Archive for November 6th, 2009
Friday, November 6th, 2009
The price of gasoline dropped at 12:01am today as the latest price drop approval by the Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Públicos (Aresep).
Today the cost of a liter of super and regular gasoline will be ¢11 colones lower, although the price of diesel fuel will increase by ¢4 colones.
The new prices will be ¢564 (down from ¢575 today) for a litre of super and ¢547 (down from ¢558 today) for regular. Diesel will jump to ¢488 from today’s ¢484.
Gasoline prices at the pumps is regulated by the Aresep and with the same price fixed at all gasoline stations across the country.
This is the sixth decrease in gasoline prices this year.
However, don’t get too used to the lower prices, the Aresep is analyzing requests for increases in gasoline prices that will apply in December, as well as hikes in bus and taxi fares.
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Friday, November 6th, 2009
A hacker attacked the Costa Rican president’s official website, slightly altering the site’s content and forcing officials to take it down, the office of the president said.
The hacker launched the attack around 9.30 a.m. Wednesday, “taking advantage of a weakness in the system, partially altering the website’s content”, the office said in a statement.
The hacker placed a Nicaraguan flag and text that said, “a Nica came through here”.
Authorities, however, did not provide details on what the hacker did.
The government said the attack on the website occurred while it was being upgraded and linked to social networking sites in an effort to “improve citizens’ communications tools”.
The website was taken down until information technology experts can secure it and try to determine where the hacker attack originated, the authorities said.
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Friday, November 6th, 2009
By executive order the government of Costa Rica has decided on a ban on new weapons permits to all foreigners and an exhaustive review of all existing permits held by foreigners and revoke any permits if such permits cannot be justified, said yesterday the ministro de la Presidencia, Rodrigo Arias Sánchez.
Currently a total of 2,023 foreigners hold weapons permits.
For his part, the ministero de Seguridad Pública, Oldermar Madrigal, said it is important to restrict the current permits and make issuing new permits more stringent, as the current law is lax. The changes are expected to make it to the reform of the Ley de Armas (weapons law) that will soon go before the Legislative Assembly.
The executive order follows Tuesday’s attack on Judicial agents by a group of Jamaicans who opened fire on police with an AK47 automatic weapon, one of a number of high caliber weapons in their possession. An OIJ agent was killed in the gunfire shootout that took place in San Antonio de Escazú.
On Tuesday, 30 year old Randall López Garita, a member of the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ) “Robo de Vehículos” (car theft) unit was gunned down by a group of Jamaicans suspected of shooting Milena Madriz Muñoz, the daughter of the Dominican Republic ambassador to Costa Rica, last Thursday in Los Yoses, San Pedro.
OIJ agents, in pursuit of their suspects, where met with gunfire from high caliber weapons, two rounds striking López in the thorax, dying on route to hospital.
Wednesday night the Fiscal General de la República, Francisco Dall’Anese, the head of the OIJ, Jorge Rojas, and ministro Arias, met with the intent of securing more financial resources to judicial agents for their continued fight against crime and criminal gangs.
The order is expected to be published in the official government publication, La Gaceta, on or before November 15.
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Friday, November 6th, 2009
At 1000 am est, 1500 utc, the center of Hurricane Ida was located near latitude 13.1 north, longitude 83.7 west.
Ida is moving toward the northwest near 6 mph, 9 km/hr, and a turn to the north-northwest is expected later today, followed by a turn toward the north late Friday or Friday night. On the forecast track, the center of Ida will move across eastern Nicaragua and eastern Honduras during the next couple of days.
Maximum sustained winds are near 75 mph, 120 km/hr, with higher gusts. Ida is a category one hurricane on the saffir-simpson scale. Weakening is expected as Ida moves inland over Nicaragua today and tonight. Ida is forecast to weaken to a tropical storm later today.
Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 15 miles, 30 km, from the center, and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 70 miles, 110 km.
Estimated minimum central pressure is 987 mb, 29.15 inches.
Ida is expected to produce total rainfall accumulations of 5 to 7 inches over the islands off the coast of Nicaragua with maximum amounts of 12 inches possible. Rainfall accumulations of 15 to 20 inches are expected over eastern Nicaragua and eastern Honduras with maximum amounts of 25 inches possible. These rains could produce life-threatening flash flood and mud slides.
A storm surge could raise water levels by as much as 3 feet above ground level along the east coast of Nicaragua, with large and dangerous battering waves, near and to the north of where the center of Ida makes landfall. Water levels should begin to subside later today.
Summary of 1000 am est information, location, 13.1n 83.7w maximum sustained winds, 75 mph present movement, northwest or 315 degrees at 6 mph minimum central pressure, 987 mb
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Friday, November 6th, 2009
Costa Rica is a beautiful travel destination that has caught the attention of the world. Recent statistics indicate that tourism has growing rapidly over the recent years and is expect to continue expand. Literally called the “Rich Coast” by the Spanish explorers Costa Rica has access to both the Pacific and Caribbean seas.
Costa Rica Tourism is considered a USD 1.9 billion a year industry. It stands out as the most visited nation in the Central American region and records to date show that 1.9 million visitors enjoy the country’s beauty and hospitality. More than half of the tourists come from the United States and a fifth of the total number come from Europe.
Costa Rica now prides itself in having two major international airports (SJO and LIR) and several domestic airports. The first major airport is Juan Santamaría Airport (SJO) and it is accessible to major cities of the country which are Alajuela, Heredia and the capital city of San José. The second international airport is Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport (LIR) and it is located in Liberia, near the Guacanaste province and closest to the Pacific Northwest coast.
Increases in Costa Rica tourism are tied to the Liberia international airport. Plans are underway to expand this facility to continue to accommodate the surge of visitors. New developments in the northern region of Costa Rica is one of the major reasons for the increased visitor traffic. Nowadays, luxury hotels, enchanting villas and mesmerizing rentals are constantly on the rise in this part of the country.
Costa Rica is the pioneer in strategic ecotourism. Thus, there are many exciting destinations in the country where nature can best be appreciated. Tourists can visit any one of the country’s national parks: Chirripo National Park, Manuel Antonio National Park, Cahuita National Park, Corcovado National Park and Tapanti National Park. Other environmental tourist spots are the Monteverde and Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserves and the Pacuare River and Protected Zone.
Going on a holiday in Costa Rica is far from boring. Due to the fact that prostitution is legal in the country, sex tourism has become one of the country’s tourist attractions. The industry is slowly gaining popularity, making it one of the national destinations of ’sex tourists’ and the commerce already accounts for approximately 1/10 or 10% of the billion dollar industry. However there are many people who have decided to avoid Costa Rica as a result of the sex tourism industry.
According to the first Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index published by the World Economic Forum, Costa Rica tourism astonishingly ranks 41st place, making themselves the first among other Latin American countries. It is definitely a feat, since if the forum only takes into consideration major factors such as human, cultural and natural resources, Costa Rica places 20th at a worldwide level.
Costa Rica tourism will continue to grow as the world discovers the beauty of this tropical paradise. This will provide an increase economic growth and the growth of the infrastructure that is associated with the tourism industry. The future is bright for Costa Rica and its tourism industry.
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