Illegal Mining Crackdown: Costa Rica’s lawmakers approved a bill to treat illegal mining and other environmental crimes as organized-crime offenses, aiming to hit the networks behind gold extraction, logging, and wildlife trafficking—an issue that’s been especially visible in Crucitas near Nicaragua’s border. TPS Fallout for Migrant Workers: In the U.S., Haitians’ and Syrians’ Temporary Protected Status is set to end after a Supreme Court greenlight, putting hundreds of thousands of workers’ legal lives at risk and raising alarms from healthcare and construction employers about labor shortages and community impacts. Nicaragua’s Political Shift: Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega says elections will be blocked for parties funded by the U.S., and separate reporting frames moves toward scrapping elections as a major step in authoritarian tightening. Avocado Origins Study: A new genetic study traces domesticated avocado cultivation into Central America about 5,000 years ago, with samples from Mexico, Honduras, and Nicaragua pointing to early human migration routes. Wildlife Research: A tagged Prothonotary Warbler was tracked on a multi-country migration that included Nicaragua, highlighting the region’s role in long-distance bird survival.