Escanaba - Reports have come in from Upper Michigan of a teenager who had not been seen in years. The parents allegedly locked the young boy in a make shift room, beat and sexually abused him and never allowed him out in public.

Caracas - A Venezuelan public television station developed a one-minute animated video in which the deceased Hugo Chavez is shown arriving in paradise where he is received by his grandmother and illustrious former Latin American leaders.

Eighteen individuals detained at the Honduran/Nicaraguan border and charged with money laundering and drug-related crimes have been found guilty and sentenced by a Nicaraguan judge.

Venezuelan politics is in uncharted territory these days, as Hugo Chavez faces his strongest opponent since 1998, when he leaped to power.

A US citizen has been released from a Nicaraguan prison after serving nearly two years on drug and money laundering charges. Jason Puracal, 35, was initially sentenced to 22 years, but his conviction was overturned by an appeals court.

Chichigalpa - Showing ash and gas spewing out around 5 km into the air, the video of the San Cristobal volcano also shows the area being inundated with ash and volcanic dust.

A strong earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale shook Costa Rican territory this morning at about 08:42 local time. No reports are yet known about casualties or the level of damage.

Managua - With nearly 40% of the votes counted and nearly 62.6% in his favour, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega is heading for a landslide re-election which opponents describe as "illegitimate, dishonest and unconstitutional."

With a lead that appears insurmountable at this point, peace campaigner Michael Higgins is set to become Ireland's ninth president, upsetting his more fancied rivals Sean Gallagher and Martin McGuinness in the presidential election held Thursday.

Managua - Army soldiers and Navy personnel have taken positions in wildlife refuges on the beaches of the Pacific coast of Nicaragua with the mission of protecting nesting sea turtles from egg looters.

New York - It took ten long years and four times playing on the reality show series Survivor for Rob Mariano to finally win the title of Sole Survivor. He played the game for 117 total days, longer then any other contestant.

San Juan Del Sur - Nicaragua is the host for the 22nd season of the hit-show Survivor. It's called Redemption Island and the first twist of the season is the return of former contestants 'Boston Rob' Mariano and Russell Hantz, who bring 156 days of experience to the game.

The upcoming fight between Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico and Ricardo Mayorga of Managua, Nicaragua on March 12 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, could galvanize the reunification of two of the world's greatest boxing promoters.

A Nicaraguan diplomat has been found dead in his Bronx apartment with his throat slashed Thursday morning according to a press release.

Tropical storm Matthew has formed in the southern Caribbean and is threatening to upgrade to a hurricane as it heads towards Honduras, Guatemala and Belize by tomorrow night (Friday).

Nicaragua has suspended diplomatic relations with Tel Aviv in protest of its deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla Monday which left at least 9 activists dead.

Former Panamanian General Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno was sent to Le Santé prison today by order of a French judge, hours after being extradited to France from the United States.

Caracas - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez recently hinted at a possible war in South America if Colombia elects Presidential candidate Juan Manuel Santos.

The desired improvement in relations between Cuba and the U.S. appears to be further away than ever following a speech on Sunday by Cuban leader Raul Castro in which he accused Washington of trying to "destroy the revolution".

Countries of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) agreed to introduce regional common currency, the sucre.