By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services

Two in Canada arrested
to face terrorism charges


Authorities in Canada say they have arrested and charged two residents with conspiring to carry out an al-Qaida-supported terrorist attack against passenger trains.
 
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police announced Monday that, with the help of U.S. authorities, they were able to arrest Chiheb Esseghaier of Montreal and Raed Jaser from Toronto.
 
The police said in a statement that while they believe the suspects had the capacity and intent to carry out an attack, there was no imminent threat to the general public, train employees, passengers or railway infrastructure.
 
Investigators also said that the two suspects allegedly were focusing on passenger trains in Toronto and that the plot was not linked to last week's bombing attack at the Boston Marathon in the United States.


Artists in Florence portray
immigrants as cultural sparks


The Italian city of Florence is known for its art and beauty. Its immigrant community is less well known. But following a series of attacks on African migrants in Florence, a group of artists is highlighting the contribution of foreigners to Florentine culture, past and present.
 
With its stunning architecture and countless galleries, Florence has long been at the heart of Western art.  It is the birthplace of the Renaissance, the flowering of Western artistic endeavor that began in the 14th century.
 
Now a group of artists is reflecting on what it means to be Florentine in the 21st century. They're re-creating Renaissance paintings using photographs of the city’s immigrants complete with costumes, props and period hairstyles.
 
American-Lebanese photographer Mark Abouzeid, who lives in Florence, is one of the curators of the exhibition, titled "The New New World."
 
He says the project took a dramatic turn when a far-right gunman opened fire on Senegalese immigrants in December 2011, killing two people.
 
“We decided instead of being angry and saying everything that’s wrong, why don’t we for once just show everything that’s right, from the Renaissance when we reached out to culture, to create something so beautiful the world has never forgotten, to today when thanks to the immigrant community we have a cultural renaissance taking place again," he said.
 
Florence resident Elhadji Sall from Senegal sits patiently as a team of hair stylists, costume designers and lighting engineers prepare the final shoot.
 
Sall explains that in Senegal he had worked for the public water utility.  He says he had everything: a job, a wife, two children, a home. While on vacation, he met another Senegalese who lived in Florence and insisted he visit, and he says he found the most beautiful city he has ever seen.
 
The curators say they were not looking simply for physical resemblance to the Renaissance portraits but also similarities in their roles in society. Sall was chosen as the model for the Botticelli painting "Portrait of a Youth With a Medal." Like the boy in the painting, Elhadji is little known but, as a handyman, his work is felt everywhere.
 
The exhibition received the backing of Cristina Giacchi, Florence’s minister of universities and culture.
 
Ms. Giacchi says a city like Florence attracts many people and, as a result can experience problems of integration. She says the most complex aspect has been to get Florentines comfortable with diversity.
 
At the height of the Arab Spring, thousands of Africans came to Italy in boats. Latest figures show many migrants are now leaving Italy to return to their home countries because of Italy’s economic crisis.
 
Sall is considering a return to Senegal. “Everything is changed‚ it is truly hard,” says Sall. “I have lost my job two or three times recently. As I speak to you, I do not have any work," he said.
 
The exhibition has been on display at Florence’s Palazzo Vecchio. The curators plan to take it on tour across Italy.


Leahy defends immigration bill
against shadow of bombing


An influential U.S. senator says the Boston bombing must not be used as an excuse to block or delay overhauling America’s immigration system. The emergence of a bipartisan immigration reform proposal has been overshadowed by the nation’s preoccupation with events in Boston.
 
Both Boston bombing suspects came to the United States legally from faraway lands, but some Republican lawmakers have cited their alleged actions as an example of what can happen if Congress carries immigration reform too far.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Democrat, says the Boston bombings should not be exploited for political purposes.

“Let no one be so cruel as to try to use the heinous acts of these two young men last week to derail the dreams and futures of millions of hard-working people," said Leahy.

Leahy is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which met Monday to examine a bipartisan proposal that would provide a path to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants in the nation. The bill also mandates tougher border security and seeks to crack down on employers who hire non-legal workers.

Leahy argued that, if anything, immigration reform is a way to improve U.S. public safety.

“The bill before us would serve to strengthen our national security by allowing us to focus our border security and enforcement efforts against those who do us harm," he said. "A nation as strong as ours can welcome the oppressed and persecuted without making compromises to our security.”

The committee's top Republican, Charles Grassley, objected to Leahy’s suggestion that the immigration plan's opponents are exploiting the Boston bombings. Grassley noted that many Democrats have linked tragedy to politics by citing recent mass shootings in the United States as a reason to support tougher gun restrictions. Grassley said what is needed is careful and reasoned debate on immigration policy.

“I think we are taking advantage of an opportunity, when once in 25 years we deal with immigration, to make sure that every base is covered," said Grassley.

The Republican senator noted that immigration reform undertaken in the 1980s failed to stem the flow of illegal border-crossers. He said lawmakers have a duty to prevent a repeat, necessitating careful consideration and full debate of the proposed reform bill.

“There are 92 other senators that must get their chance to improve this bill in a deliberative process," he said.

Polls show a majority of Americans favor an immigration system overhaul, including a path to citizenship for those living illegally in the country.  Whether the bipartisan bill will win enough votes to pass both houses of a politically divided Congress remains to be seen.


New scholarships will send
western scholars to China


Supporters of a new scholarship for international students at Beijing's prestigious Tsinghua University say they are backing the program in the hope that it will produce future world leaders with a better understanding of China.

American billionaire investor Stephen Schwarzman announced the scholarship bearing his name at a ceremony Sunday in Beijing's Great Hall of the People. The Tsinghua program will pay for a one-year master's degrees for 200 students, almost half of them Americans, beginning in 2016. The scholars will take immersion classes in Chinese culture and language before enrolling in public policy and international relations courses.

International energy giant BP is donating $25 million of the $300 million cost of the scholarship program. As the lead sponsor, it said the program will enable future leaders to interact with prominent political, business and academic figures "with the vision of fostering greater understanding and more meaningful dialogue between China and the world."

Schwarzman is donating $100 million of his own wealth to the program, which is modeled on the century-old Rhodes scholarship that brings international students to Britain's Oxford University.

Speaking to U.S. television network CBS, he said the goal of his scholarship is to ease international tensions that may arise as China's economic growth outpaces those of Western powers in the coming years.

"The center of the world's economy is moving to Asia much more than it used to be in 1902, when it was more in the U.S. and Europe, when the Rhodes was established," said Schwarzman. "And I think that bringing students to China is an essential part of their education. China is no longer an elective course, it is really core curriculum."

Two-thirds of the funding will come from private donations, including those made by U.S. corporate giants Bank of America, Boeing, Caterpillar and JPMorgan Chase. All of the major corporate donors have significant investments in China.

Caterpillar said it has contributed $1 million to the scholarship. It said the program will highlight the importance of China's economy to the rest of the world, and create links between Caterpillar and alumni who could someday be an employee or a customer.

Schwarzman's private equity company Blackstone Group also invests in China's real estate market and is part-owned by Chinese state-run wealth fund China Investment Corp. Foreign investors in China traditionally have won favor with Chinese leaders by donating to schools, disaster relief and clean energy projects.

The scholarship's board includes prominent international figures such as former prime ministers Tony Blair of Britain and Kevin Rudd of Australia, former French president Nicholas Sarkozy, and former U.S. secretaries of State Henry Kissinger, Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice.

Kissinger said the scholarship can promote a peaceful world and a healthy global economy by fostering close relationships, understanding and communication.

"The Schwarzman Scholars Program is designed to broaden cultural understanding between China and the rest of the world," said Kissinger. "Only through first-hand experience can one really understand China, its culture, people, influences and motivations. Schwarzman scholars will inform a new class of leaders that are better prepared to face global challenges."

Kissinger helped to open U.S. relations with China in the early 1970s as a senior member of the Richard Nixon administration.


Mushroom promoted as source
of nutrition and diet help


The humble mushroom can pack a powerful nutritional punch, according to two new studies released Monday. The edible fungus can help dieters reduce their intake of red meat and still feel full, and can provide as much vitamin D as a nutritional supplement.

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health gave one group of obese adults about one-quarter of a liter of white button mushrooms per day in place of meat. A second group was placed on a standard weight reduction diet.

At the end of a year-long trial, the mushroom group lost more pounds and maintained their weight loss better than the control group. The findings show the benefit of substituting low-energy-density foods, like mushrooms, for high-energy-density foods, like lean ground beef, for reducing energy and fat intake.

In a separate study, at Boston University School of Medicine, researchers randomly gave a small group of healthy adults supplements of either vitamin D2, vitamin D3 or mushroom powder containing vitamin D2 for 12 weeks during the winter. The vitamin, which is crucial for bone health, muscle strength and immune system function, is produced naturally in the skin when exposed to the sun.

At the end of the trial, there was no difference in levels of vitamin D among the three groups. The investigators say their results show that mushrooms are a good natural food source for this important nutrient.

Both studies received funding from The Mushroom Council, a group of U.S. mushroom producers and importers.


California marijuana stores
face a question on ballot


In Oakland, California, the nation's largest dispensary of medical marijuana, Harborside Health Center, dispenses prepackaged marijuana and potted marijuana plants to a steady stream of users. Each has a doctor's recommendation for marijuana use and belongs to the members-only cooperative.

Medical marijuana has been legal in California since 1996 under state law, but the drug remains illegal under U.S. federal law.

The marijuana dispensary, called the largest pot shop on the planet, pays millions of dollars each year in state and local taxes and has the backing of city officials. It also has paid millions in legal fees to fight efforts by federal officials to close it down. But co-founder Steve DeAngelo said the move has started toward nationwide legalization of marijuana.

“The real question is, how is it going to be legalized? What is this new industry going to look like? How are we going to regulate it?” he asked.

In Los Angeles, marijuana dispensaries have proliferated, and even supporters say things are out of control. A simple headache or insomnia can get a doctor's recommendation for medical marijuana, and the city has 1,000 or more unregulated dispensaries. 

Los Angeles City Council member Bill Rosendahl credits marijuana with helping him cope with debilitating cancer. 

He backs a proposal called Proposition D, one of three competing measures on the local election ballot in May. He said it would reduce Los Angeles dispensaries to 135, closing hundreds of others and imposing needed regulations on an industry that has helped him.

“I feel strong. I feel I have got a long life ahead of me, and I want to thank medicinal marijuana for making it happen,” said Rosendahl.

Polls show that 70 percent of Californians support medical marijuana. A narrow majority supports full legalization, which is now in place in Washington State and Colorado, but not in California. It is all illegal under federal law. 

Today's marijuana is potent, with more of the psychoactive agent THC, said psychologist Steve Freng, who works in Seattle with treatment programs for the federal government.

“Marijuana these days is not the marijuana that was out there when I was in high school and college. That was essentially Mexican ditch weed that, if you were lucky, was a 3 to 5 percent THC type of marijuana," he said.

Some of today's marijuana is 15 to 20 percent THC, and as with alcohol, there are problems with abuse and underage users.

Federal authorities continue to crack down on some dispensaries. Four were raided recently in Los Angeles. Marijuana fetches higher prices in states where it is illegal, and critics say the lack of regulation in Los Angeles has led to illegal shipments to other states from some dispensaries.

The debate among Californians is no longer about prohibition, though, said marijuana dispensary founder DeAngelo. He sees marijuana as a burgeoning industry, and has set up an investment network called Arcview Group to help finance it.

“It is no longer a question of whether or not cannabis is going to be legalized. It is not even a question of when, because we are in that moment right now,” he said.

DeAngelo said it is a question of how it will be legalized. The country is waiting to see how federal officials respond to that question.


Woodstock opener Havens
dies of heart attack in Jersey


American folk musician Richie Havens, who was the first performer at the Woodstock music festival, has died.
 
His family said Havens died of a heart attack in New Jersey Monday. He was 72.

Havens opened the three-day 1969 Woodstock Festival with the song "Freedom," and performed for three hours.  The concert was the turning point of his career.

He also performed at Bill Clinton's presidential Inauguration in 1993.

Havens released his debut album "Mixed Bag" in 1967 and went on to release more than 25 albums. Havens' last album was 2008's "Nobody Left to Crown."

His Web site said he had kidney surgery in 2010 and that he never recovered enough to perform concerts the way he used to.


Man on FBI's most-wanted list
captured in Nicaraguan town


Police in Nicaragua say they have detained a U.S. man on the FBI's most-wanted list who is accused of producing child pornography.

Police say they arrested former school teacher Eric Toth in the northern city of Esteli, near Nicaragua's border with Honduras.

Toth taught elementary students at a private school in Washington, D.C., when he was accused in 2008 of possessing and producing pornography. He disappeared shortly afterwards.

The FBI added Toth to its most-wanted list in 2012, offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.

The agency's most wanted list is usually reserved for those suspected of involvement in violent crimes or terrorism. However, the FBI said it put Toth on the list because his Internet skills and his alleged ability to prey on children made him very dangerous.

By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services