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| A.M. Costa Rica's Second news page | |
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San
José, Costa Rica, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 41
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March 12 with lunch and sale Special
to A.M. Costa Rica
The Women’s Club of Costa Rica begins a new year March 12 at 11 a.m. with a special luncheon at the Aurola Holiday Inn’s Salon Augusto el Grande. A special feature will be a stylish selection of accessories of every variety at bargain prices. The organization invited others to join a vibrant group of women actively furthering educational development in Costa Rica for the luncheon. Those who attend can select from a great collection of almost new costume jewelry, scarves, pashaminas and belts. Proceeds supporting the Women's Club's scholarship program and supply public school textbooks to students in need. “WCCR is one of the oldest, continuously operating service organizations in Costa Rica,” said in-coming president Jeannine Hurd. “2014 marks our 74rd anniversary, and we would especially like to invite new members and guests to this, our annual year-opening event.” The Aurola Holiday Inn is located in San José just north of Parque Morazán. Luncheon tickets are 12,000 colons including vouchers for free parking. They are available at tickets@wccr.org . The Women’s Club of Costa Rica’s membership numbers over 300 women of all ages from Costa Rica and many countries of the world, drawn together by the motto of Friendship Through Service. University for Peace offers 'Vagina Monologues' March 8 Special
to A.M. Costa Rica
A special presentation of "The Vagina Monologues" will be presented by the V-Team, students from the University for Peace, March 8, which is United Nations International Women’s Day. The performance takes place from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Teatro de la Palestra in Ciudad Colón. University for Peace students from all over the world, studying for their masters degrees in peace and conflict resolutions, are expressing their creativity and solidarity with the V-Day moment, a global activist campaign to end violence against women and girls. V-Day is a catalyst that promotes creative events to increase awareness, raise money and revitalize the spirit of existing anti-violence organizations and generate attention to the on-going fight to stop rape, battery, incest, female genital mutilation and sex slavery throughout the world, the university said. "The Vagina Monologues," written by Tony Award-winning playwright Eve Ensler, has been translated into over 48 languages and performed in over 140 countries. Ms. Ensler has devoted her life to stopping violence, envisioning a planet in which women and girls will be free to thrive, rather than merely survive, the university said. Fourteen monologues will be performed, two in Spanish, three written by University of Peace students themselves, on issues of sexuality, giving birth and understanding what it means to be a woman. Also featured will be speakers from the University for Peace U.N. Gender Program. Tickets for The Vagina Monologues are pre-sold online at upeacetvm.eventbrite.com for 2,000 colons ($4) or available at the door for 3,000 colons ($6). Some 90 percent of proceeds will be donated to a local woman’s activist group and 10 percent to the V-Day organization. "The Vagina Monologues" has sexual context and is not recommended for children under the age of 18, the university said. The Teatro de la Palestra is located next to Our Lady of Assumption Church on Avenida Central in Ciudad Colón, 22 kilometers west of San José off Ruta 2, the Caldera highway. U.S. citizen detained at airport in three-year-old rape case By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Judicial agents detained a 30-year-old U.S. citizen Tuesday as he was about to leave the country at Juan Santamaría airport. The man, identifid as Jeremy Scott Hunt, is a suspect in a rape case, said the Judicial Investigating Organization. The rape is supposed to have happened in 2011 in San José, and the victim was a 20-year-old woman, the judicial agency said. The agency said that the man was about to leave for the United States. There was no indication if the man knew about the warrant or that he was wanted before he was detained. Police in Limón receive 32 pickups for patrol work By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The central government Wednesday turned over 32 patrol pickups to police in the province of Limón. The vehicles represent an investment of 766 million colons or about $1.4 million. President Laura Chinchilla was there at the Parque de Limón for a presentation. Mario Zamora, the security minister, noted that the Servicio Nacional de Guardacostas has a new base at Limón and that a base is being constructed at Sixaola. Our reader's opinion
Germany building plantsthat use coal for power Dear A.M. Costa Rica: In reading this article [about green energy in Germany] I am reminded of several articles during the past year which went into considerable detail outlining the lack of success in wind and solar and that Germany was (is) in the midst of building 23 coal fired plants because their industry required an affordable and reliable source of energy. In fact Germany has dramatically increased the use of coal to satisfy their needs. As an aside, it's interesting to note that people turn on the lights without checking to see if the sun is shining or the wind is blowing. J.
H Penner
Richmond, British Columbia No news is good news for resident of Caribbean Dear A.M Costa Rica: Re: 3 people murdered on the Caribbean coast, I am frustrated about the publicity of crime on the Caribbean coast. The Tico Times made the same mistake some 2+ years ago when two drug dealers shot themselves at the then-Stanford disco I Puerto Viejo. It made the front page of the Tico Times. Several months earlier, The Tico Times reported that two individuals were killing truck drivers in the Manuel Antonio area. The article was a small writeup. Are we to believe there is no crime on the Pacific coast? If you have nothing good to say about the Caribbean coast, well just leave it alone and focus on the Central and Pacific coast. You may find some interesting stories to publish. I lived on both coasts, and I can tell you, crime is a national problem, so please leave us alone. We are doing the best we can to improve the security in the province of Limón. We can do without your negative reports. It is time to re-visit the integrity in journalism. Michel
St-Amend
Playa Negra, Puerto Viejo
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
| The contents of this page and this Web site are copyrighted by A.M. Costa Rica.com Ltda. 2014 and may not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details | ||||||
A.M. Costa Rica Third News Page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 41 | |
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| Firebombing of Dresden still fresh after 69 years for Grecia
man |
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By
Michael Krumholtz
of the A.M. Costa Rica staff Martin Börner was working as a 14-year-old apprentice in a hotel kitchen when the alarms went off. It was nearly 10 a.m. when the first bombs dropped. Börner was instructed to hastily take shelter underground with everyone else. Hours later, when he popped his head back into the daytime, his city of Dresden was in flames. Before the second wave of bombers flung more fire upon Saxony’s capital, Börner fled on foot to a nearby town to survive. “For three months we could smell that sweet smell of human bodies,” he said. “It was awful.” Sixty-nine years after the Feb. 13, 1945, air attacks by the U.S. Army Air Force and British Royal Air Force squadrons, Börner tells the story of the nightmarish day from his home in Grecía. There his wife Tessa and he had owned the long-running Posada Mimosa bed and breakfast until its close last October. In 2005, Börner and his wife wrote “English Girl, German Boy”, a book that recounts their experiences in World War II until they met and married in Canada. Mrs. Börner lived in the United Kingdom during the war and lost her soldier father during the Battle of the Atlantic. Before writing down their contrasting accounts within the 273-page book, the Börners said they had noticed how a person’s perception about the war directly related to what country they were raised in. Because Germany has always been reluctant to release much information since the war, the couple said they thought they should tell Martin’s story. “There was no other point of view from the Germans,” Mrs. Börner said. “I said to Martin that we need to get out and write this story.” When they first settled in Canada, Martin’s nationality caused him to be victim to recurring xenophobic attitudes. Years later in their children’s schools the history lessons about the war were often one-sided and scarred with obvious omissions. The Börner’s raised their five children to be fluent in both English and German, always reminding them of their deep-running cultural roots. “I was determined that our children would be proud of both cultures,” Mrs. Börner said. In a strange twist of fate, which is not divulged in the book, one of |
their daughters would marry the son of a pilot who bombed Dresden. Though it has never been legally stated as a war crime, the attacks targeted and killed many innocent civilians. One remaining question is how many? Börner said that 200,000 of his countrymen and refugees were killed amid the bombings, though the tolls vary drastically between sources and their place of origin. Costa Rica harbored a great wave of German immigrants in the mid-19th century. Some stumbled upon the beautiful coast on their way to find gold in California, while others started business in San José and lucrative coastal towns. There were 3,000 published copies of “English Girl, German Boy” when it first debuted, and the Börners said about 1,000 remain. The book is available on Amazon and by mail from their daughter who was the publisher. The Börners can be contacted via email at mimosa@mimosa.co.cr for more information. Mrs. Börner also authored the 2001 book about Costa Rica, “Potholes to Paradise.” |
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| Campus rape sparks demonstration today at Universidad
Nacional |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A group of Universidad Nacional students plans to march from the Heredia campus through the community today to demand the elimination of all forms of gender violence, particularly with regard to women. The action stems from the rape of a woman on campus Feb. 5. The group said they were unhappy that the university did not address the |
case publicly
until Feb. 18. And now they are unhappy with the university response. The administration seeks to close the campus to outsiders, which the group said, would allow administrators to keep knowledge of such crimes inside the campus. The group of students also seeks psychological counseling for the rape victim. |
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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, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 41 | |||||
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| New research at the molecular level may lead to dengue
protection |
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By
the University of North Carolina news staff
Creating a vaccine that protects people from all four types of dengue virus has frustrated scientists for decades. But researchers at the University of North Carolina have discovered a new target for human antibodies that could hold the key to a vaccine for the world’s most widespread mosquito-borne disease. Using an experimental technique new to the dengue field, the labs of Ralph Baric and Aravinda de Silva showed that a molecular hinge where two regions of a protein connect is where natural human antibodies attach to dengue 3 to disable it. The finding, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that after primary infection most human antibodies that neutralize the virus bind to the hinge region. It’s the first study to demonstrate how these binding sites, composed of just 25 amino acids, can be genetically swapped out for amino acids from another dengue type without disrupting the integrity of the virus. By re-engineering a tiny chain of amino acids in one type of dengue virus, Baric and de Silva discovered a new path that has the potential to transform vaccine development for other diseases, including SARS and HIV. “This gives us a lot of insight into how human antibodies work,” said de Silva, a professor of microbiology and immunology in the university's School of Medicine. “And there could be a lot of translational aspects to this. It could lead to a new way to create vaccines for other diseases.” De Silva and Baric, also a professor, are now working with vaccine |
developers
at two pharmaceutical companies to test the effectiveness of
potential dengue vaccines now in clinical trials. If these vaccines
don’t bind to their molecular hinge, then the vaccines will likely
prove less effective than researchers would like, especially over time. Dengue, which infects approximately 390 million people each year, is common in tropical and subtropical regions around the world. Making a truly effective dengue vaccine has proven difficult because of a phenomenon called antibody dependent enhancement. People infected with one type of dengue usually develop a natural immune response that rids the body of the virus and prevents a repeat infection of that same virus type. But if those people are infected with a second type of dengue, the virus is enhanced because of that first immune response. The result can be severe dengue hemorrhagic fever, which can be deadly. Consequently, a vaccine that offers immunity for only one type of dengue would make other types of dengue more virulent and dangerous. The first large clinical trial of a dengue vaccine, conducted in Thailand in 2011, contained a cocktail of all four types of dengue. But for reasons that remain unclear, the vaccine was just partially protective. There was no evidence that the vaccine protected people during a dengue 2 outbreak that same year. To study dengue, de Silva and colleagues have collected samples from infected Sri Lankans and from Americans who had acquired the disease while abroad. Such samples allowed de Silva’s team to find that human antibodies are not the same as mouse antibodies, which had served as the basis for vaccine development. |
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
| The contents of this page and this Web site are copyrighted by A.M. Costa Rica.com Ltda. 2014 and may not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details | ||||||
| A.M. Costa Rica's Fifth news page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 41 | |||||
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| Appeals court tells Google to trash anti-Muslim video By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
A U.S. appeals court has ordered Google to remove an anti-Muslim film from its video-sharing Web site YouTube. The film, "Innocence of Muslims," has incited international outrage and sparked protests around the world because of its negative portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad. Its appearance online coincided with the September 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador. The ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court in San Francisco reinstates a lawsuit filed against YouTube by an actress who sought its removal. She claimed she was tricked into appearing in the film without knowing of its anti-Muslim slant and has received death threats because of her work. The court said a trial judge erred when he refused to grant an injunction ordering the removal of the film. YouTube had resisted calls by President Barack Obama and other world leaders to take down the video, arguing that to do so amounted to unwarranted government censorship. The company argued that the filmmakers and not the actors of "Innocence of Muslims" owned the copyright and only they could remove it from YouTube. But the appeals court said in this case the actress retained a copyright claim that YouTube must respect because she believed she was acting in a different production from the one that ultimately appeared online. Arizona's governor vetoes measure targeting gays By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The governor of the U.S. western state of Arizona, Jan Brewer, has vetoed a controversial bill that would have protected businesses from lawsuits for refusing to serve gay customers. Brewer, a Republican, said the law could have hurt the state's economy by driving away businesses. Phoenix is set to host the 2015 Super Bowl. She said it would have had unintended and negative consequences and could have divided the state in ways no one wants. Arizona's Republican-led legislature passed the bill last week. Supporters say it gave business owners the right to express their religious freedom by refusing service to gay and transgender customers. Opponents say the law would have opened the door to discrimination. Several major businesses and the state's two Republican senators, John McCain and Jeff Flake, were among those who urged Brewer not to sign the bill. Several Arizona legislators who voted in favor of the law later said they were sorry they did and also urged the governor to veto it. Student school suspensions seem to be losing supporters By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
There is a growing trend in U.S. schools to re-think the way students are disciplined for bad behavior, including finding alternatives to punishments such as out-of-school suspensions. In Los Angeles, a city with one of the largest school districts in the country, changes in discipline policies are already affecting students. In a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood known for its poverty and gangs, growing up can be tough. That’s especially true for Garfield High School student Marco Antonio Aguilar. “My freshman year, everything went bad. I hated the school,” he said. Aguilar says he had the wrong friends, often skipped school and even got into fights. The school suspended him and he almost had to go to a school for problem students. But a talk with his mom woke him up. “She was always there for me. She cooked for me. So for me to waste my time at school, that wasn’t fair for her, and being a single mom that’s even more sad for her for me to be messing around like that. What also sparked the fire more was with the help of the teachers I received, and knowing that they did care about me, the school did really help me,” Aguilar recalls. Garfield High School Principal Jose Huerta does not believe in suspensions. “You don’t have to suspend kids. It doesn’t get you anywhere. It’s not even expensive, it’s very simple, connect with students,” he said. When he first arrived at Garfield High more than four years ago, the dropout rate was more than 50 percent, with close to 700 suspensions a year. He says most of the suspensions were for minor behavioral problems known as willful defiance. “It could be from chewing gum in class to sticking gum under the things,” he said. Huerta, a new principal at the time, changed the discipline policy. Instead of facing suspension, those with willful defiance issues will first talk to a teacher, then a parent may get involved and eventually, a support group if needed. Garfield High now has an 85 percent graduation rate, and the school has changed. "The reason we don't see vandalism or anything is because now there's a connection with our students. They respect us dearly, and we respect them, and I tell them I love them. Every time we have an assembly: 'remember guys I love you and we love you' and they all respond with an applause because they don't always get that," he said. Punishments for behavioral problems used to be decided by each school in this urban district. But last year, the Los Angeles Unified School District banned out-of-school suspension as a form of punishment for students with willful defiance issues. Superintendent John Deasy says he started working on finding solutions to the problematic discipline policy when he first came to Los Angeles Unified in 2011. “Far too many suspensions, and far far too many suspensions for black and brown youth,” he said. The U.S. Departments of Justice and Education recently called on schools to find alternatives to suspensions for non-violent behavior. Dan Losen of The Civil Rights Project at UCLA says while 60 percent of secondary schools in the U.S. do not have high suspension rates, those that do often are in poor black or Latino neighborhoods. “The schools that suspend high numbers of kids, they don’t have better achievement. They don’t have better graduation rates,” he said. United Teachers Los Angeles President Warren Fletcher says that while suspending a student should never be a first option, taking the option away completely is not the solution either. “If you take it off the table; if you make it so that a school essentially doesn’t have that option at all in an environment of ballooning class sizes and deep, deep cuts to student mental health, it creates a pressure cooker environment in a school, and that’s not good for anyone,” said Fletcher. While the number of suspensions nationwide seems to be slowly decreasing, many educators say a more permanent solution is to pair changes in discipline with more funding to provide support for the students so they can succeed like Aguilar, who plans on going to college when he graduates this year. Positive growth forecast is good news for eurozone By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The European Union has revised upward its forecasts for economic growth. The news comes as Greece aims to secure another slice of its bailout money after posting a budget surplus. And in Italy, the new government has pledged to turn around the stagnant economy. So is this the beginning of the end of the euro crisis? Many analysts think not. The welcome was hostile in Athens as bailout inspectors from the so-called troika of international lenders, the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank, arrived for talks at Greece’s finance ministry. Greece desperately needs its next amount of bailout money to pay debts in May that will total $12.8 billion. Talks have stalled for months over claims that Greece is dragging its feet over labor reforms. Protesters shouted at the inspectors: “We are talking about human lives, you are talking about profits and losses.” Since 2008, Greece’s economy has shrunk by nearly a quarter. Unemployment is at 28 percent. The country has just posted a budget surplus of 1.5 percent of gross domestic product, good news after years of brutal austerity. But there’s a long way to go, says analyst Simon Tilford with the London-based Center for European Reform. “Certainly no developed or even second-world country has ever pulled off a fiscal adjustment of the scale that the Greeks have managed. But they don’t just need a surplus. They need a huge surplus in order to service their debt burden," said Tilford. The EU issued revised growth forecasts this week suggesting the eurozone will grow by 1.2 percent this year and 1.8 percent in 2015. Olli Rehn is EU commissioner for economic and monetary affairs. “Recovery in the European Union is gaining ground and spreading across countries, although it remains still modest. It is good news that economic activity has also started to strengthen in the vulnerable countries," said Rehn. Italy is seen as one such vulnerable eurozone member. The former mayor of Florence, 39-year-old Matteo Renzi, became the country’s youngest-ever prime minister this week after ousting his party rival. In a speech to the lower house, he pledged to slash spending and taxes and revolutionize Italy’s economy. “Outside of this parliament, nobody believes any longer that politicians can get things done,” Renzi said. “Therefore, at great risk, we have pledged to accelerate a process to implement reforms within precise deadlines.” With political change in Italy and green shoots of recovery in the eurozone some EU politicians believe this is the beginning of the end of the euro crisis, says Tilford. “I think there is a risk of complacency that a return to growth and relative calm on the financial markets is encouraging." Japan begins investigations of failed bitcoin exchange By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Japanese officials are studying ways to regulate the virtual currency bitcoin after a prominent Tokyo-based trading house shut down suddenly Tuesday. The unexpected closure of the Mt. Gox exchange is the latest setback in the currency’s attempts to gain worldwide acceptance. In a packed news conference, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said authorities, including the Japanese Financial Services Agency, Finance Ministry and the police, are looking into bitcoin trading in Japan. “Regarding the concerned issue, I am aware that the related ministries, such as the Financial Services Agency, the Economic Ministry and the Finance Ministry, are gathering information. If necessary, I believe they will act on this once they have the grasp of the situation. But at this point, they are still gathering more facts and information,” said Suga. The sudden disappearance of Mt. Gox, once one of the largest Bitcoin exchanges, has dealt a blow to the credibility of the virtual currency. Earlier this month, Mt. Gox imposed a ban on withdrawals. On Sunday, CEO Mark Karpeles resigned from the board of the Bitcoin Foundation, which seeks wider acceptance of the currency. Tuesday, the Mt. Gox Web site was blank, with only a brief statement to investors. Reports emerged that the company had lost more than 750,000 bitcoins due to what was called transaction malleability. Hackers were able to discover that they could track Mt. Gox’s software by creating a bitcoin transaction and then changing its identifying codes. Funds were taken from Mt. Gox, but because its computers were looking for the old identifying code, the losses went unnoticed. Several other bitcoin exchanges issued statements Tuesday that said they are working to reestablish the currency’s credibility. Nonetheless, bitcoin’s future remains questionable. Emily Spaven, the managing editor of Coin Desk, said that Mt. Gox’s failure will probably lead to more government oversight of the virtual currency. “I think what we’ll see from this is that governments will try and enforce some kind of regulation because, as we’ve discovered, there’s around $350 million worth of bitcoins that have been stolen. So that’s a lot of money to go missing, so I’m pretty sure that governments will try and step in to protect their citizens from suffering something like this again,” said Spaven. Moshe Cohen, an assistant professor of finance and economics at the Columbia Business School, said that this incident could have one of two results for bitcoin. “One of two things will happen: either the bitcoin community will convince us that it is a one off, and a new form of maybe partially regulated exchange can solve these problems and take the good and get rid of the bad, or people will start losing faith,” said Cohen. Several large firms, including Overstock.com, Zynga, the online retailer TigerDirect and the National Basketball Association’s Sacramento King’s team, have announced they will accept bitcoins. Billionaire Richard Branson has announced his Virgin Galactic will accept bitcoin for space flights. As of this writing, bitcoin’s value was nearly back to where it was when the Mt. Gox crisis began. It may be that Mt. Gox’s will help bitcoin in the long run by eliminating an unsound player from the virtual currency game. Private surveillance firms face misuse of their software By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
While the National Security Agency has been getting a lot of attention for its global surveillance endeavors, a small army of private and often secretive companies is quietly peddling spyware with NSA-like capabilities to governments around the world. Among their clients, the NSA. Many of these products go beyond simple monitoring of huge amounts of traffic or stealing files. These new programs can target individuals, infect their computers, phones, Web cameras or other devices to watch and record the every move of people targeted. The software does have legitimate uses such as gathering data about criminal activities, but critics say it too often is used by authoritarian regimes to spy on their own people. The most recent public case involves an American citizen who goes by the alias Mr. Kidane. According to the Electronic Frontiers Foundation, which is representing Mr. Kidane, he is suing the Ethiopian government “for infecting his computer with secret spyware, wiretapping his private Skype calls, and monitoring his entire family's every use of the computer for a period of months.” "We have clear evidence of a foreign government secretly infiltrating an American's computer in America, listening to his calls, and obtaining access to a wide swath of his private life," foundation attorney Nate Cardozo said in a statement. "The current Ethiopian government has a well-documented history of human rights violations against anyone it sees as political opponents,” he said. “Here, it wiretapped a United States citizen on United States soil in an apparent attempt to obtain information about members of the Ethiopian diaspora who have been critical of their former government. U.S. laws protect Americans from this type of unauthorized electronic spying, regardless of who is responsible." The Ethiopian Embassy in Washington did not respond to calls seeking comment on the case. The spyware allegedly used against Mr. Kidane is something called FinSpy, the foundation said. FinSpy is a suite of programs marketed to governments by the Gamma Group of Companies, a U.K.-based software company. Gamma is one of a growing number of companies offering sophisticated surveillance software and support to governments and law enforcement around the world. Infection is as easy as luring a target to click a mouse, analysts say. The most common way computers and other devices are infected with the spyware is through bogus email attachments which contain the hidden spyware. Once infected, the software is capable of a wide variety of surveillance and is very hard to detect. Many of the companies boast about how off-the-shelf security software can’t detect their products. Bill Marczak, a researcher for Citizen Lab, which conducts research on the intersection of communication technologies and human rights, called these kinds of software a new trend in repression. He added that the $5 billion industry is large and secretive and until recently, it was in the shadows. He’s not the only one concerned. Reporters Without Borders, a press freedom watchdog group, went so far as to call Gamma among 2013’s enemies of the Internet. It named other companies including Hacking Team. Eric Rabe, a spokesman for Hacking Team, called the accusation absurd in an email, adding that the company’s products are significant tools to prevent Internet users from becoming Internet victims. “The products that Hacking Team offers serve to protect users from the abuses that can be extremely serious,” he said. “For example, there have been many examples of economic crime — fraud, holding computer operating systems for ransom, stealing financial data and so forth.” Hacking Team is alleged to have provided offensive legal intercept surveillance software to 21 countries, according to a recent report by Citizen Lab. Among the countries Citizen Lab said Hacking Team software was found are several with questionable human rights records such as Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan and Sudan. The report also alleges that Hacking Team software was used to spy on Ethiopian journalists based in the Washington area. The Gamma Group also has broad international reach. It was trying to sell one of its products, FinFisher, to the government of deposed Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, according to documents uncovered by protesters. The company was trying to sell its FinFisher spyware to Egypt’s security forces for over $300,000 and even offered a free trial. Gamma told the Guardian newspaper it had not sold products or provided any training to the Egyptian government and that it complies with relevant import and export regulations when selling to governments. Like Hacking Team, the company keeps its client list confidential. According to Citizen Lab, spyware has been used against activists in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates and against an Ethiopian journalist in the United Kingdom. There have also been reports of spyware being used against citizen journalists in Morocco and against an American who appears to have been targeted by someone in Turkey connected to the powerful Gülen Movement. Attempts to regulate the industry have fallen short. Reporters Without Borders says spyware like that sold by Hacking Team and Gamma have been included in the Wassenaar Arrangement, which promotes “transparency and greater responsibility in transfers of conventional arms and dual-use goods and technologies.” However, the press advocacy group says governments have not yet put these negotiations into force. Researcher Marczak is skeptical about the ability to regulate. “We’re just relying on the company’s word,” he said. With regard to Hacking Team, Marczak adds that “what we’ve seen so far when we uncover their products, the first thing we hear is that they didn’t sell it.” “The confidentiality of their clients is a primary goal,” he said. “I’m not optimistic that compliance can be verified.” Rabe said Hacking Team is aware of the recent change in the Wassenaar Arrangement and is studying it. Similar to the NSA surveillance programs, there are legitimate uses for software made by companies like Gamma and Hacking Team, such as infiltrating cyber criminal rings or finding underground pedophile networks. “We work to keep our products out of the hands of government agencies that would abuse them,” Rabe said. “We have refused to deal with clients we believe might abuse our products. We have suspended support for our software in the past when we have discovered misuse of our software, however, we do not disclose details of such actions.” The company said it reviews potential customers to make sure their technology will not be used to facilitate human rights violations by establishing outside panel of technical experts and legal advisors, unique in our industry, that reviews potential sales.” More than 700 exoplanets added to NASA's registry By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Scientists are calling it a planet bonanza. The U.S. space agency, NASA, announced Wednesday the discovery of 715 new planets outside the solar system. Using the planet-hunting Kepler telescope, the scientists say this doubles the number of known planets to about 1,700. They say all the new planets are in systems just like the earth solar system, where they orbit around one large star. The scientists say at least four of the newly found planets may be within what they call the habitable zone of their stars, meaning it is not too hot or too cold for water. But the scientists say they know little about the new planets and cannot say whether they can support life. Sunday is the big night for silver screen fanatics By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, are the most highly anticipated annual awards of the film industry. About a billion people worldwide will watch the televised star-studded event Sunday. Of the 24 nomination categories, the top four are: best director, best picture, best actor, and best actress. Director Alfonso Cuaron sets a new bar in 3D technology with "Gravity," which fully immerses the audience in the terror of two astronauts lost in the void of space. His long sequences and camera fluidity don’t allow the viewer a moment’s respite. Breathless, they are stranded with astronaut Ryan Stone in her endless fall. "Gravity," co-starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, garnered 10 Oscar nominations. With the help of CGI technology, the film resembles an IMAX documentary. Ms. Bullock, who plays astronaut Ryan Stone, says thanks to technology, she amazingly floated into space without ever leaving Earth. “Everything physically that you saw we either did in the cube, locked into the system, we did on the 12-wire rig, so I can fly and can do the body work,” the Oscar-winning actress explained. "So, pretty much it was hell for actors," joked director Alfonso Cuaron. Cuaron spent four-and-a-half years painstakingly making the film. He is a leading candidate for best director, but may lose the award for best picture because according to critics the film’s dialogue is rather poor and dwarfed by its superb cinematography. Another top contender for that best picture Oscar is Steve McQueen’s epic drama "12 Years a Slave," based on the true story of the abduction of free man Solomon Northup, in the 19th-century U.S. South. This film offers grand cinematography, a stellar cast and, as the title suggests, a story that spans 12 years. Despite its scope, the story is told in an intimate way, humanizing Northup, allowing the audience to experience his ordeal. Critics praised best actor nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor's performance as Northup, who believes if he endures all the trials and tribulations he may actually have a chance at freedom. But Ejiofor faces formidable opponents for the best actor Oscar, notably Matthew McConaughey, lauded for his role as a homophobic Texas electrician and hustler who contracts AIDS in 1985 in "Dallas Buyers Club." McConaughey lost 18 kilograms for the role and, stick thin, began losing his eyesight. Along with the physical transformation, he says it was emotionally challenging to show the range of Woodroof's emotions. “Showing variations of rage," McConaughey said during a press tour to promote the movie. "Because the guy has a lot of rage in him. And rage propels the most activity in us." In the best actress category, Cate Blanchett is one of the frontrunners. Critics praised her performance in Woody Allen's "Blue Jasmine," as riveting. The movie tells the story of destitue Jasmine, forced to move in with her working-class sister in San Francisco after her wealthy investment banker husband is arrested for fraud. If Ms. Blanchett wins, it will be her second Oscar. Critics say she would be a shoe-in, if it weren't for Amy Adams stellar performance in "American Hustle," also nominated in the major categories. |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 41 | |||||||||
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Venezuelan protests
go on, and peace confab is failure By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Venezuela's largest protests since the death of longtime leader Hugo Chavez nearly one year ago are sweeping the country. Rampant inflation, violent crime and chronic shortages of basic goods are fueling the outrage that is dividing the South American nation. The country's main political opposition coalition on Wednesday refused to attend crisis talks called by the government in an attempt to halt the nearly three weeks of protests that have left 14 people dead. President Nicolás Maduro had called a national peace conference, but the main political opposition coalition denounced the planned talks as an insult to the slain protesters. The most prominent opposition leader, Henrique Capriles, had earlier said he would not attend, dismissing the talks as a government photo op. Venezuela today is a divided country, with so-called Chavista supporters of President Maduro on one side and an increasingly broad anti-government movement on the other. Anti-government protesters hurled rocks in the northern city of Valencia Wednesday as police fired back with rubber bullets. In the capital, Caracas, Venezuelan women took to the streets to rally against Maduro while pro-government farmers protested in largely peaceful rival rallies. "As we all know, young people here have an uncertain future, and we are simply protesting against that uncertainty that Venezuelans live with every day, like we did yesterday, and like we will do tomorrow and the day after, demonstrating in the streets," said Juan Quintana, a student demonstrator. Polling data going back to 2012 reveal that Venezuelans have experienced a considerable drop in their quality of life, according to Gerver Torres, a Latin America specialist with Gallup. "If you see the numbers, the economic indicators, the social indicators, the state of infrastructure in Venezuela, it's very easy to come to the conclusion that people have many different reasons to be on the street. You would be surprised if they were not there," Torres said. Largely fueling the anger is a litany of problems in a country with the world's largest oil reserves. Basic goods like milk and toilet paper run chronically short. Violent crime is an ever-present menace. The oil industry, which accounts for 95 percent of Venezuela's exports, is a shadow of its former self, Torres said. Nonetheless, Mark Weisbrot, who co-directs the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, contends that Venezuela's opposition can't win at the ballot box so they are driving up support with protests. He acknowledged the demonstrators have some legitimacy based on the country's myriad of problems. Pope calls for dialogue among Venezuelan factions By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Pope Francis is calling for sincere dialogue in his first public comments on the ongoing crisis in Venezuela. He asked people to pray for the country. Dozens of non-profit organizations also condemned the violence Wednesday. "I am following with particular apprehension the events that are unfolding these days in Venezuela,'' Pope Francis said during the weekly audience Wednesday in St. Peter's square at the Vatican. "I hope the violence and hostility comes to an end and all the Venezuelan people, starting from those in politics and the institutions, strive for national reconciliation through reciprocal forgiveness and dialogue, respecting truth and justice and ready to confront issues for the good of the whole community'' he said. Pope Francis said he hoped the country quickly returns to peace and calm. |
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| From Page 7: Insurance customers get a bundle of rights By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Insurance customers have received a list of rights, the Superintendencia de Seguros has announced. The rules now state that an insurance customer must receive a response to a question from an insurance firm within 30 days. The regulations also create a right of privacy for the customer's personal information and empowers the Superintendencia to field complaints from unhappy customers. The complaint service will be free. Legislation opening the insurance market to private firms created the Superintendencia as a regulatory agency. The regulations also say that insurance terminology should be in simple, everyday language. Those with complaints can email the agency at this address, sugese@sugese.fi.cr or telephone 2243‐5108. Also available is a Web page www.sugese.fi.cr. The list of consumer rights also is available on the Web page. |
