Sales of information investigated
The Government of Costa Rica disclosed that it will investigate whether local companies or institutions have sold confidential information on Costa Ricans to the United States. 

The announcement was made to the daily La Nación by the Minister of the Presidency Rina Contreras, upon learning through versions of the international press that US companies buy information in 10 Latin American nations, including Costa Rica, in order to sell to US federal agencies. 

According to a dispatch by the Associated Press, Washington makes efforts to control the personal records related to physical description, banking operations, activities, and mail of individual foreigners, particularly of those who enter the US.

Two of the companies involved in such buys are ChoicePoint and LexisNexis. The chief of operations of ChoicePoint, James Lee, admitted that his company buys files from sub-contractors operating in Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. 

However, he abstained from identifying those who sale the data and the way in which they obtain their information. Minister Contreras asserted that the investigation will be launched immediately. The director of the National Registry, Dagoberto Sibaja, agreed with her, and added that it is a must to protect the privacy and legal security of Costa Ricans, and to prevent their becoming victims of fraud.

Leader in water supply
A comparative study on the coverage of drinking water and the management of waste waters between Costa Rica and 46 other Latin American and Caribbean nations established Costa Rica as the leader in the supply of water for use by humans. 

In this aspect, the study found that in the last four decades, Costa Rica made marked progress, jumping from 65 percent to 97 percent in the coverage of the population with water-supply systems.

UCSB professor says volcanic eruptions in Costa Rica 'inevitable'
(Santa Barbara, Calif.) –– It might be 500,000 years or five years, but the Central Valley of Costa Rica will definitely experience major volcanic activity again, according to Phillip B. Gans, professor of geology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He presented a study of volcanic rocks of Costa Rica in his recent talk at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America. Complete Story

Alcatel nabs $109-million network expansion contract
Alcatel has signed a major contract with ICE Telecom, the incumbent telecommunications operator in Costa Rica, to expand and modernize ICE's national fixed communications network. 

Per the contract, valued at approximately $109 million, Alcatel will provide its Alcatel 1000 MM switching systems, enabling ICE to offer advanced voice and data services. The network will be fully operational by December 2003. Complete Story

US journalist charged with smuggling stolen Iraqi paintings

A US television news engineer faces smuggling charges after being caught with stolen Iraqi paintings when he returned from Iraq, federal officials said Wednesday.

Benjamin James Johnson, an employee of Fox News, was arrested at Dulles Airport near Washington last Thursday after he was found with paintings of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and one of his sons, Uday Hussein.

An affidavit filed with a criminal complaint against him said Johnson, who was "embedded" with US troops in Iraq, gathered up the paintings at a palace belonging to Uday.

The Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday that US Customs agents have seized paintings and military weapons from returning US journalists in the past several days.

Museums, offices and homes were widely looted in Baghdad over two days following the fall of the city. Thousands of antiquities were stolen from the Iraqi National Museum, which housed a priceless collection dating back 7,000 years to the Sumerian civilization.

Meanwhile, a commanding officer of US forces in Iraq said Wednesday that five American soldiers were investigated for possible involvement of the theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars from a cache of money in Iraq. No one has been charged.

Singapore adopts thermal imaging systems to curb imported SARS

The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) of Singapore has deployed thermal imaging systems at the land checkpoints of the country as part of the government efforts to control imported severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) cases.

In a press release Wednesday, the ICA said that thermal imaging systems have introduced at both of the country's two land checkpoints from Wednesday with two units deployed at the Woodlands Checkpoint and one unit installed at the Tuas Checkpoint.

All travelers must pass through the thermal imaging system. If the system detects a raised temperature, the traveler concerned will be referred to the nurses at the nearby nurse station for further checks and subsequently be transported to a doctor if required.

The ICA said that it will continue to monitor the situation closely and will be guided by the advice of the health authorities on the appropriate measures to take.

Blair urges Arafat to help form Palestinian cabinet

British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Tuesday urged Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat over phone to help Prime Minister-designate Mahmoud Abbas, better known as Abu Mazen, to form a new cabinet, Palestinian sources said.

During the phone talks, Arafat briefed Blair on the ongoing debates concerning the forming of the cabinet and international efforts aiming at implementing a US-proposed roadmap peace plan.

The two men also tackled the latest developments in the Palestinian territories in light of continuous Israeli military escalation against the Palestinians.

Blair's phone call coincided with a crisis between Arafat and Abu Mazen over forming the new cabinet, while Palestinian sources said there are mediations to convince Arafat to accept Abu Mazen's cabinet list.

The phone conversation came one day after Russian Mideast peace envoy Andrei Vdovin's announcement of a probable tour to the Middle East amid fears of delaying the implementation of the roadmap envisioning the creation of a Palestinian state by 2005.

Earlier in the day, several members of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) mediated between Arafat and Abu Mazen.

They told a press conference that the mediation was positive, expressing hope that the new cabinet would be announced Tuesday night or Wednesday.

Colombian peace commissioner asks ACC to continue negotiation

Colombian Peace Commissioner Luis Restrepo on Tuesday called on the paramilitary group Self-Defense Forces of Southern Casanare (ACC) to continue negotiation with the government.

In a letter addressed to ACC leader Martin Llanos, Restrepo said that he was "worried" about the possibility of a unilateral breaking of the peace process by this paramilitary group.

　The senior official said that the government of Alvaro Uribe had also made efforts to keep open the peace process with the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC).

"It is necessary and indispensable to continue with the meetings of the recently created sub-commission which prepares the plenary sessions," Restrepo said the letter.

Restrepo's letter came after the ACC, which has some 3,500 combatants, made public a warning of breaking the peace scheme, claiming the army had persecuted them over recent days.

The ACC operates in a strategic agricultural and oil-producing area in eastern Colombia, which includes the states of Casanare, Meta, Caqueta, Guaviare and Vichada.

The 10,600-strong AUC, founded in April 1997 with the aim of wiping out leftist guerrillas in Colombia, declared on Dec. 1 a unilateral cease-fire as the first step toward peace negotiations with the government.