Nine months have passed since Canadian expat Ryan Piercy was kidnapped in Costa Rica, and authorities here appear no closer to solving the case despite assurances this week from detectives that they are aggressively pursuing all leads.
A Facebook page set up by the family of missing 20-year-old Alysson Mercier from Gatineau, Quebec, includes a post from a user named Edgar Mata who claimed to have seen Mercier in La Fortuna, San Carlos, near Arenal Volcano, on Monday, July 20, a day after Mercier's family last heard from her.
OTTAWA, Canada – Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Sunday called general elections for Oct. 19, kicking off a campaign for a fourth straight term in power amid a sluggish economy. Harper, in power since 2006, dissolved parliament after meeting with Governor General David Johnston, the representative of Queen Elizabeth II, Canada's nominal head of state in this Commonwealth country.
Immigration authorities raided the offices of the English-language school Máximo Nivel Thursday, the Immigration Administration confirmed to The Tico Times Friday afternoon. Authorities told 15 people to report to the administration’s office to verify their immigration status, according to a statement from press representative.
Police discovered an abandoned car with its doors open on the side of the road along Route 32 Tuesday evening. The car is registered to the missing man, Ryan Piercy, OIJ Director Francisco Segura said Wednesday morning.
Foreign Trade Minister Alexander Mora said that Costa Rica’s economy and offerings have changed since the 2002 agreement was signed, noting that the service sector, like call centers and off-site financial services, were not covered in the agreement.
The president has a difficult backdrop to the pro-business narrative he planed to tell on this trip as the longshoremen strike enters its sixth day and seven former public officials go on trial for corruption in a canceled gold mining concession to a Canadian company Monday.
Gunfire echoed through the Gothic halls of the Canadian parliament Wednesday as police swarmed in to tackle a gunman who had shot a soldier outside before storming the building. Initial reports at the scene suggested that one attacker had been shot by police inside the building while up to two more were feared to be at large, as officers sealed off the area.
President Luis Guillermo Solís might have to add traveling-salesman-in-chief to his credentials. The Costa Rican leader announced Wednesday that he would travel to Canada to participate in the Toronto Economic Forum during the week of Oct. 26 to drum up more foreign investment for the country in his sixth trip abroad as president.
