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A.M. Costa Rica's Second news page |
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José, Costa Rica, Monday, Feb. 9, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 27
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 Cruz Roja
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This 1926 Ford had a bell and not a siren. It went into service for theMoravia auxiliary of the Cruz Roja in 1928. The Moravia auxiliary, the first for the Cruz Roja, celebrates 90 years of its organization this year. Marine League inviting wounded for visit By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Marine Corps League Costa Rica is inviting 10 wounded Marines to visit Quepos in April as part of the Wounded Warrior program. A league spokesman said all the visitors are ambulatory, and sport fishing is high on the agenda. The league said it was seeking support from Americans living here. More information about donations can be obtained by email at woundedwarriorscr@gmail.com The Wounded Warrior program is designed to provide leadership and non-medical care to combat and non-combat wounded, ill and injured Marines and sailors who were attached to Marine units and their families in order to speed their recovery as they return to duty or go into civilian life, according to the organization. Dominicalito run/walk is March 1 By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Seventh annual Playa Dominicalito 5K/10K Walk/Run will be Sunday, March 1, this year. The event is fundraiser for lifeguards at the local beaches and the animal welfare organization D.A.W.G. All the proceeds are donated because local merchants and international businesses pay for the costs associated with the race, organizers said. The local public elementary school receives funds based on the number of kids that do the Toucan 2K run entirely on the beach. The course includes the beach, some jungle, steep mountains (for part of the 10K), a little village and a couple small rivers to cross (bridges optional), said the organizers. Many participants bring their dogs to give them a little exercise too. There are several locations to sign up in the Dominical area and additional information can be requested at race@costadelsol-cr.net. Dominical, Playa Dominicalito and nearby Playa Hermosa are among the few beaches in Costa Rica that have professional lifeguards. Weight loss found in wine and chile By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
There was some good news for the gravity challenged folks over the weekend. On the one hand, Oregon State University is reporting that drinking wine might retard the growth of fat cells. And the University of Wyoming researchers report similar results with chile peppers. Researchers the world over are seeking a quick cure for the overweight. Not only would this be a major benefit to world health, but the financial spinoff would be gigantic. At Oregon State University, the findings suggest that consuming dark-colored grapes, whether eating them or drinking juice or wine, might help people better manage obesity and related metabolic disorders such as fatty liver. Neil Shay, a biochemist and molecular biologist there, was part of a study team that exposed human liver and fat cells grown in the lab to extracts of four natural chemicals found in muscadine grapes, a dark-red variety native to the southeastern United States, according to a university summary. One of the chemicals, ellagic acid, proved particularly potent: It dramatically slowed the growth of existing fat cells and formation of new ones, and it boosted metabolism of fatty acids in liver cells, said the university. These plant chemicals are not a weight-loss miracle, cautions Shay. “We didn’t find, and we didn’t expect to, that these compounds would improve body weight,” he said. But by boosting the burning of fat, especially in the liver, they may improve liver function in overweight people. He was quoted by the university The chief ingredient of note in chile peppers is capsaicin. The temptation to eat fatty foods is often so strong that, for many, it can override or overpower any dietary restrictions. As a solution to this problem, a group of researchers at the University of Wyoming developed a novel approach to stimulate energy metabolism without the need to restrict calorie intake. Baskaran Thyagarajan, a university researcher, says dietary capsaicin may stimulate energy burning. This may help to prevent and manage obesity and other related health complications such as Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular diseases -- though this effect has not yet been demonstrated in carefully-controlled clinical trials, according to summary by the Biophysical Society. Thyagarajan presented his research at the society's annual meeting over the weekend. But weight loss will not be as easy as munching some chile peppers. The researcher's associates are developing a two-pronged program that includes exercise, the society said. Ebola battle reported at critical point By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The World Health Organization reports that good progress is being made toward containing the ebola epidemic, but it warns that the outbreak is far from over and still poses a grave threat. David Nabarro, special envoy of the U.N. secretary-general, is urging people not to become complacent. Though cases of ebola are declining, he said, a great deal of hard work remains to get to zero cases and zero transmission. To prove this point, Nabarro noted that World Health reported 124 new confirmed cases of ebola last week, an increase of 25 cases from the previous week. “There will always be volatility," he said. "Numbers will go up and down, but the more we are able to actively seek out cases and follow up their contacts, the better our results will be. … Now to finish the work off, it will be necessary to continue to bring in materials and people, so that we can undertake the kind of detective work that is necessary … to overcome the disease and also, at the same time, to get basic services back and working again.” But this takes lots of money. Nabarro said the United Nations needs $1 billion to finish the job — now.
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| San José, Costa Rica, Monday, Feb. 9, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 27 | |
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 Ministerio de Seguridad Pública
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Packages from home Who would have thought that some 100 kilos of assorted smuggled goods could fit in the space around a bus air conditioner? That's what Fuerza Pública officers found in San Dimas de La Cruz, Guanacaste. These were not high-value goods. They were processed foods, meats, cheese and similar projects, all packaged in what police said were unhealthy ways. |
| More elevators to go into service at bridges for pedestrians |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Two sets of elevators go into service this week and next at pedestrian bridges over major highways. One bridge is at Quesada Duran over the Circunvalación, and the other is at San Diego de La Unión over the Florencio del Castillo highway. Next month two more sets of elevators will go into service. One set will be at the pedestrian bridge in Sabana Norte. The other will be in Hatillo 5 at the Circunvalación. The elevators bring the bridges into compliance with a law providing equal access to the disabled. In the case of an existing set of elevators at Hospital México, those getting help are the temporarily disabled, those seeking medical attention, or perhaps woman with carriages. The elevators are a $2.4 million project, and the installations also solve a public security situation. The bridge over the Autopista General Cañas at Hospital México has been a favorite for robbers. Victims are trapped on the bridge when confronted by crooks. Now there are |
 Consejo Nacional de
Vialidad photo
This is the bridge with an
elevator at Hospital México.multiple cameras both inside and outside the elevators. Officials with the Consejo Nacional de Vialidad said that future bridges will have ramps designed to avoid the expense of elevators. At the existing bridges there is no space for ramps, they added. |
| You need to see Costa Rican tourism information HERE! |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Monday, Feb. 9, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 27 | |||||
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International
session in a rush to create negotiating text about climate
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By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
A new round of U.N.-sponsored negotiations to draft a climate change agreement to halt global warming has begun in Geneva. It is the first of several meetings this year aimed at finalizing a new, universal agreement, which world leaders are expected to sign at the end of the year in Paris. As they enter this final lap, conference participants in Geneva are fully aware of the importance of the work ahead. They know only 10 months remain for them to achieve an international, legally binding agreement on climate change. The work facing representatives from 194 countries in the week ahead is to streamline a draft text that currently runs to just under 40 pages. Ilze Pruse, head of the Latvian Delegation to the European Union, said it is essential to have a full negotiating text ready by May as a basis for further negotiations in June. “The IPCC has told us that our below-2 degrees goal is still within reach, but time is of the essence. Concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are at record levels and the planet is getting warmer. 2014 was the hottest year in recorded history,” Pruse said, citing the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Intergovernmental Panel scientists said nations must cut greenhouse gas emissions to 2 degrees centigrade above |
pre-industrial
warming to
avoid dangerous climate change. Scientists warn of severe consequences if global warming continues to accelerate, including a rise in the sea level, food and water shortages, increased health problems and the risk of growing conflicts. Elina Bardram, head of the European Commission Delegation, said all major economies must declare their targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by the end of March. She said the amount of the cuts will reflect the abilities and circumstances of different nations. “But it is important that every contribution is as ambitious and fair as possible given each country’s individual responsibilities and their respective capabilities," Bardram said. "By the Paris conference, we need to have a very clear understanding of how well on track we are with keeping global temperature increase within the two degree centigrade limit," she added. Environmentalists said climate change talks in Paris will make or break international efforts to curb global warming. Bardram said there are concerns that the target set in Paris may fall short of the 2-degree limit. She said nations must make commitments in light of the science to be able eventually to reach a climate neutral world in the second half of this century. |
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
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
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2015 and may
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A.M. Costa Rica's Fifth
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| NBC anchor takes leave after reporting questioned By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Television news anchor Brian Williams, facing an internal NBC investigation for embellishing an Iraq war story, said over the weekend that he would be removing himself from the evening newscast for several days. Williams’ action was also in response to intense criticism by war veterans and other journalists last week regarding his apology in which he said he misremembered the details of the story. "It has become painfully apparent to me that I am presently too much a part of the news, due to my actions," Williams said in a statement posted on NBC's Web site. During the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, Williams reported that a Chinook flying ahead of his was "almost blown out of the sky," but his story has gradually changed. The controversy erupted after he recently repeated a different version of the story on television, claiming that he was in a helicopter hit by a rocket-propelled grenade while in Iraq. Williams admitted last week that the story was inaccurate. But his apology, in which he said he misremembered the incident, provoked widespread derision. Military personnel who were present at the time and other journalists have called for his resignation. Williams is also facing scrutiny over his statements about covering Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Among his assertions, he said he saw a body float by the Ritz Carlton hotel in the French Quarter, the historic district of New Orleans, where he stayed and that he got dysentery from the flood water. In announcing his decision to take himself temporarily off the air, Williams said, "As managing editor of NBC Nightly News, I have decided to take myself off of my daily broadcast for the next several days, and Lester Holt has kindly agreed to sit in for me to allow us to adequately deal with this issue." A hugely respected journalist in the United States, Williams, 55, is a former chief White House correspondent. Since 2004, he has anchored NBC Nightly News, which has received high ratings. Williams said he planned eventually to return to the broadcast and "continue my career-long effort to be worthy of the trust of those who place their trust in us." However, NBC News refused to comment Saturday on when or whether Williams would return and who would decide his future. Paul Levinson, professor of communications and media studies at Fordham University, called Williams' time off a good idea for him and NBC News. “It gives him a chance to catch his breath and, on a human level, it must be excruciating to get on the air and report the news and not say anything about this,” Levinson said. NBC News, he said, “wants to be in the business of reporting on the news, and not have people thinking, ‘is he telling the truth?’” Rich Hanley, director of the graduate journalism program at Quinnipiac University, also lauded Williams' leave. "This was a good move by Williams and the network to remove him from the air until a decision is reached on his future," Hanley said. Nightly News has reigned as the top-rated evening newscast over its competition on CBS and ABC. Williams' importance to NBC News goes beyond his anchor status, said Al Tompkins, a faculty member for broadcast and online at The Poynter Institute, a journalism think tank. “He sets the tone of the network. It may not be as critical as when Cronkite was CBS' anchor, in every way, but he is more than a face,” he said, referring to Walter Cronkite. Williams' absence itself is a delicate challenge, Tompkins said. “He can't be gone long. The timing will be critical -- too short and it won't seem like he has taken himself out of the game long enough, and too long and he looks like damaged goods,” he said. Gauguin painting sold for record $300 million By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
A colorful Paul Gauguin painting of two Tahitian girls has been sold for a record-breaking price. Media reports say the French artist’s 1892 oil painting "Nafea Faa Ipoipo" ("When Will You Marry?") has sold for nearly $300 million, surpassing the $259 million Qatar paid three years ago for Paul Cezanne's "The Card Players." The state-financed Qatar Museums also reportedly is the buyer of "Nafea," which was sold by a Swiss family trust. Rudolf Staechelin, a Sotheby's retiree who lives in Basel and manages the Staechelin Family Trust, has confirmed the sale, but not the purchaser. The trust owns a major collection of about 20 impressionist and post-Impressionist works of art. "Nafea" is part of the collection and has been on loan to the Kunstmuseum Basel for almost 50 years. The Kunstmuseum closed its doors last week while it undergoes renovations. Meanwhile, "Nafea" is scheduled to go on exhibit in several museums, including Washington's Phillips Collection in October. Staechelin told The New York Times the painting’s buyer will take possession of it early next year. Staechelin's grandfather assembled the art collection during and after World War I. Frank Lloyd Wright works put forth for U.N. listings By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The United States has nominated 10 buildings designed by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright for inclusion on the World Heritage List of the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. "Through its World Heritage Sites the United States can share with the world the remarkable diversity of our cultural heritage as well as the beauty of our land,” U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said in announcing the nomination. The World Heritage List recognizes the outstanding universal value of the most significant cultural and natural sites worldwide. The proposal, “Key Works of Modern Architecture by Frank Lloyd Wright,” includes reproductions of Wright's original sketches and drawings for the 10 buildings, along with photographs of the designs as they were completed. The nominated Wright works are Unity Temple in Oak Park, Illinois; Frederick C. Robie House in Chicago; Taliesin in Spring Green, Wisconsin; Hollyhock House in Los Angeles; Fallingwater in Mill Run, Pennsylvania; Herbert and Katherine Jacobs House in Madison, Wisconsin; Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Arizona; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City; Price Tower in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and the Marin County Civic Center in San Rafael, California. All of the properties, built between 1906 and 1969, already are designated as U.S. National Historic Landmarks. “Wright was the father of modern architecture, fundamentally redefining the nature of form and space during the early 20th century in ways that would have enduring impact on modern architecture worldwide,” said Richard Longstreth, president of the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy, which appointed a committee of experts in 2003 to choose the buildings, in consultation with the National Park Service. “We had to demonstrate how each represents a masterpiece of human creative genius and is an extraordinary contribution to modern architecture and culture,” said Lynda Waggoner, director of Wright’s internationally acclaimed Fallingwater. The nomination will be considered for inscription on the World Heritage List by the U.N. agency's World Heritage Committee, with a decision due by mid-2016. If approved, these would be the first World Heritage listings for U.S. modern architecture. The World Heritage List already includes 22 other American sites of natural, cultural or archeological significance, among them the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone National Park and the Statue of Liberty. The agency has bestowed World Heritage designations on more than 1,000 sites in more than 160 countries worldwide, from the Taj Mahal to Australia's Great Barrier Reef to Stonehenge in England. Six Bosnians indicted for aiding foreign terrorists By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The U.S. Department of Justice has accused six Bosnian immigrants of sending money and equipment to terrorists overseas, including fighters with the Islamic State group and al-Qaida in Iraq. In an indictment made public Friday, all the defendants were charged with conspiring to provide and actually providing material support and resources to terrorists. Two were also charged with conspiring to kill and maim people in a foreign country. Five of the accused have been arrested. The sixth is overseas. All six Bosnian defendants were living in the U.S. legally, in three different states: Illinois, Missouri and New York. Three had become naturalized citizens and the remaining three had attained either refugee or legal resident status. "Today's charges and arrests underscore our resolve to identify, thwart and hold accountable individuals within the United States who seek to provide material support to terrorists and terrorist operations operating in Syria and Iraq," said Assistant Attorney General John P. Carlin. "Preventing the provision of supplies, money and personnel to foreign terrorist organizations like ISIL remains a top priority," Carlin said, using an acronym for the Islamic State. The Justice Department said the charges of conspiring to provide and providing material support to terrorists carry penalties ranging up to 15 years imprisonment for each count and fine as high as $250,000. The crime of conspiring to kill and maim people in a foreign country carries a penalty of up to life in prison. Canada's Supreme Court eliminated ban on suicides By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The Supreme Court of Canada on Friday unanimously struck down a ban on doctor-assisted suicide for patients who are mentally competent to decide to end their lives. The court overturned its own 1993 ruling against the practice. It said its earlier decision was too broad because it applied to all patients, not just those vulnerable persons the law was meant to protect. The court said Friday that the ban left the sick with only two options — self-inflicted suicide by violent or dangerous means or suffering until death comes. The justices said both choices are cruel. But they put enforcement of their ruling on hold for a year to give the Canadian Parliament time to write new laws on suicide. Two women who are now dead had challenged the ban before the court. One was suffering from the crippling illness called Lou Gehrig's disease. The other was an 89-year-old woman who said she did not want to slowly die piece by piece. She went to Switzerland, where doctor-assisted suicide has been legal for decades. Grace Pastine, an official with the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association in western Canada, hailed the court's ruling. She said the decision meant "Canadians who are suffering unbearably at the end of life will have a choice now — the choice to seek the assistance of a physician if their suffering becomes unbearable." But a representative of Canada's Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, Taylor Hyatt, disagreed with the court, saying "if a person has disabilities, there's an assumption that your life is unbearable and there's nothing good in it." Basketball legend Smith reported to have died at 83 By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
American college basketball coaching legend Dean Smith, who won two national championships at the University of North Carolina, an Olympic gold medal, and was inducted to basketball's Hall of Fame, has died. Smith, who was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2013, died at the age of 83 Saturday in North Carolina. In a career that spanned more than 40 years, Smith coached many star players, including Michael Jordan and James Worthy. When he retired in 1997 he was the winningest coach in the sport with 879 victories. More than 50 of Smith's other players went on to play professionally in the NBA or the ABA, and more played overseas. Among them: Charlie Scott, Walter Davis, Sam Perkins, Brad Daugherty, J.R. Reid, Jerry Stackhouse, Rasheed Wallace, Vince Carter and Antawn Jamison. His Four Corners time-melting offense led to the creation of the shot clock to counter it. He was the first coach at North Carolina, and among the first in the segregated South, to offer a scholarship to a black athlete, Charlie Scott. The now-common point to the passer, in which a scorer acknowledges a teammate's assist, started with his North Carolina team and became a hallmark of Smith's always humble ``Carolina Way.'' World medical agencies reject female mutilations By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Friday was the International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation, and the World Health Organization joined a chorus of voices demanding an end to this injurious procedure, still widely practiced in the developing world. Female genital mutilation is a dangerous procedure that can cause severe physical problems, including complications in childbirth, maternal deaths, heavy bleeding, and infertility. It also can result in psychological and sexual problems. The international community considers mutilation to be a gross violation of human rights of women and girls that has no health benefits for the victims. Despite increasing calls for its elimination, the practice, also known as female circumcision, remains widespread. The World Health Organization reports more than 125 million girls and women have been subjected to genital mutilation. The practice is especially prevalent in eastern and western Africa, some parts of Asia, and areas in the Persian Gulf. World Health says the highest rates are found in Somalia, Guinea, Djibouti and Egypt. The agency's senior adviser, Lale Say, says genital mutilation, due to immigration, is increasing in Europe, the United States, Australia, and Canada, but that more countries are banning the practice. “There is encouraging increase in the political support to end FGM. We now have 24 countries in Africa who have laws that criminalize the performance of FGM and also in 12 industrialized countries there are strict laws that criminalize, sometimes the family members, but, most importantly health professionals to perform FGM,” Dr. Say stated. Say also said genital mutilation is falling substantially in countries such as Kenya and the Central African Republic. But, she acknowledges, while many laws criminalizing genital mutilation are on the books, they are rarely implemented. The procedure stems from cultural and traditional beliefs that value a girl’s virginity. It is widely believed that genital mutilation reduces a woman’s sexual desire, thereby retaining her purity for marriage. Ironically, the ebola epidemic has put a temporary halt to genital mutilation in West Africa, where it is widely practiced. Andrew Brooks, the regional child protection adviser for the U.N. Children’s Fund, said he does not know whether the temporary ban in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone will become permanent. “I could say in Guinea, there are kind of opposing tendencies. On the one hand, about one-third of the girls that were cut, that would take place in the health centers — usually by the midwives," he explained. "But, because of the people’s fear and kind of resistance to the health system, that level of the practice would have gone down because less people were going to the health centers.” Brooks suspects the dangerous rite will return when the ebola threat recedes. He said much effort will be needed to make the temporary ban sustainable in the long term. Egyptian soccer melee leaves at least 22 dead By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Dozens of soccer fans were killed and many more injured when police and supporters clashed at a soccer game in Cairo, local media report. The Association of Zamalek Supporters, known as Ultras White Knights, published a list of names identifying 22 victims. Medics say the death toll is 40. Authorities say they expected the death toll to rise. The clash happened at a match between two Cairo clubs, Zamalek and Enppi in Egypt's Premier Soccer League. Police used tear gas to disperse the crowd, security forces said. "Huge numbers of Zamalek club fans came to Air Defense Stadium to attend the match ... and tried to storm the stadium gates by force, which prompted the troops to prevent them from continuing the assault,'' the Interior Ministry said in a statement, without giving more details. The deadliest riot in Egypt soccer history came during a 2012 match when Port Said's Al-Masry team hosted Cairo's Al-Ahly. That riot killed 74 people. Later that year, angry fans burned down the headquarters of Egypt's Football Association, protesting its decision to resume matches before bringing those behind that 2012 riot to justice. Egypt has curbed the number of people allowed into soccer matches since that riot, prompting fans to often try to storm soccer grounds that they are banned from entering. 50 charitable donors gave $9.8 billion last year By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The 50 most generous donors in the U.S. gave away $9.8 billion in 2014, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy, a Washington, D.C.,-based periodical. That figure was up 27.5 percent from the year before, driven largely by a rise in the number of tech entrepreneurs donating millions of dollars. And the 10 most generous contributors (individuals and couples) combined to give the majority of the money, more than $6.2 billion, or 64 percent of the total amount. The boost was powered in large part by a $1.5 billion gift from Bill and Melinda Gates and a rise in the number of tech entrepreneurs under 40, three of whom gave more than $500 million each. Two of the technology donors transforming the profile of philanthropy had not previously disclosed the extent of their giving. Jan Koum, the 38-year-old founder of the messaging company WhatsApp, donated $556 million and Sean Parker, the 35-year-old former Facebook president and founder of Napster, contributed $550 million. They rank No. 4 and 5, respectively, on the list. No. 2 on the list was Ralph Wilson Jr., the owner of the NFL's Buffalo Bills, who died in March at the age of 95 and provided $1 billion to charity. He was followed by Ted Stanley, an 83-year-old businessman who made one of the largest financial commitments ever to mental-health research by pledging $650 million to the Broad Institute. Among the top 50 donors, 12 couples or individuals on the list come from the technology sector, 11 from finance, four made money in real estate and four inherited their wealth. In all, tech donors accounted for 47 percent of the money donated by the top 50. |
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2015 and may
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| A.M. Costa Rica's sixth news page |
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People give me stuff. Good stuff though, like plants, seeds, and
You can guess the result. I have dozens of things growing in my nursery area, and I do not have a clue as to what they are. Its worse of course, with seeds because they are so small and so easily lost. [By the way, a great seed-starter container is an egg carton. Just fill with dirt and plant your seeds. Transplant to pots or directly to the garden when they are the recommended height. I like to remove mine from the egg carton before planting.] This is so embarrassing. Friends will ask, “how is that cutting I gave you doing” and I just have to nod and smile and say, “Terrific, thanks!” when I have no idea what was given, or when, or where the heck I put it. Shame on me. So, I need to get organized. (This is especially true because I have purchased some special seeds on-line, and I want to make sure I know which ones they are.) The problem (other than being a bit lazy and absent-minded)? The tropical sun fades ink, pencil, and markers so quickly that my old method (popsicle sticks and marker) only work briefly, then the stick rots or the marker fades, or both. I needed something more permanent, and I found it! Nail polish! And a notebook. I needed the notebook because it is difficult to write a long plant name with a nail polish brush (you try scribing “heliconia” on plastic), so I decided to code each plant. One dot on a plastic plant marker, put a dot in the notebook, and write the plant name next to the dot. I can even make extra notes next to the dot. Botanical name, English name, local name. Next plant? Two dots. Too many plants? Change the color of the nail polish. And the markers? I cut the markers out of plastic cups.
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Page 7: Top 20 nations meet to promote growth By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Finance ministers and central bankers from the world's 20 leading economies are gathering to discuss coordinating action to spur global economic growth. The G-20 ministers concerns about major economies running at different speeds and monetary policies diverging will top the agenda at talks today and Tuesday in Istanbul. Influencing the ministers' plans are the Greek government's demands to restructure its debt, cheap oil influencing inflation and growth forecasts, and a strengthening dollar threatening emerging economies. Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan said Sunday tackling sluggish growth and giving low income nations more voice are among the priorities for Turkey's G20 presidency. Babacan said pushing G20 members to meet previous reform commitments would be key. Fulfilling pledges made at November's G20 summit in Brisbane could add more than $2 trillion to the global economy and create millions of new jobs over the next four years, said Christine Lagarde in a blog post Friday. She is chief of the International Monetary Fund. Another top G20 concern is whether the United States alone can sustain the global economy as most of the world slows. Last week, Canadian Finance Minister Joe Oliver cited the stalled eurozone, slowdowns in China and India, and geopolitical crises in Ukraine, Iraq and Syria as key risks. "Though America is carrying the world economy at the moment, that is simply not sustainable," he added. U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew also said the United States could not be "the sole engine of growth" and a senior U.S. official told reporters Washington's message at the meeting would again be that Europe is not doing enough. Also on the agenda will be a request by France to discuss the fight against terrorist financing, an important topic for Turkey as fighting with Islamic State militants continues just over its southern borders in Syria and Iraq. |
