Your daily English-language news source
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Spanish speakers are transforming the current Internet computer viruses to make them speak their language. And not very nicely. The headquarters of the Partido Acción Ciudadana in San José appears to be one of the locations hit by the virus. A message to party leader Ottón Solís early Thursday resulted in a highly vulgar response written in Spanish in the name of a woman who works with him. The office confirmed by telephone that computer workers were having virus problems. The virus sent the vulgar message. The new virus probably is a version of W32.Klez.H@mm, which was discovered April 17, according to Symantec Corp., maker of anti-virus software. http://securityresponse.symantec.com Like many e-mail computer viruses in the past, this one arrives in an attachment and infects PC computers. When opened, the virus executes a program. The virus searches out the Microsoft Outlook address book and sends out random messages with copies of itself as attachments. A.M. Costa Rica has been receiving up to 20 such virus e-mails a day
from subscribers and clients. Until Thursday all virus responses were in
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At first, the virus sent blank e-mail
messages. But later versions began to insert interesting messages to trick
the recipient into thinking some had sent photos or similar in the attachment.
In the message body is where the Spanish response was that came from the
PAC headquarters.
One version even pretends the e-mail comes from Microsoft Corp., makers of the Outlook program. The e-mail promises a computer patch to guard against viruses. But the attachment is a virus. Microsoft reported it never sends out computer updates. Instead, it send e-mails suggesting that the recipient find a patch on the firm’s Web page. The W32.Klez.H@mm virus also randomizes the subject line of the message it sends, using upwards of 100 different subject lines that would make a recipient believe that it is a harmless message. Some messages have inserted the name of the recipient into the subject line. The usual caution protects computers against Internet viruses: computer users should never open an attachment unless they are absolutely certain they know what is inside. Symantec warns that yet another virus is making the rounds. This one is the W32.DSS.Trojan, a Trojan horse that inserts a small Web page onto a computer system. The Web page is then launched in a hidden Internet Explorer window that contains a link to an adult Web site. |
U.S. House votes
to split INS tasks Special to A.M. Costa Rica WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to break up the Immigration and Naturalization Service into two separate agencies: one to handle the citizenship process for legal immigrants and the other to guard the nation against potential terrorists and other unqualified entrants. The measure to abolish the existing agency, which has been embarrassed by a recent series of highly publicized errors, passed by a 405-9 vote Thursday. Attorney General John Ashcroft had visited the Capitol earlier in the day to endorse the measure. But he said the Bush Administration hopes that the Senate, which still must take up its own version of the legislation, will change some of its provisions. "This is not the end of the journey. This is an important first step essential to the journey's end, but not sufficient to get us there.... We are committed to ending the INS as we know it," Ashcroft said. House Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner, a Republican of Wisconsin, a key proponent of the measure, told the House, "It is beyond time to restructure one of the worst-run agencies in the U.S. government." Sensenbrenner suggested that the administration's shift from neutrality to a last-minute announcement of support reflected the bill's overwhelming popularity. Under the existing system, he said, "most of today's eight million illegal aliens are assured that they will never be deported." Long-smoldering dissatisfaction with the INS reached a peak in recent weeks, after reports surfaced that the agency had mailed out visa confirmation notices for two of the suspected Sept. 11 hijackers six months after the attacks in which they died. The enforcement and naturalization functions have been carried out by
a single agency since 1933.
Dengue epidemic
By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — Brazilian health officials say the dengue fever epidemic that has killed at least 50 people in Rio de Janeiro State this year appears to be slowing down. Authorities Thursday said fewer than 3,000 cases have been registered so far this month compared to the 37,000 cases reported in March. The officials, however, are advising people to remain alert to prevent another outbreak of the epidemic. Officials also say more than 95,000 cases have been reported in Rio since Jan. 1. The state has been hardest hit by this year's epidemic that health experts say is the worst on record. The epidemic has sent demand for blood transfusions soaring. The dengue fever outbreak follows a period of heavy rains that provided breeding grounds for the white-spotted mosquitoes that carry the illness. Several weeks ago, thousands of firefighters and volunteers joined the Brazilian army in mobilizing to eliminate the mosquitoes' breeding areas. The common form of dengue fever causes severe headaches, joint and muscle pain, a lack of appetite and fatigue. Usually, it is not deadly and most sufferers recover within one week. Some people, however, can develop the potentially fatal hemorrhagic dengue. |
No problems here,
church leader says By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Costa Rican media finally talked to Catholic Church leaders here about priests and sex abuse. Channel 7 interviewed Archbishop Román Arrieta. Several other media outlets talked to church officials with lesser rank. The word from Arrieta was that the scandal has not touched this country and there is not a single case of a youngster accusing a priest of improper conduct. The reserve of the Costa Rican media was unexpected because the media in the United States is being credited with hammering away at the church leaders to force the issue of priest molesters into the public eye. For example, Thursday a headline in Rome's La Stampa newspaper read "Dirty Linen Washed in Public." A rival paper, Corriere dell Sera credited "daily hammering" by the U.S. media for forcing the Vatican to react quickly and publicly to the scandal. U.S. Church leaders have been accused of moving pedophile priests from parish to parish in an attempt to cover up the scandal. Meanwhile, U.S. Roman Catholic Church leaders are returning home from the Vatican armed with proposals that make it easier to dismiss priests who sexually abuse children, but fall short of a so-called "zero tolerance" policy. Pope John Paul II summoned the senior U.S. clergy for unprecedented talks this week to address the crisis, which has shaken the Catholic Church in the United States. He called sexual abuse both a crime and an appalling sin in the eyes of God. But in their final statement, the U.S. cardinals came up with a process for dismissing pedophile priests that depends on whether they are repeat offenders or not. A final decision on immediately defrocking first-time offenders under the proposed "zero tolerance" policy was put off until a June meeting. Abuse victims say the cardinals failed to take a clear, uncompromising position against child abuse. U.S. cardinals appear divided on the "zero tolerance" policy with some convinced the pope meant a priest should be dismissed from active priesthood forever after a single instance of abusing a minor and others speaking of defrocking only for "notorious" offenders. Activists and media in several nations wracked by similar scandals hailed
the Vatican summit as a landmark occasion and called for a worldwide crackdown
on child abuse within the priesthood.
Colombian police
By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services BOGOTA, Colombia — Police say they have seized 3.5 tons of explosives and arrested 17 suspected leftist rebels near here. Police said Thursday they suspect the explosives belong to the country's largest Marxist rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known by its Spanish language acronym as FARC. The rebel group has not commented on the seizure of explosives or the arrests. Rebel violence has increased across Colombia since late February when three years of slow-moving peace talks collapsed. The talks were aimed at ending the nation's 38-year civil war. |
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