 |
|
||||
 |
 |
 |
||
|
|
 |
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
| 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 |
 |
|
|
San
José, Costa Rica, Tuesday,
July 29,
2014, Vol. 14, No. 148
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
|
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Hotel owners are disappointed with midyear reports that show lagging business numbers. Occupancy rates were just below 58 percent, according to a report by the country's tourism chamber, falling well beneath the stated goal of 67 percent for the midyear vacation period. A majority of hoteliers said the recent World Cup negatively affected the influx of business because regional tourism demand was centered in Brazil. And considering Costa Rica's surprising success, tourism chamber President Pablo Heriberto Abarca said the June and July months were low because residents were kept busy watching the games and spending their money elsewhere. “Costa Ricans opted more towards acquiring services to boost other areas of commerce rather than enjoying the break and going on vacation,” Abarca said. “Also the success of Costa Rica meant that the country was in watching mode, and this run of theirs consumed half the holiday period.” The chamber's report polled 115 lodging companies in different sections of Costa Rica, which makes up for around 4,000 hotel rooms total. The chamber, the Cámera Nacional de Turismo, does such surveys periodically. Hotels in the northern plains region of the country boasted the best rate of occupancy with nearly 72 percent of rooms surveyed being filled. At 50 percent, the South Pacific came away with the report's lowest rate. “It's clear that Costa Ricans didn't vacation as much as the hotels were expecting,” Abarca said. “This period coincides with an increase in non-residential tourists, which explains why we see bigger occupations in zones like La Fortuna and in city hotels.” Abarca added that there are a slew of discounts and package deals available this time of year through hotels that people should take advantage of. And with Costa Rican Mother's Day Aug. 15 making another three-day break, hotels are coming up with additional offers. Hospitality sector regrets Tambor thefts By the A.M.
Costa Rica staff
The impact of burglaries while guests were sleeping at Hotel Barceló in Playa Tambor is reverberating through the hospitality industry. The Cámara Costarricense de Hoteles said that it regretted the crime. Some 11 rooms were entered early Sunday morning, guests said. Electronics, wallets and purses were taken. The industry leaders are surprised because the hotel is highly secure. The hotel chamber called on other establishments to increase their security. The hotel chamber has a security committee that will be offering its services to investigators, it said. Because of the security present at the hotel, which is on the Nicoya peninsula, investigators are looking at the possibility of an inside job. The hotel has sprawling grounds encircled by a chain-link fence. All of those who were victims of the burglaries were Costa Ricans. There is a good chance of rain for pilgrims By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Central Valley will have light to moderate rain through Thursday with the wind dying off Friday, according to the Instituto Meteorológico Nacional. The forecast is for pilgrims who will be walking to Cartago. They need to bring rain gear, according to the forecast. For Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the key days for the pilgrimage, there is a good chance of sudden downpours. Pilgrims who walked to Cartago over the weekend faced wet weather, but the Fuerza Pública reports that there were few incidents. Police confiscated a knife, broke up a fight in Tres Ríos and caught a couple of participants with marijuana, they said. This is the big week for the romería or pilgrimage to the Basilica de Nuestro Señora de los Ángeles. Police and the Cruz Roja estimate that 2.5 million people are walking to Cartago from last Thursday through Aug. 2, the feast day of the Virgin. There is a 10 a.m. Mass that day. Gasoline and diesel will dip a bit By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A dip in the price of the dollar means a drop in gasoline prices. The Autoridad Reguladora de Servicios Públicos said that both plus and super gasoline would be reduced 6 colons a liter and that diesel would drop 9 colons. This is the monthly price fixing by the government agency. Now the price of gasoline is based on an exchange rate of 556.29 colons to the U.S. dollar. The new prices are based on the exchange rate of July 10, which was 539 colons to the dollar. Expats can count on higher prices next month because the dollar already has increased to 543.36 colons, according to data early today from the Banco Central de Costa Rica. The Autoridad always is behind the curve. The new prices are super, 810 colons a liter; plus, 782 colons a liter, and diesel 557 colons a liter. There was no change decreed in the price of liquid petroleum gas.  Voice of America
photo
Apprehended
would-be immigrants are bused to a San Pedro Sula center.
Rumors of
amnesty in U.S. persist
By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
False rumors in Central America are fueling the current surge of undocumented young people being apprehended at the U.S. border. The inaccurate claims suggest the U.S. will give amnesty to young migrants from the region. These rumors trace back to President Barack Obama's 2012 executive order to halt deportations for some young undocumented immigrants already living in the United States. Most teenagers and young children attempting to migrate to the United States from Honduras never make it. Many are apprehended in Guatemala and Mexico and brought to this processing center for returned migrants in San Pedro Sula. A 19-year-old woman traveling with her son, who does not want her face shown, says she went in search of a better life. “I would go again because as I told you getting a job here is scarce," she said. In Honduras, 60 percent of the people live in poverty, and crime and gang violence are serious problems. But these conditions have existed for years. Alexander Leiva, with the Ministry of labor and social security, says the cause of the current surge is the spread of false promises in the region that certain migrants who make it to the U.S. border will be given amnesty. “That is if they immigrate with a minor, they would get special or preferential treatment, so they can go in and work in the United States, and that is completely false," said Leiva. These stories often cite President Obama’s 2012 ruling to end deportations of young illegal immigrants. But what has gotten lost in translation is that this ruling applies only to immigrants who already had been living in the country for the last five years. “This is not amnesty. This is not immunity. This is not a path to citizenship," said Obama. Outside of Tegucigalpa, a group called Funmiredh raises money to help resettle deportees. The group’s leader, Carlos Dias, says the story he heard was that the U.S. was offering amnesty for a limited time. “It seems there was a last-minute publication that amnesty, or I don’t know what, was expiring. But from then on was when the children and parents began to immigrant with greater frequency," said Dias. Some like Billy Noel have also heard it is easy to claim refugee status to escape gang violence. "Yes, I was told that the government will let you stay over there. You could ask for political asylum or pay a bail," said Noel. In part to counter the amnesty rumors, the U.S. is conducting a high profile and accelerated deportation process. It is also considering setting up a refugee screening process that would allow legitimate claims to be addressed in Honduras and not at the border.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
| The contents of this page and this Web site are copyrighted by A.M. Costa Rica.com Ltda. 2014 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 |
 |
| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, July 29, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 148 | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
| Lawmakers call upon president to sidetrack tourism sales tax |
|
|
By
Michael Krumholtz
of the A.M. Costa Rica staff Legislators from a range of political parties are asking for the president to immediately act in preventing a new sales tax that they say will harm Costa Rica's tourism industry. Monday at the Asamblea Legislativa, a pair of representatives from the Partido Unidad Social Cristiana were joined by lawmakers from at least three other political factions in an effort to stop a pending tariff for tours into national parks. Luis Vásquez, a Social Cristiana legislator who also acts as the president of the legislature's tourism commission, and fellow party representative Johnny Leiva sent a letter directly to President Luis Guillermo Solís in hopes of quick intervention. The finance ministry announced the increased sales tax last week as an additional caveat into an article of the country's general sales tax law. It proposes that those entering national parks and protected lands for recreational or tour purposes are now subject to larger tax fees. Tourism leaders, and now policy makers, are denouncing the new tariff as a subjective interpretation that never existed before. In their |
request to
the president, Vásquez and Leiva ask that President
Solís
clearly defines the meaning of recreation centers, which are stated as
subject to sales tax in Section C of the law. “We respectfully ask for your intervention against the finance ministry with the objective of defining the concept of recreational centers and distinguishing those from conservation areas and national parks,” the letter reads. Otto Guevara, head of the Partido Movimiento Libertario, said Monday that if this issue is not solved in short-term, then legislators will be charged with passing a bill to prevent its possible long-term damage to tourism. “Costa Rica is already an expensive destination, and if it becomes more expensive then we can expect less tourists,” Guevara said., adding: “Less tourists means less money for the sector and less money means less employment positions for an important national industry.” Barring any executive intervention, the increased fees are due to take effect Wednesday. |
| U.N. secretary general will arrive here Wednesday for
official visit |
|
|
By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The secretary general of the United Nations is coming to Costa Rica for a vacation, and the first day will be an official visit with all the formalities. The secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, is traveling with his wife, Yoo Soon-tack, and a delegation of U.N. workers. He will arrive just before 9 a.m. Wednesday and embark on a day of official activities ending with a state dinner in the Teatro Nacional at night. Costa Rica officials are excited because the last time the head of the United Nations visited here was in 2002. That was Kofi Annan. Ban will be staying in the country until Monday. The time after Wednesday is characterized as private, but there may be other motives that have not been disclosed. Ban is in the center now of multiple crises, including the rebellion in the Ukraine and the downing of a Malaysian jet by separatists there, the continuing war in Syria and the battle by Israelis against Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip. There also are continued problems in Nigeria, Yemen and Somalia, among others. Ban and his delegation will be met at Juan Santamaría airport by President Luis Guillermo Solís and Manuel González Sanz, the foreign minister. Then they will go to the Interamerican Court of Human Rights in San Pedro. Then is a lunch in his honor at the foreign ministry. While at the foreign ministry, Casa Amarilla, Ban is scheduled to ride a bicycle along with proponents of alternative transportation, said a summary of his schedule. Some time in the afternoon Ban is to meet with representatives of 24 native communities, according to the foreign ministry, as well as U.N. employees working here. Ban arrives on a commercial jet from Nicaragua where he also was to visit. Ban has been secretary General of the United Nations since 2007. His term runs until Dec. 31, 2016. |
 United Nations photo
Ban Ki-moon |
 |
| You need to see Costa Rican tourism information HERE! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
| The contents of this page and this Web site are copyrighted by A.M. Costa Rica.com Ltda. 2014 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 | |||||
| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, July 29, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 148 | |||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
| Humans get the blame for the increase of water vapor in
atmosphere |
|
|
By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
When it comes to greenhouse gases that contribute most to global warming, most people think of substances such as carbon dioxide, methane or even hydrofluorocarbons. But for a while now, scientists have considered the vapor of the most important ingredient in sustaining life on Earth – water – as one of the most abundant greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and a key driver of global warming? A new study led by scientists from the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science confirmed that rising levels of water vapor in the troposphere – the layer of the atmosphere closest to the surface and rises to a height of between 5 to 20 km above Earth’s surface – will increasingly play an important role in climate change projections in the coming years. The Florida researchers said their new study is also the first to demonstrate that the increasing amount of atmospheric water vapor is being caused by human activities. The researchers wanted to find out what was causing a 30-year trend of increasing water vapor in the upper troposphere. So they took data collected over the years by satellites from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and compared it to climate models that predicted water circulation between the ocean and the atmosphere. This allowed the team to determine whether or not the observed changes in atmospheric water vapor were the result of natural or human-made causes. The experiments revealed that natural causes such as volcanic activity |
or variations in
solar activity can’t explain the growing amounts of water vapor in the
upper troposphere. But their experiments did suggest that human activity can account for the increase. In an email, Brian Soden, a co-author of the study and professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School pointed out that those human-caused increases in water vapor in the upper troposphere are not the result of actual man-made water vapor emissions. Instead the water vapor is created as a response to man-made warming of the atmosphere, which he said is due primarily to the increase in CO2 from the burning of fossil fuels. “Because the concentration of water vapor increases as the air temperature increases, this man-made warming triggers a natural feedback mechanism that causes the water vapor increase,” said Soden. “Because water vapor is itself a very powerful greenhouse gas, the increase in water vapor further amplifies the initial CO2 induced warming. Our study confirms the presence of this key feedback mechanism which is a crucial component of global warming projections in water vapor can be explained by a rise in the amount of other greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide being fed into the atmosphere.” If water vapor plays a key role in global warming, which increases water evaporation, which in turn leads to even more atmospheric water vapor, could this feedback mechanism spin out of control? “Fortunately the feedback is not strong enough to push the climate into a runaway mode which would cause indefinite warming,” Soden said. “However, some hypothesize that such a runaway greenhouse effect may have occurred on Venus and led to its extremely large greenhouse effect and warm temperatures.” |
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
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
| The contents of this page and this Web site are copyrighted by A.M. Costa Rica.com Ltda. 2014 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
|
||
 |
 |
|
| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, July 29, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 148 | |||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
| Ebola spreading in Africa with more than 1,000 deaths By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The rapidly spreading Ebola outbreak in West Africa is the deadliest ever, health officials say. Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia have reported hundreds of cases since March this year and more than 1,000 deaths. Nigeria is on high alert after the first known case was reported in Lagos. As of July 20, some 1,093 people in the region have been infected, according to the World Health Organization. At least 660 of those people have died. Africa's most populous country, Nigeria, is bracing for an outbreak after a Liberian man hospitalized with Ebola in Lagos died last week. Liberia is closing most of its borders. The Nigerian government is currently working to identify every person who came into contact with Patrick Sawyer during his journey from Liberia to Nigeria early last week. Sawyer, 40, was a consultant for the country's finance ministry, and he was immediately quarantined in Lagos upon arrival. But the state heath commissioner, Jide Idris, says many more people may have had contact with Sawyer than is currently known. According to Idris, the first plane Sawyer traveled on stopped briefly in Ghana before going on to Togo, where he switched planes. He said the airline has not provided a manifest for the first two flights. Both the Nigerian health and aviation departments are still searching, but so far, Idris said they are not aware of any other potential Ebola cases. “We call on all Nigerians to be calm and not to panic and do hereby ensure them that both the state and the federal government are up in arms to ensure that the virus does not escape and that no Nigerian is infected with this virus," he said. “Ebola is an incredibly dangerous, deadly disease,” noted Melissa Strickland, spokesperson for the international relief group Samaritan’s Purse, one of whose medical doctors was struck down with the illness while caring for patients at a facility in Liberia. “Just a little while ago, Dr. Kent Brantly’s condition was stable,” she said. “His fever is fluctuating. He has body aches, pains, the typical Ebola symptoms. He’s receiving intensive medical care from our team on the ground and we are hopeful for his recovery.” Brantly, 33, contracted the disease despite taking every precaution against it. “Our medical personnel follow very strict protocols that were devised by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and World Health Organization,” Strickland said. “When they treat patients, not an inch of their body is uncovered. They are fully covered in personal protection equipment. The first recognized cases of Ebola were identified in 1976, in Sudan and former Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo. Humans become infected with Ebola by close contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected animals. Fruit bats are believed to be the natural reservoirs of the virus, which means that they carry the virus but don’t become infected themselves. Ebola has also been found in a number of African monkeys, chimpanzees and other primates in areas where so-called bush meat is part of the diet. The U. N. Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization are working together to help educate rural populations about the risks of hunting wildlife. “We are not suggesting that people stop hunting altogether, which isn’t realistic,” said Food and Agriculture's chief veterinary officer, Juan Lubroth in a recent statement. “But communities need clear advice on the need not to touch dead animals or to sell or eat the meat of any animal that they find already dead. They should also avoid hunting animals that are sick or behaving strangely, as this is another red flag," he said. Ebola can also be contracted by contact with bodily fluids of patients, which is why health care workers, traditional healers and family members are at increased risk. Victims of the disease are still highly contagious after the death, and health workers are warning families against traditional burial practices, such as washing the body or touching it before burial. According to World Health, symptoms of the virus show up anywhere from two to 21 days of being exposed to the virus. They experience fever, extreme weakness and body aches, headache, diarrhea and vomiting. Chest pain, skin rashes, mental confusion and jaundice can also occur. Patients are contagious only after they begin to show symptoms. Health workers will confirm an ebola diagnosis through blood tests that measure white blood cells, platelet counts, and liver enzymes. “There’s no cure, there’s no medication that you can give to actually deal with the virus itself,” Strickland said. “But what we can do is keep the patient hydrated, as comfortable as possible and as supported as possible medically to give them the best fighting chance against the disease.” Ebola is fatal in 90 percent of the cases, though chances for survival increase with early diagnosis. Because no treatment or vaccine exists, avoiding contamination is the best way to stop the spread of the illness. That includes avoiding sick or dead animals, especially primates, washing hands frequently and alerting health care workers if infection is suspected. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf shut down most of Liberia’s borders Sunday, in an attempt to prevent the spread of the Ebola, and all public gatherings have been banned in that country. Airports in the capital, Monrovia, and three major Liberian border crossings are also screening travelers. The Centers for Disease Control has issued no travel restrictions for passengers to West Africa, but recommends that international visitors practice careful hygiene, avoid contact with the blood and/or body fluids of severely ill people, avoid animals and seek health care if they develop fever or other flu-like symptoms. Month of Muslim Ramadan ends with traditional holiday By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Millions of Muslims across the world celebrated the start of the Eid al-Fitr holiday Monday that marked the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, but violence broke out in the Philippines and observances were somber in the Gaza war zone. About 50 Islamic militant Abu Sayyf gunmen opened fire on vehicles traveling to a village feast in the southern Philippines, killing 21 people and wounding 11 more. In Gaza, several hundred people gathered for early-morning prayers at a mosque. But rather than heading to festivities afterwards, some went home while others paid respects to the more than 1,000 Palestinians killed during the three-week conflict between Israel and Hamas terrorists. Hundreds of worshippers at the National Mosque in Kuala Lumpur prayed for the victims of two Malaysia Airlines flights - one that was shot down over eastern Ukraine earlier this month and another that disappeared during a flight to Beijing in March. Eid al-Fitr celebrates the purification achieved during Ramadan, a month of sunrise-to-sunset fasting, one of the five pillars of Islam. House bill seeks overhaul of U.S. broadcasting agencies By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bill that would overhaul U.S. international broadcasting, including the Voice of America, four other government-financed broadcasters and the Broadcasting Board of Governors that oversees all of them. Supporters of the bipartisan bill say the United States needs to fight back more effectively in the war of information against countries like Russia and China. But some opponents of the bill say they fear it would undermine Voice of America's journalistic integrity and its reputation. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce says international outrage over recent events in Ukraine shows how important it is for the United States to counter what he called continuous Russian propaganda in the region. “Who is going to offset that propaganda? Our best weapon in this informational battle, the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the BBG, is totally defunct," said Royce. The reform bill passed the House Monday by a voice vote. The legislation would reduce the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which former secretary of State Hillary Clinton called practically defunct, to an advisory role and would appoint a full-time CEO to run U.S. international broadcasting. The measure also defines the role of the Voice of America, as Rep. Gerald Connolly, a Democrat, explains. “Voice of America, for example, will now confine itself to its public diplomacy mission, to foster positive relationships between the United States and the rest of the world." Some current and former Voice of America journalists say they agree that changes to management are urgently needed, but they are worried about language in the House bill that calls on the Voice of America to promote U.S. foreign policy while being a fair and accurate source of news. The bill also would reduce the scope of coverage from world news to U.S. news and policy. Former Voice of America deputy director Alan Heil says those changes would be devastating: “If that bill becomes law, VOA’s worldwide following on radio, TV and online channels would plummet precipitously. The Voice’s greatest asset, its credibility, would be in shreds," said Heil. Some media advocacy groups also have expressed alarm. Reporters Without Borders Secretary-General Christophe Deloire issued a statement in May urging U.S. authorities not to transform media such as Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia into diplomatic communication tools. Deloire said adopting the attitudes of information warfare would be extremely regrettable. A similar U.S. broadcasting bill would have to pass in the Senate, and then be signed by President Barack Obama in order to become law. It is not clear when or if the Senate will take up the issue. Fukushima radiation concern growing on U.S. West Coast By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
It has been more than three years since the Fukushima nuclear plant accident resulted in a spill of millions of gallons of radioactive cooling water into the Pacific. Oceanographers projected it could take until this year for highly diluted traces of that spill to cross the ocean and reach the West Coast of North America. Radiation experts do not believe there is cause for alarm on American shores, but some coastal residents are stepping forward to pay for seawater testing just to be sure. The presence or absence of Fukushima radiation in the water can hardly be more personal than it is for open water swimmer Wayne Kinslow of Seattle. "I just love the water. I go out, it is great exercise," said Kinslow. He swims about 20 minutes per day in chilly Puget Sound. So he willingly paid more than $500 for an independent water test. It did not detect any radiation from the nuclear plant. "This was something that was really important to me because I am out there every day, and I do not really want to die. So it is best to test the water and this is my chance. As soon as we got an opportunity, I just threw all my money at it for the first sample," he explained. Kinslow is not the only one willing to pay big bucks for reassurance. High school art teacher Terry Waldron is raising money to test the waters near her family’s property in Newport, Oregon. "For a while, I thought about not eating fish. I cannot do that," she said. "But I was so concerned because I could not find information. I do eat fish, I do. But I still want that test done." Ms. Waldron and Kinslow signed on to a crowd-funded radiation monitoring project called Our Radioactive Ocean. Managed by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, it is collecting donations for testing at about 30 sites from California to Alaska. Ms. Waldron and Kinslow say it is a lot of work and slow going to get others to contribute to this cause. That might have something to do with the fact that scientists and government agencies have been consistent in saying not to worry. In their monitoring, scientists look for the nuclear fingerprint of the Fukushima reactor, a combination of two isotopes of cesium. "With the samples that we have taken along the West Coast, we do not see anything of concern. We do not expect to see anything," said Kathy Higley, a professor of radiation health physics at Oregon State University. "It has diluted. It has decayed. It has dispersed. My husband and I take our kids to the coast all the time. We are not at all concerned about it. We eat seafood. We are not concerned about it," she added. She said graduate students in her department are looking for Fukushima radiation, but not out of fear, rather out of academic and scientific interest. Isotopes released in the accident can be used as tracers to study ocean circulation and fish migration. This summer, one of Higley's students collected seawater samples and various fish on a research cruise off the Washington state and Oregon coasts. Delvan Neville is now analyzing them. The samples go into a really, really sensitive detector covered in lead bricks. They have to sit inside the chamber for days to generate a result. "It takes a long time to count it, one because there is so little activity present. Even in the worst case model, there may be just a few Becquerels at most of cesium 137 on the detector," Ms. Neville said of a radiation measurement. For perspective, Ms. Neville said it helps to remember humans are surrounded by low levels of natural radiation. "Several seconds in a stuffy basement was a larger dose than consuming a year's worth of albacore. People are not aware of all the things around them that are radioactive," she said. "They do not consider themselves radioactive." State public health agencies are also testing seawater for Fukushima contamination. Oregon results show nothing abnormal. Washington's latest results are pending. But it seems these efforts have not fully penetrated the public consciousness. Enough people called marine chemist Ken Buesseler at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute seeking assurances that he started a citizen science testing program. That is the Our Radioactive Ocean project, to which the swimmer and the art teacher donated. "Given this concern and the numerous requests for information, I just decided if we could do this with crowd-funding, we could do this quickly and get people the information they want and basically let them select their beach - their favorite site - for analysis," said Buesseler. Another project uses seaweed as a radiation detector. Kelp Watch has expanded from its genesis at several California universities to include sampling for cesium off the Washington coast and Canada’s Vancouver Island. Brown seaweeds are known to concentrate cesium, strontium and iodine into their tissues, but all of the kelp fronds processed to date showed no signs of Fukushima radiation. U.N. committee sanctions N. Korean ship operator By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The United Nations imposed sanctions on the operator of a North Korean ship seized last year by Panama while trying to smuggle arms from Cuba. The Security Council's North Korea sanctions committee voted late Monday to place an international asset freeze and travel ban on Ocean Maritime Management. The committee said the company played a key role in arranging the shipment, which included two Mig-21 fighter jets, missiles and other arms hidden under sacks of sugar. The Chong Chon Gang was stopped in July 2013 near the Panama Canal on suspicion of smuggling drugs. Cuba said it was sending what it called the obsolete weapons to North Korea for repairs. But the U.N. committee said the concealment of the undeclared weapons demonstrates intent to evade international sanctions banning the export of arms to North Korea. “Ocean Maritime Management Company, Ltd., played a key role in arranging the shipment of the concealed cargo of arms and related materiel,” the committee said in an implementation assistance notice. “The concealment of the aforementioned items demonstrates intent to evade U.N. sanctions, and is consistent with previous attempts by the DPRK to transfer arms and related materiel through similar tactics in contravention of Security Council prohibitions,” the committee said. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, described the Chong Chon Gang incident as “a cynical, outrageous and illegal attempt by Cuba and North Korea to circumvent United Nations sanctions.” She said the Security Council committee had “uncovered irrefutable facts that clearly prove Cuba and the DPRK's intentions to violate sanctions by employing highly sophisticated deception and obfuscation techniques.” North Korea is under an array of United Nations and U.S. and other countries' sanctions for nuclear and ballistic missile tests since 2006 in defiance of global demands to stop. A U.N. report issued in March said North Korea has developed sophisticated ways to circumvent United Nations sanctions, including the suspected use of its embassies abroad to facilitate an illegal trade in weapons. The Security Council committee said on Monday that investigation found indications that North Korean officials in Havana helped make arrangements for the Chong Chon Gang shipment. “The committee encourages states to continue to exercise enhanced vigilance over DPRK diplomatic personnel,” it said. The committee said it was concerned the military cooperation between Cuba and North Korea violated U.N. resolutions, which “prohibit the transfer from the DPRK by its nationals or from its territory of advice, services or assistance related to the maintenance or use of prohibited arms and related materiel.” “This prohibition covers many activities including repair, diagnosis, monitoring, physical and chemical tests, and any related services for such items,” the committee said. A Panamanian court on Friday ordered the release of the Chong Chon Gang's three North Korean officers. Thirty-two North Korean sailors and the ship were released by Panama in February. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
| The contents of this page and this Web site are copyrighted by A.M. Costa Rica.com Ltda. 2014 and may not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details | ||||||
| A.M. Costa Rica's sixth news page |
|
||||||||
| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, July 29, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 148 | |||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
||
|
U.S. tourist
found after hours in forest
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A 28-year-old U.S. tourist has been rescued after some seven hours in
 Ministerio de Gobernación,
Policía y Seguridad Pública photo
Police officers arrange
plants for counting.U.S. pair held
after marijuana raid
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Fuerza Pública officers said they received a tip that led to the apprehension of a U.S. couple on marijuana growing allegations. Officers said they found a hydroponics setup at Finca Tierras Nativas de Tempate in Santa Cruz, Guanacaste. They detained a man with the last name of Whitworth and a woman with the last name of Olszewski. Police said they arrived with a search warrant and prosecutors. They said they found 45 plants in a house and later located a complete hydroponics lab in a nearby storage unit. There they found 68 small plants and 28 plants in individual pots. The storage unit was air conditioned. Sala Primera magistrate sacked By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Lawmakers voted unanimously Monday to revoke the appointment of Óscar González as a magistrate in the Sala Primera. He is facing multiple allegations of sexual abuse involving an employee. A legisltive committee studied the case and recommended sacking the magistrate. |
| Costa Rican News |
AMCostaRicaArchives.com |
Retire NOW
in Costa Rica |
CostaRicaReport.com |
| Fine Dining
in Costa Rica |
The CAFTA Report |
Fish
fabulous Costa Rica |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
| The contents of this page and this Web site are copyrighted by A.M. Costa Rica.com Ltda. 2014 and may not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details | ||||||
| From Page 7: Argentina sends team to New York over bonds By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Argentina says it will make another effort to reach a deal with a group of U.S. creditors to avoid a possible default on its debt, the second in 13 years. The Argentine government is sending a delegation to New York to meet Tuesday with a court-appointed mediator who is handling the dispute between Argentina and a group of New York hedge funds. Those hedge funds rejected Argentina's restructuring offers after its record $100 billion default in 2001, and are demanding payment in full. Other creditors did accept Argentina's restructured debt payments. A U.S. federal judge will not allow Argentina to make a scheduled payment to those bond holders unless it pays the hedge fund creditors as well. The meeting today with mediator Daniel Pollack comes one day before Argentina's deadline to make its payments and avoid another default. Pollack says the country would be better served by meeting with the holdout creditors themselves. Experts say Argentina is in a bind because it cannot pay some bondholders different amounts without getting sued. |
