Newcomers Club Meeting
With dim sum, coffee, bocas, 9:30 a.m., Don Wang restaurant, 2416-1111, 2265-1703, newcomerscr@yahoo.com.

National Gallery exhibit
Artists Karen Brown, Katie Kahn, William Fields and Christine LoFaso showcase, opening 7 p.m., through Jan. 30, National Gallery, Children's Museum, end of Calle 4, tel. 2258-4929.

Jazz jam session
Jazz Café Trio and guests, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, San Pedro, 2253-8933, www.jazzcafecostarica.com.

Dan Robinson and Electro Band in concert
Part of the Mundoloco concert series, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, Escazú, 2288-4740, www.jazzcafecostarica.com.

Costa Rica has joined calls for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, where Israeli tanks, troops and bombs have killed about 550 people since Israel began attacking the area 10 days ago.

In a cautious statement released yesterday, the Foreign Ministry criticized both Israeli authorities and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, who Israel says provoked the attack by firing rockets into southern Israel.

“We condemn the excessive use of force by Israel, and we condemn terrorist acts by Hamas against Israeli territory, including the launching of rockets,” the statement said.

The statement also expressed “deep concern” over civilian casualties in Gaza and called for greater humanitarian aid to Palestinians living there.

The United Nations Security Council, where Costa Rica has a non-permanent seat, issued a non-binding statement in late December calling for an end to the violence. Arab countries yesterday were drafting a U.N. resolution demanding an immediate end to “Israeli aggression” in Gaza, according to Reuters.

Last February, Costa Rica angered some Israel supporters by recognizing  Palestine as a state, a step the United Nations and United States have not yet taken.

Super and regular gas prices in Nicaragua have gone up $.07 per gallon. The price of diesel has also risen slightly, by $.0002 per gallon.

The new prices came after 13 weeks of a steady downturn in fuel costs, and followed the government's Jan. 1 suspension of a transportation subsidy. The subsidy had been granted to truckers and taxi drivers since May 17 as a concession after the transport sector paralyzed the country for almost two weeks with a strike.

Following the hike, super and regular now cost $2.78 a gallon, and diesel is now at $2.57.

Costa Rica's tough new traffic law is showing teeth, particularly when it comes to taking a bite out of drunken driving.

The number of arrests made for allegedly driving under the influence reached 172 this week, less than two weeks since the law took effect, the Public Works and Transport Ministry said yesterday.

The new law says drunken driving is punishable by up to three year's jail time (see http://www.ticotimes.net/topstoryarchive/2008_12/121208.htm for more on the law).

Thirty-two of the arrests occurred after New Year's Day.

The National Police last week stopped a man who was allegedly driving an ambulance down San José's Avenida 6 under the influence. Officers noticed the ambulance, owned by a private medical response company, was being driven “in an irregular manner,” and checked the driver's alcohol level to find that it was 1.9 grams per liter, nearly four times the 0.49 g/l legal limit, according to a Jan. 2 Public Security Ministry statement.