Archive for June, 2009
Thursday, June 11th, 2009
Myleene Klass accidentally got stuck to the bedposts in her Costa Rican hotel, it has been claimed.
According to The Sun, the presenter became glued to her bed when her insect repellent reacted with the varnish on the posts.
A source said: “Hotel staff had to peel her off slowly but surely.”
Klass is currently in Central America filming the US series of I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!.
Myleene Angela Klass (born 6 April 1978) is an English actress, singer, model, pianist and media personality, formerly a member of the now defunct pop band Hear’Say.
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Thursday, June 11th, 2009
The total number of confirmed cases of the A/H1N1 influenza in Latin America and the Caribbean has risen to 9,148, including 113 deaths, as of Wednesday.
Chile, with a total of 1,694 confirmed cases, announced on Wednesday its third death case of the epidemic, becoming the second Latin American country with the largest number of flu cases.
Costa Rica reported on Wednesday 11 new cases, raising the total number to 104, including one death. Costa Rica was the second Latin American country reporting an A/H1N1 flu death following Mexico.
Guatemala reported on Wednesday another six confirmed cases, bringing the total in that nation to 66, while Nicaragua reported five new cases, with a total of 51 cases in the country. (more…)
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Wednesday, June 10th, 2009
The Billabong ISA World Surfing Games 2009 will be hosted in Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica this August 1-8, 2009. The event, which will bring together the best surfers in the world in an Olympic-style competition, is set to be the biggest surfing championship ever held in Central America. The honor of hosting the 8th ever World Surfing Games is expected to solidify Costa Rica’s reputation as one of the world’s best up and coming surf destinations.
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Wednesday, June 10th, 2009
After recent defeats of the U.S. soccer team and Trinidad and Tobago, Costa Rica is the most likely team of the six countries in the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Football Association (Concacaf) final qualifying round to make it to the 2010 World Cup Finals in South Africa.This past Saturday’s game against Trinidad and Tobago ended in a 3-2 victory for Costa Rica in the losing team’s home stadium on the island of Tobago thanks to two goals by Celso Borges in the second half of the game, the last one netted in the 68th minute of play. The win advanced Costa Rica’s score from 9 to 12, with the U.S. trailing with 10 points and El Salvador in third place with 5 after an unexpected and painful defeat of the Mexican team this past Saturday.
As it stands, the worst Costa Rica could do (with 5 straight loses in its final matches) would be to come in 4th place in the Concacaf qualifying round, giving the team one final chance to make it to the World Cup in a playoff match against the No. 5 team from South America. The top three teams in the North American and Caribbean division will go on to play in the World Cup in 12 months in South Africa. (more…)
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Tuesday, June 9th, 2009
The ministra de Obras Públicas y Transportes (MOPT), Karla González, is responding to the demands of residents of Santa Ana to reduce or eliminate the tolls at Piedades de Santa Ana.
To that end, the ministra is expected to make a formal request to the Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Públicos (Aresep) to review the toll charges on the new highway to Caldera.
The proposal expected is to ask the Aresep for a reduction of 50% of the toll charges that are not yet in effect. That would mean that the tolls at Santa Ana would be lowered to ¢80 from ¢160 colones (each way).
The MOPT says it expects the Aresep to heed to the wishes of the transport minister and have a decision in not more than eight days.
Ministra González said the ¢80 colones toll is based on a calculation made in 1998 and lowering to that amount would in no way affect the concession contract with Autopistas del Sol. (more…)
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Tuesday, June 9th, 2009
The AH1N1 flu virus keeps on infecting more and more Ticos each day, with the total number of infected now at 93, according to the ministerio de Salud.
Ana Cecilia Morice, vice-ministra de Salud, confirmed the 93 cases, adding that there are still 8 more cases that are listed as “probable”, after discarting 1.756 cases since April 24.
Morice said that the those between the ages of 20 and 29 and children up to nine years of age have been the most affected by the virus, representing 72% or 70 cases.
The vice-ministra added that women have been affected more than men. (more…)
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Tuesday, June 9th, 2009
A 42-year-old British man said he is lucky to be alive after enduring numerous stings while being trapped amongst jellyfish for 40 minutes in Costa Rica.
Crispin Freeman had been kite-surfing off the coast of Costa Rica when he crash-landed amid a two-mile mass of the poisonous underwater creatures.
Before being swept free of the jellyfish by strong currents, the father-of-three endured so many stings he went into shock and his body began to shut down.
Freeman, who was eventually rescued and hospitalized following the May 23 incident, said his experience with the jellyfish was horrifying.
“I panicked initially but after a while I couldn’t feel anything at all,” he said of his response while amid the animals.
“I thought I was going to die.”
Despite the multiple stings he endured in the incident, Freeman has made a full recovery.
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Monday, June 8th, 2009
Costa Rica finished the first half of the final round qualifiers in first place with 12 points. The Ticos defeated the Soca Warriors (Trinidad & Tobago) last night 2-3 in the Caribbean island and brought home 3 points that mean lots of things. Costa Rica demonstrated that they could win as the visiting team (not only in the Saprissa stadium). T&T started winning with a free kick in the first half. In the 40th minute, Saborio tied the game wich was starting to be handled by the visiting team. In the second half, Borges scored 2 beautiful goals and that was it. Bryan Ruiz was booked and will miss the next game in Honduras.
It is extremely important to win your home games in the final round of the CONCACAF´s FIFA qualifiers, but if you also win as the visiting team, it means that you´re doing something right. Costa Rica is enjoying its first place and is now very close to the World Cup.
Now, the US stands second, followed by El Salvador (surprisingly defeated Mexico), Honduras, Mexico, and Trinidad and Tobago in last place.
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Monday, June 8th, 2009
Heidi Montag-Pratt has been reportedly spirited off to hospital from the set of her Costa Rican-based reality TV show, I’m a Celebrity: Get Me Out of Here.
According to media reports, the female half of the Hollywood creature recently dubbed Speidi (IE: herself and husband Spencer Pratt) has fallen ill on the jungle location and had to be taken by ambulance to receive treatment for what has been called a “stomach infection.”
Her husband was, of course, by her side. Where he always is.
The pair have been making headlines for all the wrong reasons since landing on the reality show in which D-list celebrities are supposed to sit in the jungle and be exposed to ‘challenges’, with a view to the last person left winning a boatload of cash for their favourite charity.
But the Pratts have so angered viewers that the Red Cross, who had been listed as Spencer’s charity recipient if he won, have asked to be removed from any connection with the MTV’s The Hills co-star. (more…)
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Friday, June 5th, 2009
The replacement of wood railway ties for concrete has set back, again, the start of operations of the Heredia commuter train.
The train is expected to provide to daily carry thousands on the 10 kilometre trip between Heredia and San Jose and reduce congestion on the roads.
The trains, once running, will operate morning and afternoons weekdays and will cost ¢350 colones each way, the rate already being approved by the Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Públicos (Aresep).
Miguel Carabaguíaz, president of the Instituto Costarricense de Ferrocarriles (Incofer), said the delay will push back the start of operations at least one month.
The Heredia – San Jose train was to have begun operations last month.
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Friday, June 5th, 2009
Legislators in second and final voting reforms to the Código de Trabajo, approving the Ley de Trabajo Doméstico Remuneradol, which changes the daily working hours of a “empleada domestica” (domestic employee or maid) from 12 hours to 8. For evening work, the work day is 6.
The new law also guarantees domestic workers that the boss provide work place accident risk insurance as well as pay their Seguro Social, more commonly known as the Caja (Social Security) and be paid the minimum wage set out by law.
The law was project by Rina Contreras of the PUSC and long forgot by fellow legislators until revived by legisltors Carlos Gutiérrez of the Movimiento Libertario.
The objective of the Contreras proposal was to end “slavery of domestic employees”. (more…)
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Thursday, June 4th, 2009
Two early goals make it easy in a 3-1 victory that vaults Costa Rica over the U.S. in World Cup qualifying.
On Wednesday night, it was Bob Bradley’s turn and, just like the four U.S. men’s national soccer coaches who preceded him, Bradley also fell on his face.
In front of a loud and boisterous crowd at Ricardo Saprissa Stadium in the Costa Rican capital of San Jose, Costa Rica trounced the U.S., 3-1, in a 2010 World Cup qualifying match.
It wasn’t even that close, and the Ticos could have had five or six goals but for the saves made by U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard. They scored after only 83 seconds and were ahead by two goals before the U.S. had taken a shot.
Other than Howard, the American defense of Marvell Wynne, Oguchi Onyewu, Carlos Bocanegra and DaMarcus Beasley was abysmal, the midfield of Jose Torres, Michael Bradley and Pablo Mastroeni was overrun all night, and the forward line of Jozy Altidore, Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey was nonexistent. (more…)
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Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009
The Costa Ricans have fielded increasingly strong rosters over the years and have given the Americans fits because of it.
Entering Wednesday’s game in Central America, the U.S. national team is winless in seven qualifiers in Costa Rica. While the atmosphere and overall environment at Estadio Saprissa is one factor that favors the locals, there is another part to that one-sided history: Costa Rica themselves.
“When people talk about Costa Rica, they talk about the turf and Estadio Saprissa and their fans but Costa Rica is a strong team, a team that plays very well, with confidence especially here in Costa Rica,” U.S. forward Landon Donovan said. “All that makes for a great team.”
Donovan and the U.S. will try to slay one of their few regional ghosts on Wednesday as the U.S. has never won a qualifying game in Costa Rica. The Ticos will bring a strong squad to their game against the Americans and along with the crowd, the surface and even possibly the officials, Costa Rica has plenty on its side to feel good about. (more…)
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Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009
Daniel Baldwin is jetting to the jungles of Costa Rica to replace newlyweds Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt and join his brother Stephen as a castmember of reality TV show, “I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!” The Pratts walked off the survival show shortly after the first telecast aired Monday night because they couldn’t deal with the primitive conditions of jungle life. The Hollywood honeys appeared to be seriously grossed out when teammate Patty Blagojevich and actor Lou Diamond Phillips were forced to eat tarantula on the show.
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Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009
The owner of a Costa Rica-based telemarketing call center and two workers at another call center face prison for their roles in schemes that defrauded thousands of U.S. residents out of more than $10 million.
The U.S. Department of Justice said Tuesday that that 33-year-old Michael Kearns of Sacramento, Calif., was sentenced to nine years in prison. Forty-four-year-old Herman Kankrini of Montreal received more than seven years, and 32-year-old Severin Marcel Stone of Los Angeles received a similar sentence.
The men pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud people out of millions by convincing them they had won a large cash prize in a sweepstakes.
Indictments returned in Asheville and Charlotte, N.C., have charged 46 defendants for their roles in the scheme. So far, 33 have pleaded guilty and three have been convicted.
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