In fact, the Chinese appear to be filling a funding hole created by the U.S., which under fiscal pressure has been cutting aid to Latin America, a trend that continued into the 2013 budget proposal.

WSJ: Xi's Costa Rican Visit Helps China Bind Ties

The recent hacks appear to have used what cybersecurity experts call a "water hole" attack.

CNN: Doug Gross,

Dr Stern and his colleagues used the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (Nustar) space telescope to examine the X-rays coming out of the black hole candidates spotted by Wise, presenting their findings in a paper to appear in Astrophysical Journal.

BBC: Supermassive black holes and hot galaxies in giant haul