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Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for more details |
A.M. Costa Rica's Second news page |
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San
José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, April 22, 2015,
Vol.
15, No. 78
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 Consejo Nacional de Vialidad graphic
Here is the alternate route
through Heredia for westbound traffic.More work on
that stubborn bridge
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Workmen will be back on the bridge over the Río Virilla starting at 9 p.m. tonight. They expect to finish the work by 5 a.m. Thursday. The problem continues to be the metal plate. This time the work is in the westbound lane. The plate is what has given the bridge the informal name of platina. For years, workers have tried to tack down the metal over an expansion joint. For years, the efforts have failed. In the past, road officials have not erected detour signs along the Heredia alternate route. Investigators take more hospital files By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Judicial police continued to remove patient files from Hospital México in the investigation of deaths of those on a waiting list there. The number of dead has been reduced to 138 persons from 141 because two persons on a list provided by the head of cardiology still are alive and one name was repeated, said the Poder Judicial. Judicial police and prosecutors began accumulating files Friday when they took 123 from the Jefatura de Cardiología and the Archivo Médico at Hospital México in La Uruca. They began at 5 p.m. and ended work at 1 a.m. Saturday, the Poder Judicial said. Prosecutors and police were back at work in the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social Monday where complaints and document from an internal audit were confiscated. Eventually the files will go to the judiciary's medical experts for assessments, said the Poder Judicial. Sofía Bogantes Ledezma, the cardiologist, went public with her criticism a week ago. Hospital México in La Uruca handles delicate heart procedures for much of the country. One such procedure is inserting catheters into a vein to open up passages for blood flow. These procedures are what the cardiologist said were delayed and caused the deaths. The hospital has been undergoing remodeling for the last year, and there have been many postponements of operations in all areas. Dr. Bogantes said she had been complaining about the lengthy waiting list for two years. Lengthy waiting lists are the norm for the public hospitals operated by the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social. However, hardly ever does someone with the stature of Dr. Bogantes link the waiting lists with deaths.  Ministerio de Seguridad
Púbicaphoto
Anti-drug
agent shows off some of the confiscated cargo.
Another boat
load of cocaine seized
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Yet another boat containing cocaine has been stopped in the Pacific, said the Servicio Nacional de Guardacostas. The Golfito-registered craft yielded 638 kilos of cocaine, said the Ministerio de Seguridad Pública. The fishing boat was boarded at 5:30 p.m. Monday some 30 miles west of Cabo Matapalo. The Servicio de Vigilancia Aérea participated in locating the craft. One of the crew members, a Colombian, had been convicted in 2012 of carrying excessive amounts of fuel at sea, said the ministry. The capture illuminated another aspect of drug smuggling. The boat carried four radio buoys. The ministry said that sometimes drug boat crews dump their illicit cargo into the sea and attach a radio locating device so that another craft can find the merchandise.  Ministerio de Seguridad
Púbicaphoto
Fuerza
Pública officers caught these 17 Bangladesh nationals trying to
leavethe country Sunday at the northern border. They were in woods just a few yards from the border, said the Ministerio de Seguridad Pública. Study confirms coffee as cancer fighter By the Lund University news staff
A number of research studies have shown that coffee helps to protect against breast cancer. A new study led by Lund University, has confirmed that coffee inhibits the growth of tumors and reduces the risk of recurrence in women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer and treated with the drug tamoxifen. The study, which is a follow-up of the results the researchers obtained two years ago, was carried out at Lund University and Skåne University Hospital, in collaboration with researchers in the United Kingdom “Now, unlike in the previous study, we have combined information about the patients’ lifestyle and clinical data from 1,090 breast cancer patients with studies on breast cancer cells. The study shows that among the over 500 women treated with tamoxifen, those who had drunk at least two cups of coffee a day had only half the risk of recurrence of those who drank less coffee or none at all”, explain researchers Ann Rosendahl and Helena Jernström, who obtained the results in collaboration with Jeff Holly and his research team at University of Bristol. “The study also shows that those who drank at least two cups of coffee a day had smaller tumors and a lower proportion of hormone-dependent tumors. We saw that this was already the case at the time of diagnosis.” In the cell study, the researchers looked more closely at two substances that usually occur in the coffee drunk in Sweden, caffeine and caffeic acid. “The breast cancer cells reacted to these substances, especially caffeine, with reduced cell division and increased cell death, especially in combination with tamoxifen. This shows that these substances have an effect on the breast cancer cells and turn off signaling pathways that the cancer cells require to grow.” The researchers have demonstrated both in breast cancer patients and at cell level that coffee appears to reinforce the effect of treatment with tamoxifen, but emphasize the importance of taking prescribed medication. “They are incredibly important, but if you like coffee and are also taking tamoxifen, there is no reason to stop drinking it. Just two cups a day is sufficient to make a difference.”
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
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reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details |
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A.M. Costa Rica Third News Page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, April 22, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 78 | |
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| Estado de Justicia report is heavy on history and replete
with old data |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The report on the state of Costa Rican justice reads more like a history text and does not address current problems. The Estado de Nación report, released Tuesday, came to the obvious conclusion that the Poder Judicial is a political actor and that it has influenced health care by accepting and ruling on appeals by citizens. The emphasis for much of the report was the safeguarding of rights of those involved in the criminal process. The report concluded that in about a third of the cases, the rights were in jeopardy. The report was replete with academic style citations, and the section on criminal justice, that which probably is of most interest to expats, used old data. The statistics reflected cases in 2000 and from 2007 to 2009. Still the authors said of 1,550 criminal cases 33.4 percent were rejected by the prosecutors and 31.9 percent were just filed away. Of these, 15.2 percent went to trial, and just 8.7 percent resulted in a conviction. Just 1.3 percent were handled in an alternative way, such as conciliation, it said. Researchers concluded that the more serious crimes, such as murder, have a higher probability of going to trial. The report also said that the chances of a dismissal were higher when the suspect is a woman. |
The research
was hampered because a lot of the data was on paper, said the report. Criminal cases were highlighted in just one chapter. Another chapter treated labor cases, and one even reported on a detailed content analysis of newspaper reporting on the judicial branch. It found most of the reporting in four major newspapers to be accurate. The report said that the Poder Judicial has many mechanisms to influence political decisions. Among these is the process whereby the court can rule on the constitutionality of a pending bill. The report also traced the development of the court from 1905 and some waves of reform that brought changes. One chapter emphasizes the 20 years from 1992 and the various laws that made changes in the judicial system. However, the report noted that there was little evaluation of the effects and impact of these reforms. The report noted that the Sala IV constitutional court resolved 4,386 appeals based on health between 2006 and 2013. About a third were from persons who sought some type of medication and had been denied it by the Caja Costarricense del Seguro Social. Some 58 percent of these were upheld by the court. The most historic and the first of these decisions was the one in 1997 when the court held that a patient should be given antiretroviral drugs for the treatment of HIV, the report noted. The report is available on the Programa Estado de Nación Web site. |
The museum resembles what is thought to be a typical pre-Columbian dwelling with those stone balls placed in front. |
 Ministerio de Cultura y Juventud
photo/Museo Comunitario Yimba/J. Callejas
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| Rey Curré opens its community museum to the public
with fiesta Friday |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Expats have the chance to step back into time Friday when the Boruca residents of Rey Curré inaugurate their community museum. The celebration begins at 8 a.m. and ends with a traditional Juego de los Diablitos. starting at 2 p.m. Rey Curré is the most accessible Boruca community because it is located directly on the Interamericana Sur 35 kilometers south of Buenos Aires de Puntarenas. The Museo Comunitario Yimba has been in planning and construction since 2011. The Museo Nacional supports the museum as a community venture. The museum itself is constructed along the lines of a pre-Columbian dwelling with a thatched roof. In front are two of those iconic stone balls that researchers believe were used as status symbols. |
The interior
displays the history of the people and the lengthy fight to remain
independent. The celebration coincides with the Festival Estudiantil Indígena. The slogan for the event, loosely translated into English is "Corn: Different colors, the same essence, nourishment of life, uniting cultures, blessed grain of our land." It reads Maíz: Diferentes colores, la misma esencia, alimento de vida, uniendo culturas, granos benditos de nuestra tierra. In keeping with the slogan there are dances and even contests involving corn grains, such as shucking and grinding corn at 9 a.m.. There also is an exposition of local foods. The afternoon includes a tour of the new museum. The Juego de los Diablitos is a traditional Boruca event, although it usually lasts for three to four days. The ritualized encounter pits a bull representing the Spanish against little Devils, representing the resident Boruca. |
| You need to see Costa Rican tourism information HERE! |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's Fourth News page | |||||
| San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, April 22, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 78 | |||||
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| Researchers say better long-range predictions possible for
Pacific |
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By the University of Hawaii news staff
Tropical Pacific climate variations and their global weather impacts may be predicted much further in advance than previously thought, according to research by an international team of climate scientists from the United States, Australia, and Japan. The source of this predictability lies in the tight interactions between the ocean and the atmosphere and among the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Indian Oceans. Such long-term tropical climate forecasts are useful to the public and policy makers. At present computer simulations can predict the occurrence of an El Niño event at best three seasons in advance. Climate modeling centers worldwide generate and disseminate these forecasts. Scientists have assumed that the skill and reliability of such tropical climate forecasts drop rapidly for lead times longer than one year. The new findings of predictable climate variations up to three years in advance are based on a series of hindcast computer modeling experiments, which included observed ocean temperature and salinity data. The results are presented in the online issue of Nature Communications. "We found that, even three to four years after starting the prediction, the model was still tracking the observations well," says Yoshimitsu Chikamoto at the University of Hawaii. "This implies that central Pacific climate conditions can be predicted over several years ahead." "The mechanism is simple," states co-author Shang-Ping Xie from the University of California San Diego. "Warmer water in the Atlantic heats up the atmosphere. Rising air and increased precipitation drive a large atmospheric circulation cell, which then sinks over the Central Pacific. The relatively dry air feeds surface winds back into the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean. These winds cool the Central Pacific leading to conditions, which are similar to a La Niña Modoki event. The central Pacific cooling then strengthens the global atmospheric circulation anomalies." "Our results present a paradigm shift," explains co-author Axel Timmermann, climate scientist and professor at the University of Hawaii. "Whereas the Pacific was previously considered the main driver of tropical climate variability and the Atlantic and Indian Ocean its slaves, our results document a much more active role for the Atlantic Ocean in determining conditions in the other two ocean basins. The |
 University of Hawaii graphic/Yoshimitsu
Chikamoto
This image shows inter-basin
coupling as a cause of multi-year tropical Pacific climate
predictability: Impact of Atlantic warming on global atmospheric Walker
Circulation (arrows). Rising air over the Atlantic subsides over the
equatorial Pacific, causing central Pacific sea surface cooling, which
in turn reinforces the large-scale wind anomalies.coupling between the oceans is established by a massive reorganization of the atmospheric circulation." The impacts of the findings are wide-ranging. "Central Pacific temperature changes have a remote effect on rainfall in California and Australia. Seeing the Atlantic as an important contributor to these rainfall shifts, which happen as far away as Australia, came to us as a great surprise. It highlights the fact that on multi-year timescales we have to view climate variability in a global perspective, rather than through a basin-wide lens," says Jing-Jia Luo, co-author of the study and climate scientist at the Bureau of Meteorology in Australia. "Our study fills the gap between the well-established seasonal predictions and internationally ongoing decadal forecasting efforts. We anticipate that the main results will soon be corroborated by other climate computer models," concludes co-author Masahide Kimoto from the University of Tokyo, Japan. |
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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permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details |
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A.M. Costa Rica's Fifth
news page
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| San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, April 22, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 78 | |||||||
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| Duke study says warming over estimated by U.N. panel By the Duke University news staff
A new study based on 1,000 years of temperature records suggests global warming is not progressing as fast as it would under the most severe emissions scenarios outlined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. “Based on our analysis, a middle-of-the-road warming scenario is more likely, at least for now,” said Patrick T. Brown, a doctoral student in climatology at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment. “But this could change.” The Duke-led study shows that natural variability in surface temperatures caused by interactions between the ocean and atmosphere, and other natural factors can account for observed changes in the recent rates of warming from decade to decade. The researchers say these climate wiggles can slow or speed the rate of warming from decade to decade, and accentuate or offset the effects of increases in greenhouse gas concentrations. If not properly explained and accounted for, they may skew the reliability of climate models and lead to over-interpretation of short-term temperature trends. The research, published in the peer-reviewed journal Scientific Reports, uses empirical data, rather than the more commonly used climate models, to estimate decade-to-decade variability. “At any given time, we could start warming at a faster rate if greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere increase without any offsetting changes in aerosol concentrations or natural variability,” said Wenhong Li, assistant professor of climate at Duke, who conducted the study with Brown. The team examined whether climate models, such as those used by the Intergovernmental Panel, accurately account for natural chaotic variability that can occur in the rate of global warming as a result of interactions between the ocean and atmosphere and other natural factors. To test how accurate climate models are at accounting for variations in the rate of warming, Brown and Li, along with colleagues from San Jose State University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, created a new statistical model based on reconstructed empirical records of surface temperatures over the last 1,000 years. “By comparing our model against theirs, we found that climate models largely get the big picture right but seem to underestimate the magnitude of natural decade-to-decade climate wiggles,” Brown said. “Our model shows these wiggles can be big enough that they could have accounted for a reasonable portion of the accelerated warming we experienced from 1975 to 2000, as well as the reduced rate in warming that occurred from 2002 to 2013.” Further comparative analysis of the models revealed another intriguing insight. “Statistically, it’s pretty unlikely that an 11-year hiatus in warming, like the one we saw at the start of this century, would occur if the underlying human-caused warming was progressing at a rate as fast as the most severe IPCC projections,” Brown said. “Hiatus periods of 11 years or longer are more likely to occur under a middle-of-the-road scenario.” Under the Intergovernmental Panel’s middle-of-the-road scenario, there was a 70 percent likelihood that at least one hiatus lasting 11 years or longer would occur between 1993 and 2050, Brown said. “That matches up well with what we’re seeing.” There’s no guarantee, however, that this rate of warming will remain steady in coming years, Li stressed. “Our analysis clearly shows that we shouldn’t expect the observed rates of warming to be constant. They can and do change.” Cash money will not vanish in the short-term, study says By the Inderscience news staff
We will still be using real money for at least the next five to 10 years, but financial transactions carried out using mobile electronic devices, such as smart phones and tablet computers, will increasingly become the norm during that time period, according to research published in the International Journal of Electronic Business. Key Pousttchi and Josef Felten of the University of Augsburg and Jürgen Moormann of Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, Germany, explain how social media and mobile devices are being utilized increasingly by banks while the power of the individual customer is being augmented by the same technologies. Moreover, those technologies are also leading to novel financial services such as online bartering systems and virtual currencies, crowd funding and online social borrowing and lending. Given that the banking sector was among the first industries to widely adopt information technology, everything from financial planning and credit-decision systems to automated teller machines, none of this is any surprise. However, in order to understand future trends, the team has carried out a systematic and interactive forecasting study, the results of which suggest that mobile finance will continue to grow during the next decade in retail banking, but conventional transactions will remain largely predominant for at least another five to 10 years. Underpinning the evolution of finance is the perhaps too slow recognition by financial institutions that the relationship between customer and bank remains important and especially so in the age of social media and networking. In that era, everyone's opinion can count and a simple mistake or disinterest on the part of a corporation can become today's viral news story and a possible step down the road to ruin for the unwary company. The team's study demonstrates that complex issues will continue to be dealt with through direct, personal communication while standard processes will be replaced by new media tools providing customer and bank with the new typical form of access. Experiments give new hints to developers of Web sites By the Pennsylvania State University news
staff
Before web developers add the newest bells and the latest whistles to their Web site designs, a team of researchers suggests they zoom in on the tools that click with the right users and for the right tasks. "When designers create sites, they have to make decisions on what tools and features they use and where they put them, which takes a lot of planning," said S. Shyam Sundar, co-director of the Media Effects Research Laboratory. "You not only have to plan where the feature will be, you also have to design what will go underneath that layer, then create the content for it, so we wanted to know if these new, more sophisticated ways of interacting with a site are actually better than just clicking." The researchers, who presented their findings Tuesday at the Computer Human Interaction conference in Seoul, South Korea, suggest that interactive tools can not only affect how people use a Web site, but also how they feel about the site, what they think about its content and what information they retain after they use it. In a series of studies, the researchers examined how people interacted with content using several web navigation tools, including clicking, sliding, zooming, hovering, dragging and flipping, along with combinations of those tools, according to Sundar. They also measured how much information they retained during the sessions as a way to test how absorbed the users were during the task. Participants indicated that the slider, which allowed them to scroll along a timeline to view images and text about a historical event, was better at aiding memory than other tools, including a more recent navigational innovation, the 3-D carousel, which allows users to rotate images. Sundar said that users spent more time on the carousel and interacted frequently with the tool, but that the number of interactions and length of time on the tool did not necessarily mean they found the carousel mentally engaging. Looks do not lead to better usability, he added. "The 3-D carousel looks attractive, but in terms of encoding information, it was not effective," said Sundar. This discrepancy between the high level of interaction and low level of satisfaction may also mean that a commonly used metric, how long a person has remained on a site, does not necessarily suggest a positive user experience. "We used to think that the more time a user spent on a page or feature, or how sticky it is, was a good thing and that it meant they were more interested in the page," said Sundar. "However, it could also mean they are confused and having trouble navigating." Clicking, one of the web's early navigational tools, continues to be a popular choice for users, according to the researchers, who also found that the level of a user's web experience influenced the effect tools had on users' attitudes toward site content. For example, expert-level web users liked the content more and thought it was more credible when the site used simple clicking and mouse-over tools compared to less intuitive tools like the 3-D carousel and drag. The reverse is true for those who have limited expertise with technology. "These techniques may be less natural to use, but they are seen as fancy by lay users," said Sundar. "They have a 'halo effect' on content." Regardless of the differences across users, finding that these interactive tools can shape how users think and feel about media content is an important discovery, he added. In the first study, the researchers recruited 128 college students and assigned them one of 20 different Web sites that were designed to test the interaction techniques. The content was the same on all the Web sites. The researchers then recruited 127 college students for a study that examined a combination of Web site tools. These participants were assigned one of six different Web site versions designed to test their reaction to those combinations. Feds join Baltimore probe in death of police prisoner By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The U.S. Justice Department says it is investigating the death of an African-American man who suffered spinal injuries while in police custody in the eastern U.S. city of Baltimore, Maryland. The federal investigation will look for civil rights violations in the case of Freddie Gray, 25, who was arrested April 12. Tuesday hundreds of protesters gathered at the site of Gray's arrest. Protesters marched to a police station a couple of blocks away, chanting and holding signs that read "Black Lives Matter'' and "No Justice, No Peace," slogans that have come to embody what demonstrators believe is mistreatment of blacks by police across the United States. Among the crowd were members of Gray's family, including his mother, Gloria Darden, who was overcome with grief, writhing and sobbing uncontrollably, her face obscured by a hood and dark glasses. Earlier in the day, six Baltimore police officers were suspended with pay while authorities investigate why Gray was stopped and what led to his injury. They were identified as Lt. Brian Rice, 41; Officer Caesar Goodson, 45; Sgt. Alicia White, 30; Officer William Porter, 25; Officer Garrett Miller, 26; and Officer Edward Nero, 29. Their specific roles in the arrest weren't disclosed. Details about what happened to Gray are scarce. Baltimore authorities said he was arrested without force or incident after police made eye contact with him and another man in an area known for drug activity and the two started running. According to court documents, one of the arresting officers accused Gray of carrying a switchblade, which was discovered in Gray's pocket after he was stopped. Harold Perry, 73, a retired businessman who is nearly blind, said he heard the arrest through his bedroom window. A young man was screaming, "You're hurting me! Get your knee off my back!" Perry said. He said he also heard the young man say, "I'm an asthmatic." In video of the event taken by a bystander, Gray is screaming, but it's not clear what he is saying. Gray was handcuffed and put into a transport van. What remains unclear is what happened in the van that led the police to rush him to the hospital in critical condition about 30 minutes later. At some point during the ride, the van was stopped and Gray's legs were shackled when an officer felt he was becoming irate, police said. Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said Gray asked for an inhaler, and then several times asked for medical care. Gray died Sunday of what police described as a significant spinal injury. The lawyer for Gray's family said he thought police had no reason to stop him. "They've made concessions on lack of probable cause," attorney Billy Murphy said. "Running while black is not probable cause. Felony running doesn't exist, and you can't arrest someone for looking you in the eye." Batts said the reason for Gray's stop was a question we have to dig into. At a news conference Monday, Baltimore officials vowed transparency and pledged to hold those found responsible accountable. Batts said that the investigation would be completed by May 1 and that the results would be sent to the state attorney's office to determine whether criminal charges will be filed. Batts also said he was ordering that police review and rewrite effective immediately policies on moving prisoners and providing them with medical attention. Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said she welcomed the Justice Department probe. "Whenever a police force conducts an internal investigation, there are always appropriate questions of transparency and impartiality,'' she said. "My goal has always been to get answers to the questions so many of us are still asking with regards to Mr. Gray's death.'' It's not uncommon for federal investigators to look into allegations of excessive police force. Justice Department investigations in the last year include probes into the fatal shooting of an unarmed black 18-year-old in Ferguson, Missouri, a case that resulted in no charges against the officer, and an ongoing review of a police chokehold death of a New York City man. There's a high threshold for bringing federal civil rights charges against police officers in such cases. Federal investigators must show an officer willfully deprived a person of his or her civil rights by using more force than the law allows, a standard that's challenging in rapidly unfolding confrontations in which snap judgments are made. Stock trader given blame for major plunge in market By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
British authorities arrested a stock trader Tuesday for allegedly manipulating the U.S. stock market and causing a major index to plummet 600 points in just five minutes in 2010. The U.S. Justice Department has charged Navinder Singh Sarao of London with fraud and commodities manipulation and has asked Britain to extradite him. Sarao is accused of using an automated stock trading program to do something the Justice Department called dynamic layering. It involved placing many large-volume sell orders at different price points to create the appearance of a large supply. When this tactic caused prices to fall, Sarao is accused of selling futures contracts and buying them back at the lower price. Sarao's alleged manipulation caused the Dow Jones industrial average in New York to plunge about 600 points in just minutes on May 6, 2010, before bouncing back. Such a quick, sharp drop could have caused a global financial panic. U.S. investigators initially blamed the crash on computerized trading. They're now saying, for the first time, that the drop was caused by someone manipulating the market. Labor and business clash over fast track authority By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
America’s top business advocate and its biggest labor boss sparred over proposed fast track legislation to facilitate the formation and approval of a mammoth 12-nation Pacific trading bloc. “Congress must approve TPA ,” said U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue, testifying Tuesday before the Senate Finance Committee. “Nearly 40 million American jobs depend on trade. The Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement would open the Asia-Pacific dynamic markets to American goods and services.” He referred to trade promotion authority. Trade promotion authority or fast track, subjects trade pacts to up-or-down congressional votes with no amendments allowed and has been used to approve major accords such as the North American Free Trade Agreement negotiated in the 1990s. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said the mechanism “cedes important and long-lasting decisions about our economy to a few negotiators in a small room in the middle of the night. This is undemocratic. It’s wrong. And it has led to disastrous policies for America’s workers and producers.” Last week, the Finance Committee’s chairman, Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, a Republican, and its top Democrat, Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, unveiled a bipartisan proposal that, if approved, would significantly boost prospects for completing and launching the Trans-Pacific Partnership of 12 nations that, combined, account for about 40 percent of global gross domestic product. “Trade is an essential element of a healthy economy,” said Hatch. “We should be doing all we can to advance a trade agenda that works for America and advances our interests on the world stage.” Trumka said the current proposal is weak on workers’ rights, environmental standards and other key areas. He expressed a strong desire to work with Congress to improve it. Donohue spoke out against delays. “Tomorrow is too late. Today is the time to move on these issues,” he said. Congressional debate on Trade Promotion Authority and the Trans-Pacific Partnership promises to be the most raucous and polarizing on any issue likely to be taken up by U.S. lawmakers this year. Russia low rating again in world opinion polling By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
For the eighth consecutive year, Russia has earned the lowest approval ratings among major world powers in a survey of people in more than 130 countries, with Moscow's ranking falling sharply in Western nations after its intervention last year in Ukraine. The Gallup survey of about 1,000 adults in each of the countries showed the United States with the highest ratings, followed by Germany, the European Union, China and then Russia. The international pollster said the results are similar to those recorded for the last six years. But Gallup said countries affiliated with the West, particularly those belonging to the NATO military alliance, have soured on Russia dramatically. Meanwhile, Gallup said Russians and people in many of its former republics, chiefly Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgystan and Tajikistan, all felt much more negatively about leadership in the U.S., the EU and Germany. Gallup said support for Russia dropped by 10 percentage points or more in 21 countries and a majority of residents in 41 countries disapproved of Russian policies, nearly three times the number of countries where majorities voiced their displeasure about U.S. leadership. With the Ukrainian conflict and the standoff between Russia and the West over Moscow's involvement commanding wide attention through much of 2014, Russian support for the United States and the EU plunged, according to the survey. Russians' disapproval of the United States nearly doubled from 42 percent in 2013 to 82 percent last year, and more than doubled for the EU, from 26 to 70 percent in the same period. Gallup called the emerging gulf between attitudes in Russia and Western countries troubling. It said the "growing attitudinal divide between the former Cold War adversaries does not bode well for future negotiations," noting that public attitudes "can actually affect foreign policy." |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's sixth news page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, April 22, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 78 | |||||||||
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 Ministerio de Seguridad
Pública photo
Laura
Porras Murillo from the Universidad Nacional in Heredia,an expert on wild animals, shares information on crocodiles. How about a
short course in crocodiles?
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The mean streets might be challenging for police officers, but in Jacó and Tárcoles de Garabito officers sometimes run into crocodiles or their relatives. So the security ministry invited Laura Porras Murillo of the Instituto Internacional en Conservación y Manejo de la Vida Silvestre at the Universidad Nacional in Heredia, to share her knowledge. As might be expected, her principal advice was prudence, said the ministry in a summary. Dr. Porras said that there is not a big upswing in the croc population, but the ministry said that more and more police officers are called upon to handle the critters on the Pacific coast and on the Caribbean. During heavy rains, such animals can be seen crossing roadways on the Pacific coast. Police have been called upon to trap and remove crocodiles up to 4.5 meters in length. That's nearly 15 feet. Tourism minister lost a few battles By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
When he was named, tourism leaders were thrilled that the Instituto Costarricense de Turismo would be headed by a person from the industry. That expectation soured, and now Wilhelm von Breymann will be leaving the job, which is part of the presidential cabinet. Von Breymann held the job when through no fault of his own, the central government seemed to be leaning on the industry. At the end of the Laura Chinchilla administration, a decree imposed five years of back taxes on a number of tourism operations. No one expected that, and there is some question as to the validity of the decree. But members of the new administration gleefully pledged to collect the tax. As it turned out a bill is in the legislature to void the back taxes and stage in the 13 to 15 percent taxes on tourism activities. Then there were some budget battles that the minister did not win. So the industry turned against him. Luis Guillermo Solís most likely will select a seasoned politician to replace him. |
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| From Page 7: Newspaper director tapped by president By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Mauricio Herrera Ulloa, director del Semanario Universidad, has been named minister of Comunicación by President Luis Guillermo Solís. Casa Presidencial described him as a fighter for freedom of the press and a promoter of democratic journalism. The university weekly at the Universidad de Costa Rica has a reputation for investigative journalism related to the political sector. Solís has taken a beating when a proposed draft of a radio and television law would have given the government the right to shut down publications and stations over content. In addition, the president's approval ratings have declined. |
