The New York Times in Spanish New York, Feb 8 (EFE).- The New York Times launched Monday a Spanish-language Web site, a new platform for expanding its presence in the Spanish-speaking market with articles translated from English and others originally written in Spanish. The project comes in addition to a weekly print edition that has been distributed for several years in the Hispanic world....

Nicaraguan poet Ruben Dario (1867-1916). Photo: Public Domain MANAGUA (EFE) Nicaraguan poet Ruben Dario (1867-1916) was declared Saturday a "national hero" of Nicaragua, in a special session of the National Assembly marking the centennial of his death. The plenary session of the National Assembly named Dario a "national hero" because "with his pen and intellect as well as arms, he defended ...

Wikimedia Commons Rio de Janeiro, Feb 5 (EFE).- Mayor Eduardo Paes took the opportunity of Friday's ceremony marking the state of Rio's famous Carnival to urge residents of Brazil's second city not to forget the fight against the mosquito that transmits the Zika virus and dengue fever. "Don't forget the mosquito, which now brings us a new disease, Zika," he said. The spread of Zika and i...

Enoc and Dr. Rosemary SylvesterBradley of ChocoPrisma. Photo: Bryan Fabio Herrera By Carol Blair Vaughn This interview was conducted on January 29th, 2016, at Bazookas Restaurant in Perez Zeledon, after a meeting of a club for English speakers (CCRC), at which Enoc Jimenez was the guest speaker.  The Ngobe Indigenous straddle the Costa Rica – Panama border, and trace their lineage back to a...

Source: National Geographic WASHINGTON, Jan. 8, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Since its launch in January 2015, National Geographic Unique Lodges of the World has nearly doubled the number of properties in its impressive collection, increasing its geographic breadth to the Canadian High Arctic, Brazil's Atlantic Forest, theSeychelles, the mountains of northern Greece and beyond. The colle...

Justin Bieber performs in 2011. Wikimedia Commons Cancun, Mexico, Jan 8 (EFE).- Singer Justin Bieber was thrown out of the Tulum archaeological site on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula after his security personnel got into an argument with the guards of the pre-Columbian location. Adriana Velazquez, regional delegate of the National Anthropology and History Institute, or INAH, told EFE that the a...

Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman. Source: Wikimedia Commons By Raul Cortes Mexico City, Jan 6 (EFE).- The spectacular escape of drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" (Shorty) Guzman from prison last July had all the ingredients for a movie and a feature film chronicling his breakout will hit Mexican theaters on Jan. 15, the distributor told EFE. "Chapo. El escape del siglo" (Chapo: The Escape of the Centur...

Source: Flickr Commons A man gored by a bull during the traditional holiday “bullfights,” known as "Toros a la Tica," is currently under intensive care at the Calderon Guardia hospital in the capital city of Costa Rica.   The incident took place during the afternoon run of Sunday, January 4th, and it was broadcast live by national television network Teletica. The man has been identi...

Source: Flickr Commons A group of activists plans to stage a protest against animal abuse at the Zapote holiday fairgrounds, located in the eastern suburbs of San Jose, on Sunday afternoon. The protesters specifically want to call attention to the holiday events known as “Toros a la Tica,” which are sometimes characterized as bullfights, but they are more of a cross between the running of the ...

Jack Donnelly By Jack Donnelly Article 75 of the Constitution states that Costa Rica is a Catholic country. That sounds more theocratic than the reality. The majority of Ticos will readily affirm they are Catholics, but many are rather laid back in their approach to observance and dogma. This is especially true in the areas of relationships, marriage, divorce, birth control, etc. There is a...

Source: Flickr CC On the morning of Saturday, December 26th,  the traditional Gran Tope Nacional de Costa Rica (equestrian parade) will kick off next to the train tracks of Plaza Viquez, where it will continue on to Avenida Segunda (Second Avenue) until 14th street before flowing through Paseo Colon until La Sabana Metropolitan Park. The participation of thousands of horses and riders in th...

In 2014,  the School of Statistics at the University of Costa Rica published a report (PDF) that focused on topics beyond the traditional demographics. The 2014 Current Events Survey investigated sentiment and facts related to Pope Francis, Ebola, football, mosquito-borne diseases, extraterrestrial life, and even Christmas traditions. With regard to Christmas and the end-of-year holidays, the S...

Fiserv Costa Rica BROOKFIELD, Wis. & BARREAL DE HEREDIA, Costa Rica--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), a leading global provider of financial services technology solutions, today announced that a web-based application created during the Fiserv 2nd Annual Programathon will further the education of 50,190 schoolchildren in Costa Rica, Honduras and Nicaragua. Bringing together ...

Jack Donnelly By Jack Donnelly If you don’t want to see a bull bleeding and dying in front of you, don’t worry: in Costa Rica the bulls win! Costa Rican style bullfighting, toros a la tica, is nothing like the gory spectacles that take place in Mexico and Spain. Here the bulls are well cared for and almost never injured. Tico (Costa Rican) friends of mine joke about the bulls’ contracts cal...

Wikimedia Commons By Carol Blair Vaughn Last week, President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos announced via Twitter that Colombia had found the Spanish galleon San Jose, which he called “the most valuable treasure that has been found in the history of humanity.” Legend holds that the San Jose was sunk on June 8, 1708, in the Caribbean Sea near Cartagena, Colombia, with a treasure on board ...

"Eva Longoria at Imagine Cup 2011 11" by ImagineCup - Imagine Cup 2011. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons By Antoni Belchi Miami, Dec 4 (EFE).- U.S. actress of Mexican descent Eva Longoria admits she has sometimes felt rejected by the Latino community because she didn't speak Spanish "perfectly," so she had to improve her command of the language so she wouldn't feel "undervalue...

By Carol Blair Vaughn Facebook Quizzes – what an entertaining and harmless way to spend an evening at home in Costa Rica, especially now that darkness falls sooner. A new quiz which went viral last week, “What Are Your Most Used Words on Facebook”, enticed 17.5 million people to try it out online, according to The Los Angeles Times. The app was created by a South Korean company named Vonvon,...

(PRWEB) December 01, 2015 - What started out as a few pointers and a list of vocabulary words for a few Spanish students, has evolved into a turbo-charged web site, packed with resources for Spanish teachers and students. Conversa, a Costa Rica-based Spanish immersion school, and developer of SpanishBackpack.com, has just announced that it plans to offer the service free of charge. This is grea...

Fans of tattoos and body art in Costa Rica will be able to get inked for a good cause this holiday season. According to a news report filed by Paula Ruiz of national news daily La Prensa Libre, two tattoo artists wish to help homeless pets by offering discounted body art before Christmas. Cuban tattoo artists Judiel Noel and Frank Enamorado will set up shop at La Rosa Negra (The Black Rose), a ...

Garcia Marquez. Source: Flickr Commons Bogota, Nov 27 (EFE).- Bolivian author Magela Baudoin won the Gabriel Garcia Marquez Spanish American Short Story Award on Friday for her collection "La composicion de la sal" (Salt's Composition), the jury in this capital said. The jury, whose decision was read by writer Conrado Zuluaga, hailed Baudoin's "great talent" and her "skill in telling storie...

Oxford Dictionary By Carol Blair Vaughn Oxford Dictionary has announced its Word of The Year for 2015 – and SURPRISE!! – It’s not a word at all! This year’s word is the emoji “Face with Tears of Joy”, which was found to be used by more folks than any other emoji worldwide.  It turns out that Costa Rica has sent the most emoji art in the world in 2015, in our digital communication, accord...

US CBP Press Release - Additional Reporting by The Costa Rica Star / LOS ANGELES—U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agriculture specialists assigned to the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) seized 450 prohibited pork meat tamales discovered inside the luggage of a passenger arriving from Mexico, on November 2. The passenger, who was referred to agriculture examination, marked “YES” ...

ZURICH, November 3, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The EF English Proficiency Index 2015 Shows the State of Worldwide English Proficiency EF Education First released today the 5th annual edition of its EF English Proficiency Index (EF EPI), the world's largest ranking of countries by English skills. The report identifies global and regional English language learning trends and analyzes the relationship b...

The killer in Merciless stalks his next victim. Source: Globo International Globo’s production of series, known worldwide for its unique character and high quality, is set to delight the Costa Rican audience. Teletica, the largest TV network in Costa Rica, has licensed six titles from the Brazilian broadcaster’s 2015 catalog: the series ‘Merciless’ and ‘The Hunter’, the miniseries ‘Doomed’ and...

Garcia Marquez. Source: Flickr Commons Austin, Texas, Oct 29 (EFE).- When a young Salman Rushdie was introduced to the English edition of "One Hundred Years of Solitude" in 1975, shortly after having his first novel - "Grimus" - published, it marked the beginning of a love affair with the work of Colombian Nobel literature laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez, an author he never met in person. T...

Source: Ginger Software BOSTON, Oct. 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Ginger keyboard, the leading mobile keyboard and writing enhancement app, announced today that it received Google Play Editor's Choice Award. The Google Play Editor's Choice award is given to apps chosen for their quality, user interface, long-term popularity and innovation. Ginger is one of the few, hand-selected, keyboard apps ...

Surf Rock Reggae by Mr. Kowalsky From October 26th to October 31st, Costa Rica's own Mr. Kowalsky will make media appearances in Mexico to introduce the new album SURF ROCK REGGAE, play acoustic gigs, show the new video clip for the single “LIVE ONCE” and more. SURF ROCK REGGAE was recorded at Hurley Recordings Studio in Costa Mesa, California, earlier this year. In this new album, Mr. Kowa...

DelSexto blog Havana, Oct 20 (EFE). - Cuban graffiti artist Danilo "El Sexto" Maldonado, who has been on a hunger strike for four days, was freed Tuesday after being jailed for 10 months without trial in a prison outside of Havana, as he himself told EFE from his family home. "I'm very happy to be here at home. What I want to do now is see my daughter and thank everybody who made such an ou...

New York, Oct 19 (EFE). - Portuguese historian Manuel Rosa, a specialist in studies about Christopher Columbus, again casts doubt on the traditional account that the great navigator was born in Italy, and says he has found convincing evidence to the contrary. In a new article published by the Legal History Review at Connecticut's Quinnipiac University, Rosa says the testament of Columbus on whi...

Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance Press Release – Join the MWPA and Longfellow Books to celebrate the launch of award-winning poet Jeffrey Thomson’s debut memoir Fragile (Red Mountain Press). Thomson’s poetry collection Birdwatching in Wartime won the 2010 Maine Literary Award for Poetry. When Jeffrey Thomson travels to Costa Rica first at twenty-two, he has no idea he is beginning a journe...

What effect does environmental degradation have on local communities? How do you produce enough food to sustain humanity? Why do so many racial and ethnic minorities and the poor live in places that are detrimental to their health? How can people live in harmony with the environment while having access to modern conveniences? According to Dr. Patricia Campion, Saint Leo University asso...

Source: Saatchi Art COSTA RICA, ZEPHYR PALACE (PRWEB) SEPTEMBER 25, 2015 -- Without a doubt, the work of Marco Battaglini (Verona, Italy, 1969) echoes the anxiety inherent in Western society during the 21st century. This artist’s work confronts us with an esthetic shock, a style charged with eclecticism and a touch of humor that brings a smile to the spectator’s face while begging questions abou...

Source: Univision Miami, Sep 20 (EFE).- With tears in his eyes, iconic television host Don Francisco bade farewell on the weekend to the program "Sabado Gigante" after 53 years on the air, a broadcasting run that turned it into a world TV landmark. In his last appearance before the cameras on the extraordinarily popular program, the 75-year-old Chilean received the prerecorded congratulatio...

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Sept. 18, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Yaveo is throwing its first-ever virtual film festival to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month. The Spanish-language streaming entertainment service is a premier sponsor of the 2015 Cine+Mas San Francisco Latino Film Festival. Yaveo will show its support of Latino cinema in 2 more ways. A virtual film festival will run on the Yaveo streaming servi...

Source: Facebook Law enforcement and intelligence agents fighting the United States-led War on Drugs and looking for the fugitive boss of the Sinaloa Cartel are scaling down their search efforts for Joaquin “Chapo” Guzman in Costa Rica. In recent weeks, a Twitter update purportedly from the son of the fugitive boss of the powerful Sinaloa Cartel set news media outlets afire and prompted law...

Garcia Marquez. Source: Flickr Commons Miami, Sep 6 (EFE).- The FBI spied on Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez for 24 years, including during the years in which he became an internationally known writer, according to documents declassified by the agency and published on the weekend by The Washington Post. The paper reported that at its request the federal agency declassified 137 pages...

Wikimedia Commons Washington, Sep 5 (EFE).- Aretha Franklin stopped the screening Friday night of the documentary "Amazing Grace" at the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado after a federal judge ruled in favor of the artist's suit against showing the film without her permission. Based on a question of the singer's rights, U.S. District Judge John L. Kane ruled in a court order, to which EFE...

Phoenixville, PA, September 03, 2015 --(PR.com)-- Watching the world go by makes Daniel the iguana very happy. In fact, he loves relaxing in the warm sunshine of his rainforest home. Some of the forest’s busier animals just don’t get it, but that’s OK with Daniel, who stars in Buffie Biddle’s first children’s book, released by Dog Ear Publishing. In the end, he teaches children that they should be...

Wikimedia Commons ITV Press Release - Seven years ago, Stephen Fry travelled through all fifty states of the USA in a black cab. But he’s always been fascinated by events south of the border, so now, in this brand new four-part series, he embarks on an adventure into America’s backyard. Travelling through Mexico and the entire Central American isthmus, to the Panamanian border with South Am...

Today, August 31st, Costa Rica celebrates Afro Costa Rican Day, and one of the first activities that many Ticos will undertake this morning will consist of enjoying the most iconic dish of this country. It so happens that gallo pinto, a delicious breakfast that masterfully combines day-old rice and beans with fresh vegetables and spices, is a meal that we owe to Afro Caribbean immigrants in the fi...