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San
José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2015, Vol. 16, No. 187
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Niño/Niña
coastal erosion seen increasing
By the U.S. Geological Survey news staff
The projected upsurge of severe El Niño and La Niña events will cause an increase in storm events leading to extreme coastal flooding and erosion in populated regions across the Pacific Ocean, according to a multi-agency study published today in Nature Geoscience. “This study significantly advances the scientific knowledge of the impacts of El Niño and La Niña,” said Patrick Barnard, a U.S. Geological Survey coastal geologist and the lead author of the study. “Understanding the effects of severe storms fueled by El Niño or La Niña helps coastal managers prepare communities for the expected erosion and flooding associated with this climate cycle.” The impact of these storms is not presently included in most studies on future coastal vulnerability, which look primarily at sea level rise. New research data, from 48 beaches across three continents and five countries bordering the Pacific Ocean, suggest the predicted increase will exacerbate coastal erosion irrespective of sea level rise affecting the region. Researchers from 13 different institutions, including the U.S. Geological Survey, University of Sydney, the University of New South Wales and the University of Waikato in New Zealand analyzed coastal data from across the Pacific Ocean basin from 1979 to 2012. The scientists sought to determine if patterns in coastal change could be connected to major climate cycles. Data came from beaches in the mainland United States and Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii. Although previous studies have analyzed coastal impacts at local and regional levels, this is the first to pull together data from across the Pacific to determine basin-wide patterns. The research group determined all Pacific Ocean regions investigated were affected during either an El Niño or La Niña year. When the west coast of the U.S. mainland and Canada, Hawaii, and northern Japan felt the coastal impacts of El Niño, characterized by bigger waves, different wave direction, higher water levels and/or erosion, the opposite region in the Southern Hemisphere of New Zealand and Australia experienced suppression, such as smaller waves and less erosion. The pattern then generally flips. During La Niña, the Southern Hemisphere experienced more severe conditions. Linking coastal erosion to natural climate patterns, such as El Niño/Southern Oscillation and the Southern Annular Mode, can be challenging. “Shoreline behavior can be controlled by so many different factors, both locally and regionally, that it’s been difficult to isolate the signal until now. However, utilizing the many years of data we were able pull together in this study enabled us to definitively identify how the major climate drivers affect coastal hazards across the Pacific,” said Barnard. “This will greatly enhance our ability to predict the broader impacts of climate change at the coast.” Tiny nano-dispensers use to kill citrus pests By the University of Florida news
staff
Researchers with the University of Florida and several other institutions have found a way in laboratory tests to use 200 times less insecticide and yet still kill as many insects that carry the devastating citrus greening bacterium. It is a step forward in ridding groves of the insect that is threatening to destroy Florida’s $10.7 billion citrus industry and have a major impact in other citrus growing regions. Lukasz Stelinski, an associate professor with the university' s Department of Entomology and Nematology, used a commercial formulation of imidacloprid, a standard insecticide used in the industry to kill the Asian citrus psyllid, among many other pests. He and the team impregnated nano-dispensers, which are microscopic molecules that can contain liquids and then penetrate leaf and bark surfaces. Using less insecticide could mean saving tens of thousands of dollars for small growers, a make-or-break figure for those who are struggling with stunted production and less or no profit due to the disease. “During the past 15 years, an explosion in research in micro and nanotechnologies has led to the development of a variety of techniques that allows control of matter at microscopic levels never before seen,” said Stelinski, who works at the Citrus Research and Education Center, a unit in the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. “They have opened a new era in delivery of pesticides through the development of micro and nanosize controlled release systems.” Polymer molecules are being employed for these nano-dispenser systems because scientists can change their size, depending on the use needed. They are compatible with living organisms, have a low cost and are about 500 times smaller than a human eyelash. Both synthetic and natural polymers play an essential role in most people’s lives every day, ranging from familiar synthetic plastics, such as disposable cutlery, to natural biopolymers like DNA and proteins fundamental to human life. Using insecticides is one of the few ways farmers currently have to treat their groves for greening, also known as Huanglongbing. Citrus greening bacterium first enters the tree via the psyllid, which sucks on leaf sap and leaves behind greening bacteria. The bacteria then move through the tree via the phloem, the veins of the tree. The disease starves the tree of nutrients, damages its roots and the tree produces fruits that are green and misshapen, unsuitable for sale as fresh fruit or, for the most part, juice. Most infected trees eventually die, and the disease has already affected millions of citrus trees in North America. It has recently been found twice in California. Citrus greening was first detected in Florida in 2005. The citrus industry in Florida has lost approximately 100,000 citrus acres and $3.6 billion in revenues since 2007, according to researchers at the university. Although current methods to control the spread of citrus greening are limited to the removal and destruction of infected trees and insecticide-based management of psyllid populations, researchers are working to defeat it on a number of fronts, including trying to reduce populations of the psyllid, breeding citrus rootstock that shows better greening resistance, and testing treatments that could be used on trees. Stelinski’s team experimented with the nano-dispensers in the lab, replicating each treatment experiment five times. In the most successful version of the experiment, 80 percent of the psyllids were dead after 10 days. Researchers also said that less insecticide could have beneficial environmental impacts. Further field tests are necessary to see how the nano-dispensers perform in sunlight, varying temperatures and humidity levels, researchers said. The law here is a tool for the elite Dear A.M. Costa Rica: That someone or persons unknown can organize a land invasion onto unoccupied property is one thing. To do so after a murder is quite another. That such a gruesome and cynical act can take place at all is testimony to the arrogance and power of those who are responsible, real campesinos or otherwise. Your piece states that the judiciary is usually quick to recognize squatter rights. El Pais has just published an article by Alfonso J. Palacios Echeverría about a corrupt judiciary. History also teaches us that "Where power and wealth is monopolized by the political elite, all capitalism becomes crony capitalism and state machinery a means for officials to make money." Costa Rica appears to be sinking into a state where the law means little and is used by the Haves for their own benefit. Lately we have been subjected to an avalanche of bad news: the botched trial of Jairo Mora, the transparently disgraceful aspects of the Ann Bender affair with revelations of stolen money, shady banking, possible bribery, missing furniture and jewelry by the authorities. That she was initially stopped from leaving the country in "error" speaks volumes even vindictiveness on the part of the judiciary. Now two major news organs which are morally charged with safeguarding the public interest are charged with massive tax fraud. This tells us how far the country has sunk into the abyss of greed and corruption. Shark finning continues unabated, white collar crime is soaring, tax evasion is the norm and hardly prosecuted. This happens when a society falls into moral turpitude encouraged by the conduct of those on top of the social heap. There is a mad grab to get what anyone can before it all collapses. The government appears unwilling to do anything about this spreading cesspool of corruption and theft. Indeed their actions may even encourage an increasing impression of anything goes. To paraphrase Michela Wrong's book on corruption, "It's Our Turn To Eat." it looks like everyone is rushing to the table to grab whatever they can before anyone else gets to it. Is it time for that old saying "Last one out, turn out the lights!" Or is there anyone out there who is going to do something to save the real dignity of the country? Sheldon Haseltine
San José Editor's note: Haseltine has conducted a nearly 20-year legal fight to retain possession of central Pacific property. |
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
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reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details |
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A.M. Costa Rica Third News Page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2015, Vol. 16, No. 187 | |
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| Legislature OKs $48 million loan for Sardinal wholesale food
market |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Lawmakers approved for the second and final time a $48 million loan to build a wholesale produce market in Sardinal, Guanacaste. The money would come from the Banco Centroamericano de Integración Centroamericana. The government would put up $4.5 million. The market will be 50,855 square meters or 547,399 square feet. There would be room for 36 stores of 100 square meters (1,076 square feet) each to sell vegetables and 16 additional stores to sell meat. |
There also
would be seven cold storage rooms and two tunnels for freezing goods,
said a legislative summary. The measure was No. 19.662. Lawmakers estimated that the facility would provide jobs for 450 persons. Lawmakers said the facility would sell more than 58,000 tons of fruits, vegetables and grains, 5,880 tons of beef and pork, nearly 8,000 tons of chicken and eggs and 1.455 tons of seafood, presumably over a year. Resident of some 11 cantons would benefit, said lawmakers. |
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Big piles of parts Stolen cars usually are dismantled for parts, which are easier to sell instead of an entire vehicle. Fuerza Pública officers following up on a vehicle theft in the Canton of La Unión Monday found a lot strewn with parts. The car was recovered. Police said they had a video of the crook stealing the car. |
 Ministerio de Seguridad Púbica photo
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| Tax agency notifying those who are suspected of cheating on
returns |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Tax officials are sending out emails to individuals and heads of corporations who might not have paid the correct tax last year. The agency, the Dirección General de Tributación, said it is reviewing assets of individuals with an eye to finding those who made big purchases but declared little income. The agency said it was interested in those who had filed a zero return, indicating no income, and those who had large |
amounts of
deductions or depreciations. Those getting the emails will have a
chance to change their tax
returns, said the agency. The agency said when its workers did this last year, they came up with 160 million colons to be paid. That's about $303,000. The agency said it would seek out those who claimed personal expenses such as household workers as business deduction as well as those who spread income over family members to avoid paying tax. |
| You need to see Costa Rican tourism information 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, Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2015, Vol. 16, No. 187 | |||||
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| Smithfield appears to prosper after a buyout by Chinese firm |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
When a Chinese firm bought the world’s largest pork producer, Smithfield Foods, two years ago, critics worried about U.S. employment, food safety and other issues. After two years under Chinese ownership, the Smithfield company is doing well financially and employment is growing. Chinese investment in the United States has surged over the past 15 years, particularly in real estate and hospitality. These investments are only part of the huge and complex relationship between the world's two largest economies. The sometimes contentious relationship will come under particularly close scrutiny Sept. 25, when Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with President Barack Obama at the White House. Smithfield Foods is one example of those Chinese investments and the company has some of its many facilities and its headquarters in the small, rural, historic town of Smithfield, Virginia. The community of Smithfield is surrounded by farms and cornfields, and corn feeds the pigs that the company turns into all kinds of fresh and packaged meat products. It takes complex machines and skilled people to operate the world’s largest pork producer. Over in the past two years, Smithfield Foods says it has expanded its workforce by nearly 1,300, bringing the total number of employees to more than 48,000. This workforce, which operates in many U.S. states and several nations, helped Smithfield hit a $15 billion sales record in 2014. While the firm is adding people, it is also cutting debt enough to impress the Standard & Poor's agency, which raised Smithfield’s credit rating. At the time of the sale, some Smithfield residents were worried that the change could hurt the U.S. and local economies. John Edwards, publisher of The Smithfield Times, says the biggest worry was that the company might move its operations and thousands of jobs elsewhere, devastating this community of 8,000. “It had to do with the fact that China is a Communist country. People didn’t trust the idea of China owning our biggest industry," he said. In Washington, Wilson Center scholar Shihoko Goto says China's acquisitions differ from those of other nations because many Chinese business entities are state-owned and driven by national as well as economic interests. She also says some Chinese companies have been hurt by scandals |
 Smithfield
Foods photo
The company is well-known for its
hamsover tainted food,
raising
concerns that U.S. food standards might be hurt by Chinese ownership.
Those concerns and worries that the sale might undermine the long-term competiveness of the U.S. pork industry prompted U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, the Michigan Democrat, to hold hearings on the Smithfield sale in 2013. At that time, Smithfield
Foods President Larry Pope said Shuanghui, the
Chinese company buying Smithfield, promised not to cut workers' wages
and benefits and to keep the current management team in place. He said
the Chinese company, which has since changed its name to WH Group, also
promised to keep Smithfield's headquarters in the small town that gave
the firm its name. In a written statement, company officials now say
all of those promises are being kept.
The town of Smithfield was established in 1752, which is very old for a community in the United States. Main Street features statues of U.S. founding fathers George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, as well as a carefully-preserved centuries-old courthouse. A long-time resident says change comes slowly here, and people “kind of held their breath” to see what would happen to Smithfield. The resident, Florine Moore, says people were worried about Chinese ownership of Smithfield Foods because “we liked what we had. When you like something, you don’t want it to change.” But Smithfield Mayor T. Carter Williams says so far, he has seen few changes and no apparent problems. “Nothing has happened at all. It is exactly the same. In fact, actually, it is right much better,” he said. Williams says city tax receipts are up slightly and that the company is looking for more office space for additional employees, though Smithfield Foods would not confirm that. |
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
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Colorado
S.A. 2015 and may not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details |
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A.M. Costa Rica's Fifth news page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2015, Vol. 16, No. 187 | |||||||
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 Voice of Americas graphic
Where the pope visited in CubaPope will travel
to the U.S.
today after his tour of Cuba By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Pope Francis landed Monday in Santiago de Cuba, the last stop of his tour of Cuba, where he has been praised for helping to bridge ties between the Communist nation and the United States. The pope visited the shrine of Cuba's patroness, the Virgin of Charity, before traveling today to Washington for the U.S. leg of his visit to the two former Cold War enemies. Pope Francis celebrated Mass earlier Monday in the eastern Cuban city of Holguin, telling tens of thousands of people to heed Jesus Christ's invitation to overcome resistance to change. During his homily, Pope Francis said Christ challenges the faithful daily to believe in the possibility of personal transformation. "He invites us slowly to overcome our preconceptions and our reluctance to think that others, much less ourselves, can change," he said. Holguin, Cuba's third-largest city, has been a cradle of the Catholic faith on the island and is known for a cross that has overlooked the town for centuries. It is also the home region of Communist leaders Fidel and Raúl Castro, who have ruled Cuba since 1959. Pope Francis met with the brothers in Havana at the start of his Cuban trip. During his homily, Pope Francis said Christ challenges the faithful daily to believe in the possibility of personal transformation. "He invites us slowly to overcome our preconceptions and our reluctance to think that others, much less ourselves, can change," he said. Meanwhile, several leading dissidents have criticized the pope for not accepting their requests to meet him during his visit. The head of the opposition group Ladies in White said 22 of 24 members of her group who wanted to attend Sunday's Mass were prevented from going by Cuban security agents. And two other well-known Cuban dissidents told The Associated Press that agents detained them after the Vatican invited them to the pope's vespers service at Havana's cathedral. Marta Beatriz Roque and Miriam Leiva said they received invitations from the office of the papal ambassador in Havana but said they were arrested as they tried to travel to the cathedral. Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said that some dissidents were invited to events to receive a greeting from the pope but that he didn't know why the greeting didn't take place. Asked if the Holy See would lodge an official protest, Lombardi demurred, saying it was a passing greeting, not an official meeting. The dissident Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation estimated 50 dissidents were detained and prevented from attending papal events, with most released within a few hours. But the Patriotic Union of Cuba, the country’s largest dissident group, said four of its activists remained in jail as of late Sunday. Those four had attempted to deliver a letter to the pope, one of whom got close enough to make contact with Francis in his popemobile, Jose Daniel Ferrer, the group's leader, said.  Voice of America/ M. Bush
Pope Francis memorabilia is
front and center in the gift shop at the Basilica of the National
Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. National
Shrine being readied
for first canonization Mass By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Just a few days before Pope Francis arrives in Washington, preparations for the first canonization Mass in the United States are well underway. At the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Cardinal Donald Wuerl toured the site to check on the progress. “When we come here next we’re going to be surrounded by over 25,000 people just to see and pray with our Holy Father," he told reporters. And competition for those seats is fierce. "This is one of the largest Catholic churches in the world, and it can’t hold the number of people who want to be there," he explained. It will be a mass of firsts. "This Holy Father is the first Pope from the New World. He’s coming for the first time to the United States to do for the first time, a canonization," Cardinal Wuerl said. Becoming a saint is Junipero Serra, the founder of California missions. And in the Basilica gift shop, there are any number of ways to remember that moment. “It’s hard to wrap my head around the fact that the Pope is coming here," admitted Basilica gift shop employee Angela Devanadera. “Hopefully everything will be in place and ready to go,” she added confidently. Husband of jailed spouse will protest during visit by Xi By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
With Chinese President Xi Jinping making a state visit to the United States, a man in the southern U.S. city of Houston is using the occasion to call attention to the case of his wife who has been detained in China for the past six months on allegations of spying and stealing state secrets. Jeff Gillis said that Chinese authorities detained his wife, Sandy Phan-Gillis, an American citizen of Chinese descent, March 19 in Guangzhou while visiting with a group of Houston officials and Chinese-American businessmen. She has not been formally charged with any crime and was moved Sunday to a facility in Nanning. Gillis said he does not know of anything illegal his wife did while in China. "I can't think of any reason why the Chinese government would have done this," he said. He said that U.S. consular officials visited his wife in Guangzhou and determined she was not being mistreated. Gillis wanted to keep the case a low-profile matter in hopes it could be resolved, but became discouraged as months passed and he got what he felt was a cool reaction by the U.S. State Department. With Xi's trip, he sees an opportunity to use the state visit to get public support for his wife's case. Xi will be in Seattle beginning today, and Gillis said he and some relatives are considering staging a demonstration to coincide with the leader's visit. Scott Walker removes himself from the presidential race By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Republican Scott Walker has suspended his U.S. presidential campaign, effectively ending an eight-week formal push that saw him sink from near-frontrunner status to political insignificance in the key campaign state of Iowa. Analysts and insiders attributed the Wisconsin governor's decision to a lack of funding, as he crisscrossed Iowa and sought support for the Republican nomination in other key states seen as favoring his conservative message. But Monday Walker said he had become disillusioned with the Republican race, and that the overall campaign had drifted into personal attacks. He did not offer details. But in a thinly veiled swipe at leading candidate Donald Trump, Walker called on the remaining candidates to develop "a positive, conservative alternative to the current frontrunner." Walker gained national attention in 2012, after his successful push to decertify public worker unions in his home state, and later for surviving a recall election largely organized and backed by disgruntled public workers and their supporters. But his campaign, launched in July, failed to gain traction nationally, and several recent surveys showed him favored by fewer than 5 percent of likely voters in Iowa. In other developments, a U.S.-based Islamic civil liberties group on Monday called for one of the leading Republican candidates, former neurosurgeon Ben Carson, to quit his campaign after he said he would never support a Muslim presidential candidate. Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said that Carson, a devout Christian, should withdraw "because he's unfit to lead because his views are in contradiction with the United States Constitution." Awad noted that the Constitution says "no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification" for U.S. public office. "This cannot be misunderstood. This is a very clear language to all Americans, to all generations, irrespective of who they are," Awad said at a news conference. Carson told NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday, "I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that." He said a president's faith should matter to voters and he described the Islamic faith as inconsistent with the U.S. Constitution, although he did not specify in which way Islam runs counter to constitutional principles. Carson's comments came amid lingering fallout over Republican Donald Trump's refusal last week to take issue with a man who, during a New Hampshire campaign event, wrongly called President Barack Obama a Muslim and said Muslims are "a problem in this country." Never too late is slogan for Senior Games athletes By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Every morning, Tony Diamond goes to a local park for an hour of fast walking. Then he runs for another hour. He also goes to a gym two or three times a week for muscle training. The retired navy captain won three medals at the 2015 National Senior Games in the road race and the race walk in his age group, 85 to 89. “My current age is 86 years old, and my fitness age is 44," he says. “I think I have such a good number because I did a lot of exercise during my life. I've been exercising since I was a little boy.” Helen White, a versatile athlete who won a silver medal in pickleball at the 2013 National Senior Games, plays basketball and also teaches the sport to senior groups. “I'm 62 years old and my fitness result showed that I was 32 years," she says. “It really wasn’t until I turned to 50 that I decided to become much more serious and focused about play, and just making sure it is daily part of my life.” Ms. White and Diamond are among some 5,000 competitors in the National Senior Games, a biennial competition for athletes over 50 that was recently held in Minnesota, who took part in the study on fitness age. The research, led by Pamela Peeke of the University of Maryland in coordination with Ulrik Wisloff of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, who developed a fitness calculator, found that older athletes’ fitness age is more than 20 years younger than their chronological age. “You simply input very straightforward data," said Dr. Peeke, explaining how the study was conducted. "We ask you questions: your age, height, weight, how much you work out, your waist size, heart rate, blood pressure, and it goes on. Then you press a button, you find out what your actual fitness age is. “This kind of testing, an assessment of fitness age, is actually very valid and it helps us understand the benefits of being fit and healthy,” she added, explaining that anyone can use the online calculator for free. Dr. Peeke, a board member of the organization that runs the National Senior Games, says many of the competitors didn’t start training until later in life. Consisting of a variety of sports from track and field to triathlon the games' average competitor is 68, although their average fitness age is 43. "It doesn’t matter how old you are," she said. "Twenty, 25, 30 . . . who cares, all of us can lower our fitness age by staying right on top of it, taking good care of ourselves, especially physical activity." Dr. Peeke says it is never too early or too late to start reaping the benefits of exercise. |
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
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permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's sixth news page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2015, Vol. 16, No. 187 | |||||||||
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Study says tight
laws reduce number
of young people who carry firearms By the Journal of the American Medical
Association news staff
A more restrictive gun law environment was associated with a reduced likelihood of youth carrying guns, according to an article published online by JAMA Pediatrics. An average of 15,000 teenagers 12 to 19 years old died annually in the United States from 1999 to 2013. The three leading causes of death among teenagers were unintentional injuries, homicide and suicide. Among these fatal youth injuries, most homicides were gun-related (83 percent) and about half of suicides involved a gun (45 percent). The limited impact of youth-focused gun laws may be explained by the wide prevalence of gun ownership. The study of the state gun law environment is limited, according to background information in the study. Ziming Xuan of the Boston University School of Public Health, and David Hemenway, of the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, examined the gun law environment and youth gun carrying in the United States, as well as whether it was mediated by adult gun ownership. The authors analyzed data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which includes representative data from students in grades nine to 12 from 2007, 2009 and 2011. Youth gun carrying was defined as having carried a gun on at least one day during the 30 days before the survey. To characterize the gun law environment, the authors used state gun law scores ranging from 0 to 100 points, with the greater value representing a more restrictive gun control environment. The authors found substantial variation in state-level gun law scores with average scores across 2007, 2009 and 2011 ranging from a low of 1.3 in Utah to a high of 79.7 in California. Adult gun ownership ranged from 20 percent in Massachusetts to 70.9 percent in Mississippi. In 38 states with data on youth gun carrying, the average aggregate prevalence was 6.7 percent, ranging from 1.4 percent in New Jersey to 11 percent in Wyoming. The authors report a 10-point increase in the gun law score was associated with 9 percent lower odds of youth gun carrying. Higher adult gun ownership levels also were associated with a higher prevalence of youth gun carrying. “Gun violence poses a substantial public health threat to adolescents in the United States. Existing evidence points to the need for policies to reduce gun carrying among youth. We find that the strength of gun policies including both adult-focused and youth-focused policies is inversely associated with youth gun carrying. These findings are relevant to gun policy debates about the critical importance of comprehensive state-level gun law environment to prevent youth gun carrying,” the study concludes. Kids and Internet is topic of meeting By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Internet officials, government experts and children advocates are meeting for the second of two days today to seek ways to protect youngsters. The event will include the reactivation of the Comisión Nacional de Seguridad en Línea and assist the Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología y Telecomunicaciones in its development of a national strategy for cybersecurity. Also involved at the United Nations Children's Fund, the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Fundación Paniamor, and Millicom, the parent firm of the local cable Internet provider Tigo. The session is being held in the Museo de los Niños. The ministry said the goal of the session is to plan concrete actions to help youngsters use the resources of the Internet without being victims of insecurity and violence. |
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| From Page 7: Justice Department to investigate Volkeswagen By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The U.S. Justice Department plans a criminal investigation into charges that the German-based car maker Volkswagen deliberately cheated on U.S. emissions testing for nearly half-a-million diesel-powered cars. Shares of Volkswagen plunged 20 percent on world markets Monday. Volkswagen chief executive Martin Winterkorn apologized for deceiving customers and regulators and promised to cooperate with all investigators. Along with having to pay to fix the rigged cars, Volkswagen could face as much as $18 billion in fines. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Volkswagen secretly installed software in several popular models which could detect when an emissions test was being carried out. The software switched on pollution controls during the tests and switched them off when the car was being driven. The cars spewed 40 percent more emissions into the air without the controls. Cars that drive without pollution controls generally perform better and are more fuel efficient. Volkswagen advertised the affected models as being better for the environment. |
