2016 – Page 132

Brazilian writer, humanist and theologian, 77-year old Leonardo Boff encouraged the cultivation of a relationship of harmonious coexistence with nature as the only way to guarantee the future of humanity and the earth. The ecologist delivered the keynote address “The Challenge of Latin America and the Caribbean in the Context of Sustainable Development Goals” at …

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Turks and Caicos Governor Peter Beckingham met with Dominican Foreign Minister Andres Navarro in Santo Domingo last week in the first high-level talks between the two countries in several years. Turks and Caicos Minister of Border Control and Labor, Clara Gardiner, two Dominican Deputy Ministers, the head of the Navy and a team of officials …

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A propane gas station in Los Rios in Santo Domingo West exploded early Tuesday morning, 16 February 2016, injuring least 40 people, some seriously and causing major destruction. National District Fire Chief, Oscar Guillermo Garcia, said that the emergency call came shortly before 6am. Reportedly, the explosion was heard several kilometers away from the site …

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Two small fires, one in the National Audit Office and the other in the National Statistics’ Office (ONE) yesterday, Tuesday 16 February 2016, meant that staff had to be evacuated from both institutions. In the Audit Office, which is in the Treasury Building behind the government office building known as the Huacal, the fire began …

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In response to the unstable political situation in Haiti, the Dominican Republic is moving troops and military equipment up to the border. During the first week of February 2016, 2,256 soldiers and several helicopters were moved to the border. Specialized Corps of Border Security (CESFRONT) director General Carlos Manuel Aguirre Reyes met with United Nations …

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The state-owned Tabacalera company (CAT) has sold 50% of its shares to a Japanese company for US$14 million, equivalent to RD$630 million. The agreement was announced at the Presidential Palace yesterday, Tuesday, 16 February 2016 at a press conference attended by government representatives and the key executives of the purchasing company, Japan Tobacco International. Gobierno …

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Former minister of Tourism and mayor of Santo Domingo, Rafael (Fello) Subervi was sworn in as a PRD member yesterday, Tuesday 16 February 2016 by party president Miguel Vargas Maldonado, now the strongest ally of the ruling PLD. Subervi had left the party with the dissidents who formed the PRM, whose presidential candidate is Luis …

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San Juan de la Maguana senator Felix Bautista has asked Transparency International (TI) to take him off the list that shows him as one of the most corrupt men in the world on the grounds that the cases against him have been dismissed by the Supreme Court of Justice. Bautista is the organizational secretary of …

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Dominican Defense Minister, Lieutenant General Maximo Munoz Delgado says that the officers allegedly involved in the defection of the two Cuban brothers, baseball players Yulieski and Lourdes Gourriel from a Santo Domingo hotel are under arrest. While not revealing more names, he said Major William Solis of the Dominican Republic Air Force was named last …

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Rescue services are still searching for more than 15 people who are missing from an illegal boat trip to Puerto Rico. The boat capsized earlier this week and although eight people were rescued there are still several missing. The Dominican Air Force and the Armada (Navy) are searching an area some 25 nautical miles off …

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