DR1 Daily News - Thursday, 18 August 2016

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Danilo meets with US Labor Secretary
San Francisco asks President Medina for projects
?The Silicon Valley of the Caribbean?
Transport leader backs Transport Institute
CMD calls another strike
DR makes more than Brazil from tourism
Ridgway?s hawk prospers in Punta Cana
Fire grounds Caribbean Fantasy ferry
Fiona expected to bypass Caribbean
Football in the Dominican Republic
Luisito Pie wins a Rio medal
Football in the Dominican Republic
DR wins RBI World Series
Comedy at the Escenario 360
Arts and crafts at Megacentro
21st Century Journalism talk
Drama at the National Theater



Danilo meets with US Labor Secretary
Thomas Perez, the grandson of a former Dominican ambassador in Washington, and the only Hispanic in President Obama?s cabinet, visited President Danilo Medina on Wednesday 17 August 2016 in his role as the United States Secretary of Labor.

As reported in the newspapers, his courtesy visit to the Presidential Palace, which lasted more than one hour, was aimed at reaffirming the friendship between the two nations and an interest in improving the quality of life of all Dominicans.

In an emotional statement to reporters, Perez mentioned the challenges for the region as well as for today?s world. He said that the Dominican Republic was a world leader as well as a regional leader and that it had been very important for him to listen to the Dominican President and hear his opinions.

https://presidencia.gob.do/noticias...uy-fuertes-y-firmes-dice-thomas-e-perez-video


San Francisco asks President Medina for projects
On the occasion of the start of President Danilo Medina?s second term, the board of directors of the Dominican Regional Council (CRD) has asked the President to launch a series of projects in the city of San Francisco de Macoris and the northeastern region.

In a letter sent to the President?s office, the CRD asked the chief executive to instruct the Airport Department to build an international airport in San Francisco de Macoris, construct a beltway around the city and to expand the roadway between the Duarte Highway and San Francisco to four lanes. In his inaugural speech, the President included the San Francisco beltway in the 10 top road construction projects for the next four years.

The CRD also requested the completion of the eco-tourism highway between Cotui-San Francisco-Rio San Juan and the improvement of the highway from San Francisco to Nagua and Samana.

According to Listin Diario, as the hometown of the Gigantes Del Cibao, the champion baseball team of the 2015?2016 season, the CRD wants bleachers to be built at the Julian Javier Stadium.

The CRD included requests for a regional hospital, a new fresh produce market, a school for the arts and a regional cultural center. Its list also mentions farming, water, hydroelectric dams and even the construction of a railroad.


?The Silicon Valley of the Caribbean?
In the Dominican Republic, 20 of every 100 households have personal computers. In theory at least, there is a cell phone for every inhabitant of the country and a large number of them are smartphones.

This information released by the Dominican Telecommunications Institute (Indotel) shows that the Dominican Republic is a net importer of the hardware used in information technology and communication.

However, the Cybernetic Park of Santo Domingo includes a structure that could convert the country, first into a manufacturer of devices that people use already, second into an exporter of advanced gadgets and third into a developer of technological innovations.

Cybernetic Park administrative board president Eddie Martinez Manzueta says that the companies that are already based in the park either manufacture or refurbish hardware.


Transport businessman backs Transport Institute
CNTT transport association president Juan Marte said on Wednesday 17 August 2016 that President Danilo Medina?s announcement of the creation of a Transport Institute to consolidate all transport-related organizations in one government entity was a positive gesture, as reported in Diario Libre.

He said: ?We welcome this announcement and we it hope that it does not remain just as theory, because for a long time we have been suggesting the need to reorganize transportation at a national level.?

Marte told reporters that the Institute would bring together the 14 institutions that manage the national transportation sector.


CMD calls another strike
The Dominican Medical Association (CMD) has called a strike for Thursday 18 August 2016 in the southern region and Valverde province hospitals as part of its campaign for a 60% salary increase and better working conditions for health sector employees, according to 7 Dias.

After confirming the strike, CMD president Dr. Waldo Ariel Suero expressed his regret that President Danilo Medina did not, in his view, present ?a real plan? to improve the conditions in the health sector during his inauguration speech.

Doctors are demanding the assignment of 5% of GDP to the health sector, a 60% salary increase for employees and the appointment of more personnel within the sector.

http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias...ratifica-paros-en-valverde-y-el-sur-BJ4694762


DR makes more than Brazil from tourism
The Dominican Republic received more money from tourism than Brazil and is now in second place in all of Latin America after Mexico, according to a recent online publication from Latinvex.

The online service states that the Dominican Republic received US $6.1 2 billion from tourist income in 2015, representing an increase of 14.6% compared to 2014.

On the other hand, Brazil experienced a 14.6% drop to US$5.8 billion in its tourism income.

At the same time, the Dominican Republic maintains its position as the ?champion? of income as a percentage of GDP. In 2015 this figure was 9.1%, the highest in Latin America and nearly six times higher than the regional average of 1.6%.

According to Latinvex, income from each visitor reached US$1,093, the fourth highest in the region.

The Dominican Republic is the fourth largest tourism market in Latin America in terms of numbers of arrivals, which increased 8.9% to 5.6 million visitors in 2015.
According to Diario Libre, total tourism income in all of Latin America increased by 4.6% in 2015, reaching US$82.9 billion.

http://www.diariolibre.com/economia...ra-a-brasil-en-ingresos-por-turismo-FL4692412


Ridgway?s hawk prospers in Punta Cana
Diario Libre reports an increase in the number of Ridgway?s hawks ? also known as the Hispaniola hawk in the country as a result of more than a decade of work by the Grupo Puntacana Foundation

Thomas Hayes, a US biologist from the Peregrine Fund, has been working in the Dominican Republic for over 10 years studying one of the most threatened birds in the Dominican biosphere.

During a tour of the Grupo Puntacana installations, Hayes showed reporters each of the nests used for this year?s reproduction cycle.

According to Hayes, many of the hawks now in Punta Cana have been rescued from other areas and reintroduced into the protected area. The Hispaniola hawk, Buteo ridgwayi, is the most threatened species on the island, and 10 years ago it was said to be in critical danger of extinction with no more than 300 birds in the wild, mostly in Los Haitises.

It was then that the Peregrine Fund, with support from the government as well as the Grupo Puntacana Foundation and the Propagas Foundation launched the project to rescue and protect this bird of prey. The full article with color photographs and a short video can be seen here:

http://www.diariolibre.com/medioamb...gavilan-en-el-habitat-de-punta-cana-NN4681582


Fire grounds Caribbean Fantasy ferry
A fire broke out on the American Cruise Ferries? ?Caribbean Fantasy? car and passenger ferry that sails between San Juan, Puerto Rico and Santo Domingo. The ship was arriving in Puerto Rico on Wednesday morning, 17 August 2016 shortly before 8am after the evening trip from Santo Domingo. No fatalities or serious injuries were reported.

More than 387 passengers and crew were evacuated from the burning ship on rescue rafts. As reported, the fire started in the engine room and spread to the rest of the ship.
The ferry is popular with Dominicans who use it mainly because of the additional luggage allowance.

http://www.elnuevodia.com/noticias/seguridad/nota/afectadosvariospasajerosporfuegoenferry-2231628/
http://www.listindiario.com/las-mun...o-en-san-juan-describen-situaciones-de-panico


Fiona expected to bypass Caribbean
Tropical Storm Fiona is not expected to affect the Caribbean. The storm is moving on a northeast track from Cape Verde Islands.

The Dominican weather service, Onamet is monitoring the storm, nevertheless. So far, DR1?s own weather forecaster MikeFisher does not expect the storm to affect the Dominican Republic. ?Positioning and steering conditions should make it a runner for the graveyard, up into nowhere to the central mid-Atlantic? he writes in the 2016 Hurricane Season thread in the DR1 Forums. Tracking models so far show it veering to the north and avoiding the Caribbean altogether.

Last week The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that they expect a more active than normal hurricane season in the Atlantic this year, with between 12 and 17 storms of which may be five or eight will become tropical cyclones and of these between two and four might become hurricanes. In this update of their previous forecast, NOAA experts stated that there exists a 70% possibility that they will have a hurricane season in the Atlantic basin near or above normal. The reasons for this are the existence of El Nino in the Pacific and this year?s winds and the traditional tradewinds, which are weaker this year over the central tropical area of the Atlantic. This is combined with a stronger than usual monsoon season in west Africa.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at1+shtml/083656.shtml?5-daynl#contents
http://dr1.com/forums/showthread.php/157613-2016-Hurricane-Season/page4

For general background on hurricanes in the DR, see http://dr1.com/weather/hurricanes.shtml


Luisito Pie wins a Rio medal
On Wednesday, 17 August 2016, taekwondo athlete Luisito Pie became the first Dominican to win a medal in the Rio Olympic Games, bringing home the bronze. To get there, by default, 22-year old Pie had moved on to the semifinals for the Dominican Republic in the 58kg division. He then defeated Portugal?s Rui Braganca 4-1 in a six-minute fight. On Tuesday, 16 August, however he lost to Tawin Hanprab from Thailand, 11-7.

Luisito Pie was the gold medal winner in the 2014 Pan Am Games and a silver medalist in the Taekwondo World Games in Chelyabinsk, Russia.

His bronze medal is only the seventh Olympic Games medal won for the Dominican Republic. Before him, medal winners were boxer Pedro Julio Nolasco (bronze in the Los Angeles 1984), 400 hurdles runner Felix Sanchez (gold in Athens 2004 and London 2012), boxer Felix Diaz (gold in Beijing 2008), taekwondo athlete Gabriel Mercedes (silver in Beijing 2008) and 400 meters runner Luguelin Santos (silver London 2012)

See Pie?s medal fight at:
https://youtu.be/Y6QWTHp7r1c

Dominicans competing in the Rio Olympics:
Thursday 18 August:
Athletics: Track and field relay 4 x 100 meters (Yancarlos Martinez, Yohandry Andujar, Stanly del Carmen and Christopher Valdez).

Friday 19 August:
Taekwondo: Katherine Rodriguez (67kg)
Judo: Moises Hernandez (80 kg)
Athletics: Track and field 4 x 400 meters race.
Athletics. Mayobanex D?Oleo (Men?s 4 x 100 meters relay)
Athletics: Luis Enrique Charles (Men?s 4 x 400 meters relay)


Football in the Dominican Republic
If you?re a football fan, don?t miss the finals of the Dominican Football League that takes place on Sunday, 21 August 2016 at the Felix Sanchez Olympic Stadium in Santo Domingo. On Sunday, Cibao FC and Barcelona Atletico teams will be playing for the championship title. The game starts at 4pm and will be televised by DCN Sports Max.


DR wins RBI World Series
The Dominican women?s softball team has won the 2016 RBI World Series that features RBI teams from 19 cities around the United States and the Dominican Republic. The event was held 3-16 August in Cincinatti, Ohio.

The RBI World Series is the international championship tournament of the RBI program, the Major League Baseball youth initiative designed to provide young people from underserved and diverse communities in the United States the opportunity to play baseball and softball.

http://www.diariolibre.com/deportes...del-mundial-rbi-de-softbol-femenino-CG4686040


Comedy at the Escenario 360
The show hall of the Galeria 360 mall on Av. John F. Kennedy in Santo Domingo, Escenario 360 presents ?Pa? morir de risa,? with comedians Carlos Sanchez and Juan Carlos Pichardo for an evening of humor on Friday, 19 August 2016 starting at 9pm.


Arts and crafts at Megacentro
The Ministry of Culture is backing an arts and crafts event at the Paseo de la Fama of Megacentro mall in Santo Domingo East on Friday and Saturday, 26-27 August 2016. 25 craftspeople from around the country have been invited to represent their regions. The Convite Cultural show opens on Friday at 4pm.


21st Century Journalism talk
Interested in attending a talk on journalism in the 21st century? Register now for the talk by well-known journalist Miguel Angel Bastenier. Born in Barcelona and a nationalized Colombian, he has worked in media in Europe, the United States and Colombia. He is a columnist for Spanish newspaper El Pais and a lecturer at the Escuela Nuevo Periodismo Iberoamericano in Colombia. The conference is part of a series of 50th anniversary events organized by El Nacional newspaper.

In 2012 he received a Columbia University?s Maria Moors Cabot prize for his life career and his contributions to inter-American understanding.

The conference is set for Monday, 29 August at 7pm at the Salome Urena hall of the Central Bank in Santo Domingo. It is free but those interested should book a space by calling 809 565-5582, extensions 249 and 501.

Drama at the National Theater
?El ultimo instante,? by Dominican playwright Franklin Dominguez opens on 2-4 September 2016 and 9-11 September at the Sala Ravelo of the National Theater in Santo Domingo. It is the story of Noemi, an inmate in a mental hospital, and her past and present. The monologue starring Carlota Carretero is directed by Guillermo Cordero. Tickets are RD$800. Friday and Saturday at 8:30pm, Sundays at 6:30pm.

Read more on ongoing and upcoming events at:
http://www.dr1.com/calendar

Archives for Daily Headline News:
http://dr1.com/premium/news/2016/index.shtml

Archives for Travel & Tourism News:
http://dr1.com/travelnews/archive.shtml