By Wendy Anders Costa Rica’s national beach soccer team faced off against Japan in two friendly matches this weekend, said the Costa Rican soccer federation (Fedefut). During Saturday's match at the beach soccer field at Fedefut’s Alajuela soccer complex, the Japanese played a game of great speed with effective offensive action, reported Fedefut. This duel ended with a score of 4-3 in fav...

Uncertainty surrounding the economic policy in the United States under the new administration will bring financial stability to Asian markets during the first half of 2017, prominent economists and strategists of HSBC in Hong Kong said Thursday. Several financiers of the world's sixth largest bank by total assets said Donald Trump's political strategies will spur economic development during the f...

Sydney, Australia, Jan. 16 — The Australian government on Monday condemned Japan for resuming its whaling activities in Antarctic waters following the release of photographs of a dead protected whale aboard a Japanese ship inside Australia's Antarctic whale sanctuary. Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg said the Australian government was "deeply disappointed" after the Sea Shepherd organizatio...

Mexico City, Jan. 14 — A fish endemic to Mexico's Gulf of California has been the target of poaching for decades because its swim bladder is highly coveted in China, where it is believed to possess aphrodisiac and medicinal properties. Illegal fishing of the critically endangered totoaba furthermore threatens to drive another unique marine species to extinction, such as the vaquita, a type of p...

BEIJING, Jan. 13 -- China's state tabloid accused U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's pick for secretary of state of "rabble rousing" and warned of "war," after Rex Tillerson condemned Beijing's construction of artificial islands in the South China Sea during his Senate confirmation hearing. The Global Times editorial published Friday called Tillerson's suggestion to block China's access to the...

Taipei, Jan. 7 — The president of Taiwan on Saturday embarked on a trip to Central America, with controversial stopovers in the United States, in a bid to strengthen the island nation's ties with Latin America after the re-emergence of its diplomatic war with China. Tsai Ing-wen, accompanied by businessmen and officials, will travel to Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador - four of Ta...

Tokyo, Jan. 6 — Japan decided Friday to recall its ambassador in Seoul over a controversial statue dedicated to comfort women that was installed in front of its consulate in South Korea. The statue was erected last week in front of the Japanese diplomatic mission in the coastal city of Busan by a civic organization after the local government's approval and provoked a protest from Tokyo. "We ...

Forget pallbearers - in Taiwan, fifty exotic female dancers were hired to exhibit their moves on top of luxury vehicles in an unusual, and steamy way to see a Taiwanese politician off to the afterlife, said international reports. The son of the deceased Chiayi county politician, Tung Hsiang, organized the procession, as he spoke of his father’s excitement for life to the Oriental Daily News. ...

Today, we celebrate another big win for elephant conservation with China’s game-changing decision to end domestic ivory trade by 2017. The new regulations come as part of the government’s efforts to reduce demand for elephant ivory and help end the global elephant poaching crisis. "China’s announcement is a game changer for elephant conservation," said Carter Roberts, president and CEO of WWF. ...

Bangkok Desk, Dec. 29 — Fifteen people have been detained in Australia in connection with the seizure of 1.1 tons of cocaine in an international operation against a drug smuggling ring, police officials said Thursday. A total of 500 kilograms were seized on Dec. 25 in the southern Australian state of New South Wales, and over 600 kilograms bound for Australia were intercepted in March in Tahiti, ...

Beijing, Dec. 28 — Fast-food restaurant chain McDonald's is considering selling its China franchise either to the Chinese state-owned financial conglomerate CITIC or the American investment fund Carlyle, official newspaper China Daily reported Wednesday. McDonald's operates more than 2,200 establishments in China and Hong Kong, valued at around $2 billion, according to the newspaper, which provid...

Sydney, Australia, Dec. 16 — The saturation of the dolphin-watching market in several Asian countries is endangering the population of the marine mammals, according to an international study released on Friday. The research focused on seven popular areas of dolphin watching in Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines between 2008 and 2014, and in almost all cases the market w...

Washington, Dec 8 — A magnitude-6.5 earthquake rattled California's northern coast on Thursday morning, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said. 7.7 earthquake in the Solomon Islands, Thursday, Dec. 8, source Facebook. There have been no reports thus far of casualties or significant material damage. The temblor occurred at 6:49 am (1449 GMT) off the coast, with its epicenter located 160 k...

Tokyo  — Japan activated its tsunami alert system early Tuesday local time after a magnitude-7.3 earthquake struck off the coast of the northeastern prefecture of Fukushima. Japan's north and central eastern coast is on high tsunami alert after a 7.3 quake. The temblor, which occurred at 5:59 am (20:59 GMT Monday), was felt strongly in Tokyo, some 200 kilometers (120 miles) away. Japanes...

Quito, Nov. 18 — Visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping joined Ecuador's Rafael Correa on Friday for the inauguration of the Andean nation's largest hydroelectric dam, largely financed through a loan from China's Export-Import Bank. Ecuadorian and Chinese Presidents meet, source Facebook. A day after proclaiming a "comprehensive strategic association" between their two nations, the president...

Thomson Reuters Foundation / Sixty percent of the world's 5.9 million children who died before their fifth birthday last year were in 10 countries in Asia and Africa, said a study published on Friday, prompting calls for action to reduce the mortality. The study published in The Lancet medical journal said the latest data highlights the inequality in children's death among the 194 countries it ...

Beijing, Nov. 10 — China hopes to take its economic relations with Latin America to a new level as its president is set to begin an official tour of Ecuador, Peru and Chile. Chinese President Xi Jinping, source Facebook. During his tour, between Nov. 17 and 23, Xi Jinping will meet with presidents of the three countries and sign two separate sets of cooperation agreements, including econo...

Tokyo, Nov 7 — The armed forces of Japan and the United States began today their first joint military maneuvers under Japan's new legislation allowing their troops to fight abroad. U.S. military DASH-8 aircraft. Wikimedia Commons The maneuvers, which will last until Wednesday, integrate some 25,000 soldiers from the Japan Self-Defense Forces and 11,000 Americans into Keen Sword, the joint o...

Manila, Oct 28 — Nearly one hundred women demonstrated in front of the United States embassy in Manila on Friday to demand that the U.S. government withdraw its troops and allow the Philippines government to pursue its own domestic and foreign policies, according to police. Authorities had put up roadblocks in anticipation of the protest, organized through social media channels by the Gabriela ...

Tokyo, Oct 31 — The parents of a Japanese boy who was killed in a road accident caused by a driver who was busy playing Pokemon GO have urged for measures to stop the use of the gaming app while driving, says a report in Japanese daily Asahi Monday. UseKöl video game, Facebook Nine-year-old Keita Noritake was killed last Wednesday after he was run over by a truck whose driver was distracted...

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...

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...

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 ...

By Wendy Anders Costa Rican leaders ready for a trade mission next week to enhance trade relations with South Korea. Last year 71 Costa Rican companies exported 62 different products to South Korea, including radio and television parts, green coffee, medical prostheses, bananas, and pineapples, said the Foreign Ministry yesterday. Costa Rican officials will seek to expand market opportuni...

NOBEL MEDICINE  Tokyo, Oct. 3 — Japanese biologist Yoshinori Ohsumi, who won the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering the mechanism of cellular autophagy, underlined Monday the importance of challenges. After hearing about his win, the 71-year-old scientist told media outlets the recognition by Stockholm's Karolinska Institute was an honor because his study was in basic m...

AUSTRALIA CLIMATE CHANGE Australia's oceans. Sydney, Sept. 27 — As climate change leads to the warming and acidification of water, the males of a marine crustacean species in Australia will become more attractive to the females of that species, according to a study published Tuesday. A group of researchers studied the behavior of the herbivorous amphipod, Cymadusa pemptos, that inhabit the...

CHINA TECHNOLOGY Anbot robot, from Facebook. Beijing, Sept. 26 — Shenzhen International Airport in southern China, one of the country's busiest airports, has employed robots to patrol one of its terminals, making it one of the first public places in China to do so. According to the official People's Daily, the Anbot robots are oval-shaped and resemble the Star Wars 'R2D2' robot or the Da...

CHINA INCIDENTS Photo for illustrative purposes. Beijing, Sept. 24 — A Chinese girl aged 16 has been detained after she confessed to starving her mother to death, allegedly to avenge being sent by her parents to a notoriously harsh treatment center for Internet addiction, according to local media reports Saturday. The teenaged girl, identified by the police as Chen Xinran (not her real n...

  Hundreds of jaguar's teeth have been seized in Bolivia The trafficking of jaguar teeth from Bolivia's natural parks to China has sparked worries that Asian smugglers are boosting this illegal trade. Between 2014 and 2016, 800 jaguar teeth have been seized by Bolivian authorities, suggesting that around 200 animals have been killed, reported the Bolivian Environment Forum (Foro Bo...

BEIJING, Sept. 17 -- The FAW Group, a state-owned car manufacturer, will recall 22,817 Mazda cars due to defective dusk seal rings, according to China's top quality supervisor. The affected vehicles include 3,881 Mazda CX-7 cars manufactured between Jan. 6, 2013 and Aug. 13, 2014, and 18,936 Mazda 8 cars manufactured between April 19, 2010 and July 21, 2014, the General Administration of Qu...

Shanghai, China, Sept. 15 - The proposed inter-oceanic railroad linking South America's Atlantic coast with its Pacific shores via Brazil and Peru will cost around $60 billion, Peruvian Vice-President and Transport Minister Martin Vizcarra revealed Thursday. "The preliminary report says the corridor would exceed $60 billion; given these figures and other projects that could be more urgent, it h...

Beijing, Sept. 12 - The U.S.-led war against terror has "led to more terrorism," and must be corrected, warned China's state-run news agency Xinhua yesterday on the 15th anniversary of the downing of the World Trade Center towers in New York City. An opinion piece by the news agency says military intervention in Iraq, Libya, Syria, and other places has led to European allies (of the U.S.) "to b...

By Wendy Anders Source: PRC FM The China-Latin America 10th Annual Business Summit is set to take place in China's northern Hebei Province in October, reported the China Xinhua News Network Corporation today. Chinese officials visiting Costa Rica say the activity is intended to boost economic and trade cooperation between the two countries, and with the Latin American region as a whole. ...

Part II in a series on 2018 Winter Olympic hopeful, Andre Moreno Hamm. By Wendy Anders It’s not the way most colllege students start their year in the U.S., but bi-national Andre Moreno Hamm, Costa Rica’s Winter Olympic hopeful slopestyle skier, isn’t your usual student. And right now, his studies at Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah are on hold while he's in South America for a sk...

Vienna, Sept. 9.- The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) confirmed on Friday that it has detected an "unusual seismic activity" in North Korea, indicating a possible new nuclear test by Kim Jong-un's communist regime. Source: Courrier International (France) "Our monitoring stations picked up an unusual seismic event in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)...

Mao Zedong declares the founding of the modern People's Republic of China, October 1, 1949. Wikipedia. Mao is not an easy family name to carry in China, and a great-nephew of the epochal Chinese leader Mao Zedong, seems to understand that well, and acknowledges the importance his family attaches to maintaining their ancestor's good name. Mao Anping, 72, spoke about his great-uncle's life an...

By Wendy Ander Listed as Endangered since 1990, the Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is now listed as Vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the group that assesses and catalogues plants and animals facing a high risk of global extinction. In a recent update of their Red List of Threatened Species, the IUCN says the Giant Panda’s population has grown...

By Wendy Anders Japan yesterday opened its 'scientific whaling' season on the north coast of country, during which it expects to capture 51 minke whales, said the Japanese Fisheries Agency to the Spanish newswire EFE. The season will end late October in the North Pacific, and it’s stated aim is to help manage maritime resources based on an analysis of the stomach contents of captured whales. ...

Wikimedia Commons By Igor G. Barbero for EFE He may not be able to close his fists perfectly yet, owing to a layer of warts that are still on his palms, but the "Tree Man" of Bangladesh is pleased with his new hands after a string of surgeries freed them of the burden of warts that resembled the bark of a tree. Now awaiting cosmetic touch-ups, 27-year-old Abul Bajandar, is thinking about...

Nintendo - Niantic The death of a woman, who was killed after she was hit by a car whose driver was distracted playing Pokemon Go, is the first recorded fatality related to the popular smartphone game in Japan, media reported Thursday. Keiji Goo, 39, was arrested Wednesday after his van hit two women in Tokushima (southwest), killing one of them, aged 72. The other woman, aged 60, suffer...