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There is great news coming out of Jupiter, Florida, the site of the Dominican Republic’s World Baseball Classic training site. Yesterday, during an exhibition game against MLB’s Florida Marlins, the Dominican squad put up 19 hits and pounced on the Marlins for a 10-1 victory. Hanley Ramirez and Jose Reyes both shone in the Red, White and Blue of the DR’s uniform while pitcher Edinson Volquez looked to be in mid-season form. David Ortiz and Alex Rodriguez both contributed offensively while Willy Aybar and Miguel Olivo provided the squad with much needed back-up.
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See a href=http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090303content_id=3911422vkey=recapfext=.jspc_id=mlbhttp://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090303…/a
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This is the first of three games the DR will play before heading off the play against the Netherlands in San Juan, Puerto Rico on Saturday. The Dominican squad travels to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to take on the Orioles on Wednesday afternoon at 1:05 ET.

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The Davis Cup Americas Zone II matches are under way at the Santo Domingo Tennis Club (La Bocha Courts) in Santo Domingo. The Dominican national tennis team matches Guatemala in the First Round of the Davis Cup, 6-8 March. Victor Estrella, Johnson Garcia, Henry Estrella and Luis Delgado make up the 2009 team under captain Rafael Moreno.
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At the same time, the other Davis Cup matches are Mexico-Jamaica (Mexico City), Venezuela-Netherlands Antilles (Venezuela) and Bahamas-Paraguay (Paraguay).
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To follow up on the games, see a href=http://www.daviscup.com/results/am2.aspwww.daviscup.com/results/am2.asp/a

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The Santo Domingo Music Festival opens at the National Theater today with a performance by Canadian Ben Heppner, internationally recognized as the world’s finest dramatic tenor. He is acclaimed in music capitals around the world for his beautiful voice, intelligent musicianship and sparkling dramatic sense. The Santo Domingo Classical Music Festival is being held from 4-14 March 2009. The sixth edition of the Santo Domingo Music Festival, already a tradition in the country, brings musicians from the United States and Europe and the National Symphony Orchestra will form the Festival Orchestra.
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a href=http://www.sinfonia.org.do/main_us.htmwww.sinfonia.org.do/main_us.htm/a

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Listin Diario reports that six more arrests have been made in the 16 February Parmalat robbery case. Police spokesman Nelson Rosario says that one person is still on the run and that police apprehended the six latest suspects based on their nicknames alone. No names have so far been released. Santo Domingo Attorney General Perfecto Acosta says the money stolen that night has yet to be recovered and the police still haven’t revealed exactly how much was taken. Estimates range from RD$300,000-RD$4 million. A former Air Force Major is accused of leading the raid.

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The soap opera that has come to define the career of slugger Manny Ramirez entered Act IV yesterday as it was announced that he has decided to rejoin the LA Dodgers and sign a two-year US$45 million contract. Manny will continue to be Manny, but for how long? There has been an outraged reaction to Ramirez’s antics because this is the same deal Ramirez has turned down on three previous occasions. Critics point out that this was the same attitude that forced the Boston Red Sox to trade Ramirez during the second half of last year. However, with all antics in mind Ramirez remains among the best sluggers of his generation.

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Slugger Alex Rodriguez might have to bow out of the World Baseball Class (WBC) after all. Doctors found what might be a cyst on Rodriguez’s hip. Rodriguez will now fly to Colorado to have the hip checked out. Rodriguez, nevertheless, played in the DR’s opening exhibition game against the Florida Marlins.

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According to a 2008 human rights report released by the United States State Department, an estimated 1 million unregistered and stateless Haitian nationals are living in the DR. The report says that although these people technically exist they are not registered in any books. The report indicates that these people of Haitian descent who live in the DR don’t have proper documentation, making even travel within the country difficult. Without documentation, getting married, obtaining employment or entering school becomes a chore. The Dominican Constitution recognizes that anyone born in the DR is granted citizenship, except for the children of diplomats or people in transit. However, there has been a push by campaigners to pressure the government to grant some form of identification for children born in the DR to illegal immigrants. In 2007 the Central Electoral (JCE) ruled that no civil registrar or public official could sign the birth certificate [...]

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The Dominican Embassy celebrated its 10 years of formal diplomatic relations with India last week. The government of President Leonel Fernandez opened the embassy in New Delhi three years ago to strengthen links with that country, and expand the horizons of our ties with Asia, said Ambassador Hans Dannenberg Castellanos at the event. Dannenberg is concurrent Dominican ambassador in Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines and Mauricio.
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He explained that after the 9/11 attacks in 2001, the Dominican government decided to diversify its international relations beyond the United States and seek ties with countries at development levels similar to the DR to promote the necessary South-South cooperation.
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For the 10th anniversary, the Sandy Gabriel merengue and Latin jazz music band visited and performed before going on to tour several Indian cities to promote Dominican culture. Prior to the anniversary event, a mission of Dominican business representatives attended the India-Latin America [...]

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Transport unions have embarked on a 24-hour bus strike affecting eastern provinces, beginning today. Drivers are striking as a way of exerting pressure on the government to fix the roads and highways in the eastern provinces, which they say are in a constant state of deterioration. An estimated 15 transport unions from La Romana, El Seibo, Higuey, Hato Mayor and San Pedro de Macoris will join the picket lines. The strike by the unions could prove successful as it was the same tactic used by unions in Montecristi who threatened a strike earlier this week. As a result the Ministry of Public Works promised to give priority to fixing the roads in that area.

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The Dominican Passport Department (DGP) says that by March 2010 all Dominicans who plan to travel abroad will need a new biometric passport. DGP director Flavia Garcia said the DR is abiding by regulations set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Listin Diario writes that the passport will cost RD$2,238 for three-hour VIP express service and RD$1,238 for a six-day delivery of the document.

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