Arthur Kanev  is escorted by local judicial authorities in the Juan Santamaria Airport in San José,  following his extradition from Florida. Kanev is facing charges that include corruption  and abuse of minors. Today's Stories: • Kanev Returns to Costa Rica • Radioactive Material Back in Safe Hands • Weatherman Says Rain to Last Another 24 to 48 Hours • Pacheco’s Numbers Fall • Observers to monitor Venezuelan presidential referendum • Colombia sets up first security posts in concentration zone • Honduran troops begin to leave Iraq for home A student passport will help police find minors who are lost or kidnapped. The new document will include personal information, including any nicknames that the minor may use. Authorities believe it will take 3 years to issue the document to all students.

On July 24, 2003, police Florida arrested accused pedophile Arthur Kanev after a month of surveillance. His arrest is a direct result of the FOX TV show America's Most Wanted: America Fights Back.

Yesterday, May 2004, Kanev, a dentist originally from the Boston area was extradited to Costa Rica to face child pornography charges.

The case began in the small town of Quepos. According to Casa Alianza, the organization dedicated to protecting exploited children, on January 6, 1999, authorities found Kanev and a cohort in possession of hundreds of pictures of child pornography in his house. He was promptly arrested.

It appeared as though Kanev and his friend had taken in local and destitute children, drugged them, raped them and took photos of them. In 2000, Kanev bonded out and fled the country. A warrant was issued for his arrest by Costa Rican authorities.

In 2001, America's Most Wanted broadcasted a story about Costa Rica's struggle with underage prostitution. The piece revealed that the majority of the offenders who come to take advantage of these girls are not Costa Rican. They are American.

As a part of the piece, America's Most Wanted profiled Kanev as an alleged perpetrator of this abuse. His picture was shown because there was a strong possibility that he'd fled back to the United States.

For more than a year, the show received numerous sightings of Kanev in the States but none led them to the international fugitive. Then, on June 24, 2003, they received the tip they needed.

A woman in Pompano Beach, Florida befriended a man who seemed odd to her. She got his name, Arthur Kanev, and logged on to the Internet. Her intuition was right on because, sure enough, when she searched for his name on the internet, it showed up on www.amw.com, the America's Most Wanted website. She called the AMW tip line and relayed her information.

AMW relayed this information to the Broward County Sheriff's Office in Florida. But because the warrant for Kanev's arrest was issued in Costa Rica, it was not as simple as picking him up.

First, authorities had to confirm that Kanev was indeed living with his mother in Pompano Beach. Once that was done, a provisional warrant had to be obtained. This took time, and the clock began to run. Rumor had it that Kanev was planning to leave the country at the end of July.

For the next month, Broward County Sheriff's maintained a close eye on Kanev while Interpol worked with the FBI and Costa Rican authorities to make sure all the paperwork was in order.

Then, exactly one month after the tip came into the America's Most Wanted hotline, the provisional warrant was in the hands of the right people. By 5:30pm local time, Broward County Sheriff's deputies took Kanev down. He was so surprised to be nabbed, he lost control of his bladder.

Kanev, now in the hands of Costa Rican authorities, faces charges that include corruption of minors and abuse. Costa Rican officials say they found evidence of child pornography at his home there. Kanev's former roommate, Joe Curtis Baker, an Oklahoma City veterinarian charged along with Kanev, was sentenced in Costa Rica to 24 years in prison for similar crimes.

Radioactive Material Back in Safe Hands
The radioactive material was stolen from a sealed warehouse a few days back appeared yesterday at the door steps of the company, Mirca J J Ingeniería, in the centre of Siquirres, Limon, the same place from where it was stolen.

It is presumed that those had the the container heeded to warnings by authorities of the dangers of the material and decided it was best to return it.

The radioactive material was identified as  Iridium 192, which is a commonly used radiotracer in the oil industry and emits a high level of radiation. The material is extremely dangerous. In normal and regulated use, radioactive sources pose no undue radiological hazard to workers or the public. Problems can arise if radiation sources are involved in accidents, and have the potential to cause serious radiological harm.

Weatherman Says Rain to Last Another 24 to 48 Hours
It's been raining since Wednesday afternoon and the weatherman (the Instituto Meteorológico Nacional - IMN) says it will continue to do so for at least another 24 to 48 hours, with the Central and North Pacific Zones to be affected the most.

The inclement weather that has affected the whole country is responsible for the closure of at least four major roads and the death of one man.

Gerardo Picado, 41 years of age, in Puerto Jiménez, Golfito, who drowned in the raging waters of the Agujas river when he tried to cross the river on his horse. The body was found about 8 kilometers down river.

The Comisión Nacional de Prevención de Riesgos y Atención de Emergencias (CNE) has declared a "green" alert for the entire country. Rivers are of greatest concern as water levels rise causing flooding in low lying areas. Mudslides are another major concern for the CNE.

The weather has affected the area of Quepos and Dominical de Osa, as the Savegre river overflowed it's banks. A mudslide on the Interamerican Sur highway in El Empalme, in El Guacro de Cartago interrupted movement in the area as work cruise continue the clean up.

Route 142 that connects La Fortuna de San Carlos with Tilarán, Guanacaste, was affected by a collapse of the road on kilometer 36, some 10km from the Arenal dam, stopped all vehicular traffic through the area.

Also in the north, the connection between La Fortuna de San Carlos and Peñas Blancas was cut due to the the collapse of a cement bridge caused by the strong currents of the Burrito river.

According to the IMN, a lower pressure system is causing the current weather conditions.

Pacheco’s Numbers Fall
President Abel Pacheco is losing public support according to a poll by Universidad Nacional.

50 per cent of respondents rate the president’s performance as bad, an 18 per cent increase in a year.

Issues such as alleged contributions by foreign entities into his campaign fund, as well as his moral support for the war in Iraq, had affected his approval rating.

In December 2003, Costa Rica temporarily opted out of negotiations towards the much-heralded Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) with the United States.

Pacheco was unsure about granting access to the country’s telecommunications and insurance industries to overseas conglomerates. The country finally agreed to the treaty’s terms in February.

Last year, the Costa Rican Congress opted to bring back presidential re-election, after several opinion polls showed the population supported the idea.

The ruling appears to benefit former president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Óscar Arias Sánchez, who governed in the late 1980s.

How would you rate the performance of Abel Pacheco as president?

                  May 2004     May 2003
Good          19%              22%
Average     31%              46%
Bad            50%              32%

Source: Universidad Nacional
Methodology: Interviews to 600 Costa Rican adults (300 men and 300 womne), conducted from May 5 to May 8, 2004. Margin of error is 4 per cent.

Colombia sets up first security posts in concentration zone
The Colombian government has set up the first security posts in the northern "concentration zone" where they will resume peace negotiations with the paramilitary United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), officials said Thursday.

Peace Commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo has met with police officers and governor of the Cordoba department, Libardo Lopez, to coordinate the security posts on the borders of the "concentration zone".

The forces and police will be deployed in Severinera, Los Agujos, Betanci, Los Volcanes, El Caramelo and Santafe de Ralito in the department of Cordoba. Some of the roads to the area will also be closed.

But Restrepo pledged that rights and investments of the residents in the region will be respected.

Last Thursday, the Colombian government and the AUC agreed to create a 368-square-km concentration zone in northern Cordoba province for about 400 paramilitaries to demobilize, a process that will be supervised by a mission of the Organization of American States.

The success of the peace process with the AUC will lead to the demobilization of 13,000 paramilitaries, said official sources.

In the so-called "concentration zone", the rebels will be protected by government troops and exempted from prosecution, but they will not be able to leave without government authorization.

The AUC demobilization process will also help stop Colombia's four-decade civil war, the longest in Latin America, which kills an average 3,500 people every year, they said.

Also on Thursday, the AUC proposed to create another three concentration zones like the one in Cordoba.

The right-wing paramilitary suggested on the Internet that the zones be in the regions of Bajo Cauca, Magdalena Medio Antioqueno and the Eje Cafetero. They also stressed their commitment to cease hostilities.

In a response to the proposal, Colombian Defense Minister Jorge Alberto Uribe said it will be better for the two sides to reach an agreement on the table rather than throwing out proposals before the country.
 

Honduran troops begin to leave Iraq for home
The Honduran troops in Iraq on Thursday began to leave the country for home, a military source announced in the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa.

Armed Forces spokesman Col. Rafael Moreno said on Thursday that the members of the Xatruch II Expeditionary Battalion flying from Kuwait to Honduras in two airplanes will arrive in Palmerola military base, central Comayagua, on Friday.

Honduran Parliament authorized on May 2003 the deployment of a 370-strong contingent to Iraq for one year, and actual deployment started in August.

The first contingent returned home in February, after they were placed by a second group.

The second contingent of troops were originally due to return in July, but Honduran President Ricardo Maduro decided on April 19 to anticipate their withdrawal.

The decision was adopted after Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero announced that their troops would return.