A 4.9 magnitude earthquake hit in Costa Rica near the border with Panamá about 4:49 p.m. Sunday, according to the U.S. Earthquake Information Center. 

The quake was about 33 kilometers (about 20 miles) deep and was fixed at about 40 miles (60 kms.) west of Bocas del Toro in Panama. That put the location well inside Costa Rica’s border.

Meanwhile, a strong earthquake hit in central Turkey has killed at least 45 people and injured more than 150 others.

The quake, which measured 6.0 on the Richter scale, struck early Sunday while many residents were enjoying breakfast. It was centered in the town of Sultandagi in the Afyon region, about 300 kilometers southwest of Ankara.

Authorities say they do not expect the death toll to climb dramatically. Most shops and schools in the region were closed Sunday, preventing a greater disaster. Most of Turkey lies on the North Anatolian fault, and the country is frequently jolted by earthquakes. Two massive quakes in 1999 killed nearly 20,000 people.

Shades of Leonard Bernstein. The Costa Rican-North American Cultural Center will be presenting explanatory concerts for youngsters two Sundays in February and three Sundays in March

The idea is to encourage the youngsters to develop a taste for classical music and perhaps even develop the desire to play an instrument, said the center. The concerts are being given in conjunction with Academia de Música Bach and are called a  Concert of Joy.

The concerts will take place Feb. 17 and 24th and March 3, 10 and 17 at the Teatro Eugene O’Neill, which is in the center in Los Yoses. All are at 10:30 a.m., and general admission is ¢1,200 ($3.50)

The organizers want to wipe from the children’s minds that classic music is boring, an announcement from the center said. Bernstein, the late composer and music director of the New York Philharmonic, gained public recognition in the 1950s because of his televised Saturday morning concerts for children and the detailed explanations he gave them.

This will take place at the concerts here, too. Narrator Guiselle Alvarado will explain the musical concepts to allow the children to understand the different instrumental sounds, technical aspects, including beat, tempo, melody, and the different functions of music in everyday life, said the announcement from the center. All will be explained in a simple language adapted for children, it added.

Also to be explained in an interactive setting are the arrangement and different responsibilities of the parts of the orchestra, said the center.

The musical group will be under the direction of Julio Cordero. Musicians include first violins, Guiselle Alvarado, Vanesa Durán, Christian Jiménez, Lyre Durán, Leslie Simmons; second violins, Thais Pardo, Esther Alemán, Nancy Alvarado; violas, Julio Cordero, Susan Durán; cello, Ricardo Alvarado, and double bass, Marco Alvarado.

Works include "Ode to Joy" by Beethoven, which figures in the name of the concert, and compositions by Mozart, Vivaldi, Edwad Elgar and more modern composers, such as John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith.

NEW ORLEANS, La. — The New England Patriots have stunned the Saint Louis Rams to win their first Super Bowl, the championship game of American professional football. Adam Vinatieri kicked a 48-yard field goal as time ran out, to give the Patriots a 20-17 victory in Super Bowl XXXVI, at the Superdome here.

The Rams, who had been a 14-point favorite before the game, fell behind 17-to-3 when three turnovers resulted in three New England scores. Saint Louis scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to tie the game at 17, when Kurt Warner threw an eight-yard touchdown pass to Ricky Proehl with one minute, 30 seconds to go. 

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady led his team 53 yards down the field in the closing minute, to set up Vinatieri's winning kick. 

Brady was named the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player. The 24-year-old started the season as a backup quarterback, but took over the starting job in the second week of the season when Drew Bledsoe was injured. Brady led the team for most of the season. 

The New England defense held Saint Louis' highly acclaimed offense in check for much of the championship game. 

This victory is the Patriots' first in three Super Bowl appearances. This year's game was held amid unprecedented security, following the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge says more than 5,000 military and security personnel were on hand and used new technology to protect the 80,000 people in the stands. 

An estimated 800-million people around the world saw the game on television.

Costa Rica drops
Gold Cup game

PADADENA, Calif. — The United States national soccer team beat Costa Rica 2-0 Saturday in a match basically ignored there and of upmost interest here.

The Tico team was basically outplayed and had trouble keeping control of the ball. The U.S. team put in one goal early and scored a second time to seal the vistory in the middle of the second half.

The match was the final in the Gold Cup tounament and was payback time the the U.S. team that suffered a defeat at the hands of Costa Rica Sept. 5 in a world Cup preliminary in San José’s Saprissa Stadium.

Argentine woman
is newest princess

AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands — Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander has wed Argentine investment banker Maxima Zorreguieta in a civil ceremony in Amsterdam's former stock exchange.

The ceremony Saturday, was witnessed by a gallery of kings, queens, dukes and counts, and other dignitaries including Britain's Prince Charles and former South Africa President Nelson Mandela.

The bride wore an ivory-colored silk gown made by the European designer Valentino, while the crown prince wore his dark blue navy uniform.

Thousands of cheering spectators waved Dutch flags and wore orange hats and scarves in support of the ruling House of Orange. Though the ceremony was devoid of religion, the newlyweds immediately left for the 600-year-old Nieuwe Kerk, or new church, next to the royal palace, to stand before a Dutch Reformed minister and a Catholic priest and have their marriage blessed.

Ms. Zorreguieta is an extremely popular figure in the Netherlands, despite an earlier controversy over her father's ministerial post in Argentina's military dictatorship. To allay criticism, she denounced the regime her father had served. Jorge Zorreguieta did not attend the wedding.

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Argentina's economy minister, Jorge Remes Lenicov, said Sunday his government would abandon the dual exchange rate implemented Jan. 6 for the country's peso, and instead, let the peso float freely. He also confirmed media reports that all dollar deposits would be converted to pesos at a rate of 1.4 to one, while all dollar loans, no matter how large, would be switched to pesos at a one-to-one rate. 

Remes said the government intends to "pesify" the Argentine economy and abandon the peso's link to the U.S. dollar. Like other countries, Argentina will set its own monetary and foreign exchange policy. 

From 1991 to 2001, the peso was pegged at one-to-one to the U.S. dollar, giving Argentina little control over its own monetary policy. By weaning Argentina off the greenback and adopting one foreign exchange rate, the government hopes to boost exports, help tourism and local industry and create much-needed jobs. 

Remes said Argentina has enough foreign currency reserves to defend the peso if it sank too low. With a prudent monetary policy, including strict controls on how many bills the Central Bank can print each year, he said, the government will maintain the value of the peso. 

He said the past four years of recession were the result of a decline unseen in Argentina's history. Manufacturing sector plunged 16 percent and foreign investment dropped 43 percent, while the numbers of jobless and poor soared. Four out of 10 Argentineans live in poverty, he said. 

Remes said Argentina has lived on borrowed money for so many years that today, federal, provincial and private debt equals the country's annual gross domestic product, or close to $276 billion. 

He said the main goal of the economic plan is to jump-start production and foreign trade, balances the budget, create jobs and reduce poverty. The government's austerity program, he said, will start with the budget to be submitted to Congress on Tuesday. The overhaul of the tax system and government reforms will have to wait until next year, he said. 

The economic plan was due out Saturday, but a surprise ruling by the nation's highest court Friday, that declared the government limits on bank withdrawals unconstitutional, forced the government to make revisions and declare a banking and foreign exchange holiday for Monday and Tuesday. 

The withdrawal restrictions that froze around $47 billion in dollar-denominated accounts sparked violent protests that helped topple two presidents since December. 

Free trade could mean
big bucks, press told

NEW YORK CITY — Policymakers attending the World Economic Forum in New York believe trade liberalization could be one of the most effective ways to promote sustained development, according to Stanley Fischer, vice-chairman of Citigroup and former deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund.

Fischer, one of the moderators for the 2002 meeting, briefed journalists Sunday on the meetings of the Informal Gathering of World Economic Leaders. The group traditionally meets privately during the forum for focused talks that organizers call "the summit within the summit."

This year, group participants focused on ways to restore sustained economic growth and reduce poverty, and they underlined the importance of the trade talks launched at the November 2001 World Trade Organization meeting in Doha, Qatar, Fischer said.

Fischer said participants generally agreed that freer trade could be worth as much as $150 billion to developing countries, but stressed that such an outcome would depend on liberalized trade in agriculture and textiles. He noted that while textile trade liberalization is under way, group members have "not much hope" for similar action on agriculture.