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...

Garcia Marquez. Source: Flickr Commons Bogota, Jul 22 (EFE).- Brazilian journalist Dorrit Harazim was awarded the Gabriel Garcia Marquez Journalism Prize for career excellence on Wednesday in honor of her coverage of international events spanning a half-century, award organizers said. The 72-year-old Harazim, a native of Croatia, is currently a columnist for the Rio de Janeiro daily O Globo...

Wikimedia Commons Austin, Texas, Jul 23 (EFE).- The controversial Republican presidential hopeful, real estate magnate Donald Trump, in a short visit to the South Texas border city of Laredo on Thursday insisted on the need for a wall, albeit only along "certain sections" of the lengthy U.S.-Mexican frontier. Prior to his visit, there had been much anticipation over what the outspoken tycoo...

ISS. Source: Wikimedia Commons Washington, Jul 22 (EFE).- Russia on Wednesday launched a manned space mission to the International Space Station two months behind schedule because of recent problems with other launches. The Soyuz TMA-17M spacecraft carrying a Russian, an American and a Japanese astronaut lifted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 2102 GMT and began its climb i...

Dominican Republic Port-au-Prince/Santo Domingo, Jul 22 (EFE).- The Haitian government fired its ambassador to Santo Domingo, Daniel Supplice, for not "appropriately" defending the country amid the current immigration crisis with the Dominican Republic, officials with the Haitian Foreign Ministry told EFE. The officials said that Supplice had been dismissed for "not having defended the coun...

Wikimedia Commons San Juan, Jul 21 (EFE).- Puerto Rican police are closing in on the "Santurce rapist," a criminal who has spread panic here in recent months. The chief of detectives of the San Juan metropolitan area, Maj. Jazmin Perez, told EFE Tuesday that the cops are working with tips received in the last few hours after they posted photos of the man suspected in four cases of rape sinc...

San Francisco, Jul 21 (EFE).- Puerto Rican actor Benicio del Toro is currently in negotiations to play a villain in the eighth "Star Wars" film to be produced by Lucasfilm, Variety magazine reported. The publication says that an agreement has not yet been struck between the studio and Del Toro, and among the other actors being considered for the part is Joaquin Phoenix. Variety says that act...

Beijing, Jul 19 (EFE).- The Chinese government deported 20 tourists from the United Kingdom, India and South Africa who had been arrested in Inner Mongolia for allegedly watching "a video inciting terrorism and religious extremism," authorities here confirmed on the weekend. The state-run Chinese press on Sunday said that the group of tourists had been released without charge and returned to th...

Wikimedia Commons By Maria Eugenia Fernandez Montevideo, Jul 20 (EFE).- Uruguayan Emilio Arenas, the holder of five Guinness records as the king of pencils and one as the top fan of ashtrays, is poised to earn yet another for his collection of 18,300 pencils, a treasure trove that he told EFE comes second only to his family. The septuagenarian, who runs the Granja Arenas tourist attracti...

Washington, Jul 18 (EFE).- More than 35,000 Cubans for whom deportation orders have been issued could be repatriated to the Caribbean island as a result of the renewal of relations between the two countries, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, told EFE. According to ICE data, deportation orders have been issued for 35,106 Cuban nationals in the United States, of whom 162 are curre...

Source: Wikimedia Commons Buenos Aires, Jul 18 (EFE).- Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona is filing a complaint against ex-wife Claudia Villafañe over an 80-million-peso (some $8.7-million) shortfall in his accounts. The 54-year-old Maradona confirmed in remarks to Jorge Rial, a TV host with Argentina's America channel, that he is filing a tax-evasion complaint with Argentina's internal...

Source: National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center San Juan, Jul 18 (EFE).- The Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico has announced that the first detailed images have been obtained of Asteroid 2011 UW158, which show it has a very odd shape and structure, and that it spins at a tremendous speed on its own axis, phenomena that have intrigued scientists. The images were obtained by scientists at t...

Wikimedia Commons New York, Jul 18 (EFE).- Mexico is a corrupt country that should be subject to a U.S. "boycott," Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump said in an interview to be broadcast Sunday by a New York radio station. Trump, whose remarks were published on Saturday by several media outlets, cited Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" (Shorty) Guzman's escape from the Altipl...

Wikimedia Commons La Paz, Jul 16 (EFE).- The southwestern Bolivian city of Potosi has now been paralyzed and isolated from the rest of the country for 11 days, with at least 69 foreign tourists trapped there amid a protest by political and social organizations demanding regional development projects be undertaken to benefit the local populace. Activities at schools, businesses, industries a...

Wikimedia Commons Mexico City, Jul 17 (EFE).- A baby boy died of the bites he suffered in an attack by two pit bull terriers in the central Mexican city of Leon, police told EFE on Friday. The victim, identified as 21-month-old Matias Reynoso, was attacked Thursday afternoon, according to witnesses in the Arboledas de San Hilarion neighborhood. Neighbors heard the toddler's mother scream...

Wikimedia Commons Washington, Jul 16 (EFE).- Canadian singer-songwriter and musician Neil Young says he is pulling all of his music from streaming services, citing "the worst quality in the history of broadcasting." "Streaming has ended for me. I hope this is ok for my fans," the 69-year-old member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame wrote on Facebook. "It's not because of the money, altho...

Washington, Jul 16 (EFE).- Authorities in Tennessee confirmed Thursday that four Marines died in two separate shooting incidents at military recruiting offices in Chattanooga. The shooter was identified as Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez, who worked as a security guard for the city's Public Works Department, CBS News reported, although later reports said that it is his father who works there. Th...

Havana, Jul 15 (EFE).- Cuba's Raul Castro insisted Wednesday that "it's not possible to conceive of" normal relations with the United States as long as the "blockade" of the island remains in place and said he hopes that President Barack Obama uses "his executive authority" to dismantle aspects of the 53-year-old economic embargo. "We hope that (Obama) continues using his executive authority to...

Photo: James De Mers, Pixabay Commons Mexico City, Jul 14 (EFE).- A dromedary, or Arabian camel, that was being sold at a street market in the central Mexican city of Almoloya de Juarez has been seized, the Profepa federal environmental protection agency said. Profepa inspectors went to the San Bernabe street market at the request of the State Public Safety Commission in Mexico state, which...

Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman. Source: Wikimedia Commons Mexico City, Jul 14 (EFE).- Mexico did not receive any warnings from the U.S. government that Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquin "El Chapo" (Shorty) Guzman was planning to escape from prison, Government Secretary Miguel Angel Osorio said. U.S. television network CBS reported Monday that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration told the Mexican gove...

Source: Wikimedia Commons Washington, Jul 13 (EFE).- U.S. federal authorities arrested and charged with terrorism the estranged son of a Boston police captain who allegedly was planning an attack inspired by the Islamic State, the Department of Justice announced Monday. Alexander Ciccolo, 23, was arrested on July 4 as he was awaiting a shipment of several firearms he had arranged to buy, al...

Wikimedia Commons London, Jul 12 (EFE).- Serbian world No. 1 Novak Djokovic beat Switzerland's Roger Federer 7-6 (7-1), 6-7 (10-12), 6-4, 6-3 on Sunday to win his third Wimbledon title. "It's a great privilege to play against Roger, who is a great champion," Djokovic said. "He has done so much for our sport on and off the court. It's a great honor to play him again." The 28-year-old Djok...

"El chapo Guzmán" por Fabrizio León Diez - Obra do próprio. Licenciado sob CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Mexico City, Jul 12 (EFE).- Drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" (Shorty) Guzman escaped from the Altiplano I federal prison in central Mexico through a 1.5-kilometer (nearly one-mile) tunnel that led to a house, officials said Sunday. Guzman, who had been held at the prison in Mexico stat...

Wikimedia Commons Washington, Jul 11 (EFE).- Real-estate magnate and TV personality Donald Trump promises he will win the Hispanic vote to become the Republican candidate and then the elected president of the United States, despite his controversial remarks about Mexican immigrants. Trump made that prediction at a press conference in Los Angeles, where he again defended his opinion about th...

Wikimedia Commons Guadalajara, Mexico, Jul 11 (EFE).- Residents of the Mexican hamlet of La Yerbabuena were evacuated after an explosion was registered inside the Colima Volcano, emergency management officials told EFE. The inhabitants of that small community on the side of the volcano, which straddles the western states of Colima and Jalisco, were taken to La Becerrera, a town three kilome...

"Bumblebee October 2007-3a" by Alvesgaspar - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons Washington, Jul 10 (EFE).- The populations of bumblebees in North America and Europe are collapsing due to their inability to adapt to climate change, which indicates that some animal life will be unable to change their habitats in order to survive, according to a study published in Science...

Haitian orphans with charity workers Santo Domingo, Jul 10 (EFE).- The Dominican Republic said Friday amid a bilateral spat over the thorny issue of immigration that Haiti's government is to blame for the large numbers of people who cross the border in search of employment, saying Port-au-Prince "has been unable to carry out policies that boost its people's living standards." The Dominican ...

San Francisco, Jul 9 (EFE).- Latinos outnumber non-Hispanic whites in California, according to the most recent figures released by the Census Bureau showing that in July 2014 there were 15 million Hispanics in the state compared with 14.9 million non-Hispanic whites. Demographers expected Hispanics to become the largest ethnic group in the state in 2013, but a slower demographic growth rate tha...

Washington, Jul 8 (EFE).- United Airlines said Wednesday it was forced to ground all its flights around the world due to computer problems. About 3,500 flights around the world were affected, the U.S.-based carrier said. "We experienced a network connectivity issue this morning. We are working to resolve this and apologize to our customers for any inconvenience," the airline said in a messag...

Source: NASA Washington, Jul 7 (EFE).- The U.S. New Horizons space probe has provided the clearest and closest images to date of Pluto a week before it arrives at its historic rendezvous with the distant and largely unknown dwarf planet. The photographs, taken on July 1 and 3, are a foretaste of what scientists hope to see when the probe makes history on the 14th, passing just 12,500 km (7,...

"Taquile from Amantani" by Ingo Mehling - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons Lima, Jul 7 (EFE).- Some 60 tourists left stranded for several hours on Taquile, one of the islands in Lake Titicaca, were rescued in the early hours Tuesday by the Peruvian navy following a storm with winds of up to 60 kph (37 mph), officials said. The naval commander, Capt. Juan Jose Gonz...

Wikimedia Commons Mexico City, Jul 6 (EFE).- At least six gunmen were killed when they attacked a navy helicopter in the northeastern Mexican state of Tamaulipas, the Navy Secretariat said Monday. The chopper was carrying marines on a surveillance mission Sunday about 70 kilometers (43 miles) south of the border city of Nuevo Laredo when it came across several vehicles carrying gunmen, who ...

Wikimedia Commons Washington, Jul 6 (EFE).- Actors Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher, cast members of the series "That '70s Show," were married this weekend in a very private ceremony in Los Angeles that they typically kept out of the spotlight, People magazine reported Monday. Kunis, 31, and Kutcher, 37, announced their engagement a year and a half ago. The news, which has not yet been offi...

ISS. Source: Wikimedia Commons Moscow, Jul 5 (EFE).- Russia's Progress M-28M cargo capsule successfully docked with the International Space Station on Sunday, Russian space agency Roscosmos reported. "The docking was carried out successfully. The Progress M-28M ship now forms part of the ISS," Roscosmos said in a communique. The unmanned space vessel, carrying some 2.5 tons of cargo - in...

Source: Riverside BT San Jose, Jul 5 (EFE).- A video game developed in Costa Rica aims to raise awareness in Latin America of the need to protect the Amazon river dolphin, or pink dolphin, and other river species, such as the manatee, that are threatened by illegal fishing and habitat loss. The game, titled "Apu, el espiritu del rio" (Apu, the Spirit of the River), takes players on a journe...

Young tourists in Sarchi. Photo: James Marshall By  Rosa Monge Alvarez. Photos by James Marshall Sarchí, an idyllic town located about an hour away from San Jose, is known around the world for its extensive dedication to furniture making and handcrafts. Ask anyone in Costa Rica where the finest furniture can be found, and the answer will always be Sarchí. Sarchí is small municipality wit...

US NSA Headquarters. Source: Wikimedia Commons Sao Paulo, Jul 4 (EFE).- Whistle-blower Web site WikiLeaks on Saturday published the names of more than 29 members of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff's administration who were spied on by the U.S. National Security Agency at the start of her first term in office, which began in January 2011. The release of the list of phone numbers linked to...

Source: Sylvania By: Carolina Ruiz Vega In Costa Rica and Central America, one of the main causes of fire is deficient electrical connections. Having qualified personnel making proper installations is, without a doubt, a first step in avoiding this kind of hazard. A second step is installing certified electrical products -- the kind of appliances that have gone through a series of evalua...

Bogota, Jul 2 (EFE).- The area planted in coca in Colombia grew last year by 44 percent, from 48,000 to 69,000 hectares (120,000 to 173,000 acres), and potential cocaine production grew by 52 percent, the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, or UNODC, revealed Thursday. Those are the main conclusions contained in the latest Colombia Coca Survey, which verifies that while the cultivation area of coca...

New York, Jul 3 (EFE).- JetBlue made its first weekly flight Friday between New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and Havana's Jose Marti International Airport as part of the measures taken in recent months to restore relations between Cuba and the United States. According to a communique from the airline, JetBlue becomes the first large U.S. airline to serve this route since restric...