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A.M. Costa Rica's Second news page |
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José, Costa Rica, Thursday, March 5, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 45
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 University of North Carolina/A.M. Costa
Rica file photo
The colorful lionfish has
dangerous spinesBig storms
said to spread invasive lionfish
By the Nova Southeastern University news
staff
Their names roll off the tongue like a rogues gallery: Floyd, Frances, Irene, Wilma and Andrew. But these aren’t the names of notorious criminals; rather, they are just a few of the hurricanes since 1992 that have helped spread invasive marine species. Researchers at Nova Southeastern University’s Oceanographic Center have discovered that storms don’t only have a dramatic impact on land. They have an equally dramatic effect on ocean currents, which helps the spread of marine invasive species throughout a region. Researchers looked at the distribution of lionfish in the Florida Straits. The straits is the water between Florida and Cuba and the Bahamas. “This is the first-ever study that shows hurricane-altered ocean currents are able not only to help, but actually accelerate the invasion of non-native marine species of any kind,” said Matthew Johnston, one of the research scientists at the university’s Oceanographic Center who conducted the study. “Lionfish are pretty sedentary, so this is like creating express lanes on a superhighway. Otherwise, that’s a pretty long swim for lionfish babies.” The research, conducted by Johnston and Sam Purkis, focused on the explosion of lionfish populations in area waters. Their findings are being published in the journal Global Change Biology. Another professor, Richard Spieler, in the course of his research, was one of the first to see lionfish in Bahamian waters soon after their arrival. Johnston said that the research focused on how large storms affect the flow of water in the Florida Straits. Normally, the currents represent a potential barrier to the transport of lionfish eggs and larvae across the Florida Straits. The researchers found that as a hurricane passes, the flow of water shifts from a strong, northern flow to a strong, eastern flow. It’s these changes in flow direction and speed that likely carry lionfish larvae and eggs from Florida to the Bahamas and can explain how lionfish were able to cross the Gulf Stream so soon after their introduction to South Florida waters. Johnston said that once they were established in the Bahamas, hurricanes allowed lionfish to spread quickly against the normal, northwestern direction of water flow in the area. In addition, the storms helped increase the spread of lionfish by approximately 45 percent and their population size by 15 percent. Johnston indicated this research has two implications. First, we need to make a concerted effort to prevent marine introductions to begin with and second, we must implement vigorous, early-detection programs to remove these invasive species before they become a problem. Now the team wants to take this research concept and study similar situations in the South Pacific where typhoons are common. The lionfish is well established in Costa Rica's Caribbean waters. They are aggressive eaters and use their large front fins to herd smaller fish into an area where they can be eaten. Caribbean fishermen stage contests each year for those who can spear the most lionfish.  Ministerio de Seguirdad Públic
photo
Police at
the Peñas Blancas border crossing confiscated this load of
some2,000 packages of antibiotics being smuggled into the country from Nicaragua. As A.M. Costa Rica reported, the items were bound to be inserted into the normal commercial trade here. A quantity of cosmetics also were confiscated. Explanation sought on Ad Astra deal By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A lawmaker said she wants an explanation from the central government on why the Ad Astra Rocket Co. broke off participation in a joint venture on hydrogen motor fuel. The deal was with Refinadora Costarricense de Petróleo, the state petroleum monopoly. Ad Astra, run by former U.S. and Costa Rican astronaut Franklin Chang Diaz, said that the state firm stalled for seven months on the project. Sandra Piszk of the opposition Partido Liberación Nacional raised the issue in the legislature Wednesday. She noted that the petroleum monopoly's board of directors was named by Luis Guillermo Solís, the president. She said that Ad Astra, the most innovated company in the country, is considering investing elsewhere. The idea of the joint venture was to create a hydrogen-based clean fuel for vehicles. Ad Astra shares are traded in the Costa Rican exchange. Men called more narcissistic than women By the University of Buffalo news staff
With three decades of data from more than 475,000 participants, a new study on narcissism from the University at Buffalo School of Management reveals that men, on average, are more narcissistic than women. Forthcoming in the journal Psychological Bulletin, the study compiled 31 years of narcissism research and found that men consistently scored higher in narcissism across multiple generations and regardless of age. Narcissism is considered to be excessive vanity or egotism. “Narcissism is associated with various interpersonal dysfunctions, including an inability to maintain healthy long-term relationships, unethical behavior and aggression,” says lead author Emily Grijalva, assistant professor in the School of Management. “At the same time, narcissism is shown to boost self-esteem, emotional stability and the tendency to emerge as a leader,” she says. “By examining gender differences in narcissism, we may be able to explain gender disparities in these important outcomes.” The researchers examined more than 355 journal articles, dissertations, manuscripts and technical manuals, and studied gender differences in the three aspects of narcissism: leadership/authority, grandiose/exhibitionism and entitlement. They found the widest gap in entitlement, suggesting that men are more likely than women to exploit others and feel entitled to certain privileges. The second largest difference was in leadership/authority. “Compared with women, men exhibit more assertiveness and desire for power,” Professor Grijalva says. “But there was no difference in the exhibitionism aspect, meaning both genders are equally likely to display vanity or self-absorption.” Research has shown that personality differences, like narcissism, can arise from gender stereotypes and expectations that have been ingrained over time. The authors speculate that the persistent lack of women in senior leadership roles may partially stem from the disparity between stereotypes of femininity and leadership.
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A.M. Costa Rica Third News Page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, March 5, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 45 | |
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| French influence in Sabana is topic of historian's
presentation |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The historian and architect Andrés Fernández,
is
scheduled to outline the French influence in La Sabana during a
two-hour presentation Tuesday. Appropriately, the gathering will be in
the Museo de Arte Costarricense in Parque la Sabana. The museum
used to be the terminal for the country's international airport.The former diplomatic salon was decorated by a French sculptor, Louis-Robert Carrier Belleuse, according to the Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Culto. The bronze reliefs reflected the daily life of the native peoples, the ministry noted. The foreign ministry also has outlined the impact of French culture in Costa Rica where probably 3,000 full-time residents are French. Perhaps the most obvious is the Teatro Nacional, which is a scaled-down version of the Paris opera house, the Palais Garnier. The foreign ministry also attributed the color of the Costa Rican flag to French influence. Pacífica Fernández Oreamuno, wife of President José María Castro Madriz, designed the flag in 1848 based on the color of the French one, said the ministry. The national anthem, "Noble patria, tu hermosa bandera," is dedicated to a French diplomat, the ministry also noted. |
 Alianza Francesa photo
The former terminal at la
Sabana.French influence in Latin America was so strong in the 19th century that the elite spoke French in some countries. The presentation by historian Fernández is sponsored by Alianza Francesa, the French cultural organization. He frequently lectures and gives walking tours of historic parts of the metro area. The event begins at 6:30 p.m., and reservations are asked at 2257-1438. Admission is 3,000 colons for those who are not members of Alianza Francesa. |
| Country shares approval cellar with Venezuela's Maduro,
survey says |
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NOTE: The article has been updated to
reflect the time when the surveys were taken.
By the Vanderbilt University news staff and the A.M. Costa Rica news staff The job approval rating of Laura Chinchilla was the second lowest in Latin America only exceeded by the dismal rating Venezuelans give to their president. The ratings are from the 2014 survey by the Latin American Opinion Project at Vanderbilt University. The Venezuelan survey was in February 2014, and the Costa Rican survey took place in the weeks before May 6 when the new presdient was inaugurated. The job approval ratings for President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela are lower than any of his peers in Latin America and the Caribbean, while support is high for the rights of regime critics to protest, vote, exercise freedom of expression, and run for public office. On a scale from 0 to 100, Maduro scores an average of 34.3 in presidential job approval, according to the survey. That places Venezuela at the very bottom of its Latin American and Caribbean counterparts. The rating Costa Rica is 37. Most of the other countries in the region score in the 50s and 60s. “Maduro’s dismal presidential approval ratings reflect public discontent with the severe political, social and economic problems facing Venezuela, including inflation rates reaching an estimated 68 percent and rising, widespread scarcity of basic goods and the second highest homicide rate in the world,” write Mariana Rodríguez and Elizabeth J. Zechmeister in the AmericasBarometer: Topical Brief dated March 2. “This problem-plagued climate has fueled a growing call by opposition leaders and activists for citizens to voice grievances and demand change from the government.” The Maduro administration recently arrested opposition figure Antonio Ledezma, mayor of Caracas, on conspiracy charges for an alleged coup plot against the president. Last year, violent clashes between government security forces and street demonstrators left more than 40 people |
 dead, hundreds injured and thousands arrested. In addition to Ledezma, 33 mayors across the country face charges related to the protests, and alleged involvement in conspiracy and coup plotting. These moves to muzzle critics have generated little momentum among Venezuelans, the survey shows. On a scale of 0 to 100, support is fairly high, at 61.8 units, for the political rights of critics of the Venezuelan system of government. That is the highest rate of political tolerance in the Latin America and Caribbean region, with the vast majority of countries scoring in the 40s and 50s. “These data suggest that strident moves against opposition leaders, to the extent that they appear to be moves designed to silence regime critics, may further undermine President Maduro’s popularity,” Rodríguez and Zechmeister write. |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's Fourth News page | |||||
| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, March 5, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 45 | |||||
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| New fossil finds pushes back human origins 400,000 years more |
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By the Arizona State University news staff
The earliest evidence of the human genus, Homo, was found in Ethiopia by a team of Arizona State University scientists and students during field research in 2013. The fossil, the left side of a lower jaw with five teeth, has been dated to 2.8 million years ago, which predates the previously known fossils of the Homo lineage by approximately 400,000 years. The discovery is being published for the first time in the March 4 online version of the journal Science. For decades, scientists who study the origins of modern-day humans have been searching for fossils documenting the earliest phases of the Homo lineage. Researchers have found fossils that are 3 million years old and older. The most famous example of those human ancestors is the skeleton of Lucy, found in northeastern Africa in 1974 by university researcher Donald Johanson. Lucy and her relatives, though they walked on two feet, were smaller-brained and more apelike than later members of the human family tree. Scientists have also found fossils that are 2.3 million years old and younger. These ancestors are in the genus Homo and are closer to modern day humans. But very little had been found in between. That 700,000-year gap had turned up few fossils with which to determine the evolution from Lucy to the genus Homo. Because of that gap, there has been little agreement on the time of origin of the Homo lineage. With this find, that mysterious time period has gotten a little clearer. “The importance of the specimen is that it adds a data point to a period of time in our ancestry in which we have very little information,” said William H. Kimbel, director of the university’s Institute of Human Origins. “This is a little piece of the puzzle that opens the door to new types of questions and field investigations that we can go after to try to find additional evidence to fill in this poorly known time period.” The international research team that found the jaw fossil also includes professors Kaye Reed and Chris Campisano. The find took years of searching. “We started this project, actually in 2002,” said Reed. “We started surveying – not picking up anything, which is really hard when you see good fossils – but we surveyed this area. ... So it took us basically 13 years to find this. It doesn’t mean that the work that we did was wasted up until that time. But when we did find this, we were pretty excited that after all this time it actually worked out.” When the team did eventually start picking up fossils, they expected to find Lucy’s friends and relatives. |
 Arizona State University photo
The jaw is being called a transitional
fossil.
“We first started collecting fossils in the area around where the jaw was eventually found in 2012,” said Campisano. “When we realized how old the sediments were, we thought we might be able to find more specimens of Lucy’s species and figure out what happened to that lineage. Instead, we were rewarded with a much more exciting discovery.” So what was this human ancestor, which lived 2.8 million years ago, like? There are some things scientists can tell. According to Reed, it walked on two legs and lived in a dry, arid climate in eastern Africa. Research is still being conducted to determine what it ate and whether it used stone tools, something the team will be looking for on future trips to the region. The fossil was found by Chalachew Seyoum, a graduate student from Ethiopia. “Honestly, it was an exciting moment,” said Seyoum. “I had good experience in field surveying and knew where potential sediments are. I climbed up a little plateau and found this specimen right on the edge of the hill.” The fossil analysis revealed advanced features such as slim molars, symmetrical premolars and an evenly proportioned jaw, which distinguish early species on the Homo lineage, such as Homo habilis at 2 million years ago, from the more apelike Lucy. But the primitive, sloping chin of this latest find links the jaw to a Lucy-like ancestor. “It’s an excellent case of a transitional fossil in a critical time period in human evolution,” said Kimbel. Kimbel said this find will help to answer important questions about how modern humans became humans. “One of the persistent questions that people have, and not just specialists, but everyone wonders about where did we come from? What are our ultimate origins?” Kimbel said. “And paleoanthropologists such as myself are dedicated to the mission of filling in the story of our origins through the finding of fossil evidence in remote places like Africa. That’s where we go every year to do our research and we are rewarded this time with a very important specimen that answers one aspect of this pressing question." |
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A.M. Costa Rica's Fifth
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Boston bomber's lawyer tells jury that he did it By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The defense lawyer for suspected Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev told the jury at his trial Wednesday that he helped carry out the deadly 2013 attack, but contended that Tsarnaev's older brother was the mastermind behind the plot. "It was him," attorney Judy Clarke said of her client, who is facing the death penalty if convicted of setting off a pair of homemade pressure-cooker bombs, packed with nails and ball bearings, at the finish line of the annual race in 2013 that killed three people and injured another 264. Tsarnaev has pleaded not guilty to the 30 counts against him, including the fatal shooting of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer days after the bombings as the Tsarnaevs tried to flee. Clarke, one of the U.S.'s foremost death penalty legal specialists, told jurors on the first day of the trial the defense will not sidestep Tsarnaev's guilt. But she claimed that he was deeply influenced by his older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, to carry out the attack, which a prosecutor alleged was aimed at avenging U.S. wars in Muslim countries. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev inadvertently killed his brother, running over him with a car, as they attempted to elude police days after authorities had identified them as suspects in the bombings. "It was Tamerlan Tsarnaev who self-radicalized," lawyer Clarke said. "It was Dzhokhar who followed him. The evidence will show that Tamerlan planned and orchestrated and enlisted his brother into this series of horrific acts." In blaming the older brother, Clarke's strategy appeared aimed at sparing the 21-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev from the death penalty. If Tsarnaev is convicted, the jury will decide whether he is executed or gets life in prison without the possibility of parole. The approach set up an immediate conflict with U.S. District Judge George O'Toole, who had ruled that the question of the relative culpability of the two brothers was best left to the trial's second phase, once Dzhokhar's guilt has been established. “Some evidence of the brother's interactions will be inevitable,” O'Toole allowed in brief remarks before the trial opened. But he interrupted Clarke multiple times to warn her against going too deep into family history. Defense lawyers had fought up to the last minute to have the trial moved out of Massachusetts, arguing the emotional impact of the bombings ran too deep and too many people had personal connections to the case. Their requests were rejected by O'Toole and a federal appeals court. In his opening statement, U.S. prosecutor William Weinreb accused the younger Tsarnaev of detonating bombs designed to "tear people apart and create a bloody spectacle." Weinreb described the two homemade pressure cooker bombs used in the attack as the type favored by terrorists because of the mayhem and injuries they could cause. After the blasts, he said, "The air was filled with the smell of burning sulfur and people's screams." The prosecutor said Dzhokhar Tsarnaev "believed that he was a soldier in a holy war against Americans." Weinreb said Tsarnaev "also believed that by winning that victory, he had taken a step toward reaching paradise. That was his motive for committing these crimes." The shaggy-haired Tsarnaev stared straight ahead, avoiding looking at the jury, as the prosecutor spoke. More than 20 victims of the blasts watched the early moments of the trial, taking up the entire left-hand side of the courtroom. Two dramatically different portraits of the former college student are expected to emerge during the trial. Was he a submissive, adoring younger brother who only followed directions given by his older, radicalized brother? Or was he a willing, active participant in the attacks? The brothers are ethnic Chechens who had lived in the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan and the volatile Dagestan region of Russia before coming to the U.S. with their parents and two sisters about a decade before the bombings. N.Y. Pakistani convicted of terrorism involvement By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
A jury in New York City on Wednesday convicted a Pakistani member of al-Qaida of being part of a plot to attack the city's subway system, a shopping mall in Manchester, England, and a newspaper office in Copenhagen. Abid Naseer, 28, faces life in prison when he is sentenced at a date to be announced. Federal prosecutors, including President Barack Obama's choice for the next attorney general, Loretta Lynch, said Naseer and seven other suspects were days away from carrying out their attacks in April 2009. They said the plan was directed by and coordinated with senior al-Qaida leaders in Pakistan. Lynch said the defendants wanted to send a message to the U.S. and its allies. She called Wednesday's verdict "an even more powerful message in response: The United States will stop at nothing in order to hold those who plot to kill and maim in the name of religion accountable for their grievous crimes." Naseer was the fourth suspect to be convicted in the al-Qaida plot. Video showing execution of boy stirs feeling in Iraq By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
A graphic mobile phone video is spreading on the Internet purporting to show Iraqi forces and Shi'ite militia executing a handcuffed Sunni boy. While not yet independently confirmed, the brutal killing already has gotten the attention of Islamic State followers on social media. It threatens to worsen a sectarian divide that already has enabled IS to spread across large swaths of Iraq. And U.S. officials also concerned it could allow the terror group to cement its hold on some predominantly Sunni areas. Oren Adaki, an analyst with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies who viewed the video, said there is not much identifying information or clues as to when the event took place, but that some things are clear. “Whether these are Iraqi soldiers or Shiite militiamen, they are definitely Shiite,” Adaki said. “After the execution, the group of fighters chant “Labayki ya Zaynab” or “At your service, O Zaynab,” referring to Shiite saint Zaynab - daughter of Imam Ali and sister of Imam Hussein. This is a common battle cry of Shiite militias in Iraq and Syria.” The video, just over a minute long, shows what appears to be Iraqi troops or Shi'ite militiamen, some with the Iraqi flag on their sleeves, gathered around the boy, who is kneeling on the ground with his hands bound behind his back. One of the soldiers then slaps the boy in the face. There is a lot of cursing, and some of the soldiers yell “they spilled their blood.” What appear to be gunshots can be heard nearby. The soldiers then form a semi-circle around the boy, raise their machine guns and shoot him in the head. The video first appears to have been posted to social media sites like YouTube and Facebook Tuesday, although it has since been taken down. Arab media reports say the victim was an 11-year-old boy and that the shooting took place either in the eastern part of Diyala province or in the Ishaaqi section of Salah al Deen province. Islamic State followers have quickly picked up on the video, promoting it on social media, like Twitter, in what Adaki called “starkly sectarian terms.” One account, belonging to someone who calls himself Abu Nimr Al-Deeghmi, tweeted “the Iraqi Shiite militias loyal to terrorist Iran kill a Sunni child who had not reached the age of puberty.” Another account, @JihadProtocol, tweeted “U.S.-backed shia gang (swat rats) execute Sunni kid in middle of the street video.” Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren says the Defense Department has not yet been able to authenticate the video as of Tuesday, but he said “if true, though, it certainly depicts an act of brutality that we find completely unacceptable.” The video and the attention it is generating is the type of scenario U.S. military leaders fear. "The real key to defeat ISIL is actually convincing the Sunni that they should not embrace this group,” the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, told U.S. lawmakers during a hearing Wednesday, when asked about the ongoing Iraqi offensive in Tikrit. “If this becomes an excuse to ethnic cleanse, then our campaign has a problem and we’re going to have to make a campaign adjustment," he warned. Human rights groups also are fearful the campaign in Tikrit could lead to atrocities. “Past fighting raises grave concerns that Tikrit’s civilians are at serious risk from both ISIS and government forces, and both sides need to protect civilians from more sectarian slaughter,” Joe Stork said in a statement. He is Human Rights Watch Middle East and North Africa deputy director Human Rights Watch says it already has documented numerous abuses against civilians in areas Iraqi forces have retaken from Islamic State. The allegations include mass killing of Sunni civilians and prisoners in the northern city of Mosul last June, as well as abuses in Diyala province, where the Sunni boy may have been killed. As for the boy in the video, State Department officials refused to comment directly, but noted ongoing concerns about the issues of militias and human rights abuses. “We have stressed to the government of Iraq, at all levels, the need for the militias to be under the command and control of the Iraqi security forces,” the official said. “Abusive tactics will fuel sectarian fears and promote sectarian divides.” U.S. ambassador in Korea slashed by local activist By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Police in Seoul are still investigating the motive behind the knife attack that wounded the U.S. ambassador to South Korea early this morning. Police say the assailant is a South Korean who assaulted the Japanese ambassador to the country five years ago. The U.S. Ambassador to South Korea, Mark Lippert, was slashed on his face with a knife while attending a forum on Korean reconciliation near the U.S. Embassy. Yoon Myung-sung, the police chief of Seoul’s Jongno district, where the attack occurred, told reporters the suspected attacker is a South Korean political activist. He said the U.S. ambassador, who was invited by the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation at the Sejong Center for the performing arts, was attacked by Kim Ki-jong. The suspect, 55-year-old Kim Ki-jong, was a member of the group hosting the event. The Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation is considered a moderate non-political group that promotes the peaceful unification of the two Koreas. South Korean media have reported the suspect is a known political activist and ultra-nationalist who voiced opposition to the joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises currently underway. When he attacked the ambassador, Kim reportedly shouted, "South and North Korea should be reunified!” Police say Kim was arrested in 2010 for throwing pieces of concrete at the Japanese ambassador and received a suspended two-year jail sentence. Kim was dressed in traditional Korean clothing when he attacked Ambassador Lippert with a 25-centimeter-long knife inside the hall. People nearby intervened to protect the ambassador as security officers subdued and detained the assailant. Video footage from the scene showed the 42-year-old ambassador bleeding from a facial wound and an apparent wrist injury. But he walked away from the event unassisted and was taken to a nearby hospital. The U.S. State Department released a statement saying Ambassador Lippert is in stable condition and his injuries are not life-threatening. South Korea’s foreign ministry spokesman Noh Kwang-il called the attack an unacceptable, harmful act and a very serious crime against the envoy representing South Korea’s most important ally. He said the government will put the utmost effort in protecting the safety of diplomatic envoys in South Korea and diplomatic missions and facilities. The South Korean defense ministry said the attack will not affect the ongoing joint military exercises, which involve thousands of troops from the United States and South Korea and are meant to prepare for a possible attack from North Korea. Australia proposes swap of death row drug figures By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Australia's Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Thursday she has proposed a prisoner swap with Indonesia in order to spare the lives of two Australian drug smugglers who are set to be executed. Ms. Bishop spoke to reporters after a vigil outside parliament in Canberra, saying she spoke by phone with Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi. "What we are seeking to do is have an opportunity to talk about options that might be available in the area of prisoner transfer or prisoner swap. Absolutely no details, but we are seeking an opportunity to explore every option that might be available to us, every avenue that might be available to save the lives of these two men," she said. Indonesia has not yet set the date for the execution of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, who were transferred Wednesday from a Bali prison to an island where they are expected to face a firing squad. Nine other prisoners are facing execution, including citizens of Brazil, France, Ghana, Nigeria, the Philippines and Indonesia. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Thursday that Australia respects Indonesia, but that his government stands up for its values and citizens. Wednesday Abbott said he was revolted by the prospect of the executions. Chan and Sukumaran were dubbed leaders of the Bali Nine group of nine Australians arrested at the Bali airport in 2005. They were convicted of trying to carry more than eight kilos of heroin back to Australia. Indonesia has some of the toughest drug laws in the world. New Indonesian President Joko Widodo has campaigned on a zero-tolerance policy to dealers. Earlier this month, the president, who is widely known as Jokowi, said the issue is a matter of honor for the nation. “There must be no intervention on the execution of convicted drug dealers,” he said. “It is an issue of our rule of law, of our political sovereignty and positively in our law, death sentence is included." Since 2013, Indonesia has carried out at least 10 executions of convicted drug traffickers. Five foreign nationals were executed by firing squad in January. Despite denying clemency requests from Australia, Brazil, France and the Netherlands, President Jokowi said he wants better international relations. Sunken Japanese ship said to have been located By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
American explorer Paul Allen said his research team has found the sunken hull of the Japanese Imperial Navy's massive battleship Musashi, sitting where it was sunk more than 70 years ago by U.S. forces in a key Pacific battle of World War II. Allen, the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft, said the warship, the heaviest and most lethal battleship ever constructed, was found Sunday at a depth of about 800 meters off the coast of the Philippines. A spokesman for Allen's team said further details will be released within days. The discovery, replete with identifying photos, came after an eight-year hunt for the ship, which was sunk in the Sibuyan Sea by U.S. naval forces during the 1944 Battle of the Leyte Gulf. Historians say about half of the ship's 2,400 crew perished in the five-hour battle, as the ship was ripped apart by nearly 20 torpedoes and nearly as many bombs. The battle crippled Japan's wartime fleet and set the stage for the U.S. invasion of the Japanese-occupied Philippines. The 73,000 ton Musashi and its sister ship the Yamato rank as the largest and most heavily armed battleships ever built. They carried nine 460-millimeter main guns, along with four aircraft and a vast array of smaller artillery. Its largest guns fired shells weighing 1.5 tons. The Yamato was sunk by U.S. aerial torpedoes off the coast of Okinawa in April 1945. China's one-child police blamed for maternity visits By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
A U.S.-based women's rights group says China's one-child policy has contributed to the trend of pregnant Chinese women traveling to California to give birth in collusion with tour companies who bring them to the United States under false pretenses. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raided at least 20 locations in Southern California Tuesday in a crackdown on maternity tourism businesses that help the expectant mothers to give birth in the United States so that their babies will be granted automatic U.S. citizenship. Federal investigators suspect those businesses advise the Chinese women to falsely claim they are visiting the United States as tourists in order to secure tourist visas. Once the women reach Southern California, the businesses accommodate them in residences that serve as maternity hotels until they give birth. In a phone interview from California, Reggie Littlejohn said one of the women caught up in Tuesday's raids told authorities that she came to the United States to skirt China’s one-child policy. She is president of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers. It is not illegal for foreign women to give birth in the United States. Investigators made no immediate arrests at the targeted sites, but warned that people involved in the maternity tourism schemes could face criminal charges such as visa fraud. Ms. Littlejohn said it is unclear what will happen to the women. "I’m sure that part of what investigators will consider is: If you send back to China a pregnant woman who came here to skirt the one-child policy, would she be forcibly aborted?" she said. Ms. Littlejohn's organization seeks to halt forced abortions and sex-selection abortions in China. Ms. Littlejohn said that if news of the raids reaches China, it may deter some pregnant women from traveling to the United States, due to a fear of being prosecuted for lying on their visa applications. She said the number of Chinese women who make such maternity trips to the United States annually is in the thousands. China eased its one-child policy in 2013, stating that if one or both parents are an only child, they can seek official approval to have a second child of their own. Many parents have been reluctant to have a second child in China, however, because of the onerous regulations involved and the high cost of living. Ms. Littlejohn said another motivation for pregnant Chinese women to seek U.S. citizenship for their babies is their desire to give them a U.S. education. "As U.S. citizens, their children would have the ability in the future to go to U.S. colleges and pay regular tuition fees as opposed to the higher tuition fees for foreign students," she said. Some Chinese parents also hold the U.S. education system in high esteem. The Los Angeles Times quoted a Chinese woman at one of the raided maternity hotels as saying, “America has the world's best universities.” World Health takes aim against sugar in diets By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The World Health Organization warns that too much sugar in the diet can lead to obesity, tooth decay and other non-communicable diseases. The U.N. health agency has issued new guidelines recommending adults and children reduce their daily consumption of free sugars to less than 10 percent of their total energy intake. The consumption of free sugars, products such as glucose, fructose and table sugar, has been steadily increasing over the years. And the results are bad news for public health. The World Health Organization reports worldwide obesity has more than doubled since 1980. World Health says that in 2014, more than 1.9 billion adults, 18 years and older, were overweight. Of these, more than 600 million people were obese. In 2013, it notes 42 million children under age 5 were overweight or obese. Francesco Branca, director of the World Health Department of Nutrition for Health, said there is solid evidence that keeping intake of free sugars to less than 10 percent of total energy intake reduces the risk of being overweight, obese and having tooth decay. He added that a further reduction to below 5 percent per day would increase health benefits and almost eliminate tooth decay. He explained that 10 percent of total energy intake corresponds to 50 grams of sugar or 12 teaspoons and 5 percent is half that amount. He said free sugar is found in a majority of products sold these days. “There was a survey in the U.S. in the supermarkets indicating that 80 percent of the products contained added sugar. Just to give you an example, an average size bowl of breakfast cereals contains four teaspoons of free sugars. If you go for a U.S.-size can of soda that contains 10 teaspoons of free sugars,” said Branca. The free sugars that World Health considers harmful are those added to foods and drinks by the manufacturer, cook or consumer. It also warns people to beware of sugars naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices and fruit juice concentrates. World Health, however, said it is okay to consume the sugars found in fresh fruits and vegetables and those naturally present in milk, as there is no evidence of adverse health effects from them. The agency says globally, sugar intake has increased by about 10 percent over the past decade, but it has risen at a much faster rate in some regions. For example, it notes in the Far East and Oceania, it has climbed by roughly 21 percent, and in the Middle East and North Africa by about 15 percent. Branca said South America has the world's highest intake of sugar. “In South America, we have approximately 130 grams per person, per day, so more than twice the WHO recommendation, but we also have some parts of the world where the intake is still low. It is within the WHO recommendations, such as what is happening in Equatorial and Southern Africa, where it is about 30 grams per person, per day,” said Branca. World Health is calling on governments to implement measures to reduce free sugars intake. These include taxing products with high sugar content, including nutrition labeling of food products, and restricting the marketing to children of food and non-alcoholic drinks that are high in free sugar |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, March 5, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 45 | |||||||||
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 Ministerio de Seguirdad Pública
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This is worse than cutting
sugar cane!The never-ending
battle against pot
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The battle against marijuana is never ending. Officers of the Policía de Control de Drogas just spent 10 days in various mountain locations pulling and burning marijuana plants. Most were growing in the wild. The police flew in by helicopter in many of the remote areas. They said they destroyed the weed in 29 locations, including those in Bocuare, Altamira, Monteverde, Cerro Congo, Seira, Chugui Guicha, Alto Piedra Meza and Dos Ramas de Espabel. They said they pulled up 286,172 plants. Some were small plants and others were full grown and sporting buds. The high Talamancas are full of wild marijuana plants. And there are cultivated areas there because marijuana is a cash crop for some of the native residents. This was the first operation of 2015. Last year the police officers pulled up and burned eight tons of plants. 'It's just my big dog, officer' By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A horse is pretty big to try to hide. So when the owner of an animal reported it stolen Tuesday, police were on the lookout. They said they saw a man leading a horse in Barrio El Erizo. The same location where the owner had reported the horsenapping. And the horse matched the description of the stolen animal. So the man with the horse was detained and the animal returned to its owner. |
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| From Page 7: Lab workers seek chemical residues on veggies By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Servicio Fitosanitario del Estado has modernized its laboratory and now calls it the most modern in Latin America. That is why the government agency said it will expand its search for pesticides and other harmful chemicals on vegetable products. In the past, the lab workers were on the lookout for 75 different products. Now some 61 have been added to the list. Some of these are chemicals that would cause rejection of Costa Rican products at foreign borders. The agency said that it hoped to increase to 365 by 2017 the number of chemicals sought. The residue samples used by the lab workers come from national products as well as products imported from other countries. The local products come from farmer's markets, vegetable wholesalers, packers and even supermarkets. Technicians even check organic markets. Pesticides and other chemicals are used heavily in Costa Rica. |
