Seoul and Washington Wednesday began their annual joint military exercises amid heightened tension in the Korean peninsula owing to Pyongyang's latest missile tests and the alleged murder of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's half-brother. The first of these maneuvers, called Foal Eagle, which includes aerial, terrestrial and naval exercises, will continue until the end of April, announced the S...

Bread for the World responded to President Donald J. Trump’s first speech before a joint session of Congress last night. The following statement can be attributed to Rev. David Beckmann, president of the non-profit humanitarian group, Bread for the World: “President Trump and our new Congress have this week started to slash programs that help hungry people. Their actions don’t square with the lof...

Yesterday, Costa Rica’s legislature voted 23-16 in favor of requesting international action on recent restrictions of press freedom in the United States, reported the local Costa Rican digital news source AmeliaRueda.com. The motion, drafted by National Liberation Party Legislator Rolando Gonzalez, condemns recent moves by the newly elected U.S. President Donald Trump to restrict some major U.S...

Former President George W. Bush on Monday called for "answers" regarding Russia's alleged interference in the Nov. 8 presidential election won by Donald Trump. "I think we all need answers," the Republican former president said in an interview with NBC, the first he has granted since Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration. "I'm not sure the right avenue to take. I am sure, though, that that question nee...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.  By Britt Nelson It’s all about money. That's why investigators always say, “Follow the money.” Politicians follow the money. Criminals follow the money. Wall Street bankers follow the money. Immigrants follow the money. Innovation follows the money...

Starting with Costa Rica's coasts, and later continuing inland throughout the territory, the National Institute of Innovation and Transfer in Agricultural Technology (INTA, its acronym in Spanish) is about to embark upon a much-needed land-use mapping project. The new maps will prove an essential tool for Costa Rica’s municipal governments to draw up and enforce zoning plans. And zoning plans a...

Washington, DC, Feb 25: A U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) report assessing the terrorist threat posed by the citizens of the seven countries covered by President Donald Trump's travel ban has expressed doubt on the necessity of the order. The document, as reported by the Washington Post, was prepared at the request of the acting secretary for the Office of Intelligence and Analysis a...

The Donald Trump administration on Tuesday established new directives to strengthen U.S. immigration control, unveiling an aggressive plan that includes accelerating deportation procedures for undocumented migrants and hiring 15,000 new agents. "The surge of illegal immigration at the southern border has overwhelmed federal agencies and resources and has created a significant national security vu...

New York, Feb. 20 — Thousands of people took to the streets Monday in New York and other U.S. cities to protest against President Donald Trump and reject his policies on the one-month anniversary of his inauguration. The New York demonstration was staged in front of the luxury hotel bearing Trump's name on Columbus Circle and extended along a number of streets all the way to Central Park. It...

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...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.  By Britt Nelson Saturday’s rally in Florida starring President Donald Trump was 100-percent unprecedented in the history of the United States of America. Never before has a sitting president harnessed public support through social media like this one....

Washington, DC, Feb. 16 — U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday nominated a former member of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to be labor secretary, an announcement that comes a day after his previous nominee withdrew his name from consideration amid controversy. If confirmed by the Senate, Alexander Acosta, a son of Cuban immigrants, would be the first Hispanic in the president's Cabi...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.  Politics is now looking through the magnifying glass and seeing your president blown out of logical proportion as if you were Alice in Wonderland standing under a mushroom in a place called Mar-A Lago. Last weekend President Donald Trump and First Lad...

Today, Reps. Elijah E. Cummings, John Conyers, Jr., Eliot L. Engel, Bennie G. Thompson, Adam Smith, and Adam Schiff, Ranking Members of the House Committees on Oversight and Government Reform, Judiciary, Foreign Affairs, Homeland Security, Armed Services, and Intelligence, sent a letter to White House Counsel Donald F. McGahn, II raising grave concerns and requesting information about reports that...

Washington, Feb. 14 — U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday eliminated a rule approved during the Barack Obama administration that required energy firms to make public their payments to foreign governments, one of the many Democratic regulations that the Republicans want to ax. Trump signed a bill pushed by Republican congressional leaders repealing a regulation finalized last year by the Securi...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.  By Britt Nelson Over the weekend anti-President Trump protesters showed up in at least 17 cities across the United States. On Sunday night Hollywood put on yet another display of Trump-bashing during the Grammy Awards for music. The anti-Trump prot...

Rio de Janeiro, Feb. 9 — A protest Thursday against a proposal to privatize the Rio de Janeiro state water company shut down the center of Brazil's tourist mecca, leading to injuries, arrests, and damage to property. Demonstrators clashed with police in streets near the seat of the state legislature, where lawmakers were scheduled to debate the bill authorizing the sale of the Cedae utility. ...

By Wendy Anders South Korea will hold meetings this week with six Central American countries for a legal review of their pending free trade agreement, said South Korean media sources. A team from Seoul's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy will meet its counterparts from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama and Honduras for three days of negotiations starting Monday, Feb....

President Donald Trump tweeted Saturday that the media was wrong to say the cost of his promised wall along the United States' border with Mexico would be steeper than initially projected, promising that his negotiating skills will bring the price down sharply. "I am reading that the great border WALL will cost more than the government originally thought, but I have not gotten involved in the d...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.  By Britt Nelson The current rage is against President Donald Trump’s executive order to better investigate people attempting to enter the United States of America from seven Muslim-majority counties in the Middle East. At issue is national security,...

Washington, DC, Feb. 9 — Federal appellate judges on Thursday decided unanimously to uphold an injunction issued by a lower court last week blocking President Donald Trump's executive order to temporarily bar residents of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States. This is the 45th president's first major legal challenge, and his first major blow, after signing numerous execu...

Secretary General António Guterres urged the United States not to scale back its support for the United Nations, saying that any move to defund or disengage from the world body would pave the way for other nations to fill in the void, according to a report from Dow Jones Newswires made available to EFE on Monday. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Guterres said he hoped to send a messa...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.  After Sunday night’s thrilling Super Bowl game, the Atlanta Falcons and their fans looked like a bunch of stunned Democrats wondering what the heck just happened to their ‘in the bag’ victory. The parallels between the New England Patriots’ come from behind r...

Vice President Mike Pence said Sunday that the Donald Trump administration is "evaluating" whether or not it will continue to maintain the nuclear agreement with Iran and five great powers, a pact the new president harshly criticized during his election campaign. "Well, we're evaluating that as we speak," Pence told ABC News in a Sunday interview in response to a question about whether the Trump ...

Madrid, Feb 5 — A United States appeals court on Sunday, Feb. 5 rejected a request by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration to reinstate a travel ban on entry to the U.S. for citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries. This means the nationwide halt on the ban continues to be in effect for all the affected countries. The Washington State Attorney General's Office said in a Twitter po...

President Donald Trump on Saturday slammed a federal judge who halted enforcement of his executive order temporarily barring refugees and people from seven mainly Muslim countries from entering the United States, saying it would be overturned. Trump expressed his displeasure in a series of Twitter posts. "The opinion of this so-called judge, which essentially takes law-enforcement away from ...

The Agriculture Department has removed animal welfare inspection reports, enforcement records and other information about the treatment of animals from its website, citing privacy and other laws.  Tanya Espinosa, a spokeswoman for USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said the information was removed from the site around 11 a.m. Friday. She would not say if the removal was temporary ...

"Mexico will pay for the wall" "No we won't" "It will cost 8 billion"  "No it will cost 20 billion"  "Make it out of concrete" "No make it out of precast plank"  "It's all too much we need to get the cost down", HURRY! The Pastillon, a German comedy/spoof site that tapped into IKEA’s design methods to help President Trump hit the ground running on his executive order of the border wall. The pe...

A federal judge on Friday issued a temporary restraining order blocking enforcement of President Donald Trump's executive order preventing people from seven mainly Muslim countries from entering the United States. U.S. District Court Senior Judge James L. Robart granted the injunction at the request of Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson, whose office said that the order applies nation...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.  It’s a great time to be living in Costa Rica - far from the maddening politics dividing the United States of America right now. Although only a 3-hour flight from Houston or Orlando, Costa Rica is a world away from President Donald Trump, Nancy Pelosi, R...

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General said it will conduct a review of President Donald Trump's executive order that temporarily bans travel from seven countries made up of mostly Muslim populations. The agency late Wednesday said it would "review DHS' implementation" of Trump's recent executive order "in response to congressional requests and whistleblower and ...

Two Republican senators said Wednesday they would break ranks with their party and oppose Donald Trump's nominee to become the United States' next Education Secretary. It marks the first time during the Senate confirmation process that GOP lawmakers have expressed opposition to a nominee chosen by the U.S. president. If Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska follow through and ali...

Washington, Feb. 1 — The U.S. Senate on Wednesday confirmed oil executive Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State. Tillerson, 64, who was nominated by President Donald Trump, will take over the U.S. diplomatic corps at a delicate time for the country after the open breach with Mexico following Trump's executive order to start building a wall along the U.S. southern border, the mistrust aroused by Tru...

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday approved the nomination of Sen. Jeff Sessions as US attorney general after several delays forced by Democrats following President Donald Trump's controversial firing of acting Attorney General Sally Yates. In an 11-9 vote, Sessions finally made it through the committee process and now his nomination will pass to the full Senate, where it is expected t...

Starbucks sent the following message to all partners (employees) on January 31st 2017 Regarding creating jobs for veterans On January 29, Starbucks announced plans to hire 10,000 refugees around the world in the 75 countries where it does business over the next five years. This plan is an extension of Starbucks ongoing commitment to create pathways to meaningful employment for veterans, militar...

Almost exactly one year after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia created an opening on the United States Supreme Court, President Donald Trump on Tuesday night officially nominated federal appellate judge Neil McGill Gorsuch to fill that yearlong empty post. Trump announced his pick Tuesday evening -- a disclosure that was greatly anticipated all day. "Today, I am keeping another promise to...

US President Donald Trump will keep an executive order issued by his predecessor, Barack Obama, banning private companies doing business with the federal government from discriminating against homosexual, bisexual and transgender employees, the White House said Tuesday. Trump "is determined to protect the rights of all Americans, including the LGBTQ community," the White House said in a stateme...

The president of the United States on Monday fired the acting attorney general after she refused to defend in court the ban on immigrants and refugees imposed by the White House on Friday. "The acting Attorney General, Sally Yates, has betrayed the Department of Justice by refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the United States," the White House said in a stateme...

Starbucks chairman and CEO sent the following message to all partners (employees) on January 29, 2017 Starbucks sent the following message to all partners (employees) on January 31st 2017 Regarding creating jobs for veterans UPDATED January 31st 2017 Dear partners, I write to you today with deep concern, a heavy heart and a resolute promise. Let me begin with the news that is immed...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.  By Britt Nelson For the past seven days the headlines have screamed “U.S. entry denied for Iraqis,” “Airports engulfed in protests,” “Sanctuary cities threatened,” and “Trump orders extreme vetting from Muslim countries.” President Donald Trump’s first w...