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Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for more details |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's Second news page | |
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San
José, Costa Rica, Monday, May 26, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 102
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Pacific hurricane
season
normal or above normal By
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration news service The U.S. Climate Prediction Center says that a near-normal or above-normal hurricane season is likely for the eastern Pacific this year. The outlook calls for a 50 percent chance of an above-normal season, a 40 percent chance of a near-normal season, and a 10 percent chance of a below-normal season. Seasonal hurricane forecasters are calling for a 70 percent chance of 14 to 20 named storms, which includes 7 to 11 hurricanes, of which 3 to 6 are expected to become major hurricanes (Category 3, 4 or 5 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale). An average eastern Pacific hurricane season produces 15 named storms, with eight becoming hurricanes and four becoming major hurricanes. The eastern Pacific hurricane season runs from May 15 through Nov. 30, with peak activity from July through September. “The key climate factor behind the outlook is the likely development of El Niño this summer. El Niño decreases the vertical wind shear over the eastern tropical Pacific, favoring more and stronger tropical storms and hurricanes,” said Gerry Bell, lead seasonal hurricane forecaster with the Climate Prediction Center, part of the U.S. National Weather Service. “The eastern Pacific has been in an era of low activity for hurricanes since 1995, but this pattern will be offset in 2014 by the impacts of El Niño.” Climate signals point to a potentially active hurricane season for the eastern Pacific this year, making preparedness more important than ever, he said. He encouraged the public to take time now to learn their personal risk, build an emergency kit and develop a contingency plan to ensure their resiliency in the face of wind, rain, flooding and storm surge that a hurricane may bring. The first hurricane already is in the Pacific off the southern coast of México. Hurricane Amanda is expected to weaken considerably today. The outlook is a general guide to the overall seasonal hurricane activity. It does not predict whether, where, or when any of these storms may hit land. Eastern Pacific tropical storms and hurricanes most often track westward over open waters, sometimes reaching Hawaii. However, some occasionally head toward the northeast and may bring rainfall to the arid southwestern United States during the summer or fall. Also, on average, two to three storms per season affect western Mexico or Central America. The center's hurricane outlook for the central Pacific basin calls for a near-normal or above-normal season while the Atlantic basin is expected to be near-normal or below-normal. Colombia's Santos now facing a runoff against Zuluaga By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
with wire service reports Colombia's presidential election has entered into a runoff stage, pitting incumbent President Juan Manuel Santos against right-winger Oscar Ivan Zuluaga. Zuluaga came away with the advantage in the initial round on Sunday night. He garnered 29 percent of the votes compared to Santos' 25.5 percent, according to the Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil, Colombia's electoral body. In an election so focused on security, Santos has preached the virtues of mediation while Zuluaga has campaigned with the promise of creating a stronger military to end the state's 50-year war with Marxist guerrillas. Santos said he wants to end the conflict with Fuerza Armada Revolucionarias de Colombia rebels through negotiations taking place in Cuba. Zuluaga dismissed the talks as pandering to terrorists and suggested he would scrap them in favor of U.S.-backed military campaigns similar to those led by his mentor, former president Alvaro Uribe. Santos and Zuluaga are polling neck-and-neck following a race marred by accusations of electronic espionage and drug-linked campaign financing. Neither is seen winning enough votes to avoid a June 15 run-off. Polling stations in Colombia opened on schedule Sunday morning at 8 a.m. local time for the first round election, with more than 32 million eligible to vote, a wire service report said. The peace process, hosted by Cuba, seeks to end a conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced more than five million since it erupted in 1964. The talks have yielded agreements on three items of a five-point agenda, including agreements on rural reform, the participation of former guerrillas in politics and the battle against drug trafficking. But Zuluaga has galvanized conservative Colombians who believe the talks will fail like three similar attempts since the 1980s, including a 1999 peace deal that let the rebels bolster their ranks and boost involvement in drugs. While Colombians are desperate to see an end to the killing, many are outraged that guerrilla leaders accused of crimes against humanity could be pardoned or hold political office, said the wire services. Jade museum will open to public today at 10 a.m. By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The new Museo de Jade will be open to the public today with a 10 a.m. ceremony. The facility, operated by the Instituto Nacional de Seguros had an inauguration a few days before President Laura Chinchilla left office, and a plaque there bears her name. However, workers said then the museum was not totally finished. Today the guests will be students from Saint Jude School. The Instituto Nacional de Seguros says that for the first time the totality of its archaeological holdings will be on view to the public. Fiscal general declines to seek reappointment By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The fiscal general, the nation's chief prosecutor, will not seek re-election in October. That was the content of a message released by the Poder Judicial Friday. The fiscal general, Jorge Alberto Chavarría Guzmán, sent a letter to Zarela Villanueva Monge, the president of the Corte Suprema de Justicia, reflecting his decision. He told the magistrate that a new fiscal general should be named before his current term expires in October, so they can work together for awhile. Chavarría has not been a controversial figure, but his effectiveness has been questioned. He is leaving at a time when the entire judiciary is being studied for penetration by drug cartels and other organized crime operations. In fact, he is one of the judicial higher-ups who is doing the investigation. Prosecutor conducts searches at Municipalidad de Osa By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The anti-corruption prosecutor engineered two searches Friday, including one at the Municipalidad de Osa. The second was at the company Sociedad Topográfica Catastral A y C S.A.. The Poder Judicial said that the mayor of the municipality, Jorge Alberto Cole De León, was being investigated for paying himself too much salary. The judicial release said that the mayor had been paying himself a stipend for not working at his private profession when he did not have the academic background for that type of job. He is believed to be a medical radiological technician. The investigation also includes a look at payments to the private company and to municipal council members or regidores, who approve the sale of some land.
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A.M. Costa Rica Third News Page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Monday, May 26, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 102 | |
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| Striking teachers irked because education minister ducked
meeting |
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By
Michael Krumholtz
of the A.M. Costa Rica staff Teacher strikes enter into a fourth week today as the Costa Rican government still has failed to pay all missing wages. The announcement to continue striking came from union leaders after a Friday meeting with Ministry of Educación Pública representatives. Sonia Marta Mora Escalante, the minister, did not attend. The teacher unions were expecting to issue a proposal with a list of scheduled demands and commitments. However, representatives from the Asociación Nacional de Educadores said they would not hand over the document because they wanted to talk directly to Ms. Mora. The association made a statement saying that Ms. Mora has full power in resolving this issue and that the vice ministers who attended the meeting instead have not been involved since the beginning of the strike. Contained in the pending document is the demand for full reimbursement of lost payments from April and early May, on top of the normal pay for their biweekly check due today. Another requirement under the union proposal is the creation of a commission that ensures all payments are made and analyzes the root problems with Integra2, the new government payroll software that generated this conflict. The document further demands that the government conduct a full investigation and report on the faulty pay system by Aug. 30. Last Tuesday, educators' association representative Ana Magaly Mora Rodriguez said that more than 13,000 teachers were still awaiting full compensation even after the state had its bank association supply payments to faculty who had yet to receive any of their paychecks. Leaders from the educators association have said that they will consider a halt in striking only when all teachers are paid in full. Friday thousands marched along Avenida Segunda, marking the largest demonstration since strikes began three weeks ago. A variety of groups walked side by side with the teachers to lend their support as family members, students, and medical workers joined the march. The Universidad de Costa Rica's student federation was represented |
 A.M. Costa Rica/Michael Krumholtz
Marchers tally at the Ministerio
de Hacienda, the finance ministry.in the protesting crowd that stopped in front of the finance ministry building. Federation Vice President Paula Dobles Fernández said even though their professors are on a different payment system, university students want to make sure the rights of Costa Rica's teachers are secured. Ms. Dobles said students will continue to rally behind the unpaid teachers until the pay fiasco is solved. A statement issued from the Universidad de Costa Rica said the university sees this affair as unacceptable and asked the government to take responsibility and immediately resolve the situation. And while his alma mater condemns the situation, President Luis Guillermo Solís has asked teachers to suspend the strike for the sake of their students who are missing valuable school time. In the document, union leaders stipulate that the education ministry shall not enact any reprisals, like deducting pay from those teachers on strike. The three teacher unions that collaborated in designing the would-be proposal are the Asociación Nacional de Educadores, the Asociación de Profesores de Segunda Enseñanza, and the Sindicato de Trabajadores y Trabajadoras de Educación Costarricenses. |
| Tiny Costa Rican wasp wins fame as example of new species |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The tiny wasp found at the LaSelva Biological Station in northern Heredia province is among the smallest of flying insects, but it is getting some fame because the International Institute for Species Exploration named it one of the top 10 new species in 2014. Actually the tiny wasp, called Tinkerbella nana, entered the scientific literature last year. The delicate wasp is so small that its discoverer, John S. Noyes, gently swept it up from the floor of a secondary forest and did not actually see the wasp until he began sorting in an ethanol bath what he had collected. The genus name Tinkerbella refers to the fairy in the Peter Pan stories. Nana, the species name, is the dog in the same set of stories and movies. The wasp is a parasite and appears to lay its eggs in the eggs of other insects. The tiny size and delicately fringed wings of the parasitoid wasp family Mymaridae led to their common name: fairyflies, said the International Institute for Species Exploration in explaining its selections. The LaSelva Biological Station, operated by the Organization for Tropical Research, is a factory for species discovery. The site contains 1,600 hectares (3,900 acres) of tropical wet forests and disturbed lands, the organization says. The Braulio Carrillo National Park is along one border. Tinkerbella nana measures just 250 micrometers. That's 0.0098 of an inch or about two and a half times the width of a human hair. The smallest known flying insect is about two thirds the size of Tinkerbella, but scientist still are looking. Noyes is with the Natural History Museum, London. His colleague with whom he shared the discovery is John T. Huber of the Canadian National Collection of Insects, which boasts an assortment of 1.5 million wasps. “I think most people would be surprised to learn that, on average, |
 Canadian National Collection of
Insects/Jennifer Read
White line represents 100
micrometers.we describe about 17,000 and 18,000 new species each year," said Quentin Wheeler of the International Institute for Species Exploration. The full description is in the Journal of Hymenoptera Research HERE! |
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's Fourth News page | |||||
| San José, Costa Rica, Monday, May 26, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 102 | |||||
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| President Solís talks about rescuing Ruta 1856 in his
first visit there |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Luis Guillermo Solís Rivera got a first-hand look Friday at one of the challenges of his administration. He visited the Ruta 1856 that contractors built rapidly along the Río San Juan. This is the highway that is the subject of criminal investigations. President Laura Chinchilla authorized the highway when there was a threat from Nicaraguan troops who had invaded a small part of Costa Rica. Solis later said that a lot more work has to be done on the highway to make it sustainable. He spoke about drainage systems, ways to capture sediment and also the possibility of making the stretch two lanes. He was accompanied by Carlos Segnini Villalobos, the minister of Obras Públicas y Transportes, and Luis Guillermo Loría Salazar of the Laboratorio Nacional de Materiales y Modelos Estructurales at the Universidad de Costa Rica. The sense was that an overall redesign was needed. The materials laboratory is expected to be deeply involved. The president and his minister were talking about rescuing the highway before the forces of nature inflict heavy damage. Solís also ordered that timber that was cut illegally during the construction of the highway should be shipped to the Central Valley where it will be used to make desks for schoolchildren. |
 Casa Presidential photo
President Solís weathers
the storm in a later visit to the Barra del Colorado station of the
Servicio Nacional de Guardacostas. |
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's Fifth news page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Monday, May 26, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 102 | |||||||
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| Obama visits Afghanistan to cheer U.S. troops there By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
U.S. President Barack Obama has left Afghanistan after a four-hour surprise visit to see American troops during the Memorial Day holiday weekend. Speaking late Sunday at Bagram Airfield, the president told troops he is thankful for their service. He called them real heroes. Memorial Day is a time when Americans honor the country's war dead. Obama said they are completing the U.S. mission in Afghanistan by decimating al-Qaida leaders in the tribal regions, reversing the Taliban's momentum and protecting lives back home by preventing attacks from the region. He also said he hopes a U.S.-Afghan security agreement will be signed once a new Afghan president is sworn in. Before leaving Afghanistan, Obama called President Hamid Karzai to praise the progress being made by security forces and the successful first round of presidential elections, and to express support for an Afghan-led reconciliation process with the Taliban. The call lasted 15 to 20 minutes according to a senior administration official. International combat troops are set to complete their withdrawal from Afghanistan by the end of this year. Some forces could remain in the country after December 2014 in a training and advisory role, if Afghan leaders approve the bilateral security agreement. Country music star Brad Paisley kicked off the president's rally with a performance for some of the 32,000 Americans serving in Afghanistan. Paisley traveled to Bagram Airfield with the president. Obama said his administration would likely announce soon how many troops the United States will keep in the country, as it winds down its presence after nearly 13 years of war. The trip comes as Obama is being hit by criticism at home that his handling of foreign policy has been too passive in dealing with crises from Syria to Ukraine and Russia. He is to respond to the criticism in a speech on Wednesday at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Obama also delivered remarks to troops at Bagram, getting hollers from the crowd as he told them, “I'm here on a single mission and that is to thank you for your extraordinary service.” The president said, "Of all the honors I have as serving as president, nothing matches serving as your commander in chief. But I’m also here representing 300 million Americans who say thank you as well." "When it comes to supporting you and your families, the American people stand united. We support you. We are proud of you. We stand in awe of your service," he said in a news conference. The president will not make a hospital visit at Ramstein air base in Germany on his return trip, as had been reported. It is a refueling stop only, and was never planned to be a hospital visit His trip was bound to be seen by some critics as an attempt to redeem himself in the eyes of military veterans who are alarmed at allegations that government-run medical facilities in the United States have not provided timely care for veterans. At Bagram, Obama was briefed by Army Gen. Joseph Dunford, who heads U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, and U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan James Cunningham. Obama left Washington under cover of darkness Saturday night and flew for more than 13 hours to arrive at Bagram Sunday night local time. He said the war had reached a pivotal point, with Afghan forces assuming primary responsibility for their country's security. By 2015, many of the 32,800 American forces now in Afghanistan will depart. “For many of you, this will be your last tour in Afghanistan,” Obama said as hundreds of U.S. troops inside an airplane hangar erupted in applause. “America's war in Afghanistan will come to a responsible end,” he said. Name of CIA station chief accidentally put on trip list By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The White House has revealed to reporters the name of the Central Intelligence Agency's top officer in Afghanistan, in an apparent accidental release as President Barack Obama was making a previously unannounced visit to the country. The Washington Post reported that the name of the spy agency chief in the country was on a list of U.S. officials the White House gave to one of its reporters who was serving as the so-called pool reporter to provide details of the trip to other news organizations. The list contained the names of officials who took part in a briefing with Obama, including National Security Adviser Susan Rice, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan General Joseph Dunford and U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan James Cunningham. The Post said the reporter contacted the White House to ask if the CIA station chief's name was meant to be on the list, and a short time later a new list without the name was distributed to the media. Hubble’s remarkable success cheered by scientists By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The Hubble Space Telescope has changed the way humans see the universe. For almost a quarter of a century, it has sent vast amounts of data and images from space. A new exhibit at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington documents how Hubble’s remarkable success has hinged on its ability to be repaired and serviced in orbit. Hubble was launched aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery in 1990. Mission Control saw something it hadn’t expected: fuzzy images. Hubble Space Telescope Program Manager Douglas Broome delivered the troubling news: “The conclusion we’ve come to is that a significant spherical aberration appears to be present in the optics, in the optical telescope system optics,” he said. In other words - the outer edge of Hubble's primary mirror had been ground too flat, off by roughly one-fiftieth the thickness of a human hair. In 1993, a shuttle mission carried a replacement camera, WFPC2 and an instrument with corrective lenses called COSTAR for astronauts to install on the telescope. “The COSTAR inserted mirrors into the optical beam that corrected the light for all the other instruments,” said National Air and Space Museum senior curator David Devorkin. The fix proved that very difficult and very complicated operations could be undertaken by shuttle astronauts. “The whole idea of living and working in space is doing useful stuff, and this certainly was useful," Devorkin said. "On the astronomical side and you might say on the technical side, it represents how fast telescopes are improving because Hubble was only repaired once, but it was upgraded four times.” COSTAR and WFPC2 were replaced in 2009 and are now on exhibit in the museum. Hubble images have become better and sharper over time, and its data has allowed astronomers to confirm that the universe is expanding and calculate its age to some 13 to 14 billion years. And the powerful space telescope has led to other important breakthroughs. "… understanding star forming regions, how stars form out of gas and dust, and now the ability of the Hubble to see deeply into the infrared, far deeper than before has shown us the processes inside these interstellar clouds that literally are forming the stars and their interaction with the dust and gas around them,” Devorkin said. As Hubble nears the end of its journey in space, the telescope has paved the way for its replacement. The James Webb Space Telescope with an expected launch date in 2018 will probe even farther beyond the spectrum of light with a primary mirror five times larger than Hubble. “The James Webb is optimized for infrared because all of the most amazing discoveries about galaxy formation, star formation and the kind of stuff that astronomers want to know is in the infrared,” Devorkin said. No more service missions are scheduled for repairs or upgrades. Hubble's components will slowly degrade to the point the telescope stops working. When that happens, the telescope will continue to orbit the Earth until its orbit decays, allowing it to spiral toward Earth. A robotic mission is expected to help de-orbit Hubble, guiding its remains through a plunge through the atmosphere and into the ocean, as its stellar career comes to an end. But for now, as Hubble nears its 25th birthday next year, the telescope is still going strong. Astronomers hope it will last long enough for the James Webb Space Telescope to launch so that the two can be in space at same time and calibrate with one another. Multiple California murders were promised in video By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The son of a Hollywood director methodically killed six people in three locations late Friday night in the western U.S. state of California, and then apparently killed himself. Police say Elliot Rodger, the 22-year-old son of an assistant director on "The Hunger Games," began his killing rampage at his apartment near the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he stabbed three men to death. He then gunned down two women outside a sorority before killing a man outside a delicatessen. Police say Rodger, who was a Santa Barbara City College student, then got in his car and opened fire on pedestrians. Thirteen people were wounded in the drive-by shooting frenzy. Police say Rodger was found dead in his car with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head. Authorities say his killing spree was foreshadowed in a chilling Internet video in which he said he would slaughter all the people who had wronged him. He had also written a lengthy statement on his Facebook page describing himself as an outcast, frustrated by his inability to have relationships with women. He said he would start his plan of vengeance by killing as many people as he could by luring them to his apartment. Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bob Brown described the slayings as the work of a madman. Deputies found three semi-automatic handguns and dozens of rounds of unused ammunition in Rodger's car. Officials say all were legally purchased. Brown said police deputies went to Rodger's apartment last month to check on him at the request of his family. The deputies reported that Rodger was shy and polite, but was having a difficult social life. Tennessee reverts to use of electrical executions By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The governor of Tennessee has signed a bill allowing the southern U.S. state to use the electric chair to perform executions on death row inmates. Republican Gov. Bill Haslam signed the bill into law Thursday. Tennessee lawmakers passed the electric chair legislation in April. The new law allows Tennessee to electrocute death row inmates in the event prisons are unable to obtain lethal injection drugs, which have become scarce since a European-led boycott of drug sales for executions. Pharmaceutical companies in the United States have also begun refusing to supply the drugs needed for lethal injections, forcing state authorities to turn to more loosely regulated companies known as compounding pharmacies. Lethal injection is the primary execution method in U.S. states that have capital punishment. The Tennessee law comes as lethal injection is receiving more scrutiny as an execution method after last month's botched execution in Oklahoma. In that case, convicted killer Clayton Lockett received a new three-drug lethal injection combination that left him writhing on a gurney for several minutes before he eventually died from a heart attack. Several death row inmates have launched court cases against their sentences, arguing that the use of less regulated pharmaceuticals could cause significant pain and is inhumane. Amnesty International says there was a spike in the number of death sentences carried out worldwide in 2013, with China topping the list. The U.S. was fifth on the list with 39 executions, one place behind Saudi Arabia's 79.  University of Helsinki graphic
White arrow show a brain aneurysm
Size of
brain aneurysm
unrelated to risk, study says By the University of Helsinki news service
Approximately one third of all brain aneurysms rupture during a patient’s lifetime, resulting in a brain hemorrhage. A recent Finnish study demonstrates that, unlike what was previously assumed, the size of the aneurysm does not significantly impact the risk of rupture. The new Finnish study established that approximately one third of all aneurysms and up to one fourth of small aneurysms will rupture during a patient’s lifetime. The lifetime risk for rupture of a brain aneurysm depends heavily on the patient’s overall load of risk factors. The risk of rupture is particularly high for female smokers with brain aneurysms of seven millimeters or more in diameter. What surprised the researchers most was that the size of an aneurysm had little impact on its risk for rupture, particularly for men, despite a previously presumed correlation. In addition, the risk of rupture among non-smoking men was exceptionally low. "This is not to say that aneurysms in non-smoking men never rupture, but that the risk is much lower than we previously thought. This means treating every unruptured aneurysm may be unnecessary if one is discovered in a non-smoking man with low blood pressure," says Seppo Juvela, University of Helsinki. The study, published in Stroke 22nd May, is unique in that it monitored aneurysm patients over their entire lifetimes, whereas typical follow-up studies last only between one and five years in duration. The study is also exceptionally broad in scope. It is unlikely that another similar, non-selected lifetime follow-up study on aneurysm patients will ever be conducted again, Juvela said. Current care practices are based largely on the results of previous, shorter studies. Such studies have shown that the size of the aneurysm is the most significant factor predicting its risk for rupture. Consequently, small aneurysms have often been left untreated. It is difficult to conduct reliable epidemiological research in brain aneurysms. The past 10 to 15 years have seen a distortion in the field due to a very limited group of researchers determining the direction for research. Now the situation is clearly changing, and clinically reasonable, population-based studies using non-selected data are on the rise again, states Miikka Korja of the Helsinki University Central Hospital neurosurgery clinic. The Helsinki University Central Hospital is one of the world’s leading units to provide treatment for brain aneurysms, and Finland has a strong tradition of studying the prevalence, risk factors and care of brain aneurysms.  Voice
of America photo
Researcher begins to mix a
bath of grapheneNew process
uses a blender
to make wonder graphene By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
A relatively new substance called graphene is being hailed as the wonder material of the 21st century, but no one has developed a way to mass produce it. However, one Irish scientist says he may have a solution. Graphite is another name for pure carbon, a well-known material used for, among other things, pencil lead. But when the layers of graphite are separated into sheets only one atom thick, the material, known as graphene, behaves quite differently. At that level, the atoms form strict geometric patterns, making it not only stronger than steel but also the best conductor of heat and electricity. Theoretically, graphene could radically change the way we manufacture batteries, computer chips and flexible screens, or approach cancer therapy. Industry experts say separating and manipulating extremely thin sheets of graphene is a huge challenge. “One of the things that's been holding this back is a supply of large scale, large quantities of graphene, good quality graphene, at reasonably low cost,” said Keith Paton of chemical manufacturer Thomas Swan. But Jonathan Coleman, at the materials science center of Trinity College in Dublin, says it can be done by mixing graphite with water and a surfactant, a form of soap, in an ordinary kitchen blender. The rapidly rotating blade separates the layers, which stick to the blender’s wall. “At this early stage there's also graphite in there, so we have to go through a processing stage where we separate the graphite from the graphene and when we do that we get this nice black liquid here and what this is, is graphene in water with surfactant,” Coleman said. Coleman, the project's principal investigator, says once this process is perfected and adjusted for large-scale production, graphene will begin to change the way many items are manufactured - from high-strength plastic to printed electronic circuits. “There will be many applications that will involve its conductivity, so if you make a very very thin layer of graphene on a surface that layer is conductive and so, for example, it can be used as electrodes in solar cells or batteries,” he said. Scientists say this wonder material could be also used in water treatment plants and for cleaning up oil spills. Large scale production may start by the end of this year. Francis to see Israeli leaders after visit with top Muslim By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Pope Francis is scheduled to meet today with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres. He will also visit Israel's national cemetery, Mount Herzl, and the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial. In a welcome ceremony with the Israeli leaders, the pope said, "The right of the state of Israel to exist and to flourish in peace and security within internationally recognized borders must be universally recognized.” Earlier today, the leader of the world's 1.3 billion Roman Catholics will meet with the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Muhammad Ahmad Hussein, at the al-Aqsa mosque complex in Jerusalem's Old City, and visit the Dome of the Rock. The mosque compound is built on Judaism's holiest site where the biblical First and Second Temples are believed to have stood. The compound is considered the third holiest site in Islam. Today is the last day of the pope's three-day Middle Eastern visit. Sunday, Israeli President Peres and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accepted Pope Francis' invitation to come to the Vatican and pray for peace with him. Speaking in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Francis said the time has come "for everyone to find the courage to be generous and creative" in ending "a protracted conflict that has inflicted many wounds." The pope presided Sunday over a joint prayer service with Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, the site where Christians believe Jesus was crucified and buried. Francis also celebrated Mass at Bethlehem's Manger Square, near the site where Christians believe Jesus was born, before meeting with Palestinian children in Deheisheh Refugee Camp. Saturday, in Jordan, Francis held talks with King Abdullah and heard first-hand accounts of the suffering of refugees who have fled Iraq and Syria for the safety of makeshift encampments in Jordan. Previous popes have always gone to the West Bank after first arriving in Tel Aviv, Israel. Francis' itinerary is being viewed as a symbolic nod to Palestinian aspirations for their own state. The papal visit comes just weeks after the latest round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks collapsed, with the Israelis accusing Abbas of sabotaging the talks by agreeing to a unity deal with Hamas Islamists who run the Gaza Strip. In the West Bank, Francis hailed the good relations between the Holy See and Palestine. Palestinian President Abbas said he told the pope Sunday that Israel is forcing Christians and Muslims out of Jerusalem. In its official program, the Vatican referred to Palestinian President Abbas as the president of the "state of Palestine," and his Bethlehem office as the "presidential palace." Both Israelis and Palestinians have been trying to harness the Pope's standing as leader of the world's Roman Catholics to bolster their dueling narratives. |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Monday, May 26, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 102 | |||||||||
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 Ministerio de Gobernación,
Policía
Four captured crewmen are aboard
a Costa Rican vessel after the cutter 'Bear' (above) delivered them to
port.y Seguridad Pública photos U.S. Coast Guard
delivers
four from marijuana boat By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The U.S. Coast Guard turned over the crew of a Costa Rican boat to police officials Sunday. The cutter "Bear' had stopped the boat, the "Tuker" in international waters and found nearly two tons of marijuana. Officials in Costa Rica said they thought the boat was carrying marijuana from Jamaica. The delivery of the boat and the three Costa Rican crewmen was in conformity with the drug suppression agreement between the United States and Costa Rica. The Coast Guard crew also left a six-kilo sample of the confiscated material with officials in Limón as evidence. The fourth member of the crew is a Nicaraguan. "Bear," a 270-foot cutter with a home port in Portsmouth, Virginia, is a veteran of drug patrols. Key highway reopened By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Highway workers managed to get the key Ruta 32 reopened by midday Saturday after heavy rains undercut the roadway in two places. There also was a slide reported. The locations were at the San Isidro toll station and at the Río Frio, said a Consejo de Vialidad report. This is the highway that connects San José with the northern zone and the Caribbean coast. |
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