holiday town of Tamarindo, Costa Rica, on the country’s northern Pacific coast. Michael Dixon's parents pictured at press conference in London. (PRNewsFoto/David Dixon) His family is still seeking answers on what happened to their loved one, a British journalist. Evidence indicates he was th...

Cancun, Mexico, Oct 15 — Mexico has signed a memorandum of understanding with El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras that lays the groundwork for a joint plan to support migrant workers, Mexico's Labor and Social Welfare Secretariat said. Suger cane workers. Under the Temporary Migrant Labor Program, workers from the three Central American countries will be authorized to work in Mexico for a p...

Buttons made from tagua, and then dyed, Facebook. Shanghai, China, Oct. 12 – Tagua, the nut from a subtropical tree, also known as vegetable ivory because of its white color and hardness, is being promoted by trade body Pro Ecuador in collaboration with Hong Kong firm Yee Fung Hong in Shanghai this week. Tagua, also known as corozo, is increasingly used in the fashion world to substitute pl...

Tegucigalpa, Oct 14 — Amnesty International presented a report last Friday in Honduras that puts much of the blame for the worsening refugee crisis in Central America on the governments of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. Honduras home owners are vulnerable to gang extortion, photo for illustration. "Although countries like Mexico and the U.S.A. are utterly failing to protect Central Am...

CHAPADA DOS GUIMARAES, Brazil — Maia grunts and nervously moves her huge body back and forth while being released from a transport container to a new home. Here, there are no gawking crowds for the Asian elephant that has spent her life in captivity. There are no blows from bull hooks, no one demanding tricks like people did when she was in the circus. Wikimedia Commons Instead, the first e...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.  By Britt Nelson A Canadian billboard, source, Facebook. While Democrat Hillary Clinton takes a few days off the presidential campaign trail supposedly to prepare for Wednesday’s final debate, rest up and attend fundraisers, Republican Donald Trump is ho...

CLIMATE CHANGE Nexus is a line of hydrofluorocarbon-free appliances, Facebook. Kigali, Rwanda, Oct. 15 — Nearly 200 countries reached an agreement Saturday on the phase-out of hydrofluorocarbon gases found in air conditioners, refrigeration devices, foams and aerosols, which have a strong impact on global warming. The agreement, adopted in Kigali after a week of discussions and an all-ni...

Tarik Soto Byfield (born 31 January 1994) is a Costa Rican male artistic gymnast, representing his nation at international competitions. His triumphs in 17-year career are already countless, three times gold medalist in Salamunov Memorial Cup in Slovenia, participation in three World Gymnastic Japan 2011, Belgium 2013 and Scotland 2015, sixth in the final vault at the world Cup Challenge in Do...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8l-QocR_zg...

The Pacuare, Costa Rica's most scenic and most accessible river, spans some of the country's most diverse terrain, passing through densely vegetated primary rain forest, lowland tropical forest and towering waterfalls. Jaguars, ocelots, monkeys, sloths and hundreds of species of birds make this tropical environment their home. With rapids ranging all the way up to class V, the Pacuare is easill...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.  By Britt Nelson How can a voter make an informed decision about the current presidential candidates when most of the information coming out is nothing more than slander, mass media bias, and stolen emails defaming Catholics, effectively burying any real inf...

Asuncion, Oct. 13 — Representatives of political parties from 34 Latin American countries have gathered in Paraguay to articulate a shared vision against the "resurgence of neoliberalism and authoritarianism" in the region. Copppal plenary session in Paraguay, Oct. 13, 2016, Facebook post. Paraguay's former president, Fernando Lugo, made those remarks Thursday at the start of the 34th Perma...

Newton Grove, North Carolina, Oct. 13 — Around a hundred Hispanics have been sleeping in their cars or on the streets since flooding caused by Hurricane Matthew swept away a trailer park in this small North Carolina town. The Lumber River in North Carolina flooded due to Hurricane Matthew, Facebook. "We have lost everything and we don't know what to do. So far, no authorities have come to h...

Asuncion, Oct. 12 — Paraguayan Indians on Wednesday expressed their rejection of an Oct. 12 national holiday marking the anniversary of Christopher Columbus' arrival in the Americas and also denounced the expulsion of indigenous peoples from their ancestral lands. Pai Tavytera indigenous in Paraguay, Wikipedia Leaders of 75 Indian communities who are part of the Coordinating Body of Indigen...

Panama City, Oct. 12 — Hundreds of turtles lay their eggs every year on beaches along Panama's Pacific coast but their hatchlings face numerous threats to survival, both at sea and from stray dogs and poachers. Hawksbill turtle hatchlings in Central America. All along the coast of the small Punta Chame peninsula in central Panama, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) southwest of this capital,...

MORTON COUNTY, N.D., Oct. 10 -- Actress Shailene Woodley was arrested Monday for protesting against the construction of an oil pipeline in North Dakota. She was charged with criminal trespassing after her arrest, news reports said. The actress, who appeared in 2014's The Fault In Our Stars, was demonstrating peacefully with several others when she was arrested. She also livestreamed t...

London, Oct. 11 — British rock musician Rod Stewart was knighted by Britain's Prince William in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday. - from Stewart's Facebook page The 71-year-old rocker received the decoration that Queen Elizabeth II granted to him in June - on the occasion of her 90th birthday - to thank the writer of "Maggie May" and other hits for the "services" he has provided t...

Hurricane Matthew damage in the southeastern U.S., posted on Facebook. Miami, Oct. 10 — At least 10 people have died in North Carolina due to flooding associated with Hurricane Matthew, which has been blamed for a score of fatalities since it began battering the southeastern U.S. coast last week. North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory said Monday that 10 people had died in that state, five others ...

China’s decommissioned Tiangong-1 space station will likely fall to Earth late next year in an apparently unscheduled retirement. Launched in 2011, the small prototype space station was abandoned in 2013 at the end of its life span. Now, however, Chinese officials have announced that the space station will burn up in Earth’s atmosphere sometime late next year. The uncertainty about the exact date ...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.  By Britt Nelson Cartoon by Clay Jones Despite everything that’s happened this week, from disgusting juvenile comments demeaning a woman to Sunday night’s debate, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump remains a contender in his campaign against ...

Guatemala City, Oct. 8 — Some 800,000 young people in Guatemala neither work nor study, and therefore represent a "risk" to society and to themselves as their unemployment becomes permanent. Elementary school in Guatemala, Facebook. That was the alarm sounded in an interview by EFE with Veronica Spross, director of Entrepreneurs for Education, one of the 13 organizations that make up the NG...

MOSCOW, Oct. 9 -- Tensions continue to rise between the United States and Russia as the Russian foreign minister said Sunday recent actions and statements threaten his country's national security. Russian marines take part in the landing operation during the strategic military exercises at the Khmelevka training range in the Kaliningrad region on the Baltic Sea in 2009. More recently, in Octob...