EFE New York, Feb 25 (EFE).- The FBI on Wednesday arrested three New York residents who allegedly were planning to join the jihadist Islamic State and commit terrorist acts in the United States, officials with the agency and the Justice Department said. Abdurasul Hasanovich Juraboev and Abror Habibov, both citizens of Uzbekistan, and Akhror Saidakhmetov, a citizen of Kazakhstan, are facing ...

Chelsea F.C. fans celebrate their team's 1-1 draw against Paris Saint-Germain in Champions League action Tuesday in the French capital. EFE London, Feb 19 (EFE).- Chelsea F.C. said Thursday it is suspending three fans who are being investigated for a racist incident earlier this week on the Paris Metro and could bar them from Stamford Bridge permanently. “If it is deemed there is sufficient...

Quepos is one of the most important sites for world-class sportfishing in Costa Rica. Long renowned as one of Costa Rica’s prize fishing destinations, anglers have luck offshore of this popular Central Pacific port town just about any month of the year – though December through April mark the peak season for landing marlin and sailfish. Big game, luck, fame and prize money have lured hundreds o...

On November 16, 2014, Gregory David Fischer, the 40-year old boyfriend of Ann Patton Bender, was found dead in his bed in Escazu, Costa Rica. According to his brother, Brian Fischer, “He was found lying peacefully in his bed with his puppy at his side.” Authorities have ruled out foul play in his untimely death. A heart or asthma attack is the suspected cause of death, according to authorities....

  Source: Gamping.com Airbnb, Viviun and HomeAway are three of the various online platforms used by property owners in Costa Rica to offer their homes for short-term rentals to foreign visitors. A similar business model is being offered by gamping.com, a new site that is being advertised as a sort of “Airbnb for campers.” Gamping is a portmanteau of “garden” and “camping,” and this tou...

From drugs to oil and from the iPhone 6 to jade and timber, smuggling in China is a thriving business that generates billions of dollars each year. Perpetrators of these economic crimes must somehow launder their illicit profits, and smuggling currency out of China seems to be their preferred method. Macau, a former Portuguese colony that now operates as an autonomous region of China, is one of...

Source: CONCACAF Following a lengthy period of air travel that lasted nearly 24 hours, the National Men's Football Team of Costa Rica, affectionately known as “La Sele,” arrived in the oil-rich Sultanate of Oman, a nation that is strategically located along the southern and eastern coasts of the Arabian Peninsula. La Sele may be a long way from home, but at least one star player was not able t...

At a press conference given by Minister of Trade John Fonseca, the opening date for the new border crossing checkpoint along the northern border with Nicaragua was set for April 2015. The new checkpoint will be located in the Tablillas community of Los Chiles, province of Alajuela.   According to a news report by Jacqueline Solano of news daily Diario Extra, the Tablillas border checkpo...

A controversial multi-level marketing (MLM) system based in Canada recently announced the inauguration of a new chapter in Costa Rica. The name of this MLM system is Organo Gold, and its main feature is instant coffee. The Facebook Timeline of Organo Gold Costa Rica posted a message on October 4th that stated:   Today we make history as thousands of people in Costa Rica who have believed ...

Many tourists and expatriate residents in Costa Rica have come to the conclusion that the “Switzerland of the Americas” is called that way not only because of her politically neutral stance or the quiet pastoral scenes in mountain landscapes. Switzerland is known as one of the most expensive places in the world, and Costa Rica can now boast to have that in common with the Swiss Confederation. Than...

For many years, residents, business owners and tourists in the Manuel Antonio community of Quepos have complained about an increase in street-level crimes. From drug dealing to pick pocketing and from vehicle theft to illegal sidewalk sales, street crime has grown on the beach and extended into the pristine Manuel Antonio National Park, one of Costa Rica’s most visited natural attractions. Various...

Source: Wikimedia Commons Following the September 27th eruption of Mount Ontake, a volcano in Japan that was considered to be mostly dormant since 1979, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Costa Rica issued an official communiqué extending condolences and solidarity to the honorable people of this Asian island nation at a time when the death count has climbed to 54.   Hiking to the p...

American citizen, Ann Patton Bender, who was accused of murdering her husband, John Felix Bender, in Costa Rica in 2010, has been moved out of the ICU, and into the women’s prison, El Buen Pastor, located in San Rafael Arriba de Desamparados, in San Jose. Ms. Bender has been sentenced to 22 years for first-degree murder, following an initial acquittal of the charges in January 2013, of killing ...

Among reptiles, snakes are the most adaptive group and there are an estimated 2,900 species in the world. In Costa Rica, there are 139 species of snakes, representing 60% of the reptiles of the country. 22 species are venomous and the remaining 117 species are non-venomous. Snakes are found in almost all regions of Costa Rica, including the low lands, volcanic slopes, and even as high as 9,000 fee...

What if you heard a tale of a mysterious murder/suicide in an 30,000-square foot glass mansion, with 550 Tiffany lamps, 3,000 loose rubies, diamonds, and sapphires, a helipad, and a moat separating it from one of the world’s most rugged jungles – would you think this was a movie script, or the plotline of a pulp fiction novel? It happens to all be true, and it happens to have taken place in Per...

Ann Maxine Patton, the U.S. woman who was accused of killing her wealthy husband, John Felix Bender while he slept in their sprawling estate in Baru, Perez Zeledon in 2010, was found guilty of murder yesterday after a retrial and sentenced to 22 years in prison. The judgment was handed down at 3:20 p.m. yesterday by the criminal court in Perez Zeledon after a nearly two-week long retrial. The s...

Tanker trucks may provide water during shortage and rationing periods, throughout San Jose provinceUp to 40,000 people or more could be affected by a water shortage this dry season, as supply tanks of the Instituto Costarricense de Acueductos y Alcantarillados (AyA) reach minimum levels. The water and sewer utility general manager, Sergui Nuñez, confirmed that the Gran Area Metropolitana (GAM) ...

Ann Maxine Patton, the U.S. woman who was accused of killing her wealthy husband, John Felix Bender while he slept in their sprawling estate in Baru, Perez Zeledon, will face a retrial of the case after a court dropped the charges against the woman in January. In the original trial, Patton was accused of shooting her husband in the head, and charged with first-degree murder. Patton, however, cl...

Members of the brutal street gangs widely known as Maras continue to wreak havoc in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras -- but why haven’t they taken root in Costa Rica as well? MS-13 and M-18, the two strongest and most widespread Mara gangs, were spawned in the 1980s in poor Los Angeles neighborhoods by disaffected Central American youth. Most were transplanted to the US by their families, de...

This is a funny list of rules that Ticos follow to truly embrace the concept of Pura Vida in Costa Rica, thank you to Mike Poynton for the guest article. 1. "Yesterday never happened and tomorrow does not exist". Every day is the first day. 2. "I don't know" is NEVER an acceptable answer to a question. If you don't know the answer, pretend like you do. 3. Having more than one family is OK. Re...

Popular throughout Central American countries, though not readily available in the USA, “Guaro” is a distilled liquor originating in Costa Rica. Manufactured from sugar cane juice, Guaro has a high alcohol content, clear coloring and a strong but slightly sweet flavor. Most commonly mixed with fruit juice or soda (Fresca being a favorite), few people choose to consume this liquor in straight sh...

Playas del Coco is one of the more well known beach towns in the country for both locals and tourists. Although it is one of the smaller beaches in the Guanacaste region, it is still full of nightlife and activities to do such as scuba diving, sport fishing, and snorkeling along with many bars and restaurants. During the main holidays such as New Year and Easter, Playas del Coco becomes packed wi...

The Perez Zeledon Court dropped its charges and absolved Ann Maxine Patton, who was suspected of murdering her husband, yesterday afternoon. After deciding it had insufficient evidence to convict her, the court set Patton free, and dismissed the charges against her. Patton, since her husband’s death, has always maintained her version of the events, stating her husband, John Felix Bender, had co...

Prosecutors and the District Attorney are asking for a 25-year prison sentence for U.S. citizen, Ann Maxine Patton, accused of killing husband, John Felix Bender in 2010 in the couple’s home located in Florida de Baru, Perez Zeledon. Since his death, Patton has continuously insisted that her husband’s death was a suicide gone wrong. Yesterday, during closing arguments, and based on expert te...

The defense of U.S. citizen, Ann Maxine Patton, on trial since Monday in Costa Rica on charges of murdering her husband, John Felix Bender, received a serious blow as a forensic doctor “ruled out,” the chance that her husband committed suicide. Bender died from a gunshot wound to the head. In her initial testimony on Monday, Patton stated that she did not murder her husband, but rather that Ben...

The trial of Ann Maxine Patton, 42, began in Costa Rica on Monday. The U.S. woman is facing first-degree murder charges stemming from the death of her husband, John Felix Bender. Prosecutors say the woman shot her husband in the head. The alleged murder occurred in January 2010, on the 4th floor of the couple’s mansion, located on a 5,000-acre estate in Baru, Perez Zeledon, in Costa Rica. The P...

Note: This article is not intended to be a definitive guide on choosing a dentist or dental surgeon in Costa Rica, it serves as a reminder that often things sound to good to be true, so be careful where you get your dental work done. I just saw this headline in a magazine: “World-Class Dental Services at 50-70% Savings over U.S. Prices!” A lot of other verbiage, mostly misleading, continues. Th...

Drug use, violence and suicide are just some of the topics covered by Warren Ulloa’s novel. But, I wonder, how does this writer see the world? Under the rain, there is no God. With those six words, Warren Ulloa Argüello earned the National Literature Award for 2011, amidst both controversy and praise. I put cars aside for a moment and sit down with Warren, in the middle of a crowded Chinese res...