The well-known New York Bar, a watering hole for North Americans for 28 years, is moving down the street.

The operation on Avenida 1, run by Richard Arthur of California, must move because the property on which it is located has been purchased by the nearby Hotel Del Rey.

Arthur has taken over the former Sharkey’s on Calle 9 about 25 meters south of the Hotel Del Rey. Sharkey’s closed Saturday night and will reopen  July 21 as the new New York Bar, a day after the lease expires on the present location.

Pat Dunn and Mike Yafarano have leased the New York from Arthur for the last five years. Yafarano will continue to run the bar under Arthur’s ownership, Dunn said.

Arthur noted that the former Sharkey’s is about four times the size of the present New York location. The new location is where the former Beatles Bar was located.

The New York is an institution in San José.
 

Study on Cuba shows
economic advantage

Lawmakers in the U.S. Congress are keeping up pressure on the Bush Administration to change its policy toward Cuba. Members of the Congressional Cuba working group have released results of a study showing the U.S. economy would benefit if American citizens could freely travel to Cuba. 

A repeal of the prohibition on travel to Cuba is one of nine policy changes recommended by the congressional Cuba group, comprising 44 Democratic and Republican lawmakers. 

The study was commissioned by the Cuba Policy Foundation, a lobby group supporting an end to the U.S. economic embargo. 

According to the study, an immediate lifting of the U.S. embargo would result in 12,000 new jobs and nearly $2 billion in additional income after five years. 

 Ed Sanders is one of the authors of the study and says ending the travel ban would result in a significant increase in American travel to Cuba. 

"2.8 million additional Americans would travel to Cuba by the fifth year," he said. "Half of those would be diverted from other destinations, so the net increase in travel to the Caribbean region because of elimination of the embargo would mean about 1.4 million more Americans traveling." 

Members of the Cuba working group point to opinion polls showing growing public support for lifting the travel ban and eventually the economic embargo. 

Democrat William Delahunt of Massachusetts says there is "a deep and profound revulsion" toward the travel ban among Americans in general, and Cuban-Americans in particular. 

 "Most Americans share the viewpoint that the right to travel is one of our core fundamental constitutional principles," he said. "And a restriction such as this, and there is incident, after incident, after incident, is repugnant to everything we proclaim to be about as a democracy." 

President Bush has said he has no intention of easing the U.S. embargo on Cuba. His statement in May followed a high profile visit to Havana by former U.S. president Jimmy Carter. 

Congressional advocates of ending the travel ban say money the U.S. government spends trying to crack down on Americans visiting Cuba illegally could be better
 

The two-day summit of eight world leaders in western Canada begins this morning in a mountain resort town near Calgary. 

While some Canadian officials worry that U.S. President George W. Bush's Mideast peace plan will pre-empt the summit agenda, Prime Minister Jean Chretien dismisses that possibility. He joked to reporters that the agenda that focuses heavily on African development will remain unchanged, because he will be chairing the meetings. 

The center piece of this 28th annual summit of major economic powers is an "Action Plan for Africa," a development initiative that will be unveiled on Thursday. The summit is being attended by the United States, Canada, Japan, Russia and four west European nations. African leaders from South Africa, Senegal, Nigeria and Algeria will join the meeting on Thursday. 

Prime Minister Chretien selected the village of Kananaskis in the Canadian Rocky Mountains as the summit venue because it is remote and easily sealed off from possible protests. The scenic resort and its two hotels are in the foothills of the Rockies, 80 kilometers west of Calgary. Last year's summit in Genoa, Italy was marred by violent anti-globalization protests. Some 2,000 protesters are said to be organizing here in Calgary. Police are out in force. 

The leaders began arriving in Calgary Tuesday. They are traveling individually to Kananaskis by helicopter. The leaders meet today as the Group of Seven to discuss economic issues and then are joined later in the day by Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

President Bush's just-announced proposal to settle the Israeli Palestinian dispute is expected to be discussed this evening. Besides the new aid and investment initiative for Africa, the summit will discuss other world trouble spots and trends in the Asian, North American and European economies. 

Argentinians plan
rescue in the ice

A ship made to break through thick ice has left Argentina on a journey to what could be a daring rescue. The vessel is on its way to Antarctica to reach over a hundred men on a ship that is trapped by ice. 

Argentine Navy officials say the 5,000 mile journey through frozen waters could be as dangerous for the rescuers as for the 107 people they are trying to rescue. 

Early Tuesday morning the Almirante Irizar left Buenos Aires. It is on its way to the bottom of the world, where 79 Russian scientists and a crew of 28 sailors are stranded.

The ship carrying them left northeast Antarctica two weeks ago but could not make it through waters filled with drifting ice. 

The Argentine icebreaker sent to the rescue can break through ice as thick as 25 meters (19 feet). But the voyage will be a challenge. With hundreds of tons of fuel and supplies, the icebreaker could also become trapped. 

Body in river
finally identified

A body found Thursday in a river in Uruca has been identified as that of Ronald Hernando Jiménez Castro, 28, a resident of the area. 
 

Kimberly García Gordon

Meanwhile, investigators say that yet another body has been found in Sabana Sur. The body of a man was found in the Río María Aguilar. He was about 30 years old and had been dead for about 48 hours, agents said. They still are trying to locate a baker who vanished last week in Desamparados. But neither of the bodies found this week matched his, they said. Meanwhile, police are seeking  15-year-old, Kimberly García

Gordon of Moravia, to further a police investigation. They ask that anyone with knowledge as to her whereabouts contact the juvenile section of the Judicial Investigation Organization at 295-3575 or 295-3574.