Art show: Ebenezer Leyva
Painting exhibit “Icaros' Journey,” through the end of the month, Galería Amón, Barrio Amón, www.galeriaamon.net.

Alejandro Filio in concert
Trova, 8 p.m., National Auditorium, Children's Museum, tickets at Vértigo stores, 2245-0658. 

Belly Dance Show
By Bosenka, Shakira's belly dance instructor, 8 p.m., Melico Salazar Theater, tickets at www.mundoticket.com.

Black Culture Festival
Costa Rican Calypso Festival, 8 p.m., Black Star Line, Limón; opening ceremony, tomorrow, 7 p.m., Iglesia Descípulos de Cristo, Siquirres. 

Ecuadorean Youth Symphony Orchestra in concert
Free recitals, today 11:30 a.m., National University (UNA), Sarapiquí Campus; tomorrow, 7 p.m., Auditorium Clodomiro Picado, UNA, Heredia Campus, 2277-3951.

Expo-Casa
Furniture expo, home appliances, electrical tools, talks, demonstrations, through Sunday, PIMA Exhibit Hall, Barreal de Heredia.

International Education Congress
Through tomorrow, Franklin Chang High Technology Center, Pavas, 1 km north of U.S. Embassy, tel. 2277-8043.

Perrozompopo in concert
10 p.m. at Jazz Café, Escazú, http://jazzcafecostarica.com.

Robert Aguilar and The Neotics in concert
Neo soul, Aug. 8, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, San Pedro, http://jazzcafecostarica.com.

Texas Hold' Em Crazy 8's Tournament
8 p.m., Hotel Cocal Casino, Jacó, Puntarenas.

Art sale
Engravings, installations, etc., 10 a.m.-9 p.m., Casa 5 Gallery, 50 m. north of the north side, Calderón Guardia Hospital, 2222-8872, paulinavs.blogspot.com.

Doelen Quartet in concert
Classical, Credomatic Music Festival, 5:30 p.m., Reserva Conchal, Playa Conchal, Guanacaste.

Francesco Libetta in concert
Italian pianist, Credomatic Music Festival, 8 p.m., National Theater; Sunday, 8 p.m., San Ramón Church.

Puerto Viejo Open Pro Surf Tournament
9 a.m.-1 p.m., in front of Iguana Surf, Tamarindo, Guanacaste. 

Tamarindo marathon
10 kilometers, 21 kilometers (half marathon), 30 kilometers, 42 kilometers (marathon) and 400 meter kids race, to benefit Tamarindo Improvement Association, 5 a.m., Tamarindo, Guanacaste, www.tamarindobeachmarathon.com.

Tamarindo Recycling Day
Aug. 9, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., in front of Iguana Surf, Tamarindo.

Afro-Caribbean night
Dances, fashion show, food, 6 p.m., Culture House, Heredia. 

Aspro Dolce in concert
Classical music, Credomatic Music Festival, 8 p.m., National Theater.

Jacó bingo fundraiser
To benefit the Jacó Day Center, for time and schedule call Flor María Ugalde, 2637-0254, 8384-3937.

Piano concert fundraiser
Concert, cocktails, painting and auction for child pianist Daniela Navarro, 5:30-8 p.m., Club de la Playa de Pacífico, Playas del Coco, Guanacaste.

Rock for the animals
With Villegas, Santos y Zurdo, Parque en el Espacio, 6 p.m., Bar Voltio, San Francisco.

Winston Washington in concert
Trova, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, San Pedro.

The government is seeking to fend off corruption allegations following the resignation of its scandal-hit housing minister, Fernando Zumbado.

Presidency Minister Rodrigo Arias told a legislative commission yesterday morning “there's nothing to hide” regarding $2 million in Central American Bank for Economic Integration (BCIE) money that the government funneled into consultancy accounts.

Arias, President Oscar Arias' brother, said he was speaking “to refute statements by certain people that have rashly pointed at the president for managing secret funds or secret checkbooks” with BCIE cooperation money.

The president, responding to a recent report in the daily La Nación, said the money went to 54 people and firms working in areas such as communication, law and public management.

Housing Minister Fernando Zumbado, under investigation for possibly mismanaging a $1.5 million donation from Taiwan, announced earlier this week that he will resign Aug. 20.

Taiwan donated the money in 2006 to improve living conditions in Rincón Grande de Pavas, a shantytown west of San José, in addition to other ministry projects. Much of the money, administered by the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (BCIE), was spent on consultants and equipment.

Zumbado, however, also recommended that BCIE award a consulting contract to the International Center for Sustainable Development (CIDH), a nonprofit organization he founded and directed until April 2006, a month before assuming office.

After the news broke, the Comptroller General's Office opened an investigation and Zumbado stepped down temporarily July 10. The Government Attorney's Office is now deciding whether to file a formal accusation.

Zumbado, the fourth of 19 cabinet members to step down during Arias' 27 months in office, blamed the press and political opponents for smearing his name and the Housing Ministry's image.

Costa Rica's governmental Environmental Commission is working on a bill that would increase funding and resources for the Environmental Tribunal, which has been tasked with conducting sweeps of building developments, including homes and hotels, to crack down on illegal construction.

Yesterday, members of the tribunal, an administrative court of the Environment and Energy Ministry (MINAE), appeared before the commission to answer questions and summarize the work they've done this year.

The tribunal's investigations and shuttering of illegal projects on both Pacific and Caribbean coasts has led to political pressure, a recent break-in at tribunal offices and even death threats on its judges.

Since José Lino Chaves took over as president of the three-judge court in January, the tribunal has launched an unprecedented crackdown on coastal development, long denounced by organizations both within and outside of the government as out of control and unregulated.

In a series of raids, the tribunal has swept through the Central Pacific (primarily Jacó and Playa Hermosa), the Caribbean coast (Puerto Viejo and the cantons of Manzanillo and Gandoca), the northwest Guanacaste province (the cantons of Santa Cruz and Carrillo) and the Southern Pacific (mostly along the Fila Costeña coastal mountain range).

As a result, some 40 construction projects have been put under investigation, suspended or shut down entirely, amounting to more than 4,000 luxury residences, hotel rooms and condominiums, the tribunal reports.

These include such big-name projects as the $300 million Hotel Hyatt Azulera, under investigation for possible environmental damage, on Guanacaste's Brasilito beach, and the Ritz-Carlton's $250 million Guacamaya project in Guanacaste that was suspended for “the extraction of geological materials,” according to the tribunal.

Members of the Environmental Commission, formed by the Legislative Assembly, applauded the tribunal's work and promised support. The court currently works out of a small downtown San José office with a staff of just 12 covering the entire country.

Goods selling out of Nicaragua increased 29.73 percent during the first seven months of this year, compared with the same period in 2007, the government's Export Processing Center (CETREX) reported.

Exports from January to July grossed $970.5 million. The figure for the first seven months of 2007 was $748.1 million, CETREX said in its monthly report.

Coffee continues to top the export list, pulling in $200.1 million in through July 2008 – a 59 percent climb up from last year's total. Nicaragua's No. 2 product, beef, grossed $117 million, up just 6 percent from the first seven months of 2007.

The export office attributes the increase in dollars to rising world prices for beans, nuts, coffee, beverages, milk products and a host of other products.

CETREX also points to the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States, CAFTA.