Wikimedia Commons Mexico City, Sep 24 (EFE).- Mexican authorities' "reckless handling" of the investigation into the disappearance of 43 teacher trainees a year ago exposes "a scandalous cover-up orchestrated by the highest levels of government," London-based human rights group Amnesty International said. In a statement Wednesday, AI's Americas director, Erika Guevara-Rosas, said the case h...

Wikimedia Commons Rio de Janeiro, Sep 25 (EFE).- A Brazilian court has ordered the seizure of assets totaling 188.8 million reais (some $47 million) from soccer star Neymar to ensure payment of alleged unpaid taxes related to his signing by FC Barcelona, judicial sources said Friday. In a Sept. 11 ruling, Judge Carlos Muta of the Sao Paulo-based Regional Federal Court of the 3rd Region orde...

Source: Flickr Commons Mexico City, Sep 24 (EFE).- Two journalists were found dead of still-unknown causes at a hotel in the southeastern Mexican state of Tabasco, sour ces with the state Attorney General's Office confirmed to EFE on Thursday. The institution identified the victims Wednesday night on Twitter as Jose Joaquin Perez Morales and Aurelio Hernandez Herrera, whose lifeless bodi...

Source: Flickr Commons By Martha Delgado Managua, Sep 21 (EFE).- The killing of a high school student by a classmate has focused attention in Nicaragua on the bullying many children experience in schools. President Daniel Ortega's administration announced workshops, outreach programs and other measures to prevent bullying after a 19-year-old student was stabbed to death. In Nicaragua,...

A simple man: Pope Francis. Source: Wikimedia Commons Havana, Sep 20 (EFE).- Cuban President Raul Castro met in Havana with his Argentine counterpart, Cristina Fernandez, who traveled to the island to attend the Mass that Pope Francis will celebrate in the Cuban capital on Sunday, state television reported. Castro and Fernandez met on Saturday and discussed the state of bilateral relations ...

San Diego, California (PRWEB) September 15, 2015 -- Mexico Soft Landing company Co-Production International (CPI), is releasing a white paper, “Checklist: The Top 7 Criteria for Choosing a Medical Device Manufacturing Location”, at the American Medical Device Summit 2015 that will be held in Chicago on September 21-22, 2015. As Manufacturing Expansion Experts, CPI provides a range of site selec...

Rio de Janeiro By Manuel Perez Bella Rio de Janeiro, Sep 17 (EFE).- A Catholic church in Rio de Janeiro has become a welcoming shelter along the flight routes of Syrian refugees who leave their country because of the ongoing civil war there and move to Brazil. Stories of bombardments, of families separated by war and fleeing on foot across international borders are exchanged among the ni...

Source: Wikimedia Commons San Jose, Sep 7 (EFE).- The Inter-American Court of Human Rights on Monday published a ruling in which it ordered the Venezuelan government to reinstate the broadcasting license of Radio Caracas Television, or RCTV, which has been confined to cable and satellite since being forced off the air in 2007. The Costa Rica-based court, a body of the Organization of Americ...

"Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes Yahoo 2006" by Kevin Ballard - http://flickr.com/photos/eridius/116003811/in/set-72057594087529032/. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Commons Bogota, Sep 12 (EFE).- At least two people died and one was injured when a plane carrying members of a movie crew working on Tom Cruise's upcoming thriller film "Mena" crashed in northwestern Colombia, local media reported. Th...

Havana, Sep 11 (EFE).- The Cuban government will pardon 3,522 prisoners on the occasion of Pope Francis's visit to the island, according to a State Council agreement reported Friday in official media. The official announcement said the pardons will take effect within the next 72 hours for prisoners over 60 and under 20 years of age without criminal records, the chronically ill, women, inmates s...

Source: Usher Instagram Havana, Sep 10 (EFE).- U.S. music producer, singer and songwriter Usher puffed cigars and enjoyed Cuban coffee in Havana along with rapper Ludacris, according to photographs published Thursday on the pair's official social network accounts. The member of the popular U.S. television program "The Voice" announced his presence in the Cuban capital with a photo showing h...

An Uber driver in Bogota. Wikimedia Commons Sao Paulo, Sep 9 (EFE).- Taxi drivers here in Brazil's largest city blocked traffic on Wednesday to protest against Uber, the app-based private driver service that has triggered controversy and legal disputes around the world. The cabbies gathered in front of Sao Paulo city hall, where the councilors are scheduled to vote on Wednesday for a second...

Havana, Sep 8 (EFE).- About 140 Cuban dissidents were arrested Tuesday as they were going to attend a Mass at the Lady of Caridad del Cobre Church to celebrate the feast day of the island's patron saint, sources within the dissident movement told EFE. "Most of the arrests occurred in the early morning hours (on Tuesday) some kilometers from the El Cobre Church, at a spot known as La Tanqueta" i...

Cerveceria Costa Rica, maker of iconic beer brands such as Imperial and Pilsen, recently released a new alcoholic beverage aimed at young adults. Bliss, an eight percent proof drink with flavors based on tropical fruits, hit the market in on May 18th, but lukewarm marketing efforts have not succeeded in making the brand known in Costa Rica.According to a report filed by Cristina Fallas Villalobos ...

Former Brazilian President Lula with football star Ronaldinho. Wikimedia Commons Rio de Janeiro, Aug 28 (EFE).- Former two-term President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva acknowledged Friday that he is weighing the possibility of seeking to return to Brazil's highest office in the 2018 elections. "I can't say that I am or that I'm not (a candidate)," Lula said during an interview with Radio Itatia...

Source: Flickr Commons Cali, Colombia, Aug 26 (EFE).- Uruguayan soccer player Alexis Viera, a former goalkeeper for America de Cali, sustained a spinal injury and lost sensation in his legs after being shot during a robbery attempt in Colombia, doctors said. Viera, who currently plays for the Colombian Second Division's Depor Futbol Club, was shot in the left side of his chest and the injur...

Source: Ejercito Bolivariano Twitter By Gonzalo Dominguez Loeda Cucuta, Colombia, Aug 26 (EFE).- Unlike many Latin American border cities, Colombia's Cucuta offers good quality of life and a dynamic economy due, in part, to its close ties to San Antonio, the Venezuelan city that makes up the rest of an urban area now cut in half by the border closing. When Venezuelan President Nicolas Ma...

A long period of inactivity, as well as a conspicuous lack of rhetoric from the administration of longtime President Daniel Ortega, is prompting speculation about whether the quixotic Grand Canal of Nicaragua is an actual civil engineering project or just a smokescreen for some sort of iniquity. As has been reported by The Costa Rica Star over the last couple of years, the Grand Canal of Nicara...

Caracas, Aug 24 (EFE).- Shoppers have been banned from lining up overnight in front of Caracas supermarkets because many among them are speculators who cause product scarcities in regular stores, make illegal sales at inflated prices, and sell contraband to Colombia, the head of government of the Capital District, Juan Dugarte, said. "Standing in line outside of store hours is now forbidden," b...

Managua, Aug 22 (EFE). - Nicaragua will be the meeting place for the 7th Space Conference of the Americas 2015, or CEA, which is expected to attract more than 200 participants to exchange information and experiences about satellites and other technologies, the authorities said. During the CEA, to be held Nov. 17-19 in Managua, there will be four great areas of discussion: education, science &am...

ANAHEIM, CALIF., Aug. 21, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Discover a different pace of life ripe for exploring and relaxing in Panama, or be fascinated by Costa Rica's nearly half-million wildlife species making their home in one of the world's most biodiverse countries on a hassle-free vacation with Trafalgar. A brag-worthy trip is now even more affordable with savings of up to $350 per couple* on air-i...

Chicago, Aug 20 (EFE).- Experts say Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump's promise to seize Mexican immigrants' remittances if Mexico does not pay for the construction of a border wall is just more bravado on the billionaire's part to remain on top of the polls. Trump, who disclosed his plan for dealing with illegal immigration last Sunday, got back in the spotlight when he said that as...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, Aug 17 (EFE).- Brazilian police dismantled Monday a religious sect accused of subjecting its faithful to slavery-like conditions while accumulating a fortune of close to 100 million reais (some $28.6 million) in donations from its followers, officials said. At least six people were arrested in an operation aimed at dismantling a criminal organization "that use...

File photo of retired Cuban leader Fidel Castro. EFE/File Havana, Aug 13 (EFE).- The United States owes Cuba millions of dollars for the harm caused by its economic embargo on the island, Fidel Castro wrote in an article published Thursday, the day before Secretary of State John Kerry is due in Havana to raise the Stars and Stripes over the restored U.S. Embassy. "Cuba is owed compensation ...

Washington, Aug 10 (EFE).- The U.S. government said Monday it is "deeply concerned" about the detentions for several hours of some 90 dissidents in Cuba, including members of the Ladies in White, and said it will continue working so that the right to peaceful assembly is respected in Cuba. "We are deeply concerned by this round-up of peaceful activists by Cuban authorities," State Department sp...

Wikimedia Commons By Marti Quintana Mexico City, Aug 10 (EFE).- Some 5,000 young men are imprisoned in Mexico after being convicted of serious crimes, with 22 percent of them serving time for murder, a high number that obscures an even more painful reality. Many of these youths and teenagers fall in the trap of organized crime as a result of family troubles, poverty, dropping out of scho...

Source: Wikimedia Commons Caracas, Aug 7 (EFE).- President Nicolas Maduro accused CNN of conducting a "terrorist campaign" against Venezuela by airing false reports about looting in order to "destabilize" the country. "That's what CNN is doing...from the United States once again...but we are dismantling the plan and they know that we're dismantling it," Maduro said during a Cabinet meeting ...

Panama City, Aug 8 (EFE).- The Panama Canal said it will lower the maximum allowable draft of ships passing through the inter-oceanic waterway starting Sept. 8 due to an El Niño-triggered drought. The measure will affect 18.5 percent of the ships that travel through the canal, according to the Panama Canal Authority, or ACP, which said it will not significantly affect "the efficiency and capaci...

Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman. Source: Wikimedia Commons Washington, Aug 5 (EFE).- The U.S. government is confident that fugitive Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman remains holed up in the western state of Sinaloa since escaping from prison last month, the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration told EFE Wednesday.   Sinaloa, Guzman's long-time base of operations, "is where...

Young Facebook users in Costa Rica enjoy certain protections with regard to keeping their social media activity hidden from parents. That much is granted by Article 25 of the Childhood and Adolescence Code. Such is not the case in Colombia, where the Supreme Court recently issued an opinion that gives parents the right to monitor the Facebook accounts of their children. In Costa Rica, a legisla...

Former President Mujica, right, shakes hands with former President Lula of Brazil Sao Paulo, Jul 31 (EFE).- The think-tank led by former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva reported Friday that its headquarters was the target of "a political attack with an explosive device," adding that "fortunately no one was hurt." "The bomb was thrown at the building from a car," said the note ...

Wikimedia Commons Los Angeles, Aug 1 (EFE).- Spanish actor Antonio Banderas will play the lead character in the TV series "Havana Quartet," based on the Mario Conde police procedural thrillers created by Cuban journalist Leonardo Padura, the Starz channel's CEO Chris Albrecht announced. Banderas and Cuba's "Magic City" author Eduardo Machado are executive producers of the series, while Mach...

Juliana Lopez Sarrazola. Source: Miss World Colombia 2015 Juliana Lopez Sarrazola, a 22-year old Colombian bikini model, could face the death penalty in China for the alleged crime of smuggling cocaine into the People's Republic of China. According to the online news daily El Mundo from Spain, Miss Lopez, who was also the 2015 Miss World Colombia candidate from Antioquia, a major coffee-pr...

Source: Panoramio Mexico City, Jul 30 (EFE).- The deaths of two more religious pilgrims who were run over by a cargo truck in the Mexican state of Zacatecas on Thursday brought to 26 the number of fatalities in the incident, state Gov. Miguel Alonso Reyes said Thursday. In comments to Radio Formula, Reyes said that 46 people hurt in the Wednesday evening accident in the town of Mazapil "rem...

Source. Go Fund Me A man from British Columbia was shot and killed during a home invasion gone wrong in Boquete, a community near the border with Costa Rica. According to Jon Azpiri, a journalist for Canadian online publication Global News, Mr. Potrebenko was 53 years old when he lost his life as he protected his wife and mother-in-law when three masked men broke into his home a week ago. A...

Washington, Jul 27 (EFE).- The United States removed Cuba from the list of countries whose governments do not fully comply with the minimum standards for combating human trafficking and "do not make significant efforts to do so." The U.S. State Department published Monday its annual report on human trafficking around the world in 2014, in which it identified the countries not taking the necessa...

An Uber driver in Bogota. Wikimedia Commons San Jose (The Costa Rica Star) and Mexico City (EFE), July 29.- Mexico City taxi drivers staged a protest on Wednesday against the recent approval of private transportation services offered via smartphone apps, while police are investigating attacks on Uber drivers in the past few hours. In Costa Rica, the National Forum of taxicab drivers assembl...

Story by Lt.j.g. Victoria Einbinder, U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command & U.S. Fourth Fleet MAYPORT, Fla. - More than 75 military personnel, including 54 members of partner-nation navies, assembled July 27 on Naval Station Mayport for PANAMAX 2015, an exercise aimed at developing strong working relationships between multinational forces to ensure the defense of the Panama Canal. The exer...

Source: Wikimedia Commons Mexico City, Jul 22 (EFE).- More than 97,000 Kemp's ridley sea turtles were born in recent days at the Playa Rancho Nuevo wildlife sanctuary in the northeastern Mexican state of Tamaulipas, the National Protected Natural Areas Commission, or Conanp, said. The hatchlings emerged from more than 2,000 nests in the wildlife reserve under monitoring by Conanp specialist...

Google Maps Caracas, Jul 24 (EFE).- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said his government is "keeping watch" for a possible tsunami in the Caribbean, after the Seismic Research Center of Trinidad and Tobago warned of strong seismic activity in the underwater volcano Kick'em Jenny "I am in contact with governors, military chiefs and emergency management offices keeping watch for a possible...