Hanukkah menorah lightings
Friday, 4:15 p.m.; Saturday, 6:30 p.m.; Sunday, 6 p.m., all at La Sabana Park, behind León Cortés statue, Calle 42, Paseo Colón, 2296-6565.

Horse parade
Traditional tope with 3,000 horses, Paseo Colón, Avenida 2, Plaza Víquez.

Zapote Fiestas
Fireworks, Tico bullfights, rides, food, concerts, through Jan. 6, Zapote fairground.

Rhythm & Beats in concert
Jazz fusion, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, San Pedro, 2253-8933, www.jazzcafecostarica.com.

Fragua in concert
Flamenco, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, Escazú, 2288-4740, www.jazzcafecostarica.com.

Sabina covers
Music by famous Spanish singer-songwriter, 9:30 p.m., El Observatorio, opposite Cine Magaly, Barrio La California, 2223-0725.

Summer camp
For kids in the Puerto Viejo de Limón area, arts and crafts, sports, games, environmental education, volunteers needed, Saturday and Sunday, register at 2574-4412, info@tropicaladventures.com.

Cardamomo in concert
Part of Mundoloco concert series, featuring belly dancing, Jazz Café, San Pedro, 2253-8933, www.jazzcafecostarica.com.

Son del Pueblo
Salsa, 9:30 p.m., El Observatorio, opposite Cine Magaly, Barrio La California, 2223-0725.

Master Key Christmas Concert
Gospel, 5 p.m., Centro Evangelístico, Zapote.

Film La Tourneuse de Pages
Directed by Denis Dercourt. French with subtitles in Spanish. Sala Garbo, Avenida 2, Calle 28, 2222-1034.

Construction workers had a surprise Wednesday while doing some remodeling in eastern San José's San Pedro Mall.

Police said an AK-47 assault rifle, two loading clips and a smoke grenade were hidden between the drywalls of a construction site on the fifth floor.

One of the clips was loaded with approximately 30 bullets and the other was empty, the Public Security Ministry said.

Erick Calderón, Montes de Oca district police chief, said shoppers were not informed of the discovery in order to avoid panic.

The stairways and car ramps leading up to the fifth floor were blocked for precaution while police investigated the area.

The news, however, traveled through the mall as shop attendants buzzed about the weapons that had been found.

Costa Rica's Constitutional Court suspended the extradition to the United States of a U.S. woman accused of kidnapping her child and bringing her here, the judiciary said Wednesday.

The extradition of Nicole Kater, 28, was halted in response to a habeas corpus motion filed by Costa Rica's Chief Prosecutor Francisco Dall'Anese, who said the woman's due process rights had been violated by the court that ordered her turned over to U.S. authorities.

When Kater and her daughter arrived in Costa Rica in April 2005, the California woman produced what she said was a document signed by the girl's father, John Gehl, authorizing her to bring the child here.

Kater was under an order from Humboldt County Superior Court in northern California not to leave the country pending a decision on Gehl's petition for custody of 7-year-old Tierra Zion Gehl-Kater.

A U.S. federal warrant for Kater's arrest was issued in December 2005 and Costa Rican police tracked her down in April of this year.

Kater has been jailed since then pending possible extradition, while Gehl-Kater was reunited with her father.

Gehl and Kater met in California in 2000 and soon afterward left for Costa Rica, where Tierra Zion Gehl-Kater was born in November of that year.

A Costa Rican court initially rejected the U.S. extradition request, but a higher court overturned that ruling on Dec. 17 and ordered Kater handed over to the United States.

Kater's bid for refugee status was rejected by Costa Rican authorities in September.

The Public Services Regulatory Authority, ARESEP, approved a 15 percent raise in electricity rates that would take effect in January.

The Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) originally requested late last month a hike of more than 40 percent, citing operating costs and the need to guarantee the purchase of geothermal fuel as the main reasons.

ICE also mentioned preventing blackouts during the upcoming warm months as another reason to increase electricity rates next month.

For a family that spends about ¢25,000 (about $46) a month in electricity, the increase would amount to about ¢4,280 ($8), according to ARESEP.

About 90 percent of the energy generated comes from renewable sources, such as water, geothermal, wind and biomass, which allow the country to have more favorable prices in the energy sector compared to other Central American nations.

It is estimated that for 2009, inflation would be about 10 percent and the colón would lose 4.5 percent of its value. Those factors, ICE said, increase the cost of operations.