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updated by 8:00 a.m. CST each day
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Protest March
Planned for Today
Leaders of the different union organizations have
planned a march on Presidential House this morning
to protest the Free Trade Agreement.
The march will commence around 10 AM from the
Central Park in downtown San José and will head for
the Presidential House in Zapote.
Like the last protest march that ended in front of
the legislature building last month, the government
is again warning that it will not the pay the day's
salary for all public employees that take part in
the protest.
According to organizers, this protest march is part
of a series of planned protests to show their
discontent towards the government and the Free Trade
Agreement it will be signing with the U.S.
Dry Season Delayed
The fourth Sunday in November is supposed to be a
day of change, it is supposed to be a day of
sunshine and the start of the dry or summer season,
according to the experts. However, that was not the
case yesterday.
The Instituto
Meteorológico Nacional (IMN) - the official weather
man - says that the rainy season is lasting a little
longer and the season change over will occur in the
first days of December.
Traditionally, several days before the change over,
the temperature turns cold for a few days and strong
winds are normal. This was the case for the days at
the end of last week.
However, notwithstanding the experts, it rained on
the Central Valley yesterday as well as in the
Talamanca region, and Orotina and Esparza, west of
San José.
The weather office says that we can expect more
downpours in the days coming before the rainy season
comes to an end. The atmospheric systems that
determines the dry season and does not produce the
rains is not in place just yet.
Brazil Seeks to Show Coffee's Health Benefits
Brazil, the world's No. 1 coffee producer, hopes to
convince people to drink up -- and ease a global
crisis caused by oversupply -- by proving that
coffee is good for you.
The country that offers school children "coffee
breaks," plans to try to show that coffee can help
reduce heart disease, countering the conventional
wisdom that coffee causes health problems including
anxiety and hypertension.
The Brazilian government is funding a study of
200,000 doctors to see if there is a link between
heart disease and coffee consumption.
Professor Darcy Lima, who is leading the study, said
it would make doctors' aware of the benefits of
coffee.
"It's like the discovery that aspirin helped prevent
heart attacks," said Lima, a professor at the
Neurology Institute of the Federal University of Rio
de Janeiro.
He added that coffee made people alert and happy,
noting the success of a "coffee break" program in
Brazilian schools in which children were offered
cups of milky coffee.
International Coffee Organization Director Nestor
Osorio said Brazil's efforts to present a healthy
image for coffee, as well as improvements in
quality, would boost consumption.
"It could serve as a model for other producer
countries," Osorio told Reuters.
A coffee industry survey identified health concerns
as the main barrier to raising consumer demand.
Osorio, a Colombian, noted that Colombian coffee
consumption stagnated for many years at around 1.4
million 130-pound bags, while in Brazil demand had
risen by more than 5 million bags to 13.6 million in
the past decade making it the world's No. 2
consumer.
Brazil is due in September 2004 to host an ICO
summit - with the Presidents of Mexico, Honduras,
Costa Rica and Brazil - to discuss coffee promotion
and other steps to end a five-year global coffee
crisis which has brought poverty to millions of
coffee farmers.
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New York's World Trade Center station reopens
The commuter train station at the World Trade Center
(WTC) site is opened to traffic Sunday afternoon
after more than two years of closure following the
Sept.11 terror attacks on the WTC twin towers.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and New Jersey
Governor Jim McGreevey, took a ceremonial first ride
into the station. The train that made the short trip
from Jersey City to the temporary station at the WTC
site was the last train to leave the WTC site before
the twin towers collapsed.
"Today, we're proud and we're pleased to bring back
to the people of this region something that was
taken from us on Sept. 11," said Anthony Coscia,
chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New
Jersey, which owns the WTC site.
"What we do here today is critically important,"
said governor McGreevy. "We have not yielded to the
terrorists. We've invested in our infrastructure,
rebuilding our commerce, but also building a
stronger community."
As it did before the Sept. 11 attacks, the station
at the WTC site will connect to nearby subway lines.
Since the station is only temporary, no heat, air
conditioning, concessions or advertising are to be
seen. The station is expected to be replaced by a
2-billion-dollar permanent downtown transit hub,
scheduled toopen in 2006.
Some 67,000 riders boarded the train at the WTC
station every day before two hijacked jets destroyed
the twin towers. The new station is expected to
handle up to 50,000 passengers a day.
Not everyone is pleased with the changes. Groups of
victims' families and friends gathered at the
station with yellow placards that read "Governor
Pataki, you let us down." Some protesters criticized
the city and state officials for failing to keep
their promise to leave as intact as possible the
twin towers footprints.
UN agency stresses need to give attention to
youth
The Ethiopian government should give special
attention to youth in helping it bring about
sustainable development to the country, the United
Nation Children Fund (UNICEF) said Friday.
UNICEF Representative Abdelmejid Tibouti said young
people are the positive force for change and a key
resource for poverty reduction.
Abdelmejid was speaking to the Third Meeting of the
Ethiopian Teenagers' Forum examining "Poverty
Reduction and Youth" which got underway here.
He said poverty causes lifelong damage to children's
minds and bodies, perpetuating the cycle of poverty
across generations.
"This is why poverty reduction must begin with the
protection and realization of the human rights of
children," Abdelmejid said.
He expressed hope that all the adults would gain
fresh insights and perspectives on their analysis on
how to alleviate poverty and ortify the youth of
Ethiopia.
He said UNICEF was trying to help create a world fit
for children by promoting healthy lives and
providing quality education.
International women federation works for women
rights
The Women's International DemocraticFederation (WIDF)
Direction Committee Meeting opened on Friday here to
work out action plans.
At the opening ceremony, WIDF President Marcia de
Campos Pereira stressed the importance of unity
between WIDF and people, especially women in
countries facing current conflicts and possible
wars.
She also called for WIDF members to strengthen
activities for peace and development. She strongly
condemned the US-led war against Iraq, which caused
affliction to Iraqi people, especially women and
children, and expressed supports to the
establishment ofan independent state of Palestine
and peace on the Korean peninsula.
During the two-day meeting, delegates are to discuss
measures to promote the federation's influence and
role at international and regional forums especially
those of the United Nations, as well as to intensify
fights for peace and the rights of women and
children all over the world.
Delegates from 14 WIDF members attended the meeting.
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