By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

By the Office of Communications and Publishing
of the U.S. Geological Survey

Genital mutilation seen
coming back with Islamists


Egyptian activists are concerned that the rise of Islamist politicians could undermine years of work to discourage female genital mutilation. The practice, and the movement against it, however, have far deeper roots in the country.

To its supporters, it is a sign of purity, community and religious devotion. To its opponents, it marks the physical manifestation of a woman's degradation.

Female genital mutilation is an ancient custom in Egypt, with references pre-dating both Islam and Christianity. The practice remains widespread, with estimates today suggesting as many as 90 percent of Egyptian women are affected. 

Egypt criminalized all forms of female genital mutilation in 2008 and rights monitors say the number of girls undergoing the operation has dropped by about one third.

But Nehad Abud Komsan, director of the Egyptian Center for Women's Rights, said the emergence of the Muslim Brotherhood and more conservative Salafist politicians threaten those gains.

“They come to say 'we may have a law to make it legal in a certain condition, or to say it is good for protection. They are destroying years of efforts to protect girls and women in Egypt and, unfortunately, by using religion,” said Ms. Komsan.

Courts have rejected legal challenges to the current ban, but with the judiciary and the government of President Mohamed Morsi at odds, worries are growing. Adding to concerns are predictions that Salafists are poised to do well in parliamentary elections later this year.

Komsan says non-governmental work on the ground and respect for motivations are key to changing attitudes about female genital mutilation.

She divides people who support female genital mutilation into three groups: those who see it as social and cultural ceremony, those who believe it will help women control their sexuality and those who believe it is mandated by religion.

She said offering alternatives is easiest in the first two groups. By substituting different, non-invasive rituals that celebrate either womanhood or community, the spirit of the occasion is preserved, without the damage to a woman or girl's body.

Political activist and filmmaker Hala Galal described the efforts of one village that chose to reject  female genital mutilation.

“Even the lady who was supposing to do this operation herself, by her hand, she also swear and she also stopped and now she is doing something like weddings. I mean she changed her career also,” said Ms. Galal.

As for those who think female genital mutilation will keep women from expressing their sexuality, Komsan argues that training the mind is a far more effective, and humane approach.

“They have to understand that protection is not by cutting a part of our body but by educating them, and ourselves, how to control our life and by sending our girls to school,” she said.

It is the third part, said Komsan, that is the hardest. 

“I always joke and say female genital mutilation is a sign of unity between Muslims and the Christians in Egypt because most of them believe it is a part of their religions,” she said.

It is not, and even though both the head of the prestigious al-Azhar Institute and Christian leaders have spoken out against the practice, the link to religion remains. 

Political activist Galal said there is yet another issue anti- female genital mutilation advocates face: the charge they are trying to impose western values on Egypt. “I tell people who accuse us of making this and serving the western agenda, I tell them. 'What is the other agenda, to oppress women?'”

It is an uphill battle for anti-FGM activists, but one marked by both legal and grass-root successes so far. Their worry now is that in the current political climate, the road ahead may be even steeper.


Emergency contraception
approved for 15 and older


U.S. officials have decided to make an emergency contraceptive pill available to women 15 years and older without a prescription.

The Food and Drug Administration ruled Tuesday that the Plan B One-Step be available to anyone who can show proof of age.

The FDA says studies show that women 15 and older are able to understand how Plan B works and how to use it properly.

But the Center for Reproductive Rights says it will continue fighting to make Plan B available to all girls of reproductive age.

Earlier this month, a New York judge overturned the Obama administration's ruling that girls younger than 17 get a prescription for Plan B. The judge called it politically motivated and scientifically unjustified.


World Wide Web marked
its 20th birthday Tuesday


It’s hard to believe, but the public Internet, the World Wide Web, turned 20 Tuesday. On April 30, 1993, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, announced it was making the World Wide Web technology freely available to the public. The technology spread around the globe like wildfire, and now it’s hard to imagine an aspect that is not, in some way, influenced by the Web.

“There is no sector of society that has not been transformed by the invention, in a physics laboratory, of the Web”, said Rolf Heuer, CERN director-general in a statement. “From research to business and education, the web has been reshaping the way we communicate, work, innovate and live. The web is a powerful example of the way that basic research benefits humankind.”

The Web was invented by British physicist Tim Berners-Lee at CERN in 1989, and was originally conceived as a method for physicists around the world to share information.

Prior to the web, information was shared over the Internet in less user-friendly ways such as WAIS and Gopher. Berners-Lee developed the Web software using a NeXT computer, created by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

CERN is marking the anniversary with a project to restore the first Web site and “preserve the digital assets that are associated with the birth of the Web.”


Holocaust memorial plans
for life after survivors go


The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum marked its 20th anniversary on Monday with what may be one of the last large gatherings of Holocaust survivors. Former U.S. president Bill Clinton urged the museum to recommit to preserving the memory of the Nazi genocide after all the survivors are gone.

They once were treated as less than human, but here these Holocaust survivors were heroes.

And that meant a lot to Tamara Wohl, who spent the first years of her life in a concentration camp. "I'm extremely proud, and very proud of all the work that the people of the museum did. I'm very grateful," she said.

The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum was dedicated in 1993 by then-president Clinton and author and survivor Elie Wiesel.

Both returned on Monday for the museum's 20th Anniversary.  Wiesel recalled how at the time he admonished the president. "And I spoke to you about Yugoslavia. I had just come back from there what we must do, in the name of our memory," she stated.

Clinton recalled that Ms. Wiesel and other Jews, haunted by the slaughter of six million of their own, pushed for intervention to stop the massacre of Muslims in Bosnia and Kosovo.

He said the Holocaust Museum is unlike Washington's other monuments.

"The Holocaust memorial will be our conscience, will be here as our conscience, from now, forever," Clinton said. "The museum must look to the future and make sure that as direct memories fade away, that the records, the pictures and the stories never die."

There are more than 800 Holocaust survivors here today and 130 American World War II veterans. But the day is approaching when the museum will have to tell the story of what happened without them.

Szoszana Schwarz was one of many survivors who came and donated some family documents to the museum.

Susan Bachrach is curator of a new exhibit on collaboration and complicity in the Holocaust. "An awful lot of people think, based on visitor testing that it's all about Hitler," she said. "But it needed many helpers all over Europe."

Mike Abramowitz directs the museum's genocide prevention program. He says the exhibit also honors gentiles who risked their lives to save Jews, to teach a moral lesson. "What you do matters, that individuals have an agency to do good, or to do evil," he explained. "To be a bystander or to be a rescuer."

World War II veteran Alfred Henick understands why young people need to be reminded. "I remember when I was a kid in the 1930s in elementary school, and they used to teach us about World War I. To me it was ancient history," he stated. "World War I, it was only 15 years prior."

He said that's why this museum is needed, to ensure that the Holocaust is never forgotten.


Obama warns spending cuts
jeopardize the U.S. economy


U.S. President Barack Obama says the government spending cuts that took effect in March are hurting the American economy.
 
"It's slowed our growth," Obama said at a White House news conference Tuesday. "It's thrown people out of work."
 
The spending cuts came as Obama and Republican opponents in Congress failed to agree on plans for taxes and spending. The impasse meant automatic cuts for government programs and furloughs of some government workers. About 1,500 air traffic controllers were laid off each day last week until Congress reversed the action as flight delays mounted.
 
As he has in the past, the president called on Congress to reach an agreement that could cut the country's burgeoning national debt, while investing in programs to fix the nation's infrastructure and promote education and research. But the White House and Republicans differ sharply over what financial policies the government should adopt.
 
Earlier in the day, new reports showed the U.S. economy — the world's largest — is improving on some fronts. U.S. home prices rose the most in seven years in February, gaining more than 9 percent in the previous 12 months. Economists say the data from Case-Shiller is probably evidence that the housing market is strengthening. A separate report showing a decline in foreclosures also points to an improving housing market.
 
CoreLogic data shows foreclosures in March were down nearly 16 percent from the same month a year earlier.
 
The improving housing market, and generally rising stock market prices, may be the reason that U.S. consumer confidence moved sharply higher in April. Economists track consumer confidence for clues about the consumer spending that drives most U.S. economic activity. The owners of new, small businesses also report increasing confidence. A Kauffman Foundation study shows most people running start-up businesses think profitability will improve over the next year.

But the U.S. economy is still plagued by high unemployment, which is expected to stay at 7.6 percent this month. A report from Accenture says four out of 10 recent college graduates say they are underemployed, taking jobs that do not require the degrees they earned and paid for.
 
This and other data are likely part of the discussion Tuesday and Wednesday as top officials of the U.S. central bank meet to assess the economy and decide how much they will try to stimulate it with low interest rates and other policies.


Most Muslims would accept
sharia law in their countries


A majority of Muslims around the world believe sharia or traditional Islamic law should prevail in the countries in which they live, but at the same time most say they favor religious freedom for people of other faiths, according to a new survey.

The survey by the Pew Research Center is based on more than 38,000 face-to-face interviews in countries where Muslims are both a majority and a minority.

Its focus was on Muslim views on religion and politics.  One of the key findings was that six in 10 Muslims in the Middle East and nearly eight in 10 in sub-Saharan Africa believe their national laws should be based on the Islamic code of sharia.  In Afghanistan, the figure was 99 percent.

Pew researcher Jim Bell acknowledged the difficulties of conducting the survey in countries where such topics may be sensitive or have what he called socially desirable answers.

“It's possible to read into some of the findings that this is obviously a very popular answer to say that sharia should be made the official law of the country," said Bell.

But, he said specific follow-up questions suggested the understanding of sharia varies from place to place, and is often seen as useful in property and family disputes.

“As we look across regions and countries, there's often less support in many countries for applying sharia in the form of criminal punishments or enforcing the death penalty for Muslims who renounce their faith and convert to another religion," he said.

Bell also said that despite support for sharia, most Muslims think it does not apply to non-Muslims.  He said that in spite of restrictions on non-Muslim communities in a number of countries, many say they favor religious freedom for people of other faiths.

The researchers compared the findings with earlier surveys and found that American Muslims are much more likely to have close friends of other faiths, and more than half say other religions can lead to eternal life in Heaven.  That's compared to 96 percent of Egyptian Muslims and 92 percent of Pakistani Muslims, and overwhelming majorities in other countries, who say Islam is the only true religion.


'Kinky boots' surprise nominee
for Broadway's top award


The musical "Kinky Boots," with the score by pop star Cyndi Lauper, has earned 13 nominations for the Tony Awards, leading the field for Broadway's highest honor and closely followed by British import "Matilda," which received 12.

Both shows were nominated for best musical, along with "Bring It On: The Musical" and "A Christmas Story: The Musical." Ms. Lauper was nominated for best score along with book writer Harvey Fierstein and three members of the show's cast.

Hollywood star Tom Hanks was nominated for best actor in his Broadway debut in the Nora Ephron play "Lucky Guy," which received six nominations, including a best play nomination for Ephron, the writer and film director who died in June.

Also nominated for best play were "The Assembled Parties," "The Testament of Mary" and "Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike."

A revival of Clifford Odets' "Golden Boy" led play nominations with eight, including director Bartlett Sher.

Several Hollywood stars, including Cicely Tyson, Laurie Metcalf, Holland Taylor and David Hyde Pierce also won nominations for acting in plays.

Taylor earned a nomination for her portrayal of former Texas governor Ann Richards in "Ann" but Bette Midler was left out for her star turn as agent Sue Mengers in "I'll Eat You Last."

Another glaring omission was one of the season's biggest box office hits, "Motown the Musical," about the record label founded by Berry Gordy, in the best musical category. The show received only four nominations, including one for actress Valisia LeKae who plays Diana Ross.

Other top-nominated shows included the first Broadway revival of the 1970s hit "Pippin," which took 10 nominations, and Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Cinderella," which received nine nods. Both were cited for best revival of a musical, along with "Annie" and "The Mystery of Edwin Drood."

The other best revival of a play nominees included "Orphans," "The Trip to Bountiful" and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" which won nominations for lead actors Tracy Letts and Amy Morton.

The strong showing by "Kinky Boots," an adaptation of a little-seen British movie about a struggling shoe factory that reinvents itself by making boots for drag queens, was a surprise to many who expected the Royal Shakespeare Co.'s production of Roald Dahl's "Matilda," an Olivier-Award winner in London, to dominate.

"Boots" received nominations for Fierstein, director and choreographer Jerry Mitchell and both male leads, Stark Sands and Billy Porter, in addition to several technical awards.

"Matilda" earned nominations for best book, score and for Matthew Warchus' directing. Three cast members were also nominated, notably actor Bertie Carvel, who plays the fearsome school headmistress in the ecstatically reviewed show.

The nominations were announced by Sutton Foster and Jesse Tyler Ferguson. The awards will be presented on June 9 at Radio City Music Hall.


U.S. housing market shows
improvement in pending sales


New data shows the U.S. housing market strengthening.  The S&P Case Schiller Home Price Index shows average home prices in 20 of the biggest US cities rose more than 9 percent in the last 12 months. That's the biggest gain in nearly seven years. Analysts say it may be one of the reasons why U.S. consumer confidence is improving.

Five years after the collapse of the U.S. housing market, Americans seem ready to buy again. Pending home sales are up 7 percent over last year, foreclosures are at a seven-year low and the number of homes for sale, continues to decline. 

"Housing sales numbers are continuing to trend up. In fact, if anything, realtors are saying they are looking at shortages of inventories of homes for sale," said Sam Coffin, an economist at UBS Securities.

The lower inventories are pushing home prices higher. And that's giving builders a much needed boost, says Ken Simonson at Associated General Contractors of America.

"When you look at the broader construction industry, there's quite a boom going on in apartment construction, more recently, in single family homes and some of the private non-residential categories," Simonson said.

The renewed optimism and rising stock prices may be aiding in an otherwise slow U.S. recovery. It may also explain why consumer confidence improved sharply in April, says fund manager Brad Friedlander.

"Borrowers and personal consumer balance sheets are a lot better than they were a few years ago. So we are seeing, beginning to see a rebound," Friedlander said.

Despite a much improved housing picture, economists say for now, it's unlikely to have a measurable impact on U.S. unemployment.  New jobs data to be released Friday is expected to show unemployment unchanged at 7.6 percent.

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Special to A.M. Costa Rica

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff