Power and wealth is no protection from the swine flu. On Tuesday, Costa Rican President Oscar Arias confirmed that he, too, has been infected with the H1N1 virus. “The pandemic makes no distinctions,” said Arias, 69. “I am one more case in this country and I am being submitted to the recommendations that health authorities have established for the entire population.” The Nobel Peace laureate, whose age and asthma places him at greater risk than most, said in a statement that he is quarantined at home and is being treated with the anti-flu medicine oseltamivir. “Aside from the discomfort of the fever and sore throat, I feel in good shape and in full capacity to carry out my work by telecommuting,” Arias said, whose symptoms emerged on Sunday.

Group Names the Happiest Places on Earth
It looks like some of the happiest places on earth have nothing to do with Disney. According to recently released report, Costa Rica, in Central America, ranks No. 1 as the happiest and greenest place in the world. The nation is followed by the Dominican Republic and Jamaica, two countries in the Caribbean, in a report released by the New Economics Foundation, a group based in England. Rounding out the top 10 are Guatemala at No. 4, followed by Vietnam, Colombia, Cuba, El Salvador, Brazil and Honduras. Life expectancy, happiness and a small environmental impact were factors that contributed to the rankings. So, while the United States ranks high on life expectancy and happiness, its large ecological footprint made the country land at No. 114 on the list out of 143 countries.

Nigerian Writer Awarded
EC Osondu, a writer from Nigeria, is the winner of this year’s Caine Prize for African Writing and will receive $16,000. The honor, which is also referred to as the African Booker, is given each year to an African writer for a short story that is published in English, reports the BBC.  It’s named after the an ex-chairman of Booker plc, Sir Michael Caine. Osondu’s short story, “Waiting,” describes “the dislocating experience of being a displaced person,” from a child’s point of view, one of the judges said. Osondu was born in Nigeria and moved to New York to attend Syracuse University where he studied writing. In 2006, he received an honor, the Allen and Nirelle Galso Prize for Fiction, for another one of his stories, “A Letter from Home.” He is currently teaching literature at Providence College in Rhode Island, the BBC reports.

The death toll from last week’s earthquake in Costa Rica has risen to 34 people, and 64 people are still missing, said a government official. The 6.1-magnitude quake, slammed the nation Thursday suddenly, and resulted in landslides and collapsed buildings that devastated the area, reports CNN. “I saw how the Earth moved and how it took my family – my aunt, my cousin and her babies,” one witness told Teletica TV. “It was very hard because I wanted to save them but I couldn’t.” Over 1,000 people are still stranded, unable to leave their towns, and another 1,000 people are living in shelters, said Milton Chaverri, a Red Cross official. Many of the stranded don’t have access to water or other necessities, said a government official. Some areas have to rely on aid delivered via helicopter. The Red Cross has 400 volunteers delivering aid in 15 communities, said Chaverri.