France

The Realities of Socialism in Global Politics

There is a strong effort underway in the British parliament to remove Prime Minister Theresa May from office and then conduct a second referendum vote on the United Kingdom leaving the European Union. Sounds familiar doesn’t it? The British people already voted last year to exit the EU, but the pro-EU forces cannot accept the vote and they are fighting tooth and nail to remain in the EU despite th...

Prize-Winning Costa Rican Research May Aid Treatment of Deadly Food Poisoning

Listeria may not be part of your daily lexicon, but if you've ever been pregnant it probably was once on your radar. The bacteria can be spread by contaminated food, and can cause a rare infection that can be deadly in 20-30 percent of infections. Pregnant women are 10 times more likely than other people to get a Listeria infection, according to the United States Centers for Disease Control. ...

Flights Costa Rica Europe Air France will operate permanent flights between Paris and Costa Rica as of April 2018 and not just for the winter season

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...

Costa Rica Tightens Measures Against Foreigners With Criminal Records

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...

Clinton Gets My Magic Mushroom Award for Her Delusions of Grandeur

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 Netherlands, France, Panama and Korea Have the Most Ecological Embassies in Costa Rica

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...

Flights Costa Rica Europe More Flights Will Link Costa Rica and France Later This Year

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...

Costa Rican Ombud Receives International Human Rights Award

The Franco-German Prize for Human Rights and the Rule of Law will be presented to Montserrat Solano at a ceremony on February 21 in San José. By Wendy Anders Montserrat Solano Carboni, Defender of the Inhabitants of the Republic of Costa Rica, will receive the Franco-German Prize for Human Rights at a ceremony to be held this Tuesday, February 21, at the Residence of French Ambassador Thierr...

New Chanel Product Features Green Coffee From Costa Rica’s Blue Zone

The French high-fashion company Chanel has drawn on ingredients from the world’s “blue zones,” areas of greatest human longevity, to create a new anti-aging serum, reported the company. “Inspired by the regions where people live longer: the Blue Zones, Chanel Research sourced three longevity ingredients from the diet of the Blue Zone populations for the first time in a breakthrough skincare,” s...

France-Panama Merger to Lead Central America’s Outdoor Publicity

By Wendy Anders Paris, France-based JCDecaux, the world’s number one outdoor advertizing company, and Top Media, leader in the outdoor advertizing sector in Central America, signed an agreement last week to merge their activities, said the companies in a press statement In the new venture, JCDecaux-Top Media, 71 percent of the capital is owned by JCDecaux and 29 percent controled by Top Medi...

French Hotelier Murder Limon Costa Rica Punta Uva, Costa Rica: Suspect in French Hotelier Murder Arrested

By Wendy Anders Cahuita, Limón, Costa Rica. Yesterday, police captured a 21-year old Costa Rican man at his home in Hone Creek, Limón in connection with the murder of a hotel owner in late October this year, reported the Judicial Investigative Police (OIJ). A 50-year-old French woman by the last name of Claire was found lying dead and bound on the ground at her boutique hotel south of Pu...

Peru Exports to Costa Rica Emergency Surcharges at Costa Rica’s Moin Port Due to Pier Closure

By Wendy Anders Moín, Limón port. The French container company, CMA CGM S.A., the third largest container company in the world, alerted that a closure of a pier at the Moín dock in Limón on Costa Rica’s Atlantic coast has led to delays. The delays will translate into an emergency surcharge for ships docking at the Moín port as of December 1, and will apply until the pier is reopened, sai...

Cruise ship in Costa Rica, photo by Costa Rica Star 1 dead, 4 injured in Royal Caribbean Accident Near French Port

Paris, Sept. 13 - One person was killed and four were seriously injured in an accident near a French port involving a lifeboat on the world's largest cruise liner, Royal Caribbean International, a Marseille Fire Department spokesperson told EFE today. The five victims, who were crew members of the MS Harmony of the Seas, were presumably taking part in a security drill when the lifeboat they wer...

French High Court Deems Burkini Ban Illegal

Cartoon by Clay Jones A court on Friday suspended the ban on Islamic burkini swimming costumes imposed by a French Riviera town in a ruling likely to set a precedent to be followed in France's other beaches. France's Council of State, the country's top administrative court, lifted the ban in the Cote d'Azur town of Villeneuve-Loubet. The ruling was expected to be adopted by 30 other muni...

Burkini Ban in France Turns Into Beach Violence and Injuries

Wikimedia Commons French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said on Wednesday he supported the ban issued in several parts of the country against the burkini, but ruled out government legislation on the matter. Valls said in an interview with La Provence newspaper that general laws dictating clothes are not a solution. The Prime Minister's comments arrive in the wake of an all-out beach brawl i...

Islamic Swimwear for Women Causes Furor in France

Wikimedia Commons Controversy has sparked in France after a French NGO decided to arrange a day at a water park near Marseille for women who wear the Islamic full-cover swimsuit known as "burkini", while French authorities plan to ban it. On its Facebook page, Smile 13 announced the organization of the day on Sept. 17 at SpeedWater Park, giving access only to women wearing burkinis, while m...

More Than 75 Deaths After Terror Attack in France

Source: RFIAt least 77 people have died in the alleged terrorist attack on Bastille day by a truck driver in Nice, the mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi reported. French president Francois Hollande and prime minister Manuel Valls are now in the inter-ministerial crisis cell due to the attack. A spokeswoman for the Elysee Palace told Efe that Hollande went to the crisis cell in the Ministry of...

French President’s Hairstyle Costs $10K Per Month

French President François Hollande. EFE/FileFrench President Francois Hollande defended himself on Thursday after he was criticized for having hired a personal hairdresser with a gross salary of 9,895 euros ($10,099) a month, noting that he has reduced the costs of the presidency as well as his salary by 30 percent since he came to the Elysee in May 2012. On the occasion of the French National...

Don’t Look Back in Anger, But Hurry Up With That Brexit

Cartoon by Clay Jones The European Union leaders have agreed that Brexit is irreversible in a summit where accusations were exchanged on both sides about who bore responsibility for the decision, and pressure was exerted on London to activate the divorce process as soon as possible. British Prime Minister David Cameron said after attending his last European Council summit that he would have...

Flights Costa Rica Europe Fake Bomb Aboard Air France Flight Forces Emergency Landing

Wikimedia Commons Paris, Dec 20 (EFE).- The device whose discovery forced an Air France plane to make an emergency landing in Kenya was not a bomb, the carrier's CEO, Frederic Gagey, said Sunday. The suspected bomb found in one of the restrooms on the plane, which was flying from Mauritius to Paris, was made from cardboard and had some kind of timer. The object appeared to be a bomb but ...

Syrian Terrorism Suspect Bribed Colombian Immigration Officers

El Dorado airport in Bogota. Wikimedia Commons Bogota, Nov 19 (EFE).- One of the people being investigated for having participated in last week's terrorist attacks in Paris left Bogota in July and traveled to the French capital after bribing officials to let him leave the country, a source in the immigration agency told EFE. The suspect, identified as Syrian national Al Sakhadi Seham, made ...

Confirmed: French Police Killed ISIS Terrorist Leader

"Paris Shootings - The day after (22593744177)" by Maya-Anaïs Yataghène. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Commons Washington, Nov 18 (EFE).- The alleged mastermind behind the jihadist terrorist attacks in Paris last week died in the massive police operation undertaken Wednesday in the French capital, The Washington Post reported. The daily, citing two top European intelligence officials, said t...

Major French Airstrikes on ISIS Targets in Syria

French Mirage fighter jet. Wikimedia Commons Paris, Nov 15 (EFE).- France on Sunday launched massive airstrikes on an Islamic State terrorist camp near the Syrian town of Raqqa, a zone controlled by the jihadist group, officials with the French Defense Ministry told EFE. According to the officials, the French air strikes, which came two days after terrorists killed at least 132 people in Pa...

Statements by Costa Rica to the Good People of France

Flickr Commons In the wake of the recent atrocities committed against the good people of France, the Presidential Office of Costa Rica released the following statement: The Office of the Presidency of the Republic of Costa Rica hereby sends heartfelt expressions of solidarity and support for the people and Government of France in this time of grief. Costa Rica expresses its deep condemnati...

France eyes Middle East influence, image with Syria gamble

By John Irish PARIS | Mon Nov 19, 2012 3:35pm EST PARIS (Reuters) - President Francois Hollande's decision to recognize Syria's new opposition bloc aims to secure long-term French interests in the region and boost his foreign policy image but, with few allies following suit, Paris may risk isolation. With his economic policies under harsh scrutin...

Syrian coalition to name envoy to France: Hollande

PARIS | Sat Nov 17, 2012 7:18am EST PARIS (Reuters) - Syria's opposition coalition is to appoint an envoy to France, French President Francois Hollande said after meeting the head of the Syrian National Coalition on Saturday. A French diplomatic source said the official would act as a representative of the coalition, becoming ambassador once a provisiona...