Nonstop flights from London's Gatwick airport to Costa Rica's Daniel Oduber Quiros International Airport in Liberia are available from £299 round-trip. Hurry before they are gone! These dirt cheap fares are for travel from August 29 – September 5, 2017. The flights can be found on SKYSCANNER According to the airline website, "Thomson Airways was set up in 1962 (formally Britannia) and has...

Did you know that Costa Rica is one of three Latin America country to have a piece of the infamous Berlin Wall on exhibit, along with Mexico and Argentina? The 3-meter tall slab is on display inside the Costa Rican Foreign Ministry on Street 13 in downtown San José's Otoya neighborhood. The beautiful historic building is commonly known as the "Casa Amarilla." After the wall fell on November ...

The Costa Rican Government and the European Union (EU) signed a joint declaration Tuesday affirming their commitment to gender equality, and empowerment of women and girls. The support is part of a regional program to promote the economic empowerment of working women through responsible business conduct, and consists of 9.5 million euros in funding for Costa Rica and five other beneficiary coun...

German carrier, Lufthansa, announced today that it will include a direct Frankfurt - San Jose connection on its summer flight schedule for 2018. Starting March 29, 2018, a non-stop Lufthansa flight will take off every Thursday and Saturday from Frankfurt to Costa Rica. This is the seventh European airline to announce a direct connection to Costa Rica in the last three years. Lufthansa, one o...

The British engineering firm, Mott MacDonald, announced yesterday the delivery of the much-awaited masterplan for the proposed new international airport in Orotina, Alajuela, Costa Rica. The project will replace Costa Rica’s Juan Santamaria International Airport, which will be unable to meet future passenger demand beyond 2026. The 12-month feasibility study forecasts a demand of 7.8 million...

A transnational effort to combat organized crime is taking off with leadership from the European Union. A 3-day meeting this week in San José marks the kick-off with representatives from 18 Latin American countries joining the new effort: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela an...

Air France started operating the Paris-San José route back in November or 2016 and the service so far was only offered during the European winter from October through March, the airline had already announced in March of this year that thanks to the success they’d had the operation would add a third flight for the 2017-2018 season. Now, the airline has confirmed they will continue to operate t...

The President of Costa Rica's Criminal Cassation Chamber Judge Doris Arias Madrigal, inaugurated Tuesday June 27  the first biregional meeting on innovations in addressing drug related offenses in which Caribbean, European and Latin American countries exchanged information and experiences. Judge Arias Madrigal stressed the importance of working on strategies for a comprehensive approach to drug...

National Geographic Kids and LEGO City are collaborating on a special partnership to inspire children to explore, discover and learn about jungles and the importance of their preservation. As part of the initiative, LEGO City & National Geographic Kids will launch an exciting new competition on July 1 to win a National Geographic Family Expedition to the jungles of Costa Rica in Central Ame...

In April this year, KLM Royal Dutch Airline announced they would start two weekly direct flights between Amsterdam and Costa Rica to accommodate growing European winter tourism to the tropical vacation haven starting October 31, 2017. This week the airline said they would be increasing that service to Costa Rica in the first quarter of 2018 with an additional flight. The third weekly flight ...

During a visit to Costa Rica, Minister Barbara Hendricks of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Construction and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) of the Federal Republic of Germany, announced support in the amount of 15 million Euros to aid Costa Rica work on mitigation and adaptation to climate change, reported the Costa Rican government. During a visit that began on Friday 16 ...

A joint Eurojust-Europol press release on Tuesday, June 13, 2017 said a network of payment card fraudsters was dismantled through a cross-border action that led to numerous arrests. The credit and debit card skimming affected some 3,000 people in the EU whose information was then used to make illegal purchases in Costa Rica, Europe and other parts of the world. The victims lost at least EUR 500,0...

Saturday, police surprised a nervous-looking Italian man at the Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) in Alajuela, Costa Rica. It turns out he was attempt to smuggle cocaine out of the country by carrying it in his stomach. This marks the 17th person to be caught muling drugs this year at the airport, said the Public Security Ministry. Costa Rican Drug Control Police discovered that th...

The British Embassy in Costa Rica has released an updated list of lawyers and law offices in Costa Rica whose staff speak English. The list includes only lawyers who are affiliated with the Costa Rican Lawyers Professional Association (Colegio de Abogados). While the list is by no means intended as a recommendation of any lawyer or law office, the professionals on the list have expressed an ...

Costa Rican and Azerbaijani chancellors met last week to seek to increase trade, investment, tourism, and cooperation between the two nations, and announced a reciprocal opening of embassies and an agreement on diplomatic visas. Investments by the Azerbaijan Petroleum Fund in Costa Rica were an important part of the talks, said the Costa Rican Foreign Ministry. Foreign Minister Manuel A. Gon...

Sustainable Costa Rican tourist enterprises will now be eligible for a European certification, issued by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council, reported the agency last week. The international certification, called TourCert, was developed in Germany, and is based on international standards of quality and environmental management including EMAS and ISO, specifically the ISO 26000 guide for soci...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.  No sooner had President Donald Trump spoken about the continuing threat of radical Islam in Saudi Arabia – the heart of Islam -- a lone suicide bomber walked right up to a pop-music concert in Manchester, England and blew himself up along with 22 others, mostly ...

Costa Rican authorities announced they would reinforce security, including streamlining procedures to expel foreigners linked to criminal activities, following a series of recent crimes that have shocked the country. "Acts of violence in recent days have raised a justified alarm in the population and motivated new calls for attention to all authorities to intensify the fight against drug traffi...

Ariana Grande, the Italian-descent singer from Florida, U.S. is scheduled to perform at Parque Viva in La Guácima, Costa Rica on July 9. The concert's official Facebook page hinted at the possibility of a cancellation, but had no specific information in the wake of the violent UK incident that took the lives of at least 19 people, and injured at least 50, according to international press reports. ...

A reported explosion at the Ariana Grande’s concert in the packed Manchester Arena in England happened towards the end of the concert late this Monday night, causes are still unknown. The police said in a statement which was also posted on twitter: “Police responded to reports of an incident at Manchester Arena. Emergency services responding to serious incident at Manchester Arena. Avoid the ar...

U.S. conductor, Arthur Fagen, will lead six functions in Costa Rica of "La Traviata" (literally, The Fallen Woman), the most performed opera in the world. The 3-act opera by Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi, with libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, will be performed by the Costa Rican National Lyric Company (CLN) at the Melico Salazar Theater in downtown San José in July. Fagen serves as the p...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.  Just like Hollywood’s Academy Awards for movies or the Tony Awards for theater or the Grammy Awards for music it’s time for the Costa Rican Expat Media Awards -- Roses, Thorns, Prickly Thorns and Magic Mushrooms – are at stake. Roses get a solid-gold nec...

The Zurich-based Swiss airline, Edelweiss Air, which operates flights to many European cities, North America, Asia, North Africa and the Caribbean, will start offering direct travel to and from Costa Rica May 9, said Enio Cubillo, director general of Costa Rica's Civil Aviation Department. The plans were announced last year by the President of the Republic, Luis Guillermo Solis, and the Ministe...

The Costa Rican Institute of Aqueducts and Sewers (AyA) has moved on from awarding the country’s cleanest beaches to granting their eco-diplomatic awards this week. The AyA awarded four embassies in Costa Rica, and three Costa Rican embassies abroad for their notable efforts in energy and water saving such as reducing paper use, recycling and solid waste management, and minimizing fossil fuel c...

Glyphosphate is an herbicide used on coffee plantations in Costa Rica and other Central American countries. The chemical is included in the international Pesticide Action Network’s "List of Highly Hazardous Pesticides" and is targeted for global phaseout. Endosulfan is also used in Central American coffee production. It is “an off-patent organochlorine insecticide and acaricide that is being...

“Sí vos no pisas majé, sos marica! Así pensamos nosotros,” said a friend of Ben Anson's during his stay on Honduras' northern Caribbean coast. Which translates to, “If you don’t f*** man, you’re a faggot. That’s how we think.” This, and many other incidents experienced by the young and girlfriend-less Brit, drove Anson to write up his thoughts on masculinity, and publish them this week in Hondu...

Costa Rican Minister of Foreign Affairs Manuel A. González Sanz met today, April 20, 2017, with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, on the sidelines of the meeting of ministers of foreign affairs of the Central American Integration System (SICA) in Istanbul, Turkey. At the meeting, the Turkish chancellor offered his support for the reconstruction of damages caused by Hurricane Otto in Co...

Spanish national police dismantled the largest international child pornography distribution network to date though pioneering research examining instant messaging groups and WhatsApp messages. The operation monitored 135 users in 18 countries in Europe, Central America and South America who participated in some 96 online pedophile groups. A total of 39 people have been arrested: 17 of them i...

The Second Judicial Circuit’s Criminal Court has set a September date for the trial of four doctors from Costa Rica’s public health system and a man of Greek origin for allegedly contacting poor people to illegally extract their organs, reported national Costa Rican media today. The Public Security Ministry, who made the accusation against the Costa Rican Social Security Agency (CCSS) doctors a...

The Royal Dutch Airlines, KLM, annoucend today they will start flying directly to Costa Rica later this year. Two weekly direct flights connecting Amsterdam and San José, Costa Rica will be served by a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, the most modern aircraft in the KLM fleet, said the airline. The flights will operate from October 31, 2017 until March, for the duration of Europe’s winter season. ...

On April 3, a delegation from the Russian Federation's aerial landing troops arrived in Managua, Nicaragua to plan future joint military exercises with the country's government, said the digital Russia Beyond the Headlines (RBTH). The end date for the maneuvers is unknown, as the military says they need to study the situation. Experts say that the decision to hold military exercises in Nicaragu...

— Costa Rica’s exports grew 1.4 percent in 2016. The Statistics and Census Institute (INEC) reported this week on Costa Rica’s economic activity. Data from 2016 show an annual growth in exports of about 1.4 percent over 2015; rising from US$9.4 to US$9.5 billion. The country’s “non-traditional” exports, like medical devices and technology-related exports, are second only to fresh pineapple ...

US President Donald Trump would like to see the United Kingdom remain engaged with Europe following Brexit, the White House said Wednesday after the British government formally notified the European Union that it was starting the process of withdrawal from the bloc. "Whatever the future EU-UK relationship looks like, we want the UK to remain a strong leader in Europe," spokesman Sean Spicer tol...

Coast guard officials yesterday confiscated an estimated 30 kilos of marine life and arrested five Spaniards in connection with violating several fishing laws, reported the Public Security Ministry. The men were found in an overloaded fishing boat near the Gulf of Nicoya off the Pacific port town of Puntarenas, using prohibited fishing gear, among other irregularities, by officers of the Calder...

Air France announced today that thanks to the successful operation of its existing Costa Rica-France route, the airline will be expanding to three flights a week for its 2017-2018 season starting at the end of October. Its 2016-2017 season surpassed 32,000 reservations for an average flight occupancy of over 80 percent. The Air France flights have increased French tourism to Costa Rica by an es...

The Costa Rica Tourism Board (ICT) is taking part in the ITB Berlin, the world’s leading travel show located at the Messe Convention Center in Berlin, Germany. Ground staff strikes at two Berlin airports on Friday forced airline operations to cancel 659 flights, according to official statements. Some 2,000 employees have been convoked to follow a 25-hour strike from 4:00 am local time (3.00 ...

 The House Intelligence Committee will hold its first public hearing on the investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election, committee chairman Devin Nunes announced Tuesday. The Republican congressman from California told reporters that the hearing will be held on March 20, adding that it is his intention to hold more public hearings on the matter, given the interest it has ...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.  Presidential politics these days is getting as surreal as a Salvador Dali painting. Truth and reason have been thrown to the wind. Accusations and counter-accusations of political wrong-doing involving the Russians, possible wiretapping of President Donald ...

Brussels, Mar 6 — Agriculture ministers from European Union member states on Monday approved a new organic produce deal with Chile, announced the European Council. In a press release, the EC said the deal — the first of this kind with a Latin American country — would allow the two parties to recognize their rules and control systems as equivalent, meaning organic produce from the EU could be so...

Moscow, Mar 3 — Bilateral relations between Russia and the Central American nation of El Salvador continue to develop well, said the Russian foreign minister upon meeting his Salvadoran counterpart on Friday. Sergey Lavrov held a meeting with Hugo Martinez Bonilla in the Russian capital, Moscow. "Within three months we will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the establishment of (Russian-Salvad...