French National Arrested
The OIJ (Organismo de Investigacion Judicial) 'captures' section detained a French national wanted by his country for drug trafficking.

The man had hidden in Costa Rica, after which in France an international order of capture was registered against him. The capture took place in Hatillos, south of the capital.

The OIJ did not provide many details other than to say that in France the man was tied to the sale and traffic of narcotics.

MEP with serious problems
The Ministry of Public Educcation (MEP) is having serious problems keeping it's teachers happy; and it is the cause of all the discontent.

Yesterday, most schools did not hold classes. Teachers were called upon by their union to hold a work stoppage in an attempt to send MEP a message. A general strike is planned for next week unless the situation is resolved.

At the root of the problem is the payment of salaries. It seems that many teachers are no receiving their full salaries due to a problem in the MEP's system for payment.

The Education Ministry claims that the problem lies in the MEP's computer system. Others claim that MEP does not have the funds to cover salaries. This has been an ongoing problem since classes began a few months back.

WHO says worst of SARS epidemic over in Canada but virus spreading in China
The World Health Organization said Monday that the SARS outbreak is spreading rapidly in China, but that the worst of the epidemic appears to be over in Canada, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Vietnam, meanwhile, has become the first country to contain its SARS outbreak, and the WHO lifted all advisories against travel to that country. "It appears from the reports we have from Hong Kong, from Singapore, from Toronto and from Vietnam that the epidemic has peaked in those countries," said the WHO's chief of communicable diseases, David Heymann. Those countries "are having fewer cases every day and, in some cases no more, such as Vietnam," Heymann said.

"So we are hoping and it appears that the outbreak has peaked in those countries."

Heymann described "a peak" as the point when an epidemic hits "a maximum number of cases per day."

"In most countries they have had one or two peaks and they are on their way down and they will stay down," he said.

The WHO believes that in Canada transmissions have stopped completely "and they are at the very bottom of the down slope," he said.

But Heymann, who is in Bangkok to attend an emergency summit meeting on SARS of Southeast Asian leaders Tuesday, said the situation is worrisome in China.

"In China, as you know, we are receiving more and more reports of cases and it doesn't appear it has peaked as far as spread (of the disease is concerned)," Heymann told reporters.

But Heymann also said wearing a mask in public for protection against SARS is not necessary, and the risk of getting the illness is not as great as people believe.

"SARS is not transmitted when you are walking down the street," Heymann said. "We have concerns about the perceived risks of people living in Asia. The perception that these people have in many places appears to be greater than the actual risk."

Worldwide at least 332 people have died of severe acute respiratory syndrome, mostly in China and Hong Kong. It has sickened around 5,000 people.

Canada has reported 21 SARS deaths among more than 300 suspected or probable cases of the disease. Most of the SARS cases, and all of the deaths, have been in the Toronto area.

Canadian officials flew to Geneva on Monday to present "compelling new evidence" to WHO officials that SARS has been controlled in Toronto.

At least three people killed in Tel Aviv suicide bombing
At least three people were killed and 35 others were injured, five seriously, in a suicide bombing occurred at a pub near the US embassy in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv, local police said.

The bombing, occurred at around 1:00 am on Wednesday morning at the entrance to a pub named Mike's Place. The pub is located near the United States embassy on Tel Aviv's beachfront and usually is popular with tourists.

The embassy itself was not damaged in the blast, local police source said.

Local Army Radio cited eyewitnesses as saying that the explosives was set off right after the security guard on the door jumped on the suicide bomber and prevented him or her from entering the pub.

This was the first suicide bombing inside Israel for weeks and it occurred just hours after the Palestinian Legislative Council approved the new cabinet proposed by new Palestinian premier Abu Maze.

In a speech made Tuesday to a Palestinian Legislative Council session convened in Ram Allah for a confidence vote on his new cabinet, Abu Maze pledged to control Palestinian militant groups and confiscate illegal weapons, however, Palestinian militant groups Hams and Islamic Jihad have said they would not give up their armed struggles. 

PLY approves Abu Maze as Palestinian PM
The Palestinian Legislative Council (PLY) on Tuesday approved Mohamed Abbes, better known as Abu Maze, as the first Palestinian prime minister to head his newly-formed cabinet.

Fifty-one Palestinian lawmakers attending the meeting in the West Bank town of Ram Allah voted for Abu Maze and his cabinet, 18 against, with three abstentions.

The PLY is made up of 85 members, of whom 10 were absent, two died and one resigned. 

Suspected SARS patient dies in South Africa
The 62-year-old South African businessman who was diagnosed as suffering from a probable case of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) died on Tuesday night at the Pretoria East Hospital, the South African Press Association reported.

In a statement by the Department of Health said the man died of cardiac complications, which the hospital regards as unrelated to SARS.

The man was diagnosed as a probable SARS case on the basis of the clinical symptoms he displayed and the fact that he had returned from Hong Kong shortly before becoming ill.

According to the statistics of World Health Organization, the businessman was the only suspected SARS patient in South Africa, and also in the African continent. 

Basra governor gives himself up in Baghdad
The governor of Iraq's southern province of Basra on Tuesday gave himself up in Baghdad to the US-backed Iraqi National Congress (INC) and US forces, according to an INC spokesman.

Wahid Hamed Tawfiq al-Tikriti, a member of former President Saddam Hussein's clan, was No. 44 on the US-led coalition's most-wanted list. He is the 15th Iraqi on the list known to have been captured.

He was being interrogated by both INC representatives and US forces, INC spokesman Haidar al-Moussawi told reporters.

INC representatives had reportedly been in contact with Tawfiq and convinced him of turning himself in following the fall of Saddam's regime. 

Rebuilding Iraq will take at least five years
The reconstruction of the war-torn Iraq needs at least five years or even more time, two influential US senators said Tuesday.

"Despite our satisfaction over the outcome of the combat phase of the (Iraq) war, we must recognize that we are probably closer to the beginning than to the end of our endeavors in Iraq," US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar said at a hearing.

"I've stated that it may take up to five years of efforts by coalition countries in Iraq to fully achieve our goals of stability, reconstruction, disarmament and democracy," the Republican senator said.

Joseph Biden, a Democrat and Lugar's predecessor, echoed the comments. "This (rebuilding Iraq) is going to require some significant time and significant resources. And I agree with the chairman," he said.

"We've both been talking about the notion that this can happen in months as being preposterous, and it's going to be somewhere in the range of five, or maybe more, years," Biden added.

"Iraq is not a prize," he said. "It's a complex society in a very tough neighborhood with incredibly, incredibly difficult problems to undertake and resolve."

Both senators also agreed on the need for the Bush administration to embark on efforts to mend fences with allied countries who have been opposed the US-led war with Iraq.

"Retaliating against long standing allies who were not with us on the war -- no matter how right they were or how wrong they were-- is beneath a great nation such as ours, and profoundly against our own interests," Biden said.

Lugar admitted that US relations with some of its allies "have suffered deep wounds" because of differences over the US approach to Iraq.

But he said Washington now must think about how to repair these relationships and how to "ensure that military and economic burdens related to Iraq, Afghanistan, and the global war on terror do not fall overwhelmingly on the United States."