Costa Rica news stories on Newser

Sea Shepherd Founder Arrested

Matt Cantor — Mon, 14 May 2012 05:58:02 CDT

A leading anti-whaling activist has been arrested in Germany. Paul Watson, founder of Sea Shepherd, was busted on Saturday over a 2002 clash with a Costa Rican "illegal shark finning operation" off Guatemala, the group says in a statement. The group says the warrant is tied to an "alleged violation...

Woman Fakes Own Kid's Death for Vacation Time

Polly Davis Doig — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 12:44:05 CST

Today's lesson in stupid schemes: If you're going to scam your boss for vacation time with your kid's fake death certificate, at least make sure the fonts match. It seems one Joan Barnett, a parent coordinator at a Manhattan school who, it's worth noting, was eligible for vacation time and...

Sharks Massacred Off Colombia

Matt Cantor — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 14:42:05 CDT

Divers have discovered the bodies of some 2,000 sharks, many with their fins cut off, in Colombian waters. The apparent slaughter of Galapagos, silky, and hammerhead sharks occurred in a giant wildlife sanctuary around the island of Malpelo off the country’s coast, the Guardian reports. The divers, who were...

Google Maps Mistake Triggers Invasion

Mary Papenfuss — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 06:30:00 CST

Google officials have apologized and promised to fix a flaw in a map that exacerbated a territorial dispute and triggered a Central American invasion. "We determined that there was indeed an error," said a statement from Google after a Nicaraguan commander used the flawed map as justification for last week's...

Spencer Pratt Busted in Costa Rica

Evann Gastaldo — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 00:17:11 CDT

Spencer Pratt was arrested in Costa Rica yesterday, but don’t get too excited: Everyone’s favorite cyber crime-fighter , wannabe music impresario , and of course, self-proclaimed famous person has already been released. Pratt broke the news of his own arrest to TMZ , which then confirmed he was busted for felony possession of...

Van der Sloot Lawyer: I'll 'Paralyze' Court Process

M. Morris — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 12:37:00 CDT

Joran Van der Sloot's lawyer plans to appeal every ruling that goes against his client and go over the head of the Peruvian justice system if he thinks he needs to. His plan is to "paralyze the process," Maximo Altez tells CNN . He also says his client, a Dutch citizen...

Website Tests Rush's Pledge to Flee Obamacare

Nick McMaster — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 15:22:00 CDT

The final stages of the battle for health care reform have been dramatic, so you could be forgiven for forgetting about Rush Limbaugh. He recently said he'd to move to Costa Rica if "Obamacare" passed. Now that it has, one website is soliciting donations to make sure he keeps his...

Costa Rica Elects First Female President

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 04:40:00 CST

Costa Ricans have elected their first female president: Ruling party candidate Laura Chinchilla won in a landslide after campaigning to continue free-market policies in Central America's most stable nation. "Today we are making history," said Chinchilla, who will become the fifth Latin American woman to serve as president. "The Costa...

Rivers, Barred From Flight, Explodes

Mary Papenfuss — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 03:54:54 CST

It's going to be a long, excruciating year for airport security guards if every passenger reacts to safety concerns the way Joan Rivers did recently. Rivers lashed a female guard as a "moronic idiot" and "premenstrual" after she was barred from boarding a Newark-bound flight from Costa Rica last weekend.