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updated by 7:00 a.m. CST each day
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Search for Minor
Continues
The Red Cross, neighbours and family continue the
search for Esteban Castro,
14, and won't give up.
The young man fell into the river Tiribi near
Hatillo 7, south of San José, about a week ago.
As of yesterday, members of the Red Croos, friends
and family refuse to give on the search for the
body. Their search is as far Guachepelin, miles away
from where the boy is presumed to have fallen and
will be looking closely at the dam located in Brasil
de Santa Ana.
Further along in Ventanas de Guácimo and the River
Tarcoles, rescue personnel are using boats to comb
the river, fearing that the boy's body may have been
taken by the currents out to the Pacific Ocean.
Morazan Park to be
More Secure
Following reports that the Morazan Park in downtown
San José has become a night spot for the sale of
drugs, assaults and minor prostitutes. The park is
dangerous after night fall, that even street people
don't go there.
To
combat the problem, police will be erecting a
permanent post at the edge of the park. The
exact location is not yet known.
Municipal authorities have been working on
beautifying many of the city's parks and agree
that the Morazan Park is calm and tranquil by
day, but by night you need to be very brave.
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'If
Bin Laden Gave me A Check I Would Voluntarily Go to
Jail'
President
Pacheco, on hot coals for the past few weeks over
checks received during his electoral campaign, is
remaining firm that he was not aware of all campaign
funds received and their source, even though he
endorsed them.
In a statement made to the local Spanish daily
Diario Extra, Pacheco made the statement, "that
if Bin Laden gave me a check personally, I would
take responsibility, but if to others, how could I
know?"
Checks given to Pacheco during the campaign were
handled by campaign managers and fund raisers.
Pacheco, yesterday, withdrew his confidence in those
persons who managed the campaign funds.
Notwithstanding, Pacheco is waiting on the financial
leaders of his campaign team to give him a full
explanation: ex-treasurer Rodolfo Montero y Roberto
Tovar.
Pacheco said, "I am hoping that they will give
me a complete and reasonable explanation in a short
time, there have been some strange stories and I
believe that they are interested in clearing where
the funds came from and we will then all know".
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US to check electronic items more closely at airports
US authorities will check more closely passengers' electronic devices at airports amid renewed terror threats, according to an advisory the Homeland Security Department sent to law enforcement personnel in the country on Tuesday.
"Al Qaida operatives have shown a special interest in converting a camera flash attachment into a stun gun type of weapon or improvised explosive device," the advisory said.
"Depending on location, placement and configuration of the device, the amount of explosives that could be contained within even the smallest camera could cause collateral damage."
Following the advisory, electronic devices such CD players, cameras, laptop computers and cell phones will be under greater scrutiny at airports in the United States.
At a news conference on Tuesday, Secretary of Homeland SecurityThomas J. Ridge said the advisory was based on "very specific" information obtained during a raid on an al Qaida residence in an unspecified place.
The advisory was the latest of several measures taken to tighten security at US airports, in the wake of the government's warning last week that terrorists might try more suicide hijackings and bombings in the Untied States or abroad.
The United States on Saturday suspended two programs that allow foreigners to stay in US airports without visas while awaiting flights to other countries.
Citing "specific, credible intelligence," State Department spokeswoman Jo-Anne Prokopowicz said terrorists have identified the visa and passport exemptions of those programs as means to gain access to aircraft en route to and from the United States.
Mexico asks WTO to examine US protectionist measures
Mexico on Tuesday asked the Controversy Solution Body of the World Trade Organization (WTO) toexamine Washington's protectionist measures on Mexican cement, oil-pipelines and steel products.
The Mexican Economy Ministry said it had requested the WTO body,which will meet on Aug. 18, to scrap the compensatory quotas on these products after every attempt for a solution through other means failed.
Mexico proposed the establishment of three special working groups to separately consider the disputes.
The authorities of both countries have met at different occasions without reaching concrete results.
Colombia kills about 2,000 rebels in 12 months
The government forces have killed 1,943 rebels and captured 4,272 others since Colombian President Alvaro Uribe took office about a year ago, the Army Command said Tuesday.
At least 1,229 guerrillas of the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) were killed in combats with government troops, 2,408 were captured and 525 deserted the 17,000-strong rebel group.
Of the 4,500 members of the National Liberation Army (ELN), thesecond largest rebel force in Colombia, 383 were killed, 575 arrested and 153 quit.
The United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), the main paramilitary group, suffered losses of 246 men. About 1,233 of itsmembers were captured and 104 deserted.
The AUC, established in the 1980s by drug traffickers and land owners to fight leftist guerrillas in areas where government troops have little control, signed an agreement with the government on July 15 on the demobilization of its 13,000 members by the end of 2005.
The Army Command did not give casualties of the government troops.
Colombia suffers a four-decade-old civil war, which pits leftist guerrillas against far right paramilitaries and governmenttroops. An average of 3,500 people, most of them civilians, are killed every year in the conflict.
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