Costa Rica

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California Surfing Legend Killed in Costa Rica Home Invasion

Kurt Van Dyke slain during suspected robbery at home

(Newser) - Authorities in Costa Rica are investigating the killing of a well-known American surfer in what they say appears to be a violent home invasion on the country's Caribbean coast, People reports. Kurt Van Dyke, 66, a California native who had lived for decades in the Limón province and...

Costa Rica Says It Uncovered Assassination Plot

Security stepped up ahead of Bukele visit

(Newser) - Costa Rica's national security chief on Tuesday revealed details of an alleged plot to assassinate President Rodrigo Chaves ahead of presidential and legislative elections. Jorge Torres, director of the Intelligence and National Security Directorate, told journalists about the plot allegations as he prepared to file a formal complaint at the...

Inside the Aftermath of the 'Frog Apocalypse'

After deadly fungus wipes out frogs, mosquitoes thrive

(Newser) - A wave of frog die-offs in Central America may have led to a surge in malaria cases among humans—among other woes. The Washington Post shines a light on the "frog apocalypse" and the culprit behind it: a lethal fungus known as Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, or Bd, which has decimated...

Marine Biologist Recounts Having His Head in Shark's Jaws

Seriously injured scientist says attack wasn't the shark's fault

(Newser) - Marine biologist Mauricio Hoyos is sticking up for the shark that bit him . The 48-year-old Mexican scientist was seriously injured while tagging sharks off Costa Rica's Pacific coast as part of a conservation project. After successfully attaching a tag to the dorsal fin of a female Galapagos shark,...

Marine Biologist Injured in 'Extremely Rare' Shark Attack

Mauricio Hoyos was tagging species near Costa Rica's Cocos Island when he was ambushed

(Newser) - A Mexican marine biologist was seriously injured after he was attacked by a shark while working off Costa Rica's Pacific coast and transferred to a hospital in the country's capital on Monday, authorities said. Costa Rica's Fire Department said it had rescued 48-year-old Mauricio Hoyos from the...

Hotel Where Ballplayer's Son Died Is Raided Again

Toxicology report has attributed Miller Gardner's death to carbon monoxide poisoning

(Newser) - Law enforcement authorities in Costa Rica this week again raided the hotel where the 14-year-old son of a former Major League Baseball player died during a family vacation in March. A toxicology report had found that carbon monoxide poisoning killed Miller Gardner, the son of former New York Yankees outfielder...

That's No Goldfish, but a One-of-a-Kind Shark
You've Never Seen
a Shark Like This
in case you missed it
Aug 30, 2025 6:00 AM CDT

You've Never Seen a Shark Like This

First known shark with xanthism and albinism observed in Costa Rica

(Newser) - It looks like a giant goldfish. But what anglers pulled in during a fishing trip near Costa Rica's Tortuguero National Park last year was, as far as we know, one of a kind. The nurse shark, cut loose from a fishing line, is what Gizmodo calls a "rare...

Beach Where Cosby Star Drowned Had No Lifeguards

Volunteer group says there was a bigger need at other beaches in Costa Rica

(Newser) - The beach where Malcolm-Jamal Warner drowned in Costa Rica over the weekend had no lifeguards on duty at the time. The Caribbean Guard, which describes itself as an association of volunteer lifeguards, says it has limited resources and opted to put lifeguards on two other beaches instead, according to a...

Costa Rica Cops Make First-Ever Capybara Seizure
Costa Rica Cops Make
a Very Unusual Find
in case you missed it
May 25, 2025 9:31 AM CDT

Costa Rica Cops Make a Very Unusual Find

Capybaras seized after car chase are not native to country

(Newser) - Costa Rican police seized five capybaras, crack cocaine, and marijuana after chasing down a fleeing vehicle on a highway along the Central American country's Pacific coast on Thursday. The large rodents are a semi-aquatic South American relative of the guinea pig and happen to be having a moment on...

High Levels of Carbon Monoxide Found in Gardner Hotel Room




Brett Gardner's
Son Died From
Carbon Monoxide
UPDATED
Apr 3, 2025 7:31 AM CDT

Brett Gardner's Son Died From Carbon Monoxide

Toxicology report shows he had fatal levels of CO in his blood

(Newser) - A toxicology report indicates Miller Gardner, the 14-year-old son of former Yankee Brett Gardner, did indeed die from carbon monoxide poisoning. A blood test showed Miller had a carbon monoxide saturation level of 64%, Costa Rican officials say, per ABC News . This refers to the percentage of hemoglobin in the...

Nobel Peace Prize Winner: US Revoked My Visa

Former Costa Rican president Oscar Arias says he wasn't given a reason, but has some ideas

(Newser) - Nobel laureate and former Costa Rican president Oscar Arias says the US has revoked his visa, and while he wasn't given a reason, he thinks he may know why. Arias, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987 for the part he played in bringing about the end of...

Teen Son of Ex-Yankees Star Was Not Killed by Asphyxia

Costa Rican authorities now say airway was not obstructed

(Newser) - Officials in Costa Rica are reversing course, and are now saying it does not appear that asphyxia killed Miller Gardner , the 14-year-old son of former New York Yankees star Brett Gardner. "It was preliminarily ruled out that the cause of death was due to asphyxia, due to the fact...

Ex-Yankee's Teen Son Dies on Vacation
Ex-Yankee Star's
Son Likely
Asphyxiated
UPDATED
Mar 25, 2025 6:44 AM CDT

Ex-Yankee Star's Son Likely Asphyxiated

Brett Gardner's 14-year-old son, Miller, apparently fell ill after eating in Costa Rica

(Newser) - The 14-year-old son of former New York Yankees star Brett Gardner died of suspected asphyxiation "after a possible intoxication after apparently ingesting some food" in Costa Rica, an official with the country's Judicial Investigative Agency tells NBC News . Miller Gardner fell ill along with other family members on...

This Is the Happiest Nation on Earth
This Is the Happiest
Nation on Earth
Mar 20, 2025 12:50 PM CDT

This Is the Happiest Nation on Earth

Finland tops World Happiness Report for 8th straight year; US comes in at No. 24

(Newser) - Feeling down in the dumps? Maybe it's your country. Unless you're in Finland, which just took the top spot on this year's World Happiness Report for the eighth year straight, reports CNN . The annual ranking used Gallup World Poll data from more than 140 countries around the...

Rescuers Carry Sole Crash Survivor 14 Hours Out of Jungle

Woman, 31, is the only survivor after plane went down in Costa Rica

(Newser) - A small plane crashed in a remote area of Costa Rica on Monday, killing five of the six people aboard, reports Reuters . But the survival of that sixth person—identified by the Tico Times as 31-year-old Paola de Los Angeles Amador—turns out to be a remarkable story. Rescuers found...

Costa Rica Finally Does Away With Public Zoos

Its final 2 state zoos have closed

(Newser) - "Captivity is only justified when animals cannot return to the forest for either physical or behavioral problems that prevent them from living in freedom"—a stance that obviously clashes with the concept of a zoo. It's Costa Rica's stance, with that line said in a Saturday...

Man 'On the Lam' Arrested 30 Years After Wife's Brutal Murder

Virginia's Jose Lazaro Cruz has been extradited back to States after trying to cross into Costa Rica

(Newser) - A Virginia man on the run for more than three decades has been extradited back to the States, wanted in the long-ago killing of his then-estranged young wife. In a Monday presser, officials with the Fairfax County PD announced that Jose Lazaro Cruz is in their custody, nearly two years...

Story of $6M Bank Heist Will Have You Shaking Your Head

Authorities say Costa Rica's largest-ever bank heist was an inside job

(Newser) - Little by little, an employee of Costa Rica's National Bank took advantage of a surveillance blindspot to slip more than $6 million worth of currency into envelopes and casually walk out of the country's largest bank, authorities said Wednesday. First announced last month, it was the largest bank...

Scientists Find a Rare 'Octopus Nursery'

Site off Costa Rica is only the third such site known to exist (by humans)

(Newser) - Researchers exploring the ocean floor off the coast of Costa Rica discovered an incredibly rare thing: an octopus nursery. The deep-sea area is exactly what it sounds like—a place where brooding octopuses gather to hatch their eggs, reports NPR . The discovery brings the number of known octopus nurseries in...

Costa Rica's New President Declares State of Emergency

Country has been hit by ransomware attacks

(Newser) - After a month of crippling ransomware attacks, Costa Rica has declared a state of emergency. In theory, the measure usually reserved to deal with natural disasters or the COVID-19 pandemic would free up the government to react more nimbly to the crisis. President Rodrigo Chaves, who was sworn in Sunday,...

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