2008 – Page 284

Dominican-born author Junot Diaz has won the US National Book Critic Circle Award for Non Fiction for his most recent work “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.” Oscar Wao tells the tragic story of a young Dominican-American man’s search for love. The story switches back and forth between urban slang, Dominicanisms and references to …

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President Leonel Fernandez has welcomed participants in the XX Rio Summit and encouraged the visitors to enjoy the warmth and friendliness of the Dominican people. Fernandez expressed his confidence that the Summit would generate positive discussions. In his welcoming speech, Fernandez expressed his desire that the member states of the Rio Group would continue to …

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Hoy is quoting unnamed sources that claim that during today’s meetings, heads of state at the XX Rio Summit will discuss the recent tensions between Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador. Foreign Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso says that President Leonel Fernandez has spoken to the Colombian and Venezuelan presidents and is confident that both will act responsibly. …

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Doctors went on strike yesterday, as promised, but some patients still made their way to hospitals in the hope of seeing a doctor. Hoy is reporting that many of the country’s hospitals were empty yesterday and that many patients, even the elderly, had to return home without receiving treatment. Robert Reid Cabral, Dario Contreras, Padre …

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A meeting between the National Association of Young Entrepreneurs (ANJE) and PRD presidential candidate Miguel Vargas Maldonado was a non-event as ANJE members failed to turn up to the meeting, forcing Vargas to leave and tend to other business. Hoy reports that Vargas showed up at the Hotel Jaragua at 8:10am for a scheduled 8am …

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The Central Electoral Board (JCE) has accepted the applications for political alliances submitted by the PLD, PRD and PRSD. The JCE accepted the alliances between the PLD and 11 other parties, the PRD and three other parties and the PRSD’s alliance with the Partido Humanista Dominicano.

Initially dismissed as an isolated incident in Higuey, the appearance of the H5N2 virus or avian flu in fighting cocks is causing concern as animal health officials admit that it is a nationwide problem. Nine separate cases of bird flu have now been confirmed by the Department of Livestock. The first case was detected in …

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Telecommunications company CODETEL has announced that it will invest RD$8 billion in its LAN line, broadband, systems and customer services infrastructure. Codetel president Oscar Pena says that the telecommunications market in the DR is expected to continue growing. He added that Codetel has more than 50% of the nation’s telecommunications market. “There are still development …

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Army officer First Lieutenant Guillermo Antonio Tejada Kranwinkel, assigned to the National Drug Control Department (DNCD), died yesterday at the Intensive Care Unit at the National Police Hospital. Tejada was hospitalized on Monday after being shot four times at close range by an unidentified assailant. The young officer received the shots while in his vehicle. …

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Since April 2007 seven National Department of Drug Control (DNCD) officers have been murdered and in the same period 200 officers have been attacked. Of those seven deaths four have occurred since October 2007. According to DNCD spokesman Roberto Lebron, the reason there has been an increase in the attacks and deaths is because these …

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