 |
|
||||
 |
 |
 |
||
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
|
Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for more details |
A.M. Costa Rica's Second news page |
|
|
|
San
José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, Jan 6, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 3
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
|
 Ministerio de Gobernación,
Policía y Seguridad Pública
photo
Patrol car collided with
the fleeing tractor.Container
robberies squashed by police
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A gang of bandits stuck up and tied up a guard at a trucking firm in Limón early Monday and then stole two tractor trailers bearing shipping containers. Fuerza Pública reported the agency was able to stop one truck on Ruta 32 in Río Frio and also detain the occupants of an accompanying vehicle that was serving as an escort. A patrol car rammed that vehicle. Other officers stopped the second vehicle in Santa Elena de San Isidro de Heredia. The driver of this vehicle managed to flee, they said. In all four persons were detained, and at least two have prior criminal records, the police agency said. Strong winds are not going away soon By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The winds that are whipping the country has caused electrical outages and brought down trees. The Instituto Meteorológico Nacional says that this condition will last through Wednesday. The winds have reached 100 kph or about 62 mph, according to the weather institute. The higher elevations have the higher winds. More typical in the Central Valley were winds in the 80 kph range, some 50 mph. The weather institute said that the cause was high pressure in the Caribbean and that the winds would begin to diminish Wednesday and reduce slowly during the rest of the week. The weather institute also is calling for light to moderate rain in the northern zone and on the Caribbean coast. There may be some in the metro area, too. The agency issued two bulletins about the winds Monday. For many Costa Ricans, the temperature with the wind chill factor is about as cold as it gets. In addition to the chill, the winds are noisy and can easily invade some homes that are built for ventilation and not windy weather. Working despite the winds were municipal trash collectors Monday who made inroads in removing the garbage that has been pushed around by the winds since Jan. 1. U.S. ski team members die in avalanche By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The U.S. Ski Team is in shock after an avalanche in the Austrian Alps took the lives of two members of the team's developmental program. Monday's incident took place near the Rettenbach glacier in the mountains at the western Austrian resort of Soelden, which is the venue for the annual season-opening World Cup races. Ronnie Berlack, 20, and Bryce Astle, 19, were caught by the avalanche while free-skiing in Soelden in the Tyrol region, the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association said in a statement. Four other team members skiing with them survived. No coaches were with them at the time. The Austrian broadcaster ORF said neither man was wearing avalanche emergency gear. An avalanche alert had been in effect for the area after days of heavy snowfall and mild temperatures. Berlack, from Franconia, New Hampshire, had been on the U.S. development team since 2013 and Astle, from Sandy, Utah, had been invited to train with it this season.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
| The contents of
this Web site are copyrighted by Consultantes Ro Colorado S.A 2015
and may
not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details |
||||||
A.M. Costa Rica Third News Page |
|
| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, Jan 6, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 3 | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
 Consejo Nacional de Vialidad photo
Workman measures a hole
that has been drilled to accommodate a concrete piling for a new bridge. |
Road agency expects slow going at Paso Ancho overpass worksite By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The word for motorists using the Circunvalación is patience because the stretch at Paso Ancho continues to be a bottleneck. Contractors are building an overpass above the existing traffic circle, which has been a bottleneck in its own right. This is the circle commonly known as Guacamaya because of the adjacent auto parts businesses of that name. This is $10 million job and is similar to the overpasses built at Y-Griega and San Sebastán. The Consejo Nacional de Vialidad reports that workmen are about 25 percent along in drilling and installing concrete pilings for the six-lane bridge structure. The Circunvalación is the multi-lane bypass that now runs from La Uruca south of the metro area to San Pedro. Plans are underway to build a northern loop that will connect with Ruta 32, the Limón highway. The road agency said that regardless of the construction activities there always will be one lane open for traffic. The bridge itself will be 410 meters, some 1,345 feet. Financing is by the Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo. |
| Economic survey shows credit card debt at 859 trillion colons | |
|
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
There are 1,872,149 credit cards in circulation in Costa Rica, and the average debt represented by each card is 458,852 colons, according to the economics ministry. That is a total debt of some 859 trillion colons or $1.6 trillion. That's 31.5 billion colons more than the previous year. And these figures do not take into account the Christmas season because the Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Comercio did its survey as of Oct. 31. The ministry also reported that some 12.8 percent of the credit card owners were behind in payments. The ministry noted that there are 29 firms or banks in Costa Rica that issue credit cards. And there are 398 different types of cards. The ministry has been studying the credit card business for four years. In the latest report the ministry repeated its findings that some credit card issuers charge from 40 to 51 percent annual interest. And some issuers even charge customers who want to get a card. The high interest rate has attracted the attention of lawmakers who may try to put a cap on the rate via legislation. |
 |
| You need to see Costa Rican tourism information HERE! |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
| The contents of
this Web site are copyrighted by Consultantes Río Colorado S.A.
2015 and may
not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details |
||||||
 |
|
||||
| A.M. Costa Rica's Fourth News page | |||||
| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, Jan 6, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 3 | |||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
| Researchers say that cold weather may promote cold virus
growth |
|
|
By the Yale University news service
The common cold virus can reproduce itself more efficiently in the cooler temperature found inside the nose than at core body temperature, according to a new Yale-led study. This finding may confirm the popular, yet contested, notion that people are more likely to catch a cold in cool-weather conditions. Researchers have long known that the most frequent cause of the common cold, the rhinovirus, replicates more readily in the slightly cooler environment of the nasal cavity than in the warmer lungs. However, the focus of prior studies has been on how body temperature influenced the virus as opposed to the immune system, said Akiko Iwasaki, study senior author and Yale professor of immunobiology. To investigate the relationship between temperature and immune response, Professor Iwasaki and an interdisciplinary team of Yale researchers spearheaded by Ellen Foxman, a postdoctoral fellow in Professor Iwasaki’s lab, examined the cells taken from the airways of mice. They compared the immune response to rhinovirus when cells were incubated at 37 degrees Celsius, or core body temperature, and at the cooler 33 degrees Celsius. “We found that the innate immune response to the rhinovirus is impaired at the lower body temperature compared to the core body temperature,” said Professor Iwasaki. The study also strongly suggested that the varying temperatures influenced the immune response, rather than the virus itself. Researchers observed viral replication in airway cells from mice with genetic deficiencies in the immune system sensors that detect virus and in the antiviral response. They found that with these immune deficiencies, the virus was able to replicate at the higher temperature. “That proves it’s not just virus intrinsic, but it’s the host’s response, that’s the major contributor,” Professor Iwasaki explained. Although the research was conducted on mouse cells, it offers clues that may benefit people, including the roughly |
 20 percent who harbor rhinovirus in the nose at any given time. “In general, the lower the temperature, it seems the lower the innate immune response to viruses,” noted Professor Iwasaki. In other words, she said, the research may give credence to the old wives’ tale that people should keep warm, and even cover their noses, to avoid catching colds. Yale researchers also hope to apply this insight into how temperature affects immune response to other conditions, such as childhood asthma. While the common cold is no more than a nuisance for many people, it can cause severe breathing problems for children with asthma, noted Ms. Foxman. Future research may probe the immune response to rhinovirus-induced asthma. |
Here's reasonable medical care
Costa Rica's world class medical specialists are at your command. Get the top care for much less than U.S. prices. It is really a great way to spend a vacation. See our list of recommended professionals HERE!amcr-prom
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
| The
contents of
this Web site are copyrighted by Consultantes Río Colorado S.A.
2015 and may
not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details |
||||||
|
A.M. Costa Rica's Fifth
news page
|
||
 |
 |
|
| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, Jan 6, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 3 | |||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
 |
| U.S. Coast Guard reports more Cubans fleeing island By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The U.S. Coast Guard says the number of Cubans picked up at sea trying to reach the United States has surged since President Barack Obama announced plans to restore diplomatic relations with Havana. Coast Guard officials say vessels picked up 121 Cuban migrants at sea last week and returned them to the island. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Jake Korn said Monday there is no change in U.S. immigration policy regarding Cuba. He said only Congress can change the so-called wet foot, dry foot act, which allows Cubans who reach the United States to stay. Some Cubans say they are afraid that diplomatic relations with the United States will mean tighter immigration restrictions. The Coast Guard has increased patrols in the waters between Cuba and the Florida keys and discourages everyone from trying to make the dangerous crossing. It says any Cubans picked up at sea will be sent back. President Obama made history last month when he announced plans to ease the more than 50-year-old economic embargo on Cuba and restore diplomatic ties cut in 1961, two years after Fidel Castro seized power. Dissidents critical of Obama after Cuba detains activists By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Cuban dissidents say last week’s detention of activists by Cuban authorities demonstrates what they call the fallacy of U.S. President Barack Obama’s recent decision to re-establish diplomatic relations with the communist nation and relax some restrictions on travel and trade. The Obama administration maintains its new policy eventually will help bring change to Cuba. Cuba’s Ladies in White are demanding the release of political prisoners and improved human rights. But they don’t believe the U.S. president's opening to Havana will bring freedom, says leader Berta Soler. “Obama thought this would favor the Cuban people, but that’s not the case," she said. "Everything that comes out of this renewal of ties will benefit the Cuban government and not the Cuban people.” Dissidents say the arrest of Cuban performance artist Tania Bruguera last week is an example of the continuing repression. Ms. Bruguera and some 50 others were detained for planning an event in Havana’s Revolution Square to push for freedom of expression. Authorities later released her and some of the other activists. Washington condemned the detentions. But State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki was pressed Monday to defend the new U.S. policy. "One of the reasons why we moved forward with the change in policy is because we want to empower Cuban citizens to give them greater ability to promote positive change going forward," she said. "And a critical focus of our announced actions include continued strong focus on improved human rights conditions of which we know that the situation in Cuba remains poor." Yet she acknowledged to reporters there is still no word on the release of 53 Cuban political prisoners Havana promised would be freed following President Obama's announcement normalizing relations. Critics of the opening include prominent U.S. lawmakers of both parties who say Obama got little in return from Havana in exchange for easing parts of the decades-long economic embargo, including allowing U.S. telecommunications investments. An editorial in the Washington Post newspaper pointed to Ms. Bruguera’s detention as evidence the president should have demanded protections for pro-democracy activists in return for his overture. But it is in Cuba where dissidents, such as Elizardo Sanchez, feel most discouraged. “We do not see any sign that the government is willing to make the reforms the country needs….so everything will continue more or less the same as it has been in previous years,” he said. Jan. 1 marked 56 years since Fidel Castro swept into power and launched the Cuban Revolution. Today, ordinary Cubans are waiting to see if the new U.S. policy will have any impact on their daily lives or on the Caribbean island's communist government. Arctic whale may harbor secret of a long lifespan By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The Bowhead whale may harbor the secret to longevity, according to a new study that describes its genome. Native to the Arctic, the bowhead is big and strong and can live 200 years, possibly the longest lifespan of any mammal. But why does it live so long? That question has intrigued University of Liverpool scientist Joao Pedro Magalhaes for a long time. “Why do human beings age slower than other primates?" he says. "Why do mice age so much faster than humans or whales? And likewise, why do bowhead whales seem to live longer than human beings and seem to be protected against some age-related disease like cancer?” Magalhaes says this remains a mystery. But in sequencing the genome, the scientists looked for patterns comparing the bowhead to other closely related, but shorter-lived species, such as the Minke whale. Magalhaes says the team focused on identifying genes with bowhead specific mutations. “We looked for genes that are duplicated — that is, they have multiple copies in the bowhead whale, but not in other related species. And this revealed a number of promising leads.” In the journal Cell Reports, Magalhaes and colleagues describe alterations in bowhead genes related to cell division, DNA repair, cancer and aging. Magalhaes says different long-lived species use different tricks to evolve a long life span. He wants to uncover the natural mechanism that triggers that process. “If I can figure out what are these tricks in the bowhead and what makes them live so long and protects against diseases, we can then try to apply them to human beings, which could involve pharmacological interventions or pharmacological targeting of particular genes," he said. "It could involve gene therapy.” The next step, he says, is to breed mice with bowhead whale genes, to determine the importance of different longevity and age-related mutations. But the sequence has other applications, too: understanding population dynamics and genetic diversity can help conservationists working to protect the species, which is threatened by habitat loss and toxins in the environment. Breath test for diabetes may help screen youngsters By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
People with Type 1 diabetes, usually diagnosed in children and young adults, must take insulin injections and watch their diet to keep their blood sugar levels balanced. Diagnosing the disease usually requires taking blood samples, a frightening experience for many youngsters. But researchers in the United Kingdom say they have developed a simple, non-invasive initial test, which requires only a whiff of the patient’s breath. It is estimated that each year, as many as 80,000 children develop Type 1 diabetes. The autoimmune disease can be lethal if untreated, so early discovery is of ultimate importance. One of the side effects of diabetes is sweet-smelling breath. Oxford University Emeritus Professor of Chemistry Gus Hancock says it is due to the build-up of chemicals called ketones in the patient’s blood. “And the sweet smell is this particular ketone that is given out. It's called acetone. And doctors have regularly smelled acetone on the breath of patients who are in a state of diabetic ketoacidosis and used it as a diagnostic,” says Hancock. CEO of Oxford Medical Diagnostics, Ian Campbell, says it was not an easy task, because breath contains molecules of millions of compounds while this test requires detecting only one of them. “So, what we do is allow the subject to blow into the device, we extract out the volatile organic compound we wish to measure, in this case acetone. The remainder of the breath passes through the device. We then release the molecules that we're interested in into the cavity to make the measurement,” says Campbell. Hancock, who collaborated in the development of the device, says similar analyzers exist but only as desktop-sized heavy boxes. “The aim that we have is to get this into a hand-held device… that somebody can pick up and use by blowing simply through a mouth-piece,” says Hancock. Researchers say the new analyzer should be ready for doctors’ offices within a year, while even smaller versions for individual use may be available later. But they point out the breath analyzer should be seen only as a first screening, and a diagnosis must be confirmed by a proper blood test. Two U.S. citizens held as Gambia coup authors By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Two U.S. citizens are facing charges for their alleged role in last week's coup attempt in the West African nation of Gambia. The U.S. Justice Department says Cherno Njie, 57, and Papa Faal, 46, are both in custody after making their initial court appearances Monday, Njie in Baltimore, Maryland, and Faal in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Both men are charged with conspiracy to violate the U.S. Neutrality Act as well as a firearm charge. According to the Justice Department, Njie and Faal traveled to Gambia in December with the purpose of overthrowing the government. The criminal complaint says ahead of their trip, Faal and other co-conspirators purchased weapons including M4 semi-automatic rifles, and shipped them to Gambia for use in the coup attempt. It says the conspirators expected Njie would have served as Gambia's interim leader had the plot to overthrow President Yahya Jammeh succeeded. A Federal Bureau of Investigation search of Faal's Minnesota home turned up M4 manuals, receipts, and Google satellite images of Gambia in a folder marked top secret, the Justice Department charged. FBI agents who searched Njie's residences in Austin and Lakeway, Texas, found handwritten documents, a spreadsheet for weapons and equipment, and a document outlining transition plans for Gambia, the complaint said. The Justice Department says when the coup attempt was foiled, both men returned to the U.S. “The attempted coup was the result of more than 20 years of abuse by Jammeh. Gambians didn’t ask Jammeh to lead us. He forced himself onto the Gambian people by overthrowing the democratically-elected government that was in place,” said Pa Samba Jow, a spokesman for the Democratic Union of Gambian Activists, who has been in exile for close to two decades. Jow says he knows Faal, one of the defendants. “He’s a very upright and patriotic guy, a very honest man and a man who lost his country," he said. "He was doing his PhD, has written a book: 'One Week in Hell' about the 1981 abortive coup. A very active person in the community in Minnesota. He’s a generous person who believes in democracy and hates the abuse of other human beings.” Tamsir Jasseh of the Gambian Association for Peace and Reconciliation based in Atlanta said the coup was no surprise to anybody. “It seems as if every democratic and legal venue of bringing about change in Gambia have been locked down by the manner in which Mr. Jammeh governs the country, and people are forced to look into other ways in which to liberate themselves,” he said. Njie is a U.S. citizen of Gambian descent and a resident of Austin, Texas. Njie is the president of Songhai Development Co. LLC in Austin, which specializes in multi-family housing developments, including retirement communities. Faal is a dual U.S.-Gambian citizen and a resident of Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. A Pentagon official said Faal had been an Army sergeant who served a tour in Afghanistan and left the military in 2012. Security forces in Gambia, a country of about 1.8 million people and the smallest nation in mainland Africa, have also begun arresting suspects in last week's attack. Buckingham Palace defends prince accused in sex case By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Britain's Buckingham Palace is emphatically denying allegations of sexual impropriety by Prince Andrew, Queen Elizabeth's second son who is fifth in line to the British throne. In a U.S. court case, an American woman alleges she was kept as an underage sex slave by disgraced U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein, a friend of the prince, and forced to have sex with Prince Andrew on three occasions. The woman alleges the liaisons occurred between 1999 and 2002, in London, New York and on Epstein's private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Buckingham Palace has now issued two denials of the allegations against the 54-year-old prince, also known as the Duke of York. It said that "any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors is categorically untrue." The woman made the allegations in a court filing in the southern U.S. state of Florida in a case accusing U.S. prosecutors of agreeing to let Epstein plead guilty to sex crime charges without consulting victims. Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to a Florida state charge of soliciting an underage girl for prostitution and served 13 months of an 18-month prison term. But with the guilty plea, he escaped more serious federal charges. Bess Myerson of TV fame reported to have died at 90 By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Bess Myerson, the first and so far only Jewish Miss America, whose personal life was filled with stormy marriages and political scandal, has died at age 90. The Los Angeles coroner's office says Ms. Myerson died last month, but her death was not made public until Monday. The New York-born Ms. Myerson won the Miss America beauty crown weeks after World War II ended in 1945, when details of Nazi crimes against Jews were starting to emerge. She became a source of pride for American Jews as she spoke out against anti-Semitism and racism. Ms. Myerson was a popular television personality in the 1950s and 60s, appearing chiefly on commercials and game shows. She became New York City consumer affairs chief in 1969, pushing through consumer protection laws that are now in force nationally. She also ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate. But Ms. Myerson's political career and reputation for integrity collapsed in the 1980s with separate scandals involving shoplifting, divorce and allegations of bribery, mail fraud and obstruction of justice. Ms. Myerson eventually was cleared of the corruption charges and quietly lived out the rest of her life in Los Angeles. |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
| The
contents of
this Web site are copyrighted by Consultantes Río Colorado S.A.
2015 and may
not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details |
||||||
| A.M. Costa Rica's sixth news page |
|
||||||||
| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, Jan 6, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 3 | |||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
||
|
 Ministerio de
Gobernación, Policía y Seguridad Pública
photo
Police officer catalogues more than 12,000 units of medicines,mostly antibiotics, that officers caught a man carrying from Nicaragua into Costa Rica near the Peñas Blanca border station. The antibiotics included tetracycline, amoxicillin and medicine for asthma. Concern expressed for missing editor Special to A.M. Costa Rica
The Inter American Press Association has expressed concern at the disappearance in Mexico of journalist Moisés Sánchez Cerezo and called on the country’s authorities to determine his whereabouts. Sánchez Cerezo, 49, is editor and publisher of the community weekly newspaper La Unión in the town of Medellín de Bravo in Veracruz state. According to local media his family reported that on Friday a group of armed men in civilian clothes broke into his house and took him out by force, along with his computer, camera and mobile phone. La Unión is a publication that reports on violent acts, an increase in petty crime, a lack of security and action by the local government to deal with these problems. According to information gathered by the Inter American Press Association due to his socio-political and journalistic activities Sánchez Cerezo had received threats on several occasions during the past year from the head of the local municipal government and other people he had not been able to identify. Recently some of his equipment had been stolen. He is also a taxi driver and runs a modest business, which provides financial support for his newspaper. Gustavo Mohme, Inter American Press Association president, voiced concern at Sánchez Cerezo’s disappearance, adding, “We urge the federal authorities to investigate and ensure the journalist’s prompt and safe rescue.” Mohme, editor of the Lima, Peru, newspaper La República, recalled that last year five journalists were murdered in Mexico, one of them, Gregorio Jiménez de la Cruz, was killed in Veracruz. |
| Costa Rican News |
AMCostaRicaArchives.com |
Retire NOW
in Costa Rica |
CostaRicaReport.com |
| Fine Dining
in Costa Rica |
The CAFTA Report |
Fish
fabulous Costa Rica |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
| The
contents of
this Web site are copyrighted by Consultantes Río Colorado S.A.
2015 and may
not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details |
||||||
| From Page 7: Euro hits its lowest value in nine years By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The value of the euro dropped to a nine-year low against the dollar Monday, as fears over the stability of the eurozone escalated in the first week of the new year, raising investor concerns about the possibility the European Central Bank will launch a quantitative easing program in 2015. Speaking on French radio, President Francois Hollande addressed questions about whether Greece is likely to make an exit from the eurozone. "The Greek people are free to decide who they want as leaders," he said, later adding that it is up to Greece alone to decide if it will stay in the eurozone. Last month, Greek parliament members failed to elect a new president, paving the way for snap elections to take place Jan. 25. The left-wing Syriza party, which is leading opinion polls, has promised to end austerity if it wins and says it would ask Europe to wipe out a large chunk of its debt, leading many analysts to predict a possible Greek exit from Europe’s single-currency union. Hollande’s comments came on the heels of a report the German government is prepared to let Greece leave — a report that has since been countered by officials in the German government. Monday, the European Union’s spokeswoman said membership in the eurozone was irrevocable, but suggested Greece might be allowed to renegotiate some conditions of its membership. Monday the euro, in circulation in 19 of the 28 EU countries, dropped 1.2 percent against the dollar and hit its weakest level since March 2006. The fall comes after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi indicated the bank could soon begin a program of quantitative easing. Draghi was quoted in media outlets Friday suggesting the bank could begin buying government bonds, a step already taken by the central banks of Britain and the United States. In a survey carried out by the Financial Times, 26 economists said they expect the European Central Bank to start buying government bonds this year, against five who thought it would not. Most of those polled said with or without quantitative easing, they expect growth and inflation to remain weak in the year ahead. But some observers say it's too early to predict the European Central Bank’s next move. The first European Central Bank meeting of the year is due to take place on Jan. 22, preceding the Greek election by just a few days later. Analysts say the euro is likely to remain highly volatile in the lead up to those events. |
