2014 – Page 118

News reports say that the Spanish training tall ship Juan Sebastian Elcano was being used for trafficking cocaine. Three crewmembers have been arrested for attempting to smuggle 127kg (280lbs) of the drug. The Spanish authorities were notified after New York City authorities arrested two Colombians suspected of obtaining 20kg of cocaine from the sailors during …

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Two earthquakes were felt in the Dominican Republic on Friday, 8 August 2014. They were a 4.7 magnitude located 9 km east of Pedro Garcia, and another measuring 4.5 on the same Richter scale off Licey al Medio, both in the central province of Santiago. For reports on the earthquake and where it was felt, …

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41-year old Bartolo Colon has become only the third Dominican pitcher to win 200 games in Major League Baseball. Others are greats Juan Marichal (243) and Pedro Martinez (219). Colon is still active, so will move up in the list of the 200-win club. This MLB season, in 23 starts, Colon is 11-9 with a …

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The Dominican Republic has won the 2014 Caribbean Amateur Golf Championships (CAGC) in Puerto Rico that ended on Saturday, 9 August. The winners put together combined scores of 278. Jamaica was second with 280 followed by the Bahamas. The DR was second in the Hoerman Cup, with 1,212 strokes, behind 1,184 by Puerto Rico.

If you are game for getting up at 2am, then check out the sight of the moon taking on a dramatic red color. NASA says the moon will begin to change color at about 2am Eastern Time on Tuesday, 12 August 2014. The moon show will last through 4:24am, with the height of the event …

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President Danilo Medina returned from his two-day trip to Colombia where he attended the inauguration of President Juan Manuel Santos. While in Colombia, President Medina took time to visit a large low-income housing project, Ciudad Verde, on the outskirts of Bogota. The 50,000-unit housing project is considered a model of sustainable, affordable housing and comes …

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The Customs Agency said that starting 15 August 2014,all customers who purchase items over the Internet purchases will be required to pay 18% ITBIS (Value-added tax), plus a luxury tax and the applicable import taxes. In all, it is estimated that an average tax bill for Internet purchases will hover around 42%. Civil society groups, …

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Dominicans are known for their creativity, but it seems that very few have registered their new creations. During the 2000-2013 period, the National Industrial Property Office (ONAPI) received 3,015 patent invention requests for registration. But of these, only 188 (or 6%) of the total applicants were Dominicans. Foreigners accounted for 94% of all patent applications …

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The president of the National Council of Business (Conep), Manuel Diez Cabral, called for authorities to end inertia and begin to confront the challenges the country faces. He recommended that government stop the cycle of borrowing that is increasing the socio-economic burden for future generations. Diez said that in the past 12 years, 65% of …

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The Center for Export and Investment of the Dominican Republic (CEI-RD) and the Korea Trade Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) are sponsoring a Business to Business forum on 21 and 22 August 2014 in Santo Domingo. The purpose of the forum is to catalyze the creation of partnerships between businesses in a diverse range of projects, …

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