Archive for May, 2009
Thursday, May 28th, 2009
The wife of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is headed to the Costa Rican jungle to compete on a TV reality show that he was barred from going on.
Her spokesman, Glenn Selig, said Wednesday that Patti Blagojevich is “on her way” to Costa Rica for her spot on NBC’s “I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here.”
Selig says it’ll be challenging for the “big city girl.”
A federal judge barred her husband from going because it would send him out of the country. Rod Blagojevich faces federal corruption charges.
Patti Blagojevich has said she’s participating because of her family’s financial situation. Both she and her husband are unemployed.
The show airs on June 1. Other contestants include actor Stephen Baldwin and former “American Idol” contestant Sanjaya Malakar.
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Thursday, May 28th, 2009
The Costa Rican Health Ministry said Wednesday it has confirmed 37 cases of A/H1N1 flu in the country and were waiting for the test results of two “highly possible” cases.
The ministry said the authorities have found 1,349 probable cases, among which they have ruled out 1,206 cases and are examining 104 cases.
Most of the confirmed cases are in the central area of the country, and most of the patients are between 20 and 29 years old, without a clear difference among gender.
So far, Costa Rica has reported one death from the A/H1N1 flu.
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Tuesday, May 26th, 2009
Police on patrol on a beach in southern Costa Rica found 20 kilos of cocaine. They said they have no idea who was responsible for leaving the drugs there.
The find was on a beach in Punta Burica in the extreme southern part of the country near the Panamá border. Drug smugglers who are being chased by police and U.S. navy patrols frequently dump their cargo into the sea. Finding packaged cocaine is not unusual along the Pacific coast.
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Tuesday, May 26th, 2009
Myleene Klass left her hotel room in Costa Rica after she found bugs crawling all over her while sleeping.
The beauty was there to shoot for the US version of ‘I’m A Celeb’ and was put in a fancy hotel near the set of the jungle-based reality show.
However, the runner-up on the UK show in 2006 soon realised that she wasn’t alone.
On the first night she got woken up at 3am to find her bed and body covered in spiders, giant ants and other creepy crawlies.
The star was so petrified that she raised the alarm and told hotel chiefs to give her another room.
“Myleene knew something was up when she kept scratching herself in the night,” The Sun quoted a pal as saying.
The friend added: “She turned on the light only to discover the room was literally moving - it was covered in bugs. They were all over her bed too, and on her. She screamed and staff came to her rescue.”
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Tuesday, May 26th, 2009
Following the lead of US president, Barack Obama, that signed into law limits on credit card fees and curbs contract changes, the Oficina de Apoyo al Consumidor in Costa Rica announced yesterday that a similar law could be a reality in Costa Rica.
Cynthia Zapata, director of the Oficina de Apoyo al Consumidor, said that they will also try to place limits on credit card rates and other markets, that are not in place now.
“We have a dispersion in the fees,” said Zapata.
For his part, José Ignacio Cordero, general manager of Credomatic, said that many of the regulations approved in the US are already applied in Costa Rica.
Zapata said that because there is no limit on the interest charges usury laws do not apply in Costa Rica and consumers suffer, (more…)
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Monday, May 25th, 2009
The number of confirmed cases of AH1N1 flu cases in Costa Rica continues to rise, as three new cases were added on Friday, bringing the total now to 28.
The latest infected include two children in Heredia and a woman resident of San José. Salud officials say they are tracking the chain of transmission of infection.
María Ethel Trejos, director of the Vigilancia de la Salud del Ministerio, said that one case that had been reported as confirmed as in error, the case is being listed as a “probable”, waiting on confirmation of test results by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta.
The majority of the confirmed cases are in the province of San José, with 14. Coronado and Moravia have each six cases, one each in Goicoechea and Desamparados. One case in Pavas is listed as probable. (more…)
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Monday, May 25th, 2009
In the first game of the final series of the Costa Rican first division summer championship, visitors Club Sport Herediano tied Liberia Mía 0-0 Sunday evening in the city of Liberia, in the northwestern Guanacaste province.
Heredia controlled the pace of the game, and missed several clear chances at goal in the second half. Liberia was playing without a number of its most important players, who were excluded for having accumulated yellow cards in earlier games, or, as in the case of William Sunsing widely considered Liberia Mía’s most dynamic player because of injury. (more…)
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Monday, May 25th, 2009
Canadians and friends will be celebrating Canada’s 142th birthday at a party organized by the Canadian Club of Costa Rica at the end of June.
The event will be at Club Campestre Español in La Rib, Heredia, Saturday, June 27, from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.
The fun includes swimming, soccer, face-painting, bouncy castles, mini-golf, tennis, pool tables, cribbage games, a grand tug-o-war, and much more, organizers said.
There are two heated pools and a hot tub. (more…)
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Friday, May 22nd, 2009
Costa Rican Health Minister Maria Luisa Avila confirmed on Thursday six new cases of the A/H1N1 flu, bringing the country’s total to 26.
Avila said that this six patients were not among the pervious reports of possible cases of the H1N1 flu due to the detection limitations. However, she said that now the Costa Rican Institute of Nutrition and Health Investigation and Research (Inciensa) has more capacity to analyze the samples.
“From these six new cases, four were from the transmission chain of a girl in Heredia city, who infected her three brothers and the doctor who assisted her,” Avila said. (more…)
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Friday, May 22nd, 2009
Costa Rica’s economy will contract 1.8 percent in 2009, hit by the recession in its main trading partner the United States, the central bank said on Thursday.
Costa Rica was forecast to grow 2.2 percent this year but Central Bank President Francisco de Paula Gutierrez told reporters the impact of the U.S. downturn was now deeper than expected.
Politically stable Costa Rica, part of the U.S.-Central America free-trade area, depends mainly on tourism, bananas and electronic exports.
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Friday, May 22nd, 2009
The National Oil Refinery (RECOPE) recorded a 15.28 percent decrease in fuel consumption in the first four months of 2009 in comparison with the same period in 2008, according to a communiqué released this week.
Last year, RECOPE reported the sale of 6,848,936 barrels of crude oil between the months of January and April. In 2009, the refinery sold 5,802,152 barrels in the same months.
The first quarter drop represents a continuing shift away from the use of crude oil in Costa Rica. From 2007 to 2008, RECOPE reported a 1.5 percent drop in sales 18.4 million barrels to 18.1 million.
Several factors could be at play for the decline of oil consumption, but RECOPE seems to believe that it is the conscious choice of Costa Rica’s citizens.
Costa Ricans have shown a clear desire for a cleaner future and a tendency toward smaller consumption of oil, the press release noted.
More than 80 percent of Costa Rica’s energy is generated by renewable sources. The nation has pledged to be the first carbon neutral country by 2021.
The International Energy Agency estimates crude oil consumption will decrease 83.2 million barrels every day in 2009.
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Friday, May 22nd, 2009
Being the capital and the largest city of naturally rich Costa Rica, San Jose has grown to be a bustling and expansive metropolitan area ever since its foundation in 1737. It has been deemed to be one of the most cosmopolitan and diverse cities in the whole of Central America. It is also a very developed city, and holds about one million people. In addition to this, it is home to the Juan Santamaria International Airport, which continues to be the main entry point for most tourists and foreigners who come into this wonderful country. It is about a 20-minute drive to the busiest part of the city, downtown San Jose.
Costa Rica is recognized all over the world for being a politically and socially stable country. Aside from that, it boasts of having the greatest area of protected land and water resources by percentage, owing to the utmost value it puts on the preservation of its natural resources. It also has some of the best beaches in the world, and the warmth and hospitality of its people can hardly be surpassed. As such, the capital city of San Jose is central to it all, and as a consequence of this, San Jose and Costa Rica in general has been the choice holiday sanctuary and retirement haven for individuals and families the world over. (more…)
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Thursday, May 21st, 2009
Costa Rica’s ministra de Salud, María Luisa Ávila, yesterday said that 11 new cases of AH1N1 have been confirmed after performing test on 13 suspected cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 20 and one death.
Ávila said that two of the thirteen suspected cases were ruled out after sample test results were obtained by the Instituto Costarricense de Investigación y Enseñanza en Nutrición y Salud (Inciensa).
The ministra added that they have also sent samples to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta.
Ministra Ávila said the health alert continues, confirming that since April 24, they have investigated 1.042 suspected cases, of which 893 have been discarded, 128 are still pending results and 20 confirmed. (more…)
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Thursday, May 21st, 2009
The Intel plant in Costa Rica will begin in September production of computer chips that were being manufactured in three plants in Asia closed down due to the world economic crisis.
The chips to be manufactured in Costa Rica include processor chips for servers, CPU units for personal computers and “chipsets”, a group of integrated circuits that are designed to work together, forming part of a computer’s ‘nervous’ system.
Michael Forrest, general manager for Intel Costa Rica, confirmed the transfer of production that will be introduced gradually into the current production. (more…)
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Wednesday, May 20th, 2009
Authorities have found the body of a missing University of South Florida graduate who was swept out to sea Saturday in Costa Rica, according to the U.S. Embassy in the Costa Rican capital of San Jose.
The recovery of 21-year-old Aly Lakdawala’s body was confirmed by the embassy’s American citizens services chief, according to Melissa Martinez, the embassy’s information officer.
Lakdawala had drowned, she said, though she did not have information about when or where his body was found.
Lakdawala, of Coral Springs in Broward County, disappeared while swimming with friends from USF during a two-week volunteer service trip.
The group of four swimmers apparently was caught in a riptide, USF officials have said.
Once they were on shore, the other swimmers could not find Lakdawala, who graduated May 1 with a bachelor’s degree in international studies and philosophy.
His disappearance triggered a search by lifeguards, police and the Costa Rican coast guard.
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