Flight of Despair for Lost Son
After a fruitless 44-day wait for news of their missing son, Brian and Mary Dobbins have flown to Costa Rica to take investigations into their own hands.

Fire in San Carlos Completely Destroys Plant
A fire in Pital de San Carlos completely destroyed the Productos Agropecuarios VISA S.A. plant minutes after owner of the plant left the building shortly after 11pm.

Toledo Presidential Aspirations Official
With his family by his side, Ricardo Toledo Carranza, launched his candidacy for the presidential nomination for the Partido Unidad Social Cristiana (PUSC).

What Ticos Dream
A survey by the daily Spanish language newspaper La Nación found that nightmares are at the top of the list of what Costa Ricans dream (76 percent), followed by fun dreams (70 percent), falling into a void (69 percent), dead people (64 percent), and erotic dreams (44 percent).

Boy Scouts Protect Turtles
Hundreds of Costa Rican Boy Scouts will partake in the operation Turtle Preservation 2005, which is to take place both on the Pacific and the Caribbean coasts.

TRAVEL & TOURISM
Costa Rican Wildlife Steals Pair's Hearts
My husband and I were married in Jamaica and celebrate each anniversary with a special vacation. When America West introduced service to Costa Rica, the decision for last year's adventure was easy.

LATIN AMERICA

Ecuadorian president lifts state of emergency
Ecuadorian President Lucio Gutierrez lifted a state of emergency in the capital on Saturday, as thousands of Ecuadorians took to the streets to demand his resignation for declaring the ban and firing the Supreme Court.

Fidel Castro Discloses How Posada Carriles Entered US
President Fidel Castro refuted with very convincing evidence the US allegation that the Miami sheltering of notorious Cuban terrorist Luis Posada Carriles was made up by the Cuban intelligence service.

Argentina Rejects to Reopen Foreign Debt Negotiation
President Nestor Kirchner ratified from Germany that his government will not reopen the foreign debt exchange, in a week characterized by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) pressures on Argentina.


SPECIAL REPORTS

HEALTH-CUBA:
Anti-Smoking Measures and Safer Cigarettes
While Cuba has joined most of the rest of the world in adopting anti-smoking measures, the Caribbean island nation's scientists have also developed a new, less harmful variety of tobacco to lessen the ill effects of this health-threatening habit.