Dominican Republic

The in­ci­dent comes amid uptick in vi­o­lence and kid­nap­pings as gangs jock­ey for in­flu­ence amid on­go­ing po­lit­i­cal cri­sis.

Of­fi­cials hope Nor­we­gian Es­cape, strand­ed off the north coast of the Do­mini­can Re­pub­lic, can be re­float­ed at high tide.

Do­mini­can pres­i­dent says the wall will re­duce ir­reg­u­lar mi­gra­tion and the smug­gling of goods and weapons.