Dominican Republic

Two friends who worked alongside each other at a Connecticut restaurant made a remarkable discovery: DNA testing revealed they are biological sisters

Julia Tinetti and Cassandra Madison always joked that they were sisters, but had no clue they shared a biological family in the Dominican Republic.

Hurricane Fiona left dozens of families stranded across Puerto Rico after smashing roads and bridges, with authorities still struggling to reach people four days after the storm smacked the U.S. territory, causing historic flooding.

As Hurricane Fiona continued its destructive path across the Caribbean on Tuesday, its victims were assessing the damage done to their homes and communities and turning to the Red Cross and other agencies for help. Here are some agencies offering assistance to the hurricane’s victims.

A Hurricane Warning is in effect for Puerto Rico, including Vieques and Culebra and the eastern coast of the Dominican Republic from Cabo Caucedo to Cabo Francés Viejo

Hurricane Fiona has struck Puerto Rico’s southwest coast after causing an island-wide power blackout and threatening to dump “historic” levels of rain.

Judicial documents that The Associated Press has obtained state that the childhood friend accused of fatally shooting the Dominican Republic’s Minister of Environment and Natural Resources this week allegedly did so because he was denied environmental permits he was seeking on behalf of various companies.

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

Haitians are fleeing in greater numbers to the neighboring Dominican Republic, where they board rickety wooden boats painted sky blue to blend with the ocean to try to reach Puerto Rico — a trip in which 11 Haitian women drowned this week, with dozens of other migrants believed missing.

An aviation company says the small plane it operates crashed while attempting to land minutes after beginning a flight to Florida.

Human rights activists accuse the government of targeting vulnerable populations, separating children from their parents and racial profiling. They’ve deported Haitians born in the DR to Haitian parents but denied citizenship and even Black Dominicans born to Dominican parents whom authorities mistake for Haitians.