Dominican Singer Kat DeLuna was spotted by the president of a major record label from Epic Records, Charlie Walk, who was so smitten with the singer’s talents he refused to let the artist leave an audition without signing a contract to Epic. 

Her first single a rather infectious booty-shaker called “Whine Up” is currently no 56 on the Hot 100 Billboard charts, after just 2 weeks when it debuted at no 91. 

DeLuna is ecstatic, and is not new to singing under pressure.  Since the a young age she’s been appearing on Spanish television shows, performing live at sporting events, festivals and the like.  Her mum first heard her sing when she was 6 and thought it was the radio being played out on the balcony, she couldn’t believe it was her little girl. 

Since then she has been going from strength to strength, as a freshman at the New Jersey School of Performing Arts she started an R & B hip hop group with two other Spanish girls, and the threesome started to perform all over town, however feedback was always the same and it seemed that Kat was always meant for single stardom.  She was told to loose the other 2 and commence her solo career. 

Seems like the words of wisdom paid off though as she was singed to Epic in November 2006 and hit the studio in January. Not forgetting her Dominican Roots, she studies opera but also includes bachata, dancehall and pop. 

Kat DeLuna will be appearing LIVE on REGIS and KELLY on July the 9^th and is scheduled to do a concert at Minnesota’s Mall of America the weekend before her new album titled “9 Lives” is just released. 

She is also planning to do free shows at neighborhood parks to show everyone how to do the “Whine Up Dane”. 

Head of Marketing at Epic proudly said of their 20 yr old new star “She’s a triple threat, she is classically trained in opera to sing and dancer and she’s bilingual”. 

Congratulations to Kat DeLuna from the Dominican Republic, we’ll be watching her very promising career with great interest.  

President Leonel Fernandez arrived back home to the Dominican Republic after an exhausting eight day visit to Miami in Florida and also to Brazil. 

He reached a series of agreements including financing for the purchase of eight Super Tucano aircraft and the installation of the new ethanol producing plant in the sugar cane mill at Boca Chica on the South East coast of the country. Fernandez arrived at the San Isidro airbase on a private flight.

The busy President managed to meet and reach agreements with investors for biofuel production, the modernization of Dominican TV and also a fishing free trade zone in the south western area of Azua along with the installation of a textile mill and  bilateral higher education exchanges.

A warm welcome was extended to the Untied States Navy vessel HSV-2 SWIFT yesterday in Santo Domingo as the ship arrived on an operational visit. 

There to welcome and representing the Dominican Republic was Dominican Vice Admiral Julio C. Ventura Bayonet, also Ramon Aquino Garcia the Dominican Armed Forces Minister and Andrew Oltyan who is the Trade Attaché at the United States Embassy in the Dominican Republic.  

The ship will be moored at Puerto Don Diego. Also taking part in the ceremony was the Dominican Navy Chief Vice Admiral Ivan A Pena Castillo, Major General Antonio V Jaquez and others. 

This is all part of a pilot aid program by US Southern Command called “Global Fleet Station 2007.” The ship has been doing the rounds and started a tour of Central America and the Caribbean at the beginning of 2007, its mission is to strengthen regional maritime security and provide training sessions and exercises in port security maneuverability of small vessels and officers’ leaderships.

Since October of 2006, the Senate has approved 13 International Loans to the Dominican Republic totaling US$581.75million, the loans are for various enterprises, for example an hydraulic project, the continuing Metro Construction, social programmes and with loans worth more than US$173.4 million are still pending. 

This figure excludes the EUR238.4 million for the contracts to install the electrical and railway networks for the Santo Domingo Metro. 

The first half of 2007 from January to June period also the Senate approved loans totaling US$375.6 million. Included in this period is the US$23 million from the South Korean Export and Import Bank for the automation of Customs Procedures, another loan is from the Brazilian Social and Economic Development Bank (BNDS) for the proposed Pinalito dam. BNDS have also authorized a loan for another 2 projects, first one being US$71.3million for the construction of an aqueduct in Samana and the second load worth US$81.3 million for the construction of an hydro-electrical energy plant with a 99MW capacity. 

The last two contracts approved by the Senate are one for US$30 million from the BNP Paribas Bank of Brazil for the Palomino Plant and also coming from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) a loan of US$150 million for the social assistance program. Last year during October to December the Senate approved 8 further loans with a total value of US$206.2 million. 

Broken down this consists of US$10million from IDB for the first phase of the Labor Market and Social Transfer Project and another 3 loans of US$31.1, US$11.4 and also US$11.3 million with the Credit and Expansion Agency from France for equipping the No 1 Metro Line. 

The electro-mechanical installations for the Metro will be financed by another country, Spain from the Spanish Credit and Export Agency in a succession of 4 loans worth a total of EUR109.5 million.