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Adding to the rising numbers of people who have either fallen ill or died while visiting Dominican Republic hotels and resorts, a group of Oklahoma-based Jimmy Buffett fans allegedly grew violently sick while visiting the Dominican Republic’s Hotel Riu Palace Macao on an April group trip to Punta Cana. Dana Flowers, a member of the Central Oklahoma Parrothead Association (who also serves as the group’s travel agent), tells PEOPLE that 47 of the 114 people on the the trip got sick, with many unable to leave their rooms. He said some are still not feeling “normal” two months later. “We...

Hurricane Jose has been hanging around, waiting for attention in the wake of Hurricane Irma. Newcomer Maria threatens to impact the Caribbean Islands already devastated by Hurricane Irma, and brushed by Jose. Hurricane Jose threatens to brush or impact New England. Lee appears to be a fish storm at this time. Mash images for larger or more info! All info updates automatically Jose Maria > > Public Advisories Public Advisories Forecast Discussions Forecast Discussions

Tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants in the Dominican Republic -- the vast majority Haitians -- face deportation as a deadline to apply for legal status looms. The problem of what to do with thousands of workers who entered illegally from a neighboring country is not an unfamiliar one in the hemisphere. The plight of undocumented immigrants in the United States and lawmakers' failed attempts at reform come to mind. The Dominican government tackled the issue with a "regularization plan" that offered a path to legal status for the undocumented. But critics say it was designed to fail the migrant...

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) -- Hadi Mezawi has never set foot on the Caribbean island of Dominica, has never seen its rainforests or black-sand beaches. But he's one of its newest citizens. Without leaving his home in the United Arab Emirates, the Palestinian man recently received a brand new Dominican passport after sending a roughly $100,000 contribution to the tropical nation half a world away. "At the start I was a little worried that it might be a fraud, but the process turned out to be quite smooth and simple. Now, I am a Dominican," said Mezawi, who like many Palestinians...

A Southern Californian man thrown off a Caribbean gay cruise earlier this week has said that that he and his partner were taunted, humiliated and subjected to inhumane treatment when they were arrested for indecent exposure.Dennis Jay Mayer, 53, of Palm Springs said he has no doubt they were arrested in Dominica because they were gay. Police said it was because they were seen having sex in public on the balcony of their ship cabin. Mayer said they were not having sex, but were ‘partially clothed’. (edit) The pastor of Dominica's Trinity Baptist Church, Randy Rodney, praised the police for their...

Uncle Luke, the man whose booty-shaking madness once made the U.S. Supreme Court stand up for free speech, gets as nasty as he wants to be for MiamiNew Times. This week, Luke claims Major League Baseball has a plan to phase out African-American players and replace them with black Hispanic players.April means Major League Baseball's opening day, which gets me thinking about the media firestorm Los Angeles Angels center fielder Torii Hunter ignited last month when he called players from the Dominican Republic "imposters." This reflected his opinion that dark-skinned Latin American major leaguers shouldn't be counted as blacks. He's...

Nettisha Walsh, the Dominica Freedom Party candidate for the Salisbury constituency, evoked uproar from constituents at a public forum when she declared that she had no respect for gay people. “I respect nobody who is gay,” Walsh told a constituency parliamentary debate at the Salisbury Government School last night. She was responding to a question posed by pastor of the Salisbury Pentecostal Church, Lloyd Vidal regarding the candidates views on gay tourism. “We are a Christian, God-fearing nation and to bring such an abomination into our country, it hinders our development,” the young candidate charged. Walsh further asserted countries should...

We, the Heads of State and Government of Bolivia, Cuba, Dominica, Honduras, Nicaragua and Venezuela, member countries of ALBA, consider that the Draft Declaration of the 5th Summit of the Americas is insufficient and unacceptable for the following reasons: - The Declaration does not provide answers to the Global Economic Crisis, even though this crisis constitutes the greatest challenge faced by humanity in the last decades and is the most serious threat of the current times to the welfare of our peoples. - The Declaration unfairly excludes Cuba, without mentioning the consensus in the region condemning the blockade and isolation...

Qatar pledged $100 million in humanitarian assistance Saturday to help Americans recover from Hurricane Katrina, heading a list of more than a dozen countries joining an outpouring of support. They added to the more than 50 countries who had made pledges by the end of the day Friday. ``In these difficult circumstances, the people and the government of the state of Qatar would like to assure the people of the United States of its support and desire to assist the people in the affected area along the United States Gulf Coast,'' said a statement from the oil-rich Persian Gulf state's...

In an accelerating drive, more than 50 countries have pledged money or other assistance to help Americans recover from Hurricane Katrina. Cuba and Venezuela have offered to help despite differences with Washington. Oil giant Saudi Arabia and small countries like Sri Lanka and Dominica are among the nations making pledges. "I hope that will remind Americans that we are all part of the same community," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday as offers kept pouring in. None has been turned down, Rice said at a news conference, disputing a report from Moscow that a Russian offer had been rejected....

Feds and local cops in New York nabbed almost a hundred illegal aliens who are suspected of participating in gang activities that include violent offenses, drug trafficking, prostitution and sex crimes. A joint criminal investigation in the New York City metropolitan area has resulted in the arrest of 95 criminal alien gang members, all of whom now face removal from the United States. The arrests are the culmination of a joint four-month investigation conducted by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, the New York City Department of Probation, Yonkers, NY Police Department officers and other local law enforcement agencies that...

ROSEAU, Dominica - Dominica's governing party won a narrow victory in parliamentary elections Thursday, according to unofficial results, apparently convincing voters of the need for an austerity program and a switch in diplomatic ties from Taiwan to China. Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit's Labor Party won 11 of 21 Parliament seats, an increase of one seat, according to results from the electoral office. It was not clear when the results would be declared final. The victory came at the expense of the United Workers Party of Edison James, which held eight seats in the outgoing legislature and had made a strong...

China's checkbook diplomacy wins DominicaBy Peter Richards PORT OF SPAIN - Critics call it the "kiss of deception", the switch of diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China by the tiny cash-strapped Caribbean island of Dominica, population 70,000. It's known for nature preserves and little else - except its valuable vote in international forums. Big bucks again carry the day in China's checkbook offensive to isolate Taiwan. Dominican Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, however, can hardly contain his joy. Late last month his administration had been lambasted for its decision to end 27 years of diplomatic relations with Taiwan in favor of...

BEIJING: China and the Caribbean Commonwealth of Dominica have established diplomatic relations, China's foreign ministry announced early Tuesday. Dominica has been one of the few allies of Taiwan, which Beijing regards as a breakaway province that should not be recognised as an independent country. Dominica had agreed to recognise the "one China" policy, which says that Taiwan is part of China. 'The government of the Commonwealth of Dominica recognizes that there is but one China in the world, that the government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China, and that Taiwan...