|
|
A.M.
Costa Rica
Your daily English-language news source Monday through Friday |
 |
| (506) 2223-1327 |
Published
Tuesday,
April 25,
2017, Vol. 17,
No. 81
|
Email us |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
| Page Two is HERE!
Page Three is HERE!
Page Four is HERE! Page Five is HERE! Page Six is HERE! and Page 7 is HERE! Classifieds are HERE! Real estate is HERE! Useful Links! |
Next
Page |
| 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 |
|
Published Tuesday,
April 25,
2017, Vol. 17,
No. 81
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
|
Go to Page 5 HERE! Go to Page 6 HERE! Sports is HERE! Opinion is HERE! Classifieds are HERE! Plus useful links |
NEXT PAGE |
|
App aims to connect
transport and client
By the A.M.
Costa Rica staff
A new application developed by the Universidad de Costa Rica aims to connect cargo transporters and clients all across Central America in a more efficient way, while decreasing the cost of logistic operations. The app is called Caravana and it is an initiative of the Escuela de Administración Aduanera y Comercio Exterior. According to its director Susana Wong, user requiring cargo services should only fill out a form including details of the cargo and it will be automatically sent out to all service providers who fit the request. “The idea is to help clients find the best price as fast as possible,” said Ms.Wong. “Caravana also offers estimates in regards how much time border control will take and how much duties should be paid in each country depending on the cargo,” said Ms. Wong, “This app is of use to governments, companies and research companies.” The Caravana project was funded by the United States Agency for International Development, once it was declared the winner of a competition to improve commerce in Central America. The money was managed by the Fundación Universidad de Costa Rica. The application will be officially inaugurated friday at 8 a.m at the Wyndham Hotel in San José. After that the Secretaría de Integración Económica Centroamericana will be in charge of managing both the application and the website. Jazz fusion concert happening on May 4
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A fusion of American jazz and traditional Costa Rican music will be on hand for the May 4 concert titled “Jazzeando” at Teatro Espressivo. The concert will be a performance by the group Swing en 4 along with U.S. singer Bertilla Baker and divided into two parts, according to organizers from the theater. The first half of the show will feature classic jazz tunes sung by Ms. Baker. These include songs off of Ms. Baker’s 2015 album such as “Skylark,” “A Fine Romance,” “After the Morning,” organizers said. The show starts at 8 p.m. that Thursday. The last half of the concert brings in the fusion element with songs originally recorded in 2009 by the group. "Thanks to the jazz improvisation and spontaneity, the public can expect an exciting artistic experience that combines a high level of musical elaboration with the warm and simple beauty of the songs that will be performed, which belong to both the traditional repertoire of American jazz with the typical Costa Rican song, "said Vinicio Meza, a member of the group. The group formed back in 1998 and the band claims to blend classical, folk, and jazz elements in conglomeration with the richness of African-American heritage. As for Ms. Baker, the statement from the Teatro Espressivo said that has participated in many Broadway productions such as “Titanic,” “Les Miserables,” “Tommy,” and “Jesus Christ Superstar.” More information about the show can be found by contacting the theater. Our readers'
opinion
Findings could
change views on GMO's
Dear A.M. Costa Rica:Dear A.M. Costa
Rica:
It was mentioned in an article regarding science in Monday's edition, " Costa Rica lawmakers still have a bill that would ban genetically modified crops, despite any evidence of harm" There has been numerous products deemed non-harmful, only to find out years later the scientific studies were wrong. Erring on the side of precaution as Costa Rica is doing regarding GMO crops is a wise decision. Many times we don't know the outcome of a chemical, medicine or technology that eventually turns out to be very harmful years later. DDT is one example of not understanding long term effects. DDT was developed as the first of the modern synthetic insecticides in the 1940s. It wasn't until almost thirty years later that In 1972, the EPA issued a cancellation order for DDT based on its adverse environmental effects, such as those to wildlife, as well as its human health risks. Thalidomide first entered the German market in 1957 as an over-the-counter remedy, based on the maker’s safety claims. They advertised their product as “completely safe” for everyone, including mother and child, “even during pregnancy,” as its developers “could not find a dose high enough to kill a rat.” By 1960, thalidomide was marketed in 46 countries, with sales nearly matching those of aspirin. We all know the outcome of the use of Thalidomide on babies from pregnant women who used this "safe" medicine. Henry
Kantrowitz
Punta Leona Blame the installer, not the concept Chris Clarke’s letter of April 24 begs a response. As one who has benefitted from three solar water heating installations, the first one installed in 1980 and still functioning, I think my insights are worthwhile. First, it is wrong to condemn the concept of solar water heating because an inept installer failed to do it correctly which resulted in Mr. Clarke’s damaged roof and ceilings. None of our three installations ever posed such a problem and a two of them were certainly more complicated than Mr. Clarke's. An old friend observed once that “if it seems cheap, it probably is.” Taking the low-ball bid due to payback computations alone often ends up in disaster. To be sure, ask about references and check them out. Second, pure financial considerations may call solar water heating into question, but payback time should not be the only consideration. The imposition on the environment made by heating water any other way, while not a concrete financial matter, must still enter the equation. There is no question that a well designed and well installed solar water heating installation can provide most of the hot water families need. In our own case, our installation in Lansing, Michigan would reliably raise our water from 54 degrees Fahrenheit to over 105 degrees Fahrenheit on a (rare) sunny day in February. In milder weather like Costa Rica’s, it provided all our water heating. And it continues to do so today. The projected life of these systems may be twenty years, as Mr. Clarke stated, but the practical life can be much longer. Once properly installed, there’s not a whole lot to go wrong. David C. Murray
Grecia, Alajuela
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Go to Page 5 HERE! Go to Page 6 HERE! Sports is HERE! Opinion is HERE! Classifieds are HERE! Plus useful links |
NEXT PAGE |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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 2017 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 |
 |
|
Published Tuesday,
April 25,
2017, Vol. 17,
No. 81
|
||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
| Page One is HERE! Page 2 is HERE! Page 4 is HERE! | NEXT PAGE |
| Festival de las Esferas offers ancient culture
with modern activities |
|
|
By the A.M. Costa
Rica staff
Set against the backdrop of stone spheres and a celebration of Pre-Columbian culture, the Festival de las Esferas this weekend will also include more modern elements. The three day series of events begins this Friday in the communities of Palmar Sur and Osa in Puntarenas. According to the Ministerio de Cultura y Juventud, the concert at 8 p.m. Friday in the park of Palmar Sur by Los Ajenos will be the highlight of the entire festivities. The local Banada Chiqui chiqui There is more than the concert, however, as members of the community and visitors to the festival may also enjoy three days of boat rides, dances, music, workshops, cultural and sport exhibitions as well as food. Aside from the boat trips and the sports activities on the schedule, the rest of the events will be free. Among the sports that one can participate in is mountain biking with a registration cost of 8,000 colons that includes a free T-shirt to the first 100 participants, water, fruits, prizes and medical assistance, organizers said. The 30-kilometer mountain bike ride will begin at 8 a.m. Sunday, according to the cultural ministry. The festival begins at 10 a.m. on Friday with the artisan and food fair at the Parque de Palmar Sur. At 5 p.m. the inauguration of the 12th annual Festival de las Esferas will be held formally in the Centro de Estudios y Capacitación Cooperativa building at Palmar Sur. Organizers are offering guided tours to the elusive stone spheres at the Finca 6 archaeological site every hour from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. Saturday. At 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, a group of Boruca performers called NON CUAN XÁ will have their show in the park. |
 Ministerio de
Cultura y Juventud photo
Boruca performers are expected to do
their show Sunday.The stone spheres also
recently got its own
website back in late March. Viewing the site
would be good background for expats who are planning
to attend the festival of the spheres in the Diquís
region.
Most expats know the story. Balls were only discovered toward the end of the 19th century, and their number and significance only became known when banana companies began clearing land there for plantations. Archaeologist Doris Stone published the first academic paper on the topic in 1943. The museum has set up a satellite site in Palmar Sur and is safeguarding Batambal, El Silencio, Finca 6 and Grijalba-2 where the balls are found. There also are balls on Isla del Caño offshore. The balls were designated as international human heritage by the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. More information about the event can be obtained at the cultural ministry’s website. |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| Page One is HERE! Page 2 is HERE! Page 4 is HERE! | NEXT PAGE |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
2017 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 |
|
Published Tuesday,
April 25,
2017, Vol. 17,
No. 81
|
||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
| Page 1 is HERE! Page 2 is
HERE! Page 3 is HERE! Page 5 is HERE! Page 6 is HERE! The sports page is HERE! Opinion is HERE! Classifieds are HERE! Plus useful links |
Next Page |
| New malaria therapy uses dried leaves of plant
for cure, study shows |
|
|
By the Worcester
Polytechnic Institute press staff
When the standard malaria medications failed to help 18 critically ill patients, the attending physician in a Congo clinic acted under the compassionate use doctrine and prescribed a not-yet-approved malaria therapy made only from the dried leaves of the Artemisia annua plant. In just five days, all 18 people fully recovered. This small but stunningly successful trial offers hope to address the growing problem of drug-resistant malaria. Details of the cases are documented in the paper “Artemisia annua dried leaf tablets treated malaria resistant to ACT and i.v. artesunate: case reports” by an international team lead by Pamela Weathers, professor of biology and biotechnology at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. With malaria still raging as one of the most prevalent and deadly infectious diseases of the developing world, the research offers hope for an effective and low-cost treatment. The report documents the experiences of 18 patients in the North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo who showed symptoms of malaria and were originally treated with the recommended medication: artemisinin-based combination therapy, which blends artemisinin, a chemical extract from Artemisia annua, with one or more other drugs that attack the malaria parasite in different ways. The 18 patients, ranging in age from 14 months to 60 years, did not respond to the standard treatment, and all lapsed into severe malaria, defined by symptoms that can include loss of consciousness, respiratory distress, convulsions, and pulmonary edema. One patient, a five-year-old child, became comatose. All were then treated with intravenously administered artesunate, the frontline medication for severe malaria, but again they showed no improvement. As a last resort, doctors turned to dried-leaf Artemisia, a therapy developed and extensively studied by Ms. Weathers and her team at the institute. After five days of treatment with tablets made from only the dried and powered leaves of Artemisia, which has been prepared and analyzed using methods developed by Ms. Weathers and postdoctoral fellow Melissa Towler, all 18 patients fully recovered. Laboratory tests showed they had no parasites remaining in their blood. Ms. Weathers noted more than 100 other drug-resistant patients also have been successfully treated with DLA tablets. According to the World Health Organization, more than 212 million people contracted malaria in 2015 and some 429,000 died, with young children and pregnant women being particularly vulnerable. Caused by a mosquito-borne parasite, the illness is reported in nearly 100 countries and threatens nearly half of the world's population. The current recommended therapy is expensive to produce and is in short supply in areas hit hardest by the disease. |
 Worcester Polytechnic
Institute photo
Tissue culture used
to make cultivars of Artemisia annua.
In addition, while the combination therapy is designed to be less prone to the drug resistance that has rendered previous antimalarial agents ineffective, increasingly the malaria parasite is showing signs of resistance to the treatment, particularly in Southeast Asia. Ms. Weathers began her research on artemisinin and Artemesia annua, also known as sweet wormwood, more than 25 years ago. In recent years, she has turned her attention to the use of the group’s medicine as an alternative to conventional antimalarial drugs. Noting that Artemisia annua, which is classified as a generally regarded as safe herb, has been consumed by humans and used as an herbal therapy for thousands of years, often in the form of a tea, she became intrigued by the potential for using the dried plant, rather than just a chemical extract, as a malaria treatment. A study she published in “Photochemistry Reviews” in 2011 was the first to demonstrate that dried leaves of the Artemisia annua plant delivers 40 times more artemisinin to the blood than does the drug based on the chemical extract of the plant. Ms. Weathers says the superior performance of the dried leaves in comparison to the therapy, as well as its ability to kill drug-resistant parasites and avoid the resistance trap, itself, is likely due to the synergistic effects of a complex array of phyto-chemicals contained in the plant’s leaves. Several of these chemicals are known to have antimalarial properties and others of which may act both to enhance the absorption of artemisinin into the bloodstream and bolster its effectiveness against malaria. In effect, the dried leaves constitute a robust natural combination therapy, one whose benefits far surpass those of ACT and other combination drugs. Another advantage of the dried leaves over conventional malaria treatments is its low cost and the relative simplicity of its manufacture, Ms. Weathers said. While the processes for manufacturing ACT is costlier and requires a higher degree of expertise, producing the dried-leaf tablets can be accomplished with simpler equipment and a modest amount of training. Growing Artemisia annua and producing and testing the tablets are can provide jobs in impoverished areas and greatly expand access to antimalarial therapy. |
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
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
| Page 1 is HERE! Page 2 is
HERE! Page 3 is HERE! Page 5 is HERE! Page 6 is HERE! The sports page is HERE! Opinion is HERE! Classifieds are HERE! Plus useful links |
Next Page |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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. 2016
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 |
 |
|
|
Published Tuesday,
April 25,
2017, Vol. 17,
No. 81
|
|||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
|
|
Venezuela
protests heat up
with streets now blocked By the A.M. Costa
Rica wire services
Anti-government activists in Venezuela blocked thoroughfares in the capital and several other cities Monday, continuing a fourth week of street demonstrations to press leftist President Nicolás Maduro for new national elections. “We reiterate again: Only through the vote will we get all Venezuelans to decide what future they want for the country,” Julio Borges, president of the opposition-led national assembly, told demonstrators gathered at Plaza Brion de Chacaito in eastern Caracas. A toppled street light stretched across several lanes of a highway in Caracas' Santa Fe district, with scores of demonstrators sitting or standing nearby. At other intersections, activists some dressed in the yellow, red and blue of Venezuela's flag piled garbage to obstruct traffic. According to Reuters news service, some passed time by playing cards, occasionally chanting, “This government has fallen!” Hundreds of police and national guard troops took up positions at several points in the city, riot gear at the ready. Security forces have used tear gas, and sometimes rubber bullets, in previous skirmishes with protesters. Since early April, at least 20 people have been killed and hundreds injured. Maria Corina Machado, an opposition leader and former national assembly lawmaker, implored demonstrators to keep up the pressure. “All over the democratic world today, their eyes must be on the jails of our country.” Human rights groups have said more than 1,000 people were detained during recent disturbances and over 700 are still in detention. Maduro, in his weekly television address Sunday, endorsed voting later in the year for mayoral and gubernatorial posts. He said nothing about moving up elections for the presidency. His term expires in late 2018. While the president urged his political opponents to join in a political dialogue for peace, he also called upon his followers to support the Bolivarian revolution and the security forces and public order. The opposition blames the government for the unraveling of Venezuela's once-booming economy which has left the country with shortages of food, medicine and other basic goods. On Monday, a United Nations commission forecast the country's economy would contract by another 7.2 percent this year. Venezuela's near-daily protests were sparked by the supreme court's attempt in late March to wrest legislative powers from the opposition-dominated Congress. The court reversed that decision following domestic and international outcries demanding separation of powers and a return to democracy. But tensions ratcheted up when Venezuela's government then barred opposition leader Henrique Capriles, twice a major presidential candidate, from running for office for 15 years. The 44-year-old Capriles, currently governor of Miranda state, which surrounds Caracas, is one of the most recognizable leaders behind the protest movement that has been roiling the country for weeks. Comcast survey discovers wifi important when renting By the A.M. Costa
Rica wire services
In a sign of just how important internet access is, a new survey suggests rental apartment hunters are more concerned with high-speed internet and wifi than they are with in-home laundry facilities. The survey commissioned by cable television and internet provider Comcast, found 34 percent of the 205 building managers, building owners and real estate developers of multifamily properties surveyed in the United States ranked wifi as the most important amenity. After that, 25 percent said high-speed internet was, while a mere 13 percent said in-room laundry facilities. Furthermore, the survey found that 87 percent of those asked said technology plays either an extremely or very important role in renter satisfaction. Thirty percent of those surveyed said high quality internet service increased property values by 20 percent. Another 89 percent said technology was an important factor in a renter’s choice to sign or renew a lease. The importance of technology varied by age, with 88 percent saying younger tenants aged 18 to 34 found technological amenities more important than among those 52 and up. The survey was conducted by researcher firm Precision Sample and was given online between December 7-10, 2016. Comcast said it provides services to 189,000 properties and 14.7 million units in the United States. New blood test promises quick diagnosis of malaria By the A.M. Costa
Rica wire services
An experimental blood test can quickly and accurately diagnose malaria from other infections, so treatment of the mosquito-borne illness can be started promptly. The symptoms of malaria, which strikes an estimated 200 million people around the globe every year, are non-specific. That means the fever, aches, pains and chills in the early stages could be mistaken for any number of infections. Identifying and treating malaria promptly not only increases a patient's chances of survival, but also helps prevent the disease from spreading to more people. The blood test, developed by researchers at Stanford University in California, looks for patterns of immune system activation to determine whether a person is infected with the malaria parasite, and not a bacterium or virus. It is reportedly 96 percent accurate. Purvesh Khatri, a professor of medicine at Stanford, helped develop the biomarker test, which looks at which genes are switched on or off, depending on the infection. A simple blood test measuring these immune markers could be helpful in resource-poor settings, according to Khatri. Khatri notes the current test is not very accurate because it looks for a molecule, called an antigen, that activates an immune response in a malaria infection. Khatri and his team drew upon data from 40 studies involving more than 3,000 blood samples from patients with various infections. Some were known to have malaria. But there were also other tropical illnesses observed in the studies, including dengue, typhoid and leishmaniasis. From those blood studies, investigators analyzed the activation of 2,100 different genes, looking at which genes switched on and off with parasitic, viral and bacterial infections. They found a group of seven genes that were expressed in malaria compared to healthy people and those with other infectious illnesses. To confirm their discovery, the researchers whittled the samples down to 900, in which they were able to discern the pattern of gene activation unique to malaria with near 100 percent accuracy. While the experimental blood test is accurate in diagnosing malaria, Khatri says it might also detect other parasitic diseases that researchers have not yet studied. But he said the blood test could be reliably used in cases where malaria is strongly suspected and confirmation of the disease is needed. Trump’s executive orders highest since FDR days By the A.M. Costa
Rica wire services
U.S. President Donald Trump is to sign at least four executive orders this week. That gave him the distinction of having signed more directives in his first 100 days in office than any president since Franklin Roosevelt. A check by Politifact shows Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed 76 such orders in the same 100-day period in 1933. The 28 directives Trump has signed since taking office Jan. 20 are mostly aimed at such things as rolling back regulatory reform, restricting illegal border crossings and creating jobs. Most have had little immediate effect, but have started a review process that could lead to future action. The four Trump will sign this week bring his total to 32, include one calling for a review of the Antiquities Act of 1906, which allows a president to protect lands of historic or scientific value by declaring them national monuments. President Barack Obama frequently used the Antiquities Act, notably last December, weeks before he left office, when he prohibited oil drilling on 650,000 hectares of land in Nevada and Utah that is said to be rich in Native American artifacts. A senior White House official did not mention the Obama administration specifically, saying only that past administrations have overused the law to designate large chunks of land far in excess of what is necessary for protection. Another Trump order sets in motion an America First Offshore Energy Strategy, including a review of mostly Obama-era energy policies that restrict the number of locations available for offshore oil and gas exploration. Trump often accused Obama during the presidential campaign of effectively short-circuiting the legislative process by executive fiat, making rules and regulations that could not make it through a Congress dominated by opposition Republicans. Obama signed 276 executive orders during his presidency, the fewest by any two-term president in the modern era. That is an average of fewer than 35 a year, less than any other president since Grover Cleveland in the 19th century. Presidential historian Max Skidmore of the University of Missouri-Kansas City says executive orders are a time honored way of accomplishing politically unpopular goals. Skidmore, who has written books about presidential powers, points to President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, signed in 1863 at the height of the Civil War, or President Harry Truman’s 1948 order desegregating the military. John Hudak, a senior fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution, says it is normal to see a surge in executive orders at the beginning of any presidency, as an administration tries to undo the work of the previous president. All U.S. senators invited to North Korea briefing By the A.M. Costa
Rica wire services
All 100 U.S. senators have been invited to the White House on Wednesday for a classified briefing that will primarily concern North Korea, the administration announced Monday. The briefing will be conducted by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joe Dunford. While lawmakers often receive classified briefings on Capitol Hill, it is rare for them to take place at the White House and for the entire Senate to be involved in one event. During a White House lunch with ambassadors of United Nations Security Council member states on Monday, the U.S. president called unacceptable the status quo in North Korea. Trump said the Security Council must be prepared to impose additional and stronger sanctions on North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. The comments came after Trump made his latest round of separate telephone calls to the leaders of Japan, China and Germany to discuss concerns about North Korea. A 30-minute call between Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was meant to increase pressure on Pyongyang not to engage in further provocative actions, but was not prompted by any significant change in the situation, according to officials in Tokyo. Abe also said he and Trump agreed that a larger role in dealing with Pyongyang should be played by China. Trump subsequently spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping about North Korea. The Chinese president said he hopes all sides avoid doing anything to worsen the tense situation on the Korean peninsula, according to the Xinhua news agency.. Trump, in the phone call with Xi, criticized North Korea's continued belligerence and emphasized Pyongyang's actions are destabilizing the Korean Peninsula, according to a White House readout issued Monday. Trump and U.S. officials have repeatedly said all options remain on the table to deal with further North Korean provocations. The conversations involving the president about North Korea took place as a U.S. Navy strike force, led by the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, is approaching the Sea of Japan, off the east coast of the Korean peninsula. The strike force on Monday was wrapping up a routine joint drill to provide combined maritime responses with components of the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force in the Philippines Sea as it continued its northern transit, U.S. Navy Capt. Jeff Davis told reporters at the Pentagon. Officials in Seoul announced earlier Monday the Vinson is also scheduled to hold a joint training exercise with South Korean naval ships. The approach of the American naval carrier strike group has not gone unnoticed in Pyongyang. "Our revolutionary forces are combat-ready to sink a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier with a single strike," read a Sunday commentary in the Rodong Sinmun, the Workers' Party newspaper. Such threats are common from the reclusive state. North Korea on Tuesday celebrates the anniversary of the founding of its military, a key holiday in the country. There are concerns Pyongyang, in conjunction with the anniversary, will demonstrate a show of force by possibly firing more ballistic missiles or conducting its sixth nuclear test. Trump has said that Xi is applying pressure on North Korea to not engage in further provocations. It is speculated by analysts in Washington and Beijing that China is threatening to cut crude oil supplies to its impoverished neighbor should it conduct another nuclear test.
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
| Page One is HERE! Page 2 is HERE! Page 3 HERE! Page 4 is HERE! |
NEXT PAGE |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
2017 and may not be reproduced anywhere without
permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details |
||||||
| A.M. Costa Rica sixth news page |
|
Published Tuesday,
April 25,
2017, Vol. 17,
No. 81
|
|||||||||
| Calendar |
Opinion |
Classifieds |
Real estate |
|
Food |
|
|||
| Page 1 is HERE! Page 2 is HERE! Page 3 is HERE! Page 4 is HERE! Page 5 is HERE! Page 7 is HERE! Sports is HERE! Opinion is HERE! Classifieds are HERE! Plus useful links |
Next Page |
Calendar is |
| Food |
||
| Lifestyle |
|
 Kids Saving the
Rainforest photo
Some of the 50
participants during the group's tree planting.
300 trees planted with
more on the way
By the A.M. Costa
Rica staff
Over 300 trees were planted by the Kids Saving the Rainforest non-profit organization this past Saturday, according to current president Jennifer Rice. Among the 50 community members who attended the event in Manuel Antonio were people from the: Banco Nacional branch of Quepos, Hotel Gaia, Selina Hostels, and the Blue Banyan Inn. This comes in addition to the group’s volunteers and staff as well as participants from the wider communities of Manuel Antonio and Quepos, Ms. Rice said. 300 trees may not have been the target goal this weekend. The group eventually hopes the site will host around 94,000 trees and the Earth Day event was supposed to begin with the planting of the first 3,000, according to a statement sent by the group for the project. In spite of that, organizations are continuing to donate trees for the ambitious project. Ms. Rice said that the Titi Conservation Alliance intends to donate 300 trees and the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad said it will donate over 4,000 trees on May 5. The goal is being led to fruition thanks to a donation of around 117 hectares, or about 289 acres, of land that the donor owned as a teak farm before it was harvested back in April 2016, according to the group’s co-founder Janine Licare. The property will be used not only for reforestation, but also to release some rescued wildlife on it, according to the organization. Guardacostas find illegal fish traps By the A.M. Costa
Rica staff
Thousands on thousands of meters in fishing netting has been seized from fishermen by the Costa Rican coast guard. A tip came in to the Guardacostas based at Quepos that there was illegal fishing activity happening at the mouth of the Río Parrita, according to a report from the Ministerio de Seguridad Pública. Upon arriving at the site, officers found two of these net structures, known as trasmallos in Spanish, placed to illegally catch fish. The institution’s biologists noted that this type of fishing is illegal as it disrupts the reproductive cycle of some species of fish. These types of fish usually migrate from the ocean and swim to the rivers to spawn with the arrival of the first rains, the ministry said. Meanwhile, the Guardacostas at the Flamingo station seized at least 1,500 meters of this netting during operations from the past several days. The trasmallos were delivered to the environmental ministry, officials said. Lastly, three fishermen were arrested for not having the proper permits to fish out by Punta Mala de Osa. The material was confiscated, including the boat, and the detainees sent on to the judiciary. |
||||
| Costa Rican News |
AMCostaRicaArchives.com |
Retire NOW
in Costa Rica |
CostaRicaReport.com |
| Fine Dining
in Costa Rica |
The CAFTA Report |
Fish
fabulous Costa Rica |
|
|
| Page
1 is HERE!
Page 2 is HERE!
Page 3 is HERE! Page 4 is HERE! Page 5 is HERE! Page 7 is HERE! Sports page is HERE! Opinion is HERE! Classifieds are HERE! Plus useful links |
Next Page |
Calendar is here! |
| Food |
||
| Lifestyle |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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. 2017 and
may not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details |
||||||
| From Page 7: Puntarenas leads in coastal construction By the A.M. Costa Rica staff The province of Puntarenas leads in the construction industry for coastal areas surpassing Guanacaste and Limón, according to data by Cámara Costarricense de la Construcción. The Cámara keeps track of the amount of square meters that developers say they will construct when requesting permits. In the case of Puntarenas, those developers requested to build around 660,000 square meters from April 2016 to March 2017. The construction companies request the permits before the respective municipality. In second place comes Guanacaste, with 519,653 square meters Limón with a total amount of 501,406 square meters. The construction industry in these coastal areas follows the national trend where most of the permits are requested for housing projects, specifically independent residences not belonging to condominiums, the data shows. In that sense, Puntarenas is also the coastal leader where people want to live. In the aforementioned period, developers requested to build at least 328,864 square meters, followed by Guanacaste with 277,192 and Limón with 207,589. Condominium housing in coastal areas is also at the top in Puntarenas, where companies have started to build 16,442 square meters. This figure is widely different from the Guanacaste, where only 506 square meters will be developed for this purpose. In the case of Limón, there no request at all. “The lower number in Guanacaste is the consequence of the water distribution problems the province has been facing in the last years that directly affect the development of infraestructure,”said Kattia Madrigal, director of Investigation and Technical Development of the Cámara. According to Ms. Madrigal, Limón is the coastal area more likely to grow in the next years because of important government investments in the province. One of them is the Terminal de Contenedores de Moín, a new dock developed by the APM Terminals Group. This new dock is a $1 billion investment and should be fully operational next year according to the Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes. Also, the government has started building a new branch of the Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica for its residents. Both projects could also attract several other investments, according to Ms. Madrigal. “We got to understand that the figures will rise in Limón not only by the big investments themselves, but also because workers will need housing, students will need housing, new businesses will require a place to operate,”she said. The data shows that right now, Limón has the highest amount of square meters to develop in the education buildings bracket. It amounts to 91,848, which is more than Guanacaste at 25,130 and Puntarenas at 47,402 combined. |
