Pablo Espinal, chief of staff of the Dominican Republic’s Ministry of Tourism, explained how the changes will take form in an interview with CNN, published on Thursday. “Given the amount of coverage that we have gotten over the last couple of months, we do recognize that there may be some concern among some of the tourists,” he explained. Espinal explained that semi-annual hotel, food and beverage inspections will be changed to quarterly inspections....

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings were issued as the DMV area faced its highest tornado threat of the year, as reported by WUSA9. Fallen trees damaged power lines, including a tree on Colorado Avenue Northwest that took down four power lines. This incident caused more than 500 Pepco cusotmers to lose power, as seen on a Pepco outage map. More than 700 customers in the District lost power. In Montgomery County, more than 3,000 people were without power and more than 300 in Prince George’s County were without power....

The voting machine supplier has sought more than $651 million in punitive damages, and a further $651.7 million in compensation from Lindell over his baseless allegations. According to the filing, the company is also seeking an injunction to have all of Lindell’s “false and defamatory” remarks about Dominion removed. The $1.3 billion claim is roughly four times MyPillow’s annual revenue—which exceeded $300 million in 2019, Lindell told The New York Times earlier this year....

State and federal officials say the election was secure, but Trump has said without evidence that Dominion’s electronic voting system has cost him millions of votes. Trump’s claims range from votes being deleted and switched to President-elect Joe Biden, to describing it as a “radical left” company which is in hock to his opponents. Dominion’s director of product and security, Eric Coomer, told the Associated Press (AP) that he started getting harassed when Trump’s campaign lawyers first claimed his company had rigged the election....

Vin Scully on NBC: “High fly ball into right field … she iiiiiis gone!” Jack Buck for CBS radio: “I don’t believe what I just saw!” But one call that’s been unfortunately underrepresented, if not forgotten, in the decades since that 1988 classic belongs to the late Hall of Famer Don Drysdale, who called the game for local Dodgers radio. MORE: Every MLB team’s worst postseason memory, revisited Drysdale, who was a broadcaster for more than two decades after his playing career, had an everyman quality about his calls but also spoke with authority and clarity....

NESN decided to part with Orsillo earlier this season in a move that was not received well throughout New England. MORE: A gallery of Red Sox greats | Fenway fans show Orsillo support Orsillo, 46, will replace Dick Enberg, who is retiring after the 2016 season. Orsillo’s deal with the Padres will allow him to work some games for Fox before transitioning into Enberg’s lead role. The Red Sox paid tribute to Orsillo on Sunday, acknowledging his popularity after 15 seasons with the club....

Let’s start with women. There’s nothing nicer than a beautifully dressed, stylish female heading your way, even for one of my advanced years. Today’s women have a certain something that is appealing, a style that I like. Until, that is, I notice all too often that they are chewing gum. The mystery evaporates, the charm is gone; bovine visions cloud the mind. Even worse: when they think they can improve on what God gave them by getting their ankles and shoulders tattooed....

I am not afraid, but I feel I have to prepare myself. The steel-and-wood beauty of the firearm I hope never to use sits within easy reach of the fingers that write on my computer screen. My son’s weapon provides me some security if in event should require a response to save my life. It is loaded and ready something impossible if there were children a[ home. Chamber the shell, disengage the safety, point, shoot....

Enter Gavin de Becker, security consultant to the stars. De Becker has a lot to say about crime and the fear of crime, and he says it persuasively in a just-published book, ““The Gift of Fear: Survival Signals That Protect Us From Violence’’ (Little, Brown. $22.95). His message is that a mixture of common sense and intuition - the subliminal sense that danger may be lurking nearby - is the best defense you’ve got....

Twelve weeks remain for him to heal more and play better. Not impossible, considering where he is now compared to the debacle of opening night. MORE: Week 6 picks | Power rankings | Snyder on ‘Redskins’ "When it comes to timing here, timing there, sometimes you might be a little bit off coming back from an injury like I had,'' Griffin told reporters after practice Wednesday. It was a rare admission that after four weeks, he was not the player he was at his peak last season....

Staying home only puts a stronger spotlight on our need to socialize and celebrate with each other. Virtual happy hours now connect us with our colleagues. Through FaceTime, we pop bottles with friends and family to celebrate birthdays, new babies, weddings and holidays. We’ve adapted, and while life doesn’t look like what we once knew, we continue to celebrate. A new year brings us fresh beginnings and opportunities to drink differently than we have before....

Oakland made a big splash in free agency with the signing of former Ravens offensive lineman Kelechi Osemele. Penn felt the team was moving forward without him. MORE: NFL New League Year resolutions | Raiders are slaying free agency “I’m not going to lie, I’m going to (tell) you the truth. I was pissed,” Penn told Sirius XM Wednesday about the signing of Osemele. “I called (Raiders coach) Jack Del Rio as soon as I saw that signing....

It takes a bit of history to see Trump has a past as a sports owner that is, shall we say, as interesting as his present, and that includes his treatment of women. MORE: Badly timed Trump ads | Badly timed endorsement Those who ignore history … Legions of sports fans have no idea that Trump was owner of a professional football team. Not in the NFL, a bastion of staid conservatives that smacks of a gentlemen’s club....

President Donald Trump and other GOP leaders have voiced their support for the #WeWantToPlay movement. Trump issued two tweets Monday about not canceling the upcoming season. He issued a second tweet about an hour later. “The president would very much like to see college football safely resume their sport. … They work their whole lives for this moment and he’d like to see [these athletes] live out their dreams,” White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Monday....

Mary Trump, the niece of former President Donald Trump and a strong critic of his, discussed the newly released affidavit on her YouTube show on Friday and said that “we just need this to end.” A heavily redacted FBI affidavit was released on Friday following an order from Federal Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart and despite much of the document being blacked out, the affidavit contained new information about the investigation....

The site appeared rather meager given the renowned ostentation of the late Ivana Trump, with the grave located in a remote corner of the grounds of her ex-husband’s Bedminster golf course. Social media users speculated why Ivana wasn’t buried in a cemetery. Some of them discovered what they claimed was the “real” reason for the location: That New Jersey subsidizes cemeteries with tax breaks. Assumptions were quickly made that Trump had his ex-wife buried at Bedminster for tax purposes....

On Monday, Trump lawyer Evan Corcoran filed a letter in federal court claiming that the former president did assert executive privilege over the subpoena issued more than a year ago to former White House adviser Peter Navarro. It comes less than a week before Navarro is to go to trial for contempt of Congress. Addressed to Navarro, Corcoran contends that the information sought by the subpoena from the House panel includes discussions that the former official had with Trump about “trade and manufacturing policy and a wide variety of other subjects, including topics that are important to the security of this country....

No. 45 was in a cushy suite while taking in the Astros-Nationals tilt in Washington, D.C., alongside members of Congress and the first lady on Sunday night. He was shown on the video board at the stadium between innings, and the fans in attendance greeted him with a hearty booing. MORE: Game 5, blow by blow There was also this, where Trump’s elation of being at the World Series seems to turn to disappointment rather quickly upon hearing the boos....

Trump said “radical left Democrats” have threatened to boycott products for several years, and now the left is “going big time with WOKE CANCEL CULTURE.” He said it’s time for Republicans to reciprocate the sentiment. Trump said this through a statement from former senior legal advisor Jenna Ellis: “It is finally time for Republicans and Conservatives to fight back—we have more people than they do—by far! Boycott Major League Baseball (MLB), Coca-Cola, Delta Airlines, JPMorgan Chase, ViacomCBS, Citigroup, Cisco, UPS, and Merck,” the statement read....

Trump’s been teasing a return to the campaign trail since he left office and while he hasn’t officially announced a campaign, he said his supporters would be “very happy” with his decision. The former president leads polls of hypothetical 2024 GOP nominees and his entering the race could convince other presidential hopefuls not to run. However, with Trump out of the race, it’s likely several prominent Republicans would battle for the nomination....