Opera “Carmen's Tragedy”
Performed by sopranos Icy Simpson and Soo Ah Park; tenor Gerardo Ramos, Mezzo Soprano Keely Rhodes and baritones Levi Beck and Yoon San Lee, July 11, 8 p.m.; July 12, 7 p.m.; July 13, 5 p.m., National Auditorium, Children's Museum, 2222-7647.

Virgen del Mar Fiestas
Including rides, sports, cultural shows, food, through July 14, Paseo de los Turistas, Puntarenas; Traditional Boat Parade along the Nicoya Gulf, July 13, 10 a.m.

Play “La Tosca Herramienta”
Performed by Giratablas Group, July 11-12; July 13, 4 p.m., Teatro Giratablas, opposite KFC, Barrio La California.

Autocross Competition
Through Sunday, 9 a.m., Los Llanos track, La Florencia, San Carlos,

Concert by Editus
As part of its tour in carbon neutrality, 7 p.m., Ruinas, Cartago

Supermaket Music
Musician José Cañas rocks out for charity at the Desamparados Megasúper, 7 p.m.

Four-Wheeler National Championship
9 a.m., La Olla, Alajuela, 2542-1414, www.guia2cr.com

Salsa and Merengue Concert
By Erick Sánchez, 7 p.m., Real Cariari Mall, Heredia.

Hike through Nature
Including snacks, lunch, and transportation, hike through trails, meditation and the crossing of the energetic labyrinth, July 20, Finca San Miguel (Azul), Copalchi, Cartago. Leaving at 8 a.m. from Radio Universidad de Costa Rica, UCR, return trip at 4 p.m. Info: 8819-3173.

Fernando Zumbado, Housing Minister and rector of the government's social programs, announced he is “temporarily” stepping down from his position while he is investigated for hiring allegedly questionable consulting services for a program aimed at improving living conditions in shantytowns.

 "If the report shows he committed very serious mistakes... he will step down," said Fernando Fernandez, a Housing Ministry spokesman.

Zumbado denies any wrongdoing.

 The consultancies in question were paid for from a $1.5 million donation to Costa Rica by Taiwan to improve living conditions in Rincón Grande de Pavas, a shantytown west of San José. The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (BCIE) was responsible for administrating the donation through a trust fund.

 The funds were donated in October 2006, months before Costa Rica's June 2007 decision to break diplomatic ties with Taiwan and establish relations with the China.

 Zumbado admitted that, given the nature of the project, the majority of the funds were spent on consulting projects for the Housing Ministry, but denied any misallocation of funds.

 Casa Presidencial accepted the temporary resignation stating that Zumbado's decision would give the Comptroller General's Office and the Government Ethics Committee “space to objectively and independently study how the funds donated by Taiwan were executed.”

 The daily La Nación reported Wednesday that in April 2007, Zumbado had recommended that that BCIE award a $315,000 consulting contract to the International Center for Sustainable Development (CIDH), a non-profit he founded and directed until April 2006, a month before assuming office. A total of 38 firms and organizations received consulting contracts.

 According to its Web site, CIDH is a non-profit research institution created to promote sustainable development.

“Faced with this situation my conscience is absolutely clean because I consider we have acted in a correct manner and that the funds have been used for the purpose for which they were offered,” Zumbado stated in a press release issued by the Housing Ministry.

The Comptroller General's Office is now investigating the Arias administration's use of a secret $2 million donation by BCIE in 2006. The government has so far spent about half the money on 84 consultants without notifying the Comptroller General or the Legislative Assembly, which normally oversee the use of public funds.

David Albanese, a U.S. citizen wanted by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation on charges of kidnapping, was arrested in San José yesterday following a joint operation by the International Police (Interpol) and the Costa Rican Department of Intelligence and Security (DIS), according to Interpol.

Albanese has been wanted since late 2006 after the New Bedford, Massachusetts, District Court issued a warrant for his arrest on kidnapping charges. Abanese allegedly requested permission from his wife to take his 5-year-old son on vacation with him to Costa Rica during August of that year, but never returned to the United States.

Locating Albanese proved difficult because he repeatedly changed residences to avoid capture. After a month-long investigation, Interpol's Costa Rican offices tracked the suspect down at a residential community in Bello Horizonte, a neighborhood of the western San José suburb of Escazú,, according to Interpol.

Albanese was arrested at 10:50 p.m. in Alto de Guadalupe, north of San José, as he and his girlfriend were leaving her house in a cab. The minor was not with them at the time.

Albanese worked for an online gambling firm located close to the Comptroller General's Office on the southern side of La Sabana Park in western San José. He reportedly traveled to the beach with a Costa Rican woman several times in recent weeks.

Albanese is currently in the custody of the Costa Rican judicial system and will be extradited to the U.S. to face kidnapping charges.

The young boy is in the custody of the Child Welfare Office (PANI) and will eventually be handed over to U.S. authorities.

The National Gallery is presenting a new art exhibit entitled “ II Confrontación en el Arte” (II Confrontation in the Arts). The event will showcase the work of 53 consolidated and emerging Costa Rican artists painstakingly selected by renowned artists and museum curators Elizabeth Barquero, Luis Fernando Quirós, Herberth Bolaños, and Manuel Vargas.

Accomplished sculptor, Vargas was in charge of selecting the sculptures on display. Quirós, who specializes in design, selected photography exhibits as well as avant-garde art works. Bolaños selected works featuring ensembles, textiles and the latest trends in contemporary art. Painter Barquero selected the paintings that are on display.

“Confrontación en el Arte covers artists' need to have an outlet to show their works, so that new talents can share with consolidated ones and where Costa Rican society can appreciate the best of contemporary art,” Barquero explains.

Barquero described the event as a “thermometer” that allows artists and the public in general to analyze the state of art in Costa Rica.

The National Gallery is located in the Children's Museum (Ca. 4, Ave. 9) in downtown San José. The museum is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free.