National Symphony Orchestra and the National Symphony Choir
Performing Beethoven and Schubert, 8 p.m.; Saturday, 10:30 a.m., National Theater, reservations at 2221-5341, www.teatronacional.go.cr.

Monteverde Music Fest
Evolución, Friday, 7 p.m., Green Park; Parque en el Espacio, Saturday, 7 p.m., Amphitheater; Cantoamérica, Sunday, 5 p.m., Amphitheater; Sonámbulo (closing concert), Sunday, 10 p.m., Green Park, 2645-5926, monteverde.music.fest@gmail.com.

Miramar Fiestas
Including a horse parade, rides, food, Friday through April 14, Miramar, Puntarenas. 

Bob Benjamin Zuñiga in Coco
At newly opened Tragos Martini Bar in Playa del Coco, 7 pm. On The main road entering Coco on the right hand side of the road.  For more info call Sandy at 2670-2054.

Expoempleo job fair
Through Sunday at Hotel San José Palacio, ¢1,500. Advice, interview skills, recruitment, starts 10:30 a.m., http://www.content-costarica.com/campaigns/expoempleo/200803/200803_01.php

Iranian film
“Cine Alevoso” – A car, two cameras, a divorced woman driving through Tehran…10:30 p.m. at Café-Teatre de la Calle 15, opposite Plaza de la Democracia, San José. For more information call Jorge Alban at 8814-1834. 

Free chamber music concert
Cellist Eduardo Madrigal and Pianist Roberto Vargas, 7 p.m., National Theater Hall.

Trip to Barra Honda
Organized by the Organization for Tropical Studies, www.ots.ac.cr/es/biocursos/

Story-telling in French for children
“Le petit prince,” 10 a.m., at Librería Francesa, 100 m. east, 25 m. south of Pops, road to Curridabat, 2253-4242, info@libreriafrancesa.net.

Play: 'Hasta Que la Suerte Nos Separe'
Relationships and divorce, through Sunday, 8 p.m., Teatro 1887, CENAC.

Pejibaye Fair
Rides, food, contests, through Monday, Pejibaye, Turrialba, 8815-1763, turismoriopejivalle@gmail.com.

President Oscar Arias yesterday appointed a lawmaker and lifelong academic as public security minister, after Fernando Berrocal left that post over comments he made about Colombian rebels' ties to Costa Rica. 

The lawmaker, Janina del Vecchio from the National Liberation Party (PLN), will take office April 25. Vice President and Justice Minister Laura Chinchilla will serve as interim public security minister until then.   

Berrocal resigned under pressure Sunday, the day before he was to give a presentation in the Legislative Assembly about links between Costa Rican political sectors and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Arias' brother, Presidency Minister Rodrigo Arias, said the administration disagreed with Berrocal's statements and wanted to avoid politicizing the issue.

Oscar Arias praised Del Vecchio, a former math teacher, in a press conference last night announcing his decision.

“She has integrity, honesty, loyalty and a sense of responsibility,” he said. “She knows how to make decisions. In this ministry, one needs those characteristics.”

More than 1,000 hectares, or 2,500 acres, of Costa Rica's prized wooded areas have been razed by 23 forest fires this year to date, according to the National Fire Management Program.

Three recent blazes in the last two weeks have charred a little over 600 hectares (almost 1,500 acres) of dry tropical forest in the northwest Guanacaste province, said Luis Diego Román, coordinator of the fire watchdog. Authorities still do not know what, or who, sparked the recent fires that are burning up swaths of the UNESCO world heritage site.

Román claimed that a number of forest fires were ignited by vengeful hunters or loggers whom police caught in the act of illegally killing animals or trees in the protected zone.

This year 21 fires have blazed through protected areas and two in privately owned farm land – most were sparked intentionally, the coordinator said.

During the dry season last year, there were 72 forest fires, of which 37 charred conservation land.

Costa Rican authorities are optimistic that the early rainy season will help put an end to the flames.

The total burned acreage is so far lower than last year's, according to Román, but he did not give a specific count for 2008.

Deportivo Saprissa weathered a strong second half showing from Houston Dynamo to secure a 0-0 draw in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champion's Cup on Wednesday night.

The Costa Rican side will be happy with the result in the Dynamo's home Robertson Stadium in Texas. The second leg will be played at the Ricardo Saprissa Stadium in Tibás, north of San José, at 8 p.m. Wednesday.

“This is a great result away from home,” said Saprissa coach Jeaustin Campos on the club's Web site. “Dynamo is a very strong team, they are organized and play good soccer, but now we are just 90 minutes away from the grand final. We still haven't won anything, but we have taken a big step forward. Now we have to finish the job in the home leg, in front of our fans.”

“El Monstruo Morado,” as Saprissa is known, showed determination in holding the back-to-back MLS Cup Champions at bay, with goalkeeper Keylor Navas highly impressive. Dynamo looked particularly dangerous when crossing from out wide, and star player Brian Ching was a constant threat, but time and again the men in orange wasted good chances, none better than Ching's injury time header, which shaved the woodwork right at the death.

Both sides still have everything to play for in the second leg, where Saprissa will be continuing its hunt for a fourth CONCACAF title, having won the competition in 1993, 1995 and 2005. The winner of the competition will also be invited to the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup.

In the other semifinal, home side Pachuca CF of Mexico overcame D.C. United of the United States thanks to two second-half goals from substitute Luis Montes. The return leg will be played at the RFK Stadium in Washington D.C. on Wednesday.

Taiwan offered new scholarships for Latin American students who want to pursue graduate studies and learn Chinese on the island, the Taiwanese Education Ministry said. It's the latest move in a competition between China and Taiwan, which are vying for diplomatic relations in the region.

Taiwan reached an agreement with 17 Latin American universities to provide 20 scholarships to students from the region, the ministry's International Relations Office said.

Ten scholarships will go to doctoral students, providing them with monthly stipends of $828 for a three-year period.

Master's students will get two-year scholarships with monthly stipends of $828, the ministry said.

The majority of the scholarship recipients will attend Chiao Tung University in Hsinchu City, which is located in northern Taiwan and is home to a leading scientific and industrial park.

China and Taiwan have waged a diplomatic battle ever since they split amid civil war in 1949. China refuses to have diplomatic ties with nations that recognize Taiwan, which Beijing regards as a renegade province.

Last year, Costa Rica established diplomatic relations with China and broke ties with longtime friend Taiwan.

China returned the favor with a $20 million aid package to help rebuild Costa Rican roads, bridges and dikes damaged by heavy rains and flooding in October 2007 as well as the gift of a new national stadium.

Central America has been a bulwark of support for Taiwan, and Costa Rica's decision to break off relations prompted fears that more nations in that region could follow suit.

Taiwan currently has diplomatic ties with 23 countries, 12 of which are in the Americas. Paraguay is its only diplomatic friend in South America.

However, Latin American students make up only 1% of Chiao Tung University's foreign student population, according to a report in Taipei Times.

“To encourage elite students from the region to study in Taiwan, the Ministry of Education has designated the university as a conduit to recruit students,” Chiao Tung President Wu Chung-yu said, according to the Taipei newspaper.