2011 – Page 252

In an unusual day at the Punta Cana International Airport in the province of La Altagracia, the National Drug Control Department (DNCD) arrested three Spaniards, two Russians and a Swiss national on drug smuggling charges. The three Spaniards, Hugo Leiro Garrido, Monica Pardal Abad and Lorena Barcala Ares, together with Swiss traveler Flavio Luigi Toletti …

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National Drug Control Department (DNCD) spokesman Colonel Ramon Alcides Rodriguez Veras revealed yesterday that a network of officers and enlisted men arrested for a haul of 145 kilograms seized on 2 December 2010, had intended to replace Jose David Figueroa Agosto’s drug trafficking network. The officers were arrested during their first attempt to send a …

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A Dominican woman, 25-year old Maria Esther Garcia Polanco involved in the sex scandal surrounding Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi told La Repubblica newspaper on Saturday that she did have sex with the 74-year old PM and did so just to thank him for paying her five-year old daughter’s medical bills. She denies doing this …

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The National Meteorological Office (Onamet), reported that light rains would continue over the northeast and the north of the country as well as in the Central Mountains, due to a frontal system located over Haiti. Onamet has issued a small craft warning for the Samana Bay due to abnormal wave activity in the Atlantic. In …

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The Toros del Este completed a five-game sweep of the weakened Estrellas Orientales to crown themselves champions of the Dominican Winter Baseball League 2010-2011. They became the eighth team to sweep the final series as they defeated the Estrellas 4-2, and won their second championship in the Winter League. Their first came 16 years ago …

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DR1 news digest is taking a break for the Virgen de la Altagracia and Duarte holidays. News for Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday will be compiled for the Tuesday, 26 January issue. Over the long weekend, headline news can be reported and commented on in the DR1 Forums that are open 24/7 at dr1.com/forums

President Leonel Fernandez will be attending meetings in Geneva at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) next week. He is scheduled to give a speech at the Palais des Nations. Afterwards, he will travel to Davos to take part in the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting (Davos Summit), dated 26-29 January. www.weforum.org/events/world-economic-forum-annual-meeting-2011

Speaking at the American Chamber of Commerce’s monthly luncheon meeting yesterday, Finance Minister Vicente Bengoa stated that the Dominican foreign debt was sustainable. He said that 97.1% of the total is bonds, or owed to multilateral and bilateral organizations. He said that 2.9% of the total, equivalent to US$310.4 million is owed to private lenders. …

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The DR could become a testing ground for Indian investments in Latin America. Speakers at the Doing Business in India conference organized by the India Chamber of Commerce in the Dominican Republic stressed the synergies between India and the DR, despite the disparities in size, population and culture. The conference was held at CEI-RD yesterday …

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The Senate approved the bill that creates the Higher Electoral Court (TSE) yesterday in two consecutive readings and the observations sent by the President to the bills on the Judicial Branch Council and the Higher Council of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, as early passed in the Chamber of Deputies. The bill now moves on to …

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