LUIS ABINADER

The U.S. government says it will detain all imports of sugar and related products made in the Dominican Republic by the country's largest sugar producer amid allegations that it uses forced labor.

The Dominican Republic said it “profusely rejects” criticism of its crackdown on Haitian migrants from a growing number of countries and human rights agencies.

Haiti is rapidly spiralling into chaos and the neighboring Dominican Republic has responded with crackdowns on migrants and a military buildup the government claims will “guarantee border security.”

As Haiti rapidly spirals into chaos, its island neighbor, the Dominican Republic, has responded with crackdowns on migrants and a military buildup the government claims will “guarantee border security.” On Sunday, Dominican President Luis Abinader announced the country’s biggest purchase of military gear since 1961 – six helicopters, ten aircraft, 21 armored vehicles and four anti-riot trucks. Haiti’s crisis has been exacerbated by the 2021 assassination of ex-Haitian President Jovenel Moïse and gangs have gained increasing power in confronting a weak government.

Hurricane Fiona is blasting the Turks and Caicos Islands as a Category 3 storm after devastating Puerto Rico, where most people remain without electricity or running water.

The president of the Dominican Republic has barred Haiti’s former interim prime minister from entering the country, a move that further heightens tensions between two nations that share the island of Hispaniola

The president of the Dominican Republic has barred Haiti’s former interim prime minister — who is now an aspiring presidential candidate — from entering the country, a move that further heightens tensions between two nations that share the island of Hispaniola. The order against Claude Joseph that was signed Wednesday by Dominican President Luis Abinader also bans 12 Haitian gang leaders from entering the country. It comes as Haiti is becoming increasingly unstable following the July 7, 2021, assassination of its president, Jovenel Moïse.

Officials say the Dominican Republic’s minister of the environment and natural resources has been shot to death in his office by a close friend.

Powerful gangs in Haiti are making it difficult for marine biologist Jean Wiener to do on-the-ground conservation work aimed at mitigating the effects of climate change.

Bien-Aimé St. Clair frowned as the stream of older Haitian migrants pushed past him. Accused of living in the Dominican Republic illegally, they knew they had no choice but to go back across the border to Haiti. St. Clair was a child when his mother brought him to the Dominican Republic, and though his life has been hard -- his mom died when he was young, his father disappeared, and he was left alone to raise his disabled brother -- it’s the only life he has known.

French President Emmanuel Macron reacts as he meets Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa, Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020 in Paris. French President Emmanuel Macron has tested positive for COVID-19, the presidential Elysee Palace announced on Thursday. DONALD TRUMPPresident Donald Trump announced in October that he and his wife, first lady Melania Trump, tested positive for the coronavirus. BORIS JOHNSONThe British prime minister was the first major world leader confirmed to have COVID-19, after facing criticism for downplaying the pandemic. Other top officials in former Soviet states who were infected include Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

The number of new hospitalizations for COVID-19 and virus deaths in Britain are rising again, although both remain far below their springtime peak. (Jack Hill/Pool Photo via AP)JOHANNESBURG – President Donald Trump has tested positive for the coronavirus, joining a small group of world leaders who have been infected. BORIS JOHNSONThe British prime minister was the first major world leader confirmed to have COVID-19. JUAN ORLANDO HERNANDEZThe Honduras president announced in June that he and his wife had tested positive, along with two other people who worked closely with them. Cabinet members have tested positive too.

FILE - In this May 25, 2020, file photo, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro, wearing a face mask amid the coronavirus pandemic, stands among supporters as he leaves his official residence of Alvorada palace in Brasilia, Brazil. Bolsonaro said Tuesday, July 7, he tested positive for COVID-19 after months of downplaying the virus's severity while deaths mounted rapidly inside the country. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres, File)

Bolsonaro said Tuesday, July 7, he tested positive for COVID-19 after months of downplaying the virus's severity while deaths mounted rapidly inside the country. And in Venezuela, 57-year-old socialist party chief Diosdado Cabello said Thursday on Twitter that he, too, had tested positive, at least temporarily sidelining a larger-than-life figure considered the second-most-powerful person in the country. An Associated Press review of official statements from public officials across Latin America found at least 49 confirmed cases of new coronavirus in leaders ranging from presidents to mayors of large cities, along with dozens, likely hundreds, of officials from smaller cities and towns. Many leaders have used their diagnoses to call on the public to heighten precautions like social distancing and mask wearing. They have to be responsible.Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei placed his entire Cabinet and their staff in quarantine Thursday after one of his ministers tested positive.

Luis Abinader, presidential candidate of the opposition Modern Revolutionary Party, greets the crowd while he is surrounded by journalists at a voting center during the presidential elections, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Sunday, July 5, 2020. (AP Photo/Tatiana Fernandez)SANTO DOMINGO With COVID-19 cases still surging, the Dominican Republic on Sunday held presidential elections that had already been delayed by the pandemic, and polls indicated that a businessman with no previous experience in government was the favorite. Former President Leonel Feernndez, who served three previous terms, was also on the ballot, along with three minor parties. It went ahead Sunday even though the Health Ministry on Saturday reported the highest daily count of new confirmed COVID-19 cases, 1,241. The campaign was notably low key, with none of the mass meetings and street caravans common in previous years.