French film festival
“Harry, un ami qui vous veut du bien,” 6 p.m., Alliance Française.

‘Nunsense'
Musical comedy in English by the Little Theatre Group, through Sept. 28, Thurs.-Sat., 7:30 p.m.; Sun., 2:30 p.m., Laurence Olivier Theater, www.littletheatregroup.org, 8355-1623.

Willie Colón in concert
Salsa, doors open 7 p.m., Torre Geko, Real Cariari, Ciudad Cariari, Heredia. Info: 2542-1414.

‘Hamlet'
Performed in English by TNT theater company of England, through Sunday, 8 p.m., Eugene O'Neill Theater, CCCN.

National Symphony Orchestra concerts
Featuring Concierto de Aranjuez for Guitar, Spanish Rapsody, El Sombrero de Tres Picos, with guitar player Luis Zamora and guest director Carlos Checa, Sept. 19, 8 p.m.; Sept. 21, 10:30 a.m., National Theater.

‘Sour Angelica'
Opera by Giacomo Puccini, through Sunday, 8 p.m., Variedades Theater, 222-6108.

Las Tortugas in concert
Classic rock covers, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, Escazú.

Malpaís in concert
Trova, to raise funds for Ngobe-Buglé

‘Stop Violence Against Women'
With the participation of Mexican actresses, forum at 8 a.m., Melico Salazar Theater; gala dinner, 7:30 p.m., Mexico Institute, reserve at 2234-6409. Sunday walk with the actresses on Paseo Colón, 9 a.m.; “Confesiones de la Vagina” play, 7:30 p.m., Melico Salazar Theater.

National yoga festival
Free classes at yoga centers around the country, 10 a.m.; classes, meditation sessions, stands, entertainment, Sunday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., CENAC; Instructors visit schools, prisons, Monday, asoyagacr@gmail.com, 8333-7002.

State of the Union in concert
Electro-pop, 8 p.m., Bar Code, Hotel Britania, Barrio Amón, tickets at Mora Books and Insomnio Store, San Pedro Mall.

Boy George in concert
9 p.m., The City, Zapote, www.mundoticket.com.

Son de Tikizia in concert
Salsa, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, San Pedro.

Ocotal beach cleanup
Part of 23rd annual International Coastal Cleanup, beach and underwater scuba cleanup, children's activities, raffle with prizes, Sunday, 8:30 a.m., Ocotal Beach Resort, Ocotal, Guanacaste, 2670-0321, ext. 128, 152.

Chilean fiestas
Cultural shows, food, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Club Los Jaules, San Pedro, Coronado, www.embachile.co.cr.

Moscow Circus
Mon.-Fri., 7:30 p.m.; Sat. and holidays, 5 and 7 p.m.; Sun., 2:30, 5 and 7 p.m., Zapote, next to bullring. Info: 8353-0201. 

Costa Rica's state insurance monopoly sought yesterday to calm clients worried about the fate of insurance giant American International Group (AIG), which reinsures 22 policies here and narrowly avoided bankruptcy this week.

“We want to tell all Costa Ricans, and especially our clients, not to worry,” said Guillermo Constenla, president of the National Insurance Institute (INS). “The institute is financially and technically sound.”

The 22 policies, which range from fire insurance to worker compensation, belong to multinational companies and state entities, including Juan Santamaría International Airport in Alajuela, west of San José. If disaster struck every client at once, the total cost would be $940 million, with AIG bearing most of the burden, Constenla said.

The U.S. Federal Reserve's $85 billion takeover of AIG Tuesday calmed nerves at INS and persuaded the institute to stick with AIG, which reinsures less than 1 percent of INS policies, Constenla said. Still, if AIG's credit rating drops further, he said, INS will switch the policies to another reinsurance agency.

“We have to remain alert,” he said. “If the rating goes down, we'll start to worry. Then the red light goes on.”

AIG's troubles come amid a worsening global credit crisis that has led the investment bank Lehman Brothers to file for bankruptcy protection and the brokerage firm Merrill Lynch to seek takeover by Bank of America. Yesterday, as bank lending came to a near halt, the Federal Reserve (Fed) and the world's other major central banks pumped $180 billion into money markets overseas, according to wire reports.

Top U.S. congressional leaders were meeting late Thursday with the Fed to come up with a possible major U.S. government bailout, possibly similar to that in the late 1980s when the savings-and-loan failure threatened the stock markets.

See today's top business story C.R. Dodging the Crisis at http://www.ticotimes.net/business.htm for more on this story.

U.S. Ambassador Robert Callahan tells reporters yesterday Nicaragua can invite whomever it pleases.

Tim Rogers | Nica Times

MANAGUA, Nicaragua – U.S. Ambassador Robert Callahan yesterday downplayed Nicaragua's strengthening of relations with Russia despite Washington's strong criticism of recent Russian aggression.

“Nicaragua is a sovereign country and it can invite whoever it wants (to visit),” Callahan said when asked about the high-ranking Russian delegation visiting Managua at the invitation of President Daniel Ortega.

Callahan noted that the United States, too, has invited the members of the Russian government to visit Washington, D.C. in past months, and that Nicaragua has the right to establish relations with whatever countries it wants.

But, the ambassador added, “We are also a sovereign country and we are going to make our positions known; and they aren't always going to be the same as Nicaragua's positions.”

Ortega met Wednesday night with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin, who greeted Ortega and a group of Sandinista supporters in Spanish in a rally held at a Managua hotel.

Speaking wistfully of Nicaragua's relations with the erstwhile Soviet Union in the 1980s, Ortega hailed Russia for “illuminating the planet” with its fight for “peace and justice.”

Both Ortega and Sechin lamented that historical factors ended the tight relationship that existed between Soviet and Sandinista governments in the 1980s and pledged to strengthen those historic ties.

Ortega has already taken the first step to rekindle the relationship by officially recognizing the independence of the pro-Russian rebel Georgian provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Nicaragua is the only country in the world other than Russia to recognize the separatist nations – a move that prompted U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez to cancel his scheduled trip to Nicaragua next week.

The United States has been very critical of Russia's recent invasion of Georgia last month – a move Ortega defends. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday said Russia is on a path toward “isolation and irrelevance,” according to AP wire reports.

Read today's Nica Times print edition for more on this story.

Immigration Director Mario Zamora has filed police reports against 24 of his own officials.

According to a report in the daily La Nación yesterday, Zamora filed criminal complaints against the officials for their allegedly falsifying entry and exit stamps to allow Ticos to stay longer in the United States than legally allowed.

Immigration officials charged from $150 to $300 for the service and even traveled to the United States to perform the service for Ticos already in that country.

The United States has deported more than 200 Costa Ricans in the past few months for immigration violations, and the U.S. has suspended visas for all of the accused immigration officials, according to La Nación.

So far, most of the accused officials have not been fired but reportedly remain under investigation. One retired with a pension, two resigned and another was fired for unrelated reasons.

Zamora sent The Tico Times a summary of police reports against allegedly corrupt immigration officials in June, but he could not be reached yesterday to confirm if they are the same individuals involved in the falsified stamp enterprise.

Some of those officials include Piedra, González, Morales, Hartley, Camacho and Leguízamo. Camacho is a former Immigration policeman.

The accusations against them include information sabotage, accepting bribes, falsifying immigration records and other irregularities.

The summary includes a criminal complaint against a former official of the United Nations Refugee Agency, last name Morales, for providing immigration documentation without authorization.

Costa Ricans can take a deep breath, and stretch. The first national yoga festival, Yoga Para Todos (Yoga for Everyone), takes place tomorrow and Sunday.

The festival, set to coincide with Sept. 21 International Day of Peace, warms up tomorrow morning with free yoga classes at centers, including Bikram Yoga, Casa Ames and Casa Lamat in San José, Ser Om Shanti in Playa Tamarindo, in the northwestern Guanacaste province, and VidAsana in Central Pacific's Playa Hermosa.

See today's print or pdf edition of The Tico Times for more on this story.