Costa Rica

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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,...

Emergency Landing Splits Cargo Jet in Half

DHL pilots were unharmed in Costa Rica accident

(Newser) - Cargo carrier DHL says both pilots were unharmed after a emergency landing in Costa Rica Thursday that split the aircraft in two. Juan Santamaría Airport, San Jose's international airport, was closed for hours after the dramatic incident, Reuters reports. Luis Miranda Munoz, deputy director of Costa Rica's...

Zip-Lining Boy Slams Into Unexpected Visitor
He Was on the Zip Line.
Then, a Surprise Obstacle
in case you missed it
Mar 20, 2022 11:40 AM CDT

He Was on the Zip Line. Then, a Surprise Obstacle

Both child and sloth are said to be OK after boy slammed into creature

(Newser) - A young boy experienced quite a ride during a zip-lining expedition in Costa Rica, with an unexpected surprise along the way. Go Adventure Arenal Park posted a video this week showing the excited child, filmed by the guide behind him, as he began his swoosh through the rainforest. "No...

Latest Outbreak of Tainted Alcohol Kills 19

Costa Rica has issued a national alert

(Newser) - Tainted alcohol has killed 19 people in Costa Rica since June. The 14 men and five women ranged in age from 32 to 72, and lived in several cities, CNN reports. The alcohol they drank contained toxic levels of methanol, and the Ministry of Health has now warned against several...

Man Who Killed 2 in '03 Easter DUI Is Finally Behind Bars

Florida man fled before he could be sentenced in crash that killed retired couple 16 years ago

(Newser) - Justice has been a long time coming for Florida man Henry de la Hoz, who killed a retired couple while driving drunk on Easter Sunday 16 years ago. Victor and Olga Lisabet had been on their way to a sunrise service in South Miami-Dade when they were hit by de...

5-Year-Old Tourist Brings Measles Back to Costa Rica
This Country Was Done With
Measles. Then the Boy Arrived
in case you missed it
Mar 2, 2019 2:45 PM CST

This Country Was Done With Measles. Then the Boy Arrived

5-year-old French tourist in the country has the disease

(Newser) - A French family arrived in Costa Rica last Monday and put an end to Costa Rica's measles-free status: No citizen there has contracted the disease since 2006, and the last time a foreigner brought it to the country was in 2014. The Independent reports that a 5-year-old boy was...

3 More Women Accuse 'Revered Statesman' of Sexual Misconduct

Oscar Arias allegations span more than 30 years

(Newser) - Former Costa Rican leader Oscar Arias is beginning to go from revered to reviled as more women come forward with allegations of sexual assault. After antinuclear activist Alexandra Arce von Herold filed a sexual assault complaint against the former president over an alleged incident in 2014, three more women came...

'Revered Statesman' Accused of Sexual Assault

Nobel laureate and former Costa Rican President Oscar Arias Sanchez is accused

(Newser) - Another prominent figure has been accused of sexual assault, this time Nobel laureate and former Costa Rican President Oscar Arias Sanchez. The New York Times , which first reported the allegations, calls Arias "one of Latin America's most revered statesmen." Now, however, his legacy is at risk. Antinuclear...

Security Guard Suspected in US Tourist's Murder

Nicaraguan was staying next to Carla Stefaniak's Airbnb in Costa Rica

(Newser) - Despite her brother's best hopes , a woman's body discovered at the back of an Airbnb property in Costa Rica has been identified as Florida's Carla Stefaniak, whom a security guard is now suspected of killing. Nicaraguan Bismarck Espinosa Martinez, a 32-year-old security guard who'd been staying...

Woman's Body Found Near 'Sketchy' Airbnb

Costa Rica officials aren't sure if it is that of missing US woman Carla Stefaniak

(Newser) - A grim find has been made in the search for a Florida woman who was reported missing after she failed to return from a trip to Costa Rica. Officials with Costa Rica's Judicial Investigation Department say a woman's body was found at the back of the Airbnb property...

Woman's Last Text: 'It's Pretty Sketchy Here'

Carla Stefaniak, 36, was visiting Costa Rica for her birthday

(Newser) - A Florida woman has gone missing in Costa Rica after visiting for her birthday and getting into an unknown car, WFLA reports. Carla Stefaniak, 36, was scheduled to return Wednesday, the day after her fellow traveler/sister-in-law flew back—but Stefaniak never made the plane. "She totally went missing, ghosted...

4 American Tourists Die in Rafting Accident

Rafts overturn, men thrown into Costa Rica river during bachelor party celebration

(Newser) - Just two days earlier, the men from Miami had arrived in Playa Hermosa de Jaco for a bachelor party celebration. On Saturday, that Costa Rican celebration turned deadly for four of the party attendees during a river rafting expedition after several rafts flipped over on the Naranjo River; a local...

Plane Did 'Cartwheel' Before Costa Rica Crash

Crash wiped out 2 American families

(Newser) - The single-engine turboprob plane that crashed in Costa Rica Dec. 31 did what looked a "cartwheel" maneuver before going down in a wooded area, a witness says. "It was kind of low and I looked up to see it turn. I turned away and then heard the crash....

10 Americans Among 12 Dead in Costa Rica Plane Crash

Victims include New York family of 5

(Newser) - A plane carrying 10 US citizens and two local crew members crashed in a wooded area Sunday, killing all aboard, Costa Rica's government says. The Public Safety Ministry posted photographs and video of the crash site showing burning wreckage of the plane in Guanacaste, in northwest Costa Rica. Authorities...

Scuba Diver Mauled to Death by Shark

The American woman was on vacation in Costa Rica

(Newser) - An American tourist who was mauled to death by a shark off the coast of Costa Rica on Thursday has been identified as a New York City private equity director. Authorities say Rohina Bhandari, a 49-year-old senior director at WL Ross & Col. LL, was with a group of 18...

Meet the 'Mother Teresa of Mutts'
She Has 800 Dogs—
and They All Have Names
LONGFORM
Feb 24, 2017 1:13 PM CST

She Has 800 Dogs— and They All Have Names

Lya Battle keeps hundreds of strays on her Costa Rica farm, with its own dark history

(Newser) - Outside Magazine calls Lya Battle the "lady of strays," and for good reason: Visit her farm in the Central Valley of Costa Rica and you'll be surrounded by hundreds of dogs. Bob Shacochis travels to the Central American nation to dive deeper into the story and...

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