Film festival
“Caminos Inciertos” and “La Vendedora de Rosas,” 7 p.m.; “Caminos Inciertos” and “City of God,” Feb. 16, 7 p.m., Spanish Cultural Center, Avenida 13, Calle 31. Info: 2257-2919.

Mundoloco concerts
Features Arbol de Pie and Nagual Trio, contemporary fusion, 9:30 p.m., Jazz Café, San Pedro. Info: 2253-8933, www.jazzcafecostarica.com.

Editus in concert
Tico rock, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, Escazú. Info: 2288-4740, www.jazzcafecostarica.com.

A Unimer Research International poll found that President Oscar Arias has come back into favor among more Costa Ricans in January, with a 49 percent public approval rating, up from 29 percent in an earlier poll in August.

Published Sunday in the daily La Nación, the poll surveyed 1,225 citizens from Jan. 20 to 27.

La Nación cited Arias' reaction after the Jan. 8 earthquake, his response to the financial crisis and advances on free trade pacts among the factors that might have moved more of the population over to the president's side.

Forty-one percent of those surveyed also said Costa Rica's government ministers are performing "well" to "very well," a significant improvement from 18 percent in August.

In terms of disapproval, while 28 percent deemed Arias' performance as "bad" or "very bad" in August, this time that category dropped to 17 percent. Those still critical of Arias tend to be between 18 and 29 years old, followers of the Libertarian Movement or the left-leaning Citizen Action Party, or residents of rural areas outside San José, according to the study.

In previous polls, public opinion of Arias had plummeted because of economic woes and escalating crime that were causing citizens to lose faith in their leader. Those issues continue to be the highest concern for Ticos, in that order, according to a separate opinion poll undertaken by CID-Gallup and published Feb. 3 in the business daily La República.

In a November poll, CID-Gallup showed an even further drop in Arias' approval rating from the August Unimer study, with a dismal 24 percent showing.

A cold front wielding heavy wind and rain punished parts of Central America this past week, killing at least three people in Panama and one person in Nicaragua, with six nicaraguan fishermen missing.  In Costa Rica, a police officer died during a rescue operation, while rain and high winds forced hundreds of people into temporary shelters.

The deaths in Panama occurred in the western Chiriquí, near the Pacific border with Costa Rica. Hundreds of homes were damaged in Chiriquí and the popular Caribbean tourist spot of Bocas del Toro.

In Nicaragua, in addition to the fatality and missing seamen, thousands of homes were left without electricity and at least six without roofs, after 35 to 45 kilometer per hour winds swept different parts of the country.

Costa Rica's National Emergency Commission reported Saturday that some 900 people remained in 12 temporary shelters in the regions of Talamanca, Matina, Siquirres, and Guácimo in the Caribbean Limón province and the Caribbean slope canton of Sarapiquí in the Heredia province.

Meteorologists expected weather conditions to improve Sunday.

Following several slashes at the pump, the Public Services Regulatory Authority late last week approved a new price adjustment, this time going up. Super is set to rise by ¢16 (about $0.028) and regular by ¢18 ($0.032) per liter.

The new prices -- ¢432 ($0.776) for super and ¢426 ($0.766) for regular (now called gasolina plus ) -- could take effect as soon Wednesday, once the change is published in the government's official newspaper La Gaceta.