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José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, June 30, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 127
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 Cuerpo
de Bomberos
photo
This is one reason Ruta 32
remains closed. Officials estimated that4,000 cubic meters of rock, mud and other debris blocked the route at Kilometer 29. This was one of several slides. Parts of the highway may be open today. Caribbean awaits
more rain later today
The national road agency said today,
Tuesday, that Ruta 32 has been opened to normal traffic after the
results of landslides were cleared.
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff A break in the rainy weather Monday allowed some flood victims to return to their homes and for rescue agencies to distribute food to communities that were cut off by landslides, damaged roads or both. However, officials were keeping an eye on the weather for today because more rain is predicted. The Instituto Meteorológico Nacional said that the Nicoya peninsula was battered by heavy rains late Monday and that the central and south Pacific coasts had more moderate rain. The Pacific rains came from a tropical wave, a low pressure trough, that passed over the country Monday and also a weather system moving north from Panamá. The weather institute predicted 30 to 60 millimeters, up to 2.5 inches, in the northern zone and along the Caribbean in today's early morning hours. About half that amount of rain was predicted for the Pacific coast in an 11 p.m. forecast. The rain was variable, and the weather institute said that an area around Sarapiquí got 100 millimeters through early Monday. That is about four inches. The Río Colorado continues to run out of its banks near the country's northern border, according to the national emergency commission. So were the ríos Telire, Sixaola, Reventazón, Parismina, Pacuare and Sarapiquí The Servicio Nacional de Vigilancia Aérea made a number of flights Monday to supply communities that were cut off. The government of Panamá sent helicopters with two crews to assist. They also made deliveries, said the emergency commission. The Cruz Roja also was active in making distributions. The number of homes flooded was estimated at 1,585. Some 18 schools also were flooded or being used as shelters. Some 23 highways suffered major damage as did 11 bridges. Nine roadways continue to be out of service. Seven dikes failed as did three major water lines. The major landslide on Ruta 32 took place within Parque Nacional Braulio Carrillo, so road crews have restrictions on how they can dispose of the debris. The amount was estimated at 4,000 cubic meters, and most has to be trucked away instead of being dumped over the side of the highway as would happen in other locations. Motorists who have to go to the northern zone or the Caribbean coast can use Ruta 127 through Vera Blanca and Sarapiquí or Ruta 10 through Turrialba, said the Consejo Nacional de Vialidad. Rain today would be the fourth system in a week. U.S. women face Germany in key match By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The first semifinal game of the Women's World Cup tournament in Canada will feature a showdown between the top two ranked soccer teams in the world, Germany and the United States. The top-seeded Germans and the second-seeded Americans will square off Tuesday evening at Olympic Stadium in Montreal with each team bidding for its third World Cup championship. Germany won in 2003 and 2007, while the U.S. did so in 1991 and 1999. They enter Tuesday's match armed with two of the best goalies in the game, Germany's Nadine Angerer and the United States' Hope Solo. Ms. Angerer, a former player of the year, allowed no goals during Germany's march to the 2007 World Cup championship. She has nine saves in this year's tournament, with Germany allowing three goals. Ms. Solo has been nearly perfect. She has allowed only one goal in five games, which came in the first half of the group-stage opener against Australia. She has since posted four straight shutouts, including a 1-0 win over No. 16 China in the quarterfinals, and leads all goalkeepers at the World Cup with 11 saves. "Hope's absolutely world class," U.S. midfielder Heather O'Reilly said. "We're proud of her for that accomplishment. I know she has a big one in mind, and that's to win the World Cup." Ms. Solo is part of a stingy U.S. defense that has yielded 13 shots on goal in the tournament and no goals in 423 straight minutes. That unit will try to stop a German squad that has scored a World Cup-best 20 goals, though 10 came in one game, and is averaging 12 shots on goal per match. U.S. striker Alex Morgan described Tuesday's game against Germany as almost like a World Cup final. "It's the number one and the number two team," Ms. Morgan said. "Germany has had a great run in this tournament. We've done pretty well and have been continuing to get better and better. It's going to be a great game for the fans. We've been watching Germany this tournament a lot, knowing that we could well meet them in the semi-final, and the day has come, tomorrow, and we'll be ready." Germany, which is seeking to duplicate the feats of its men's team that won the World Cup in Brazil last year, is coming off a thrilling 5-4 penalty kick shootout victory against third-ranked France in the quarterfinals. The U.S. and Germany have met on three previous occasions in World Cup play, the 1991 semifinal, 1999 quarterfinal and 2003 semifinal, with the winner of each game going on to win the tournament that year. U.S. coach Jill Ellis described Germany as a tremendous team. "It's going to be a physical battle on the ground and in the air," Ms. Ellis said. "It's been a good test for our players to come through against Nigeria and Sweden and teams like this to be prepared for tomorrow. It's a team that's powerful, they're competitive and combative, a team with a lot of personalities. They're a good team in every line." In the other semifinal game on Wednesday, defending-champion and fourth-seeded Japan will take on sixth-seeded England in Edmonton. The winners of the two semifinal games will clash in Vancouver on Sunday for the 2015 women's World Cup championship. Pre-teen is no longer missing, judicial agency says By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Judicial Investigating Organization said Monday that a 12-year-old girl, reported missing Friday, has returned home in Cinco Esquina de Tibás. The agency gave no further information on the girl, Laura Michelle Bravo Renteria. Because of her age, reports of her disappearance were carried by most major news outlets.
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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, June 30, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 127 | |
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| Sugar is fast becoming a new public health enemy here and in
world |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Fast on the heels of a war against tobacco comes a similar campaign against sugar. The health ministry, the Universidad de Costa Rica's public health school and a United Nations agency are prepared to fire another salvo today. The purpose is to present a study about the promotion and advertising connected with foods and drink directed at children. Monday, Tufts University in Boston came out with a study on sugar that said consumption of sugary drinks may lead to an estimated 184,000 adult deaths each year worldwide. The study was published in the American Heart Association journal Circulation. The session today at the university is certainly going to characterize sugary drinks as bad for youngsters 16 and under. The Tufts study says such drinks are bad for everyone. It attributed 24,000 deaths in México alone to diseases like diabetes that are encouraged by sugar. It used data from 2010. The Tufts study is called the first detailed global report on the impact of sugar-sweetened beverages. Researchers estimated deaths and disabilities from diabetes, heart disease and cancers in 2010. In this analysis, sugar sweetened beverages were defined as any sugar-sweetened sodas, fruit drinks, sports/energy drinks, sweetened iced teas, or homemade sugary drinks that contained at least 50 calories per 8-ounce serving, said the university. 100 percent fruit juice was excluded, it added. The impact of sugar-sweetened beverages varied greatly among populations, said the university: At the extremes, the estimated percentage of deaths was less than 1 percent in |
 Japanese over 65 years old but 30 percent in Mexican adults younger than 45. “Among the 20 countries with the highest estimated sugar-sweetened beverage-related deaths, at least eight were in Latin America and the Caribbean, reflecting the high intakes in that region of the world,” said Gitanjali Singh, lead author of the study and a research assistant professor, according to the university. Meanwhile, sugar is big business in Costa Rica. The country produces at least 456,000 metric tons of cane sugar each year, although the drought in Guanacaste is reducing the harvest this year. |
| July 4 picnic organizers urge quick action on sponsorships
and donations |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The July 4 Independence Day picnic is Saturday, and the expat business community only has a few days to ante up with their annual sponsorships. That's according to Charles Turner, who is the president of the American Colony Committee this year. Turner said that many firms here consider that they have a civic duty to donate to the picnic, and the funds are vital for the annual event. Sponsorship information is HERE. "For U.S. citizens here the picnic is the most important event of the year, particularly if they have kids," said Turner. "After all, the main idea of the picnic is to create a typical U.S. Independence Day event for those youngsters who may not have had the chance to be involved in one in the states." Lynda Solar, a former committee president, is quick to point out that U.S. citizens can share the joy and pride of Independence Day with their Tico friends. |
The picnic
this year is on a Saturday, so the committee is expecting above-average
attendance. Turner noted that corporate donors have their logos well publicized at the picnic. But that takes some time, so the sooner the donations arrive, the better the promotion can be, he said. "If you feel pride by being a U.S. citizen and can easily afford a donation, then do so," he said. "You know it will be appreciated." Turner noted that the admission fee at the gate comes nowhere close to covering the expenses of the annual event. This year he said country music is planned with the Blue Desert Band and Fuzzy Rojas of Quepos will provide the blues and soul music. Three female clowns, The Chepinos, also are expected to dazzle the youngsters. For the first time since the picnic moved to the Cervercería picnic grounds 13 years ago, a traditional Costa Rican oxcart will be on display, he noted. More information is HERE! |
| You need to see Costa Rican tourism information HERE! |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, June 30, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 127 | |||||
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| U.S. Supreme Court exempts Confederate flag from free speech
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By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
In the aftermath of a recent deadly shooting at a historic black church in South Carolina, calls have increased for South Carolina and other U.S. states to remove Confederate flags from government grounds. Those who want the flag to be removed say it is a symbol of slavery and connotes racism. The South Carolina Legislature is expected to soon begin debate on whether to remove the flag from a memorial on the State House grounds honoring soldiers who fought for the Confederacy during the American Civil War. Almost by sheer coincidence, one day after the racially charged massacre in South Carolina, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a ruling on the issue. In Walker vs. Texas Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans, Inc., the high court ruled messages displayed on specialty license places for automobiles are a form of government speech, not individual speech protected by the Constitution, therefore the state of Texas, not private citizens, gets to decide what to put on state-issued license plates. The Texas Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, an association of male descendants of ex-Confederate soldiers and sailors founded almost 120 years ago, sought to have the specialty license plate issued in the state of Texas five years ago. The state of Texas rejected the request, and the group took the case to the court, claiming that denying a specialty plate was a violation of the First Amendment. Jonathan Mitchell, the former Texas solicitor general who argued this case on behalf of State of Texas said, while organizations such as Sons of Confederate Veterans strive to protect their freedom of speech, they infringed on the state government’s rights. |
“They have
the right to put the Confederate battle flag on a
bumper sticker. They can paint their car to look like a Confederate
battle flag. They can do whatever they want to the car, the bumper, the
windows, but they cannot force the state of Texas to propagate that
symbol by putting it on state-issued license plates,” he said. Mitchell added the high court has essentially given the power to decide on such issues to the states, “because it is a political decision for each state to make and every state will be different in terms of what people think in that state about the Confederate battle flag and how it should be used.” “So it’s a decision for elected officials to make. It’s a decision for people who are accountable for the electorate to make, but it’s not a decision for federal courts to make,” Mitchell said. However, R. James George, Jr., the attorney who represented the Texas Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans in this case, stressed that it is important as a society to protect the freedom of speech, including what he calls unpopular speech. The Confederate flag was the symbol of the Confederate States of America, southern states that broke away from the United States in 1861. They fought a Civil War for independence from the federal government. The Emancipation Proclamation issued in September 1862 by President Abraham Lincoln was a strategic move that declared freedom for all slaves in the rebel states of the Confederacy. The rebel states surrendered in 1865. and slavery was officially abolished in the U.S. in late 1865 by the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The young white gunman charged with murdering nine African-Americans inside the Charleston, South Carolina, church earlier this month has been pictured holding the flag. |
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A.M. Costa Rica's Fifth
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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, June 30, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 127 | |||||||
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| Fires at southern churches not viewed as conspiracies By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
U.S. federal authorities say they are investigating a series of fires at predominantly black churches in recent days, but there is no indication the blazes are related. The FBI and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are investigating the fires, which have occurred at six different churches in five southern states. The Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights group that tracks hate crimes, said only three of the six fires appear to be true cases of arson. An official with that group, Mark Potok, said while those three fires at churches in Tennessee, Georgia and North Carolina may have been intentionally set, it is unlikely they were done in an organized and unified fashion. The fires have come in the days following the June 17 shooting by a white gunman that killed nine people at Emanuel AME church, a historically black church in Charleston, South Carolina. The suspected gunman, Dylann Roof, had posted pictures of himself on the Internet with symbols of white supremacy. The fires also occurred at a time when there has been increasing public pressure to remove the Confederate flag from government buildings and public places. New Jersey man is held as Islamic State supporter By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Police in the eastern U.S. state of New Jersey arrested a man early Monday on terrorism charges, accusing him of conspiring to support the Islamic State. Alaa Saadeh, 23, was one of four people identified in a sting operation on a group planning to travel to join the militants, according to the FBI. Federal agents were investigating Saadeh, his brother, and two other men in the New York and New Jersey area, after an informant who had lived with the brothers tipped off federal agents in April, the Department of Justice revealed. An affidavit from an FBI official details the allegation that Saadeh purchased an airline ticket from New York to Amman, Jordan, for his 20-year-old brother to travel to join Islamic State militants on May 5, 2015. The two other men were arrested separately earlier in June. By the informant's account, the Saadeh brothers increasingly voiced support for Islamic State actions, including the militants' highly publicized killings. If convicted of three applicable federal charges, Alaa Saadeh faces a maximum of 20 years in prison on each count and a fine of $250,000. Anticipation of Greek default causes markets to tumble By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Greece says it will not be able to make a $1.8 billion loan payment due today to the International Monetary Fund with Athens facing the expiration of its international bailout and without enough money to pay the debt. World markets tumbled Monday with the spiraling Greek debt crisis, even as Athens shut its banks and sharply curtailed withdrawals at sidewalk cash machines. The major U.S. indexes fell 2 percent or more by the close. London’s FTSE slid nearly 2 percent, while German and French key indexes lost even more. Asian stock markets also fell, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 index off almost 2.9 percent. “There had been some complacency in global markets around a possible Greek exit from the eurozone, but that is clearly being shaken off at the moment. So I think that'll continue to dominate markets this week,” said analyst Erwin Sanft at Macquarie Securities in Hong Kong. Commodity prices also were affected, as buyers seeking a safe haven drove up the price of gold. The price of crude oil dropped sharply, perhaps because economic problems could hurt growth and cut demand for energy. The Athens stock exchange is closed for six days as Greece faced the end today of its bailout agreement with its international lenders. It is seeking a new $8 billion loan segment but has balked at imposing new austerity measures demanded by its creditors. The Standard & Poor's financial services company cut Greece's credit rating further into junk status and said there was a 50 percent chance the country would become the first to exit the 19-nation euro currency bloc in its 16-year history. Greek bonds plummeted Monday, with interest rates surging more than 12 percentage points to 33 percent, showing investors had little confidence in Greece's financial stability. Greece has scheduled a referendum next Sunday on whether to accept the lenders' demands for more austerity measures in exchange for new loans. Both European Union chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker and British Prime Minister David Cameron warned that a no vote would mean that Greece wants to divorce itself politically from Europe. "A no would mean, regardless of the question posed, that Greece had said no to Europe," Juncker said in Brussels. Cameron said he would find it hard to see how a negative vote is consistent with staying in the Euro. Greece's radical leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras broke off negotiations with the creditors over the weekend, and there was no sign of new talks. He called on his countrymen to vote no in the referendum. European leaders said they are open to further discussions as the bailout deadline approaches. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said his government "will try to find a happy outcome because the opposite will be very bad. But Greece must bring something to the table and know that besides demanding European solidarity she must meet her obligations like other nations which received a bailout." Bank depositors lined up outside Athens banks to tap into their accounts at streetside ATMs, but they were limited to 60 euro ($68) withdrawals a day this week. Bank depositors lined up outside Athens banks to tap into their accounts at streetside ATMs, but they were limited to 60 euro ($68) withdrawals a day this week. Pension payments were slated to be exempt from the capital controls. Pensioners lined up early at bank branches, hoping they would be able to access their funds through the cash machines, but they were not successful. The finance ministry said it would explain later Monday how pension payments will be disbursed. One Greek officer worker, Vicky Peraki, took a stoic view of the country's financial plight. "We need to stay calm, we can live with less until the situation is resolved," she said. "Why should we panic? There's no reason for that. At some point all this will end." Tsipras went on national television Sunday to announce the six-day bank closures and cash restrictions, hours after the European Central Bank, another Greek creditor, said it will not continue an emergency loan program that had allowed Greek banks to remain open in recent weeks. Tsipras' announcement came after weekend talks between Greek negotiators and their European creditors ended without a deal on terms of an ongoing cash-for-reforms bailout. Without a deal, analysts say Athens likely will default today on the $1.8 billion loan payment due the Monetary Fund. Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde voiced disappointment over the stalemate. The White House said President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke by phone Sunday and agreed that it is critically important that Greece accept European reform demands as a path toward growth within the eurozone. Sunday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew told Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to find a sustainable solution for the sake of the global economy. He said it is important all parties continue to work to reach a solution involving both reform and potential debt relief and called on Athens to maintain financial stability. China's Asian bank becomes reality with official launch By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The multibillion-dollar China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank was launched Monday in Beijing with founding members signing an agreement that gives the clearest signals to date about how the bank will operate. Among them was the confirmation that China will hold the largest block of voting rights of 26 percent. Members of BRICS, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, will hold a significant chunk of the voting shares as well, with nearly 50 percent. This has given rise to fears that the Asian bank could not only challenge long established institutions such as the World Bank, but also the recently created BRICS Bank. The Asian bank has pledged that its work will complement, not compete with, other existing multilateral institutions. This may be a tall order, not just because they would operate in the same market, but also because leaders of emerging markets have repeatedly expressed their dissatisfaction with institutions like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. “To some extent this reflects what emerging economies, including China, India and Russia, they are redeeming what they should have got in international organizations,” said Raymond Yueng, a senior economist with ANZ in Hong Kong. At the same time, Yeung said the bank’s articles of agreement highlight China’s effort to keep the bank non-exclusive and not turn it into a close-knit club of allies. He noted that articles for procurement do not limit participation in projects or for the providing goods and services. “So it’s not only these 57 members. I don’t think that they are going to create a closed economy in infrastructure spending and infrastructure projects,” Yeung said. “They are also open to other countries that are not founding members.” That includes countries such as the United States, Canada and Japan, who so far have kept out of the bank. The bank’s authorized capital is $100 billion, of which nearly $98 billion has been divided among what the bank calls its regional and non-regional founding members. Another widely debated issue about the bank's agreements shed light on is whether or not China will have veto power in the bank's decision making. The agreement released on Monday did not use the word veto, but it said for most of the major decisions the bank will make, a super majority is essential. With 26 percent of the voting shares, China would have a decisive voice in every decision. China has said that it is not seeking veto power at the bank. Analysts argue it is only natural for top investors to have more say that the rest. “I would not be surprised if China has an indirect veto power. We know the developed countries often exercise an indirect veto power at the World Bank and IMF,” said N.R. Bhanumurthy, a professor of economics at the New Delhi’s National Institute of Public Finance Policy. One of the first tests of that power will be when bank chooses its first president in the coming months. According to the agreement signed Monday, the president must be a person from a regional founding country. The bank is expected to become officially operational by the end of this year. The Asian institution is not the only multibillion-dollar bank that China has recently played a part in forming. It also has the BRICS bank, which is based in Shanghai and now headed by India. But some wonder whether the two banks could become rivals. “There are high expectations from AIIB. But there is a risk of competition between the AIIB and the New Development Bank of the BRICS nations,” Bhanumurthy said. He adds that what the developing world does not want is two competing institutions. “They should make sure there is no overlapping in their activities. The New Development Bank can focus on social development issues and leave infrastructure areas to AIIB,” Bhanumurthy said. China says the bank will not only help promote development in the region, but aid in the global economic recovery. Monday’s signing ceremony was held at the Great Hall of the People. Almost all of the bank’s 57 founding members signed the agreement. Seven are still seeking approval at home. China has led the campaign to garner support for the Asian bank after it first proposed it two years ago. Some analysts regard its ability to attract more than 50 countries, despite the reluctance of Washington to join, as a foreign policy success. Many U.S. allies, including Australia, Britain, Germany, Israel, and South Korea, have joined. Nearly half of the members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are founding bank members. One of the key reasons the United States and others have held off is because of questions they have about the bank’s ability to uphold high standards of governance and accountability. This is because some analysts say many major projects financed by Chinese banks overseas are seen to be motivated more by political considerations than return of investment criteria. But some experts in developing countries see it differently. “There is no reason to think that AIIB would not be professionally managed or fail to abide by international standards. Some of the major financial markets like Singapore, Hong Kong and London are involved in its making,” Bhanumurthy said. Texas attorney general says officials can duck gay rites By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The attorney general in the southern U.S. state of Texas says county clerks and judges do not have to issue marriage licenses or perform weddings if they have religious objections, following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last week recognizing the right of same-sex couples to get married anywhere in the country. In a letter Sunday to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Attorney General Ken Paxton said the high court's 5-4 decision did not overrule Constitutional rights of religious liberty. "This newly minted federal constitutional right to same-sex marriage can and should peaceably coexist with longstanding constitutional and statutory rights, including the rights to free exercise of religion and freedom of speech," Paxton said. He wrote that clerks responsible for issuing marriage licenses are free to delegate to assistants rather than be forced to violate their own religious beliefs. Similarly, judges and justices of the peace should not be required to conduct same-sex weddings, Paxton said, because there are others, including priests, rabbis and other officials, who are legally allowed to officiate the ceremonies. "So long as other authorized are willing to conduct same-sex wedding ceremonies, these statutory provisions demonstrate the practical reality that a refusal by a religiously objecting justice of the peace or judge cannot prevent a same-sex couple from participating in a wedding ceremony contemplated by state law," Paxton said. The Supreme Court ruled Friday that the Constitution's rights to due process and equal protection overrule attempts by individual states to outlaw same-sex marriages. |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's sixth news page |
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By the University of Toronto news
staff
Retreating sea ice in the Iceland and Greenland seas may be changing the circulation of warm and cold water in the Atlantic Ocean and could ultimately impact the climate in Europe, says a new study by an atmospheric physicist from the University of Toronto Mississauga and his colleagues in Great Britain, Norway and the United States. "A warm western Europe requires a cold North Atlantic Ocean, and the warming that the North Atlantic is now experiencing has the potential to result in a cooling over western Europe," says G.W.K. Moore of the university's Department of Chemical & Physical Sciences. As global warming affects the earth and ocean, the retreat of the sea ice means there won't be as much cold, dense water, generated through a process known as oceanic convection, created to flow south and feed the Gulf Stream. If convection decreases, says Moore, the Gulf Stream may weaken, thereby reducing the warming of the atmosphere in comparison to today. Their research, published in Nature Climate Change, is the first attempt to examine and document these changes in the air-sea heat exchange in the region and to consider its possible impact on oceanic circulation, including the climatologically important Atlantic circulation. Previous studies have focused instead on the changing salinity of the northern seas and its effects on ocean circulation. Moore and his fellow researchers based their findings on wintertime data from 1958 to 2014 that was provided by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts and model simulations. Traditionally, the Gulf Stream moves warm water north toward western Europe, says Moore, where it loses heat and moisture to the atmosphere, acting to moderate the climate in this region. The resulting colder, denser water sinks and returns south at a great depth eventually rising to the surface in the tropics, where the cycle, known as the Atlantic Meridional Ocean Circulation, begins all over again. The Iceland and Greenland seas are among the only places worldwide where conditions are right and this heat exchange is able to change the ocean's density enough to cause the surface waters to sink. The largest air-sea heat exchange in these seas occurs at the edge of the sea ice. In the past, this region of maximum heat exchange has coincided with the location where oceanic conditions are optimal for convection to occur. However, in recent years, the sea ice has retreated and with it the region of maximum heat exchange. As a result, there has been a reduction in the heat exchange over the locations where sinking occurs in the ocean. This has the potential to weaken oceanic convection in the Greenland and Iceland Seas. "The heat exchange is weaker -- it's like turning the stove down 20 percent," says Moore. "We believe the weakening will continue and eventually cause changes in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation and the Gulf Stream, which can impact the climate of Europe." |
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| From Page 7: Obama signs two trade negotiation measures By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
U.S. President Barack Obama has signed into law two hard-won bills giving him greater authority to regulate international trade deals and providing aid to workers whose jobs are displaced by such pacts. Obama signed the measures during a ceremony Monday at the White House, where he hailed the bipartisan cooperation that was needed to get the legislation through Congress. An intense lobbying campaign pitted the president against congressional Democrats and created a rare alliance with Republicans. The president said he believed that signing the legislation would be good for American workers and businesses and would give the United States a global competitive edge. "This legislation will help turn global trade, which can often be a race to the bottom, into a race to the top," he said. "It will reinforce America's leadership role in the world: in Asia and Europe and beyond." The trade promotion authority legislation, also known as fast track, is expected to speed through completion of Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations with 11 other Pacific Rim nations in the coming weeks. The Senate approved the legislation Wednesday, following the House of Representative's authorization. Weeks ago, trade promotion supporters had feared the deal would not be approved. Obama also signed a measure that provides $450 million to retrain workers who lose their jobs because of expanded trade, and extends trade preferences for another decade to sub-Saharan Africa. Obama used the event to push for more bipartisan legislation, particularly for a massive infrastructure bill that would help build new highways, airports and shipping ports. |
