|
|
||||
 |
 |
 |
||
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||
| 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, April 7, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 67
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
|
|
 |
|
 Museo Juan
Santamaría photo
This is a scene from a past
year's performance.Museum to mark
April 11 with drama
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Museo Juan Santamaría will mark the anniversary of the Battle of Rivas by once again staging “A la calle con el 56.” As in 2012 and 2013, the dramatic performance will make the rounds over the rest of the month with shows in San José Centro, Golfito, Pérez Zeledón, Limón Centro, Barva de Heredia and Puntarenas Centro. The Alajuela museum appropriately plans for the first performance Saturday at 1 p.m. at the museum. Saturday is a legal holiday, although some workers may have Friday off. The Battle of Rivas took place when Costa Rican troops confronted the filibusters forces at that Nicaraguan town. The military operation was called the Campaña Nacional, and 1856 marked the beginning of several years of conflict against the forces of William Walker. The museum noted that the Costa Rican forces were under the command of José María Cañas and José Joaquín Mora, the brother of the president. Ironically Cañas and Juan Rafael Mora Porras, the president, were executed just four years later after returning from a forced exile. The Battle of Rivas was where Juan Santamaría, a soldier, distinguished himself by putting a torch to an enemy stronghold. He died in the effort. Alajuela, Santamaría's home, will be the center of celebrations Saturday with events planned all day. Shark fin shipment via U.S. claimed By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Two conservation groups said Monday that at least two lots of shark fins have been exported from Costa Rican to Hong Kong with a stopover on U.S. soil. The export and trade of endangered species shark fins violates U.S. environmental law, which bans shipments of endangered species products, including in transit hammerhead shark fins, the organizations said. The organizations are the Costa Rican-based Programa Restauración de Tiburones y Tortugas Marinas and the Turtle Island Restoration Network of California. Eastern Pacific scalloped hammerhead sharks are listed as endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, they said in a release. "We warned the Costa Rican officials that these exports would occur in violation of the ESA, but the higher authorities of the ministry of environment decided to proceed with the exports anyway," said Randall Arauz of the Programa. "We blew the whistle and alerted the U.S. authorities as well, with no positive response either." "Costa Rica's disregard for international laws designed to protect endangered wildlife coupled with the U.S. government's failure to enforce prohibitions on illegal shark fin shipments spells disaster for scalloped hammerhead populations," said Doug Karpa in release. He is the legal program director with Turtle Island Restoration Network. "These unique sharks could go extinct in our lifetime if we don't end this illegal trade," he added. The Programa and Turtle Island said they learned that Costa Rica exported hammerhead shark fins in December and again in February. Given the routing of cargo shipments to China from Costa Rica, these shipments clearly touched down in the U.S., where they should have been confiscated under the Endangered Species Act and thus been prevented from further trade and sale, they said. However, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service failed to enforce the Endangered Species Act, and allowed the shipments to continue on to Hong Kong, they added. Dec. 24 Costa Rica exported 906 pounds (411 kilograms) of two species of hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna lewini and Sphyrna zygaena), and on Feb. 20 Costa Rica exported a second batch of 1,003 pounds (455 kilograms), they said. "All scalloped hammerhead fins exported from Costa Rica derive from the endangered Eastern Pacific population that is protected under the ESA. The fact that the U.S. failed to interrupt the shipments the moment they touched down on U.S. soil, makes them an accomplice in the unregulated, international trade of shark fins," said Maike Heidemeyer, a biologist with the Programa who investigated the shipments. The two organizations did not say what firm or individual actually did the shipping. The Programa has waged an intensive battle for years to eliminate the practice of shark finning whereby fishermen simply cut off the valuable fins and throw the living fish back in the water to die.  Banco Nacional
photo
Participants launch blue balloons
to herald the bank illumination.Bank building is
blue for autism
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The downtown office tower of the Banco Nacional will be illuminated in blue for April to mark World Autism Awareness Day. The illumination is designed to be a symbol of hope for sufferers and family members, said the bank. The Asociación Autismo Costa Rica prevailed on the bank to devise the illumination, the bank said in a release. The association said that one person in 54 is afflicted with autism, something that cannot be cured. Counting family members, the association estimated that nearly 400,000 persons were affected. The day, April 2 each year, is sponsored internationally by the United Nations, which said that 80 percent of adults with autism are unemployed. Research suggests that employers are missing out on abilities that that people on the autism spectrum have in greater abundance than “neurotypical” workers do – such as, heightened abilities in pattern recognition and logical reasoning, as well as a greater attention to detail, said the U.N. Said the U.N.: Autism is a lifelong developmental disability that manifests itself during the first three years of life. It results from a neurological disorder that affects the functioning of the brain, mostly affecting children and adults in many countries irrespective of gender, race or socio-economic status. It is characterized by impairments in social interaction, problems with verbal and non-verbal communication and restricted, repetitive behavior, interests and activities. 140 student guitarists will take the stage By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The symphony will not play this Friday at the Teatro Nacional, but some 140 students from the Sistema Nacional de Educación Musical will be on the stage. The event is the I Encuentro de Orquestas de Guitarras that unites guitar orchestras from Limón, San Ramón, Cartago, Heredia, Santa Ana, Pacayas and San Vito. The concert will recognize the famous Costa Rican composer Héctor Zúñiga Rovira by playing three of his estimated 100 compositions. The 8 p.m. concert has a 2,000-colon admission with half off for seniors and students.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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, April 7, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 67 | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
| Despite parasite danger, dogs running loose are common,
survey finds |
|
|
By Dennis Rogers
Special to A.M. Costa Rica A study recently released by the Universidad Nacional’s veterinary school found evidence of dog parasites in all parks surveyed around the San José metropolitan area. Fully 84 percent of dog fecal samples tested had signs. Blood samples from leashed dogs showed high prevalence of antibodies though those remain even after successful treatment in both dogs and people. The dog roundworm Toxocara is the most dangerous for people and can be picked up by children when the larvae are viable in soil where dogs have defecated. The eggs take a few weeks to develop the earliest stage larvae and then can wait long periods for the opportunity to infect another dog. Humans are incidental hosts, and the larvae do not develop into adult worms to reproduce. However, the larvae can do significant damage either by colonizing the liver or, if one works its way into an eye, it can damage vision and even result in blindness. Ancylostoma hookworms make up the largest part of the dog parasite load but are rarely able to infect humans. They can however cause severe itching and secondary infections while burrowing into the skin. Responsible pet owners clean up after their dogs and reduce the presence of parasites. But that is not the case with dogs that run free, either all the time or just when owners let them outside. As part of data collection for an eventual study, a population survey of free-range dogs is underway. Starting near San Isidro de Heredia, observers travel 10 kilometers most mornings to Los Angeles, to central Santo Domingo and to Santo Tomas de Santo Domingo. They count the number of loose dogs and note the conditions. Data are for 62 days from Sept. 2, 2014, through March 27, 2015, interrupted by vacations, weekends and other unplanned developments. Over that period the average per day is 11.4 dogs sighted, or slightly more than one loose animal per kilometer. The range of three to 24 for the same route indicates there is a circulating population and that surveying from a moving car is not the most precise methodology. For example, the two-kilometer segment |
 A.M. Costa Rica/Steven Rogers
An example of a free-range
dog in Heredia.through Los Angeles where observation is the easiest can produce zero to six in any visit, suggesting that a fair number are inside at any moment or otherwise out of view. This is mostly a well-off area, and obviously sick or parasite-ridden individuals are noted and registered as such but are not common. Ripped open garbage bags are also recorded, but while a nuisance for solid waste collection, these are not much of a health hazard. Speculation by workers at the Servicio Nacional de Salud Anima that there are a million stray dogs in the country and that their situation as individuals is dire would not seem to be supported here. Anecdotally, that appears not to be the situation. Most of these dogs are at least loosely associated with one or more households and are not stray. Males outnumber females at least 10 to one, as Costa Ricans think males make better watchdogs. Obviously lactating females are a rare sight. |
| Officials will make yet another effort to paste down metal
on bridge |
|
|
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Highway officials are trying a number of methods to fasten the loose metal plate on the Río Virilla bridge. Monday workmen applied a path of asphalt, but that began to break up under the weight of traffic. Now officials are closing the eastbound lane in order to solder |
the metal.
There even are plans to glue it with epoxy. The expansion joint on the Autopista General Cañas bridge has been a problem for six years. There have been problems with the loose metal on both the eastbound and westbound lanes. Officials have said that the bridge is too flexible and that this causes the metal to come loose. There are plans to remodel and widen the bridge. |
| Final holiday toll is 82 with 20 listed as traffic accident
victims |
|
|
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The judicial morgue reported Monday that 82 persons died over the Semana Santa holidays. The morgue is where the best count of deaths and violent |
mishaps can
be made because all who die in such circumstances go there.
The morgue is part of the judiciary. The report listed 20 deaths from traffic accidents, 10 from water accidents, 12 murders, 10 suicides and 10 natural deaths. It also said that 20 deaths were under investigation. |
| 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, April 7, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 67 | |||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
| Regional health agency is stressing the need to keep food
safe |
|
|
Special to A.M. Costa Rica
Food contaminated by bacteria, viruses, parasites, or harmful chemicals causes over 200 diseases, from diarrhea to cancer. To raise awareness and promote preventive action throughout the food chain, the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization is focusing its 2015 World Health Day campaign on the issue of food safety. "From farm to plate, keep it safe" is this year's slogan for World Health Day, observed annually to mark the anniversary of World Health's founding in 1948. "Diseases caused by contaminated food are a serious problem for people's health and can jeopardize our countries' development, trade and tourism," said Carissa F. Etienne. "In the Americas, with our abundant food production, we can prevent most of these illnesses with strong food safety systems," she said. She is director of the Pan American Health Organization. Globally, over 582 million people fall ill and more than 350,000 die annually from food borne illnesses including salmonellosis, gastrointestinal disease, Escherichia coli infection, said the organization. These illnesses result from eating unsafe foods such as undercooked meat, fruits and vegetables contaminated with feces or pesticides, and raw seafood containing marine biotoxins, it added. |
Globalization
has increased the interconnectedness of the world's
food chains and, in parallel, the number, frequency and sites of food
borne illnesses, aid the organization. Rapid urbanization has also
magnified the risks, as people eat more food prepared outside the home,
which is not always properly prepared and handled, it added. In the Americas, about one in four people suffers an episode of food borne illness each year, the organization said, adding that children, pregnant women, immunosuppressed persons, and older adults are the most vulnerable. "Rapid identification of outbreaks of food borne diseases and timely and coordinated response are crucial for minimizing the impact of these outbreaks on the population's health and on countries' economies," said Enrique Pérez, the organization's senior advisor on Food borne diseases. While there are no estimates of the total costs (including medical care, drugs and lost work hours) of these diseases at the regional level, the available data indicate $700,000 to $19 million in annual health costs in Caribbean countries and more than $77 million in the United States, the organization estimated. Food can become contaminated at any point in the food chain, so everyone along that chain must take measures to keep food safe, from producers to processors, retailers and consumers, the organization said. |
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, April 7, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 67 | |||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
| Turkish court issues ban on some social media sites By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
A Turkish court banned access to popular social media sites that posted images last week showing a prosecutor being held hostage by gunmen. The restrictions are the latest crackdown on social media, just two months before a general election. A Turkish court blocked access to popular social media sites Twitter, Facebook and the Internet site YouTube. The ban is in response to the failure of the sites to remove images posted of a Turkish prosecutor being held at gunpoint last week after being kidnapped by two members of a banned radical left-wing group. The prosecutor was later killed as police were attempting to rescue him. Twitter and Facebook saw the ban lifted after they complied with the court order and removed the images. You Tube currently remains banned. The Google Web site is now also reportedly facing the threat of closure over access to the images. Turkish authorities claim the images of the prosecutor, which were widely broadcast on Turkish media and the Internet, support terrorism and have caused distress to his family. According to a Turkish media report, a court also has banned over 150 local Internet sites for showing the offending images. But the banning of Twitter and You Tube, which are hugely popular in Turkey, has caused anger and concern in the country. Yaman Akdeniz, an expert on cyber freedom at Istanbul’s Bilgi University, says the timing of the ban, just before June's general election, is worrying. "To be honest, I am not surprised or shocked at all. This was expected, expected prior to the elections. And the only thing we weren’t sure was when and why it was going to happen, and now it happened. Despite two major constitutional court decisions last year involving Twitter and You Tube, they still blocked access to social media platforms," said Akdeniz. In 2014, a similar ban was imposed just before local elections for postings accusing the government of corruption, drawing national and international condemnation just before local elections. The constitutional court eventually overturned that ban, citing the constitutional right to access social media, which are used extensively by opponents of the government. Concern about Internet freedom in Turkey has grown since the government passed legislation last month empowering ministers to remove Web sites within two hours without a court order. Human rights groups also have voiced alarm at what they say is a marked increase in prosecutions of people who have posted criticisms of the government and, in particular, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. A 16-year-old school boy is currently on trial for insulting a public official after he used social media to criticize the president. If convicted, he could face a jail sentence. In March, police removed a 13-year-old boy from his class for a similar posting critical of the president. U.S. demographic shift to have impact on politics By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
At the turn of the 20th century, political parties in the United States were strong institutions that mobilized immigrant groups around core issues. The political machines of both major parties, the Democrats and the Republicans, made sure that voters turned out on election day. Sometimes party workers even took immigrants to the polls and, on occasion, illegally paid them to vote. But with the rise of mass communications, radio, television and the Internet, candidates themselves have been able to reach out to voters directly, weakening the role of parties in the United States. As this trend continues, analysts say, minorities increasingly will need to be self-motivated to cast their ballots. “Democrats are not going to be able to continue to rely on the votes of African Americans, Latinos and Asian Americans without being more explicit in their voter outreach and, more importantly, in their issue outreach in terms of their advocacy of the issues that matter to African Americans, Latinos and Asian Americans,” said University of California, Berkeley political scientist Taeku Lee. Lee, an expert on racial and ethnic politics and political participation in the United States, said candidates of both parties should not be complacent when it comes to winning minority votes. “Even though Latinos and Asian Americans are quite likely to be very religious, and those religious values and their social conservatism that attaches to that are really important to them, it doesn’t quite connect to politics in the same way that it does for the traditional white Republican base, for whom a high level of religiosity and social conservativism in some ways become the defining issue of their politics,” said Lee. “So I think bread and butter issues matter quite a lot. And when forced to choose between bread and butter issues like immigration policy, education reform, healthcare reform and social conservatism, Latinos and Asian Americans are going to pick the party that advances those bread and butter issues.” Many analysts say that the expansion of government social welfare programs tied to these issues will shape U.S. politics in the long term. “The political center of the country is driven not by ethnicity, but it’s driven by benefits,” said American Enterprise Institute political scientist Charles Murray, who noted that America’s changing demographics will likely play a subordinate role to more general trends in national politics. “Even people who vote Republican who are receiving Medicare and Social Security are going to be reluctant to vote for Republican candidates who threaten those programs in any way,” said Murray. “That’s equally true of people who receive major benefits from welfare and Medicaid. “So I see the political center constantly moving leftward with the Republican center moving leftward along with the Democrats. Republicans don’t have to sit down and have strategy meetings about that. I think political survival will just drive them that way. If I were a liberal Democrat, I would be looking with great complacency on the prospects for the next 30 or 40 years,” he said. Despite a significant rise in minority Democratic voters in recent decades, many analysts expect Hispanics, Asians and African Americans to vote increasingly along economic lines. As more minority voters enter the nation’s middle and upper classes, they say the Republican Party will have an opportunity to replenish its base of largely aging white voters, particularly if the GOP can effectively address illegal immigration, a key gateway issue for Hispanics. “It’s better for minorities when the two parties are competing for them,” said Tamar Jacoby, president and CEO of ImmigrationWorks USA, a national federation of small business owners working to promote better immigration laws. “The worst situation is what was true for African Americans for years, when Republicans ignored them and Democrats took them for granted.” That, analysts say, is a mistake that politicians of both parties cannot afford to repeat with the nation’s burgeoning majority minority. Californians struggle to cut their daily use of water By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
California Gov. Jerry Brown says residents of the state must reduce their water consumption by 25 percent to cope with a major drought, and local communities are drawing up new restrictions. Residents, businesses and water agencies are already making changes. This is the fourth year in a row of below average rainfall, which has created moderate to extreme drought conditions. Bill McDonald of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California says new restrictions should save a precious resource that is drying up. “Right now, we rely on a lot of snow and rain, and that is not happening," said McDonald. Some of the state's water comes from northern California and moves through aqueducts to the farm rich Central Valley and water-hungry cities in the south. Farms uses 80 percent of the state's water to produce much of the nation's fruit, vegetables and nuts. Farming is largely exempt from the new restrictions, but many farms have seen their water allocations cut to zero. They use groundwater for crops, and new rules for pumping it may help preserve the water table, which is being depleted quickly in some places. Analyst Caitrin Chappelle of the Public Policy Institute of California says the public wants stronger conservation measures. “Our recent survey asked the question, do you think local and state government is doing enough about the drought. And we saw the majority said no," said Chappelle. Among new rules already in place, restaurants will face fines if they offer water to customers who have not asked for it. At a Mexican restaurant in Los Angeles, owner Gilberto Cetina says the rule will save more than just drinking water. “It is the water, it is the ice, the electricity you use to make the ice, the cut when you give the water, or if you use glasses, the water you use to wash the glass," said Cetina. Californians say they want to help. “We can just do what we can, turn off the water in between brushing our teeth," said one. Major water users, such as golf courses, will face new restrictions, and local communities are drawing up rules to meet the target of a 25 percent reduction by next year. Some homeowners are being paid to tear out grass and to landscape with drought-tolerant native plants. McDonald says more homeowners are installing efficient drip irrigation systems. “And that is the future. That is where we are going, because putting drinking water on a landscape that is ornamental is not a good use of resources," he said. Other new restrictions will be coming for businesses and public agencies, as well as to residents. Restaurateur Cetina says he is doing his part, and has already tried charging his customers for water. “I got 10 customers mad, and I stopped it. But I think we can do it now. I think now is the right time to do it," he said. Analysts say there is no single solution to California's water shortage, but education, better planning and conservation will help the state get through its periodic droughts. They say long-term solutions include recycling waste water and strengthening the distribution system, using pricing to encourage more efficient water use and using technology to reduce waste. Documentary puts focus on Mexican drug gangs By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Drug-related violence in Mexico has claimed tens of thousands of lives in recent years as rival gangs compete for the millions of dollars they can make smuggling marijuana, cocaine, and other drugs across the U.S. border. But the violence and turmoil have also taken a toll on society, especially in northern Mexico where drug cartels are also involved in kidnapping, extortion and other crimes. A new documentary film examines the situation through the eyes of three people with different perspectives. The film "Kingdom of Shadows," which premiered at the recent South by Southwest Film Festival, takes a hard look at violence and lawlessness in northern Mexico. It was directed by Bernardo Ruiz, a dual U.S.-Mexican citizen. “In the film we see Sister Consuelo Morales, she is a Catholic nun and a human rights defender in the city of Monterey, Mexico, and what she does and continues to do every day, is work with families whose loved ones have disappeared,” he said. “One of the worst tragedies is to have a loved one disappear," Sister Morales said in the film. "Although we may not know the total truth right now, we are on the path to finding it.” But Ruiz says human rights activists like her are up against corruption and a dysfunctional judicial system in Mexico. “It is a very small percentage of crimes that are successfully prosecuted when you are talking about homicide, you are talking about kidnapping, so the real problem is in the judicial system," he said. "Whatever is happening is aided and abetted by this culture of impunity.” U.S. government agent Oscar Hagelsieb, who has worked undercover in Mexico, provides a different view. He blames much of the violence on the rise of the Zetas, a former Mexican army unit that turned into a drug trafficking organization. “In the military you learn that if someone attacks you, takes something from you, you attack them back," he said. "So, definitely the fact that the Zetas came into the drug game spiked up the violence considerably.” The third point of view in the film comes from Texas rancher Don Henry Ford, who was involved in drug smuggling a couple of decades ago, when violence was not as widespread. “I decided to go to Mexico and buy some marijuana, and I successfully smuggled my first load. It was terribly amateurish, but I got away with it,” he said. Eventually, he was caught and served time in a U.S. federal prison. He says the violence in Mexico was far less when larger criminal organizations controlled the border area. “They had territories assigned, and there wasn’t near as much conflict,” Ford said. Ford credits the film for showing the tragedy of innocent people, who are trapped in a world of violence and crime. “My wife would be the better judge because she is impartial and she was moved by it, moved to tears by it,” he said. Director Ruiz hopes his film will give the people in Mexico's violence-racked communities a voice on the world stage. Russia pins expectations on giant technology park By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Russian authorities are describing the country's economic downturn and Western sanctions against it as opportunities to reduce its reliance on energy exports by developing domestic, innovative industries. To spur the growth of high-tech industries, one technology park developed by Moscow city authorities is attracting Western companies that have their eyes on the Russian market. The Moscow city government converted a defunct, Soviet-era car factory into Technopolis, a technology park attracting many high-tech companies that want to get a foothold in the Russian market. Technopolis CEO Igor Ischenko said foreign companies are lining up to invest. “That’s not, to be honest, not only because we are the best. We’re only one, maybe lonely one, in this kind of scale, in this kind of greatness, I would say. But I strongly believe that this is only the start point for development of new solution in terms of technical zone, special economical zone, to be prepared to welcome high technology,” said Ischenko. Ischenko said the number of occupants this year will reach 50 companies, nearly double what it is now, but about half of what was originally expected. Western sanctions against Russia over Ukraine have caused some companies to back off investments and joint ventures. Elina Belevskaya is head of public relations for Holding Company Composite, a state-owned firm producing advanced materials like carbon fiber. “When we were in talks with Dow Chemical and Dow Aksa we counted on opening doors to access the world auto industry and, more concretely, the U.S Ford Motor company, as our company is still rather new and we cannot do it on our own. In Russia, it is not that easy to be heard by the auto giants. The weight of Dow Chemical would have allowed us to offer our production in the U.S market, but, it was impossible to do as our cooperation was frozen,” said Ms. Belevskaya. More fundamental problems include accessing raw materials needed for production and developing markets in Russia. Holding Company Composite's affiliate company, Nanotechnology Center for Composites, maintains cooperation with Dow Aksa but still has to rely on Europe for its supplies and customers. The Russian authorities' push for developing and diversifying local industries raises hopes that could change, says technical director Peter Molnar. “This situation is somehow developing the local market and the local production. And we hope that we can be a part of this local production. And, yeah, I hope that we can show that it is possible to produce here, even high-end products and products which are quite new and innovative,” said Molnar. Technopolis CEO Ischenko said there are plans to open an even larger industrial park using Technopolis management. Underscoring the economic uncertainty, however, he acknowledged there are concerns the tax breaks, free power and water that Moscow provides the high-tech park could be reduced if city budgets continue to suffer.  Voice of America
photo
An adult puff adder
contributes venom.New
universal anti-venom
seen as cheaper and safer By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Thousands of people in sub-Saharan Africa die or are disabled each year due to poisonous snake bites. Scientists in Britain are working to develop a serum that will counteract the venom from all sub-Saharan poisonous snake bites. The puff adder is only one of many venomous snakes native to sub-Saharan Africa. Robert Harrison of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine says every year, puff adders and the other snakes kill about 32,000 people. “It's not only that. Other people who survive the bite, about 100,000 of them, are living with severe disabled limbs or legs, just really very disabling conditions,” he said. The current method of producing anti-venom starting with the venom itself is time-consuming and costly, and the serum must be refrigerated. Victims have to be treated multiple times and there are possible side-effects. With the price of about $140 per single dose, the full treatment may cost more than $500, which makes it unaffordable for most rural Africans. In addition, because of the way they're produced, current serums counteract poison from only one species, or a few related ones, so doctors must determine what snake bit the victim. The anti-venom developed by scientists at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine specifically for Nigeria, proved to be cheap, safe and effective. Harrison says his team is using it as a basis for developing universal anti-venom applicable to all venomous snakes in sub-Saharan Africa. “We're going to do that by identifying the proteins that are unique to all the other species," he said. "And taking these unique proteins. i.e. different from the source scale viper, the puff adder or the spitting cobra, and add that to the venoms of the original three.” For this purpose the lab is regularly extracting venom from 450 snakes belonging to 21 of the most deadly species of sub-Saharan African snakes. Scientists say the universal anti-venom will be more affordable than current serums and will be effective much longer. Target date for the ultimate test after a year of storage at room temperature is set for July 2018. Obama's Defense secretary pushes Pacific trade pact By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The Obama administration is opening a new phase of its strategic rebalance toward Asia and the Pacific by investing in high-end weapons, such as a new long-range stealth bomber, refreshing its defense alliance with Japan and expanding trade partnerships, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Monday. "I am personally committed to overseeing the next phase of the rebalance, which will deepen and diversify our engagement in the region," Carter said in a speech outlining the administration's rationale for trying to devote more attention to Asia. At a time of increasing conflict and uncertainty across the Middle East, as well as growing worry about Russian intervention in Ukraine, Carter's remarks seemed designed to convince Americans, and perhaps, more importantly, the country's Asian allies of the American commitment to the so-called Asia pivot. His speech at Arizona State University's McCain Institute touched on themes he expects to raise on a week-long trip to Asia, his first since becoming Pentagon chief in February. He will visit Japan and South Korea for meetings with top government officials, and he also will spend time with U.S. troops. Twelve Asia-Pacific nations have been trying to conclude a trade agreement known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Delays in the U.S. Congress, however, in finalizing the trade promotion authority that President Barack Obama needs to streamline its passage through Congress have raised doubts about whether it can be achieved. He called on Congress to pass the presidential trade authority, saying the Trans-Pacific Partnership was one of the most important parts of the Obama administration's rebalance to the Asia-Pacific and made strong strategic sense. He said it is expected to increase U.S. exports by $123.5 billion in the next decade. |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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, April 7, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 67 | |||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
||
|
By the Sea Shepherd Media
and the A.M. Costa Rica staff After a four-month pursuit, the fishing vessel Thunder appears to have been scuttled. This is one of a handful of ships that Sea Shepherd characterizes as a poaching vessel. The boat crew seek toothfish, a form of cod, in the Southern Ocean. Sea Shepherd said that the crew did so illegally. The Thunder, sank off Sao Tome, the environmental organization said. The Sea Shepherd ships Bob Barker and Sam Simon were in the process of rescuing the entire crew of 40, including the captain, officers, and deck crew, who were all able to disembark to life rafts from the Thunder before it sank, the organization said. Captain of the Bob Barker, Peter Hammarstedt, said, “When my chief engineer boarded the Thunder in the hours leading up to the sinking, he was able to confirm that there were clear signs that the vessel was intentionally scuttled. Usually when a vessel is sinking, the captain will close all hatches so as to maintain buoyancy. However, on the Thunder, the reverse was done, doors and hatches were tied open and the fish hold was opened. It is an incredibly suspicious situation, to say the least.” Sea Shepherd said it has been able to confirm that, at this time, there have been no reported injuries. The crew of the Thunder have been supplied with food and water, and will now be received by the Sam Simon, it said. Captain of the Sam Simon, Sid Chakravarty, said, “With the safety of my own crew also in mind, we will now take every precaution to ensure that the crew of the Thunder is retrieved from the lifeboats safely.” The Thunder is one of six vessels that Sea Shepherd calls the Bandit 6 that are known to engage in illegal, unregulated, unreported fishing of vulnerable toothfish. The Bob Barker has been engaged in a four-month pursuit of the vessel, which has gone from the Southern, to the Indian and the Atlantic Oceans. On Dec. 25 the Sam Simon commenced retrieval operations to remove the illegal fishing gear abandoned by the Thunder when it first fled from the Bob Barker. More than 72 kilometers of illegal gill net was recovered over a three week period and over 1,400 fish, weighing a total of 45,000 kilograms, were returned to the ocean. On Feb. 25, the Sam Simon handed over the confiscated fishing gear as evidence of the Thunder's illegal fishing activity to authorities in Mauritius. In March, another two of the Bandit 6, the Viking and Kunlun, were detained by authorities in Southeast Asia. The captains of both vessels were arrested for fisheries related crimes. |
| 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: Pre-schoolers have a place in Escazú By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A space to provide creative experiences for youngsters from 1 to 7 years has opened in Plaza Tempo in San Rafael de Escazú. The location, called Little Monsters, is described as a club to provide learning and development programs with the use of art, music, construction, language, science, movement and innovation. The director, Silvia Hidalgo Mora, said in a release that she has assembled a professional team in the various creative areas. She said that she was responding to a lack of these types of programs in the country, according to the release. More information is available on the Little Monsters Web site. http://lmonsters.com |
