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American Wanted in Costa Rica Arrested in Florida
An American man wanted in Costa Rica on child molestation and pornography charges was arrested in Broward County, Florida, after one of his acquaintances reported him to authorities, officials said Friday.

Arthur Carl Kanev, 56, of Pompano Beach, was found returning to his mother's condominium Thursday evening, said Broward sheriff's spokeswoman Veda Coleman-Wright.

Sheriff's deputies had been staking him out for about a month, after receiving the tip from a woman Kanev had recently met. She saw his profile on the Web site of the America's Most Wanted television show, Coleman-Wright said.

Costa Rican authorities said Kanev was arrested after hundreds of pictures of child pornography were found at his home in the Central American nation on January 6, 1999, Coleman-Wright said. Authorities said Kanev and a cohort would drug and rape local children before taking pornographic pictures of the youngsters.

In 2000, Kanev skipped out on bail and fled Costa Rica, Coleman-Wright said. He was first profiled on America's Most Wanted in 2001.

A woman who recently met Kanev and thought he was "odd" led sheriff's deputies to his home in the 400 block of North Ocean Boulevard. The woman did an Internet search on his name and found his profile on the America's Most Wanted Web site.

John Walsh's crime-fighting TV show featured Kanev in 2001. The woman called the show's tip line, and America's Most Wanted producers passed the information along to the Broward Sheriff's Office.

Kanev was being held in federal detention pending extradition, Coleman-Wright said. Neither she nor officials at the U.S. Magistrate's Court in Fort Lauderdale knew if Kanev had an attorney.

Kanev has a preliminary hearing next Friday, ahead of his extradition hearing Sept. 22, court officials said.

Kanev will be the first American extradited to Costa Rica, Coleman-Wright said.

3 Tourists Injured After Falling from Bridge
Three Japanese tourists and their guide were injured in Costa Rica on Friday after falling off a suspension bridge.

The three were among seven Japanese tourists and two local tour guides who fell about 15 meters from the bridge in a resort area in La Fortuna, in the Alajuela province, north of San José. 

They were taken to a nearby hospital but none sustained life-threatening injuries.

Commercial Trade Deficit Lower than Previous Year
It was reported by the Central Bank that Costa Rica's trade deficit for June 2003 was lower than at the same point last year, falling by almost 36%. 

In the first six months of the year, Costa Rica imported $658 million more than what is exported. However, last year, this difference was $1,025 million. 

Rather than decreasing imports, this improvement is principally due to increasing exports, especially in industrial sectors such as high technology centered on Intel. Other growth areas for exports include agriculture, especially in pineapple and melon exports.

Dollars still Preferred for Credits, Investments
Costa Ricans prefer to invest in dollars, even though earnings awarded for investments in the US currency are low. 

Likewise, the dollar is preferred to go into debt, even though local banks have employed several restrictions against this. 

It was reported this week that certificate of deposits and investment certificates in dollars reached $1,448 million in July, which represents 53% of the total investment capital in the national banking system. 

Meanwhile, 55% ($2,231 million) of all credits in the banking system were undertaken in the US currency. 

William Hayden, manager of the Banco Nacional asserted that Costa Ricans are realizing that even though interest rates are lower in dollars, "credits and loans are taken out for twenty years and you don't know what is going to happen in that time with exchange rates."