Dominican Republic

In daylight, every 30 minutes or so, a tiny wooden rowboat makes a half-mile trip across the lake here. At night, the sound of oars slapping the water is replaced by the resonating roar of large trucks on the bordering road. The boats and trucks are carrying over the plasma that is keeping Haiti alive for the moment. The boats and trucks are smuggling gasoline from the Dominican Republic in open defiance of an international embargo designed to punish Haiti's military leaders.

The final rosters for next month's World Baseball Classic were released Tuesday with both the U.S. and the Dominican Republic, the pre-tournament favorite, selecting teams composed entirely of major leaguers. Times staff writer Kevin Baxter offers a first look at the tournament, which begins next week and has second-round play at San Diego's Petco Park and the semifinals and finals at Dodger Stadium: Pool A, at Tokyo Teams: China, Japan, Chinese Taipei, South Korea.

After a five-year investigation, federal authorities announced Sunday that they have cracked what may be the biggest illegal sports betting ring in the United States with the indictment of 26 suspected organizers, mostly in Northern California and the Dominican Republic. The U.S.

High in the hills surrounding this city in the Cibao Valley, hundreds of narrow openings tunnel into the world's second-richest cache of amber. For scientists, the ancient tree resin found in the tunnels brings a glimpse into primeval life in the West Indies through perfectly preserved prehistoric creatures. For mine owners like Ramon Martinez, the tunnels mean annual sales of about $25,000 in a country where the per-capita income is less than $500 a year.

Salvador Jorge Blanco Former president of Dominican Republic Salvador Jorge Blanco, 84, a former Dominican Republic president who was convicted of corruption in a decision later overturned by an appeals court, died Sunday at his home in Santo Domingo, said his son, Orlando Jorge Mera. He had been in a coma since suffering a cerebral hematoma when he fell out of bed Nov. 20 and had been diagnosed with hydrocephalus, in which liquid builds up around the brain and spinal cord.

Chia Ming Cheng won an extra-inning pitchers' duel with Santiago Heredia as Taiwan advanced to the championship game of the Little League World Series with a 1-0 victory Thursday over the Dominican Republic. Taiwan, which has won 15 Little League championships, will face Spring, Tex., on Saturday. Cheng and Heredia were throwing about 75 m.p.h. and neither walked a batter. Cheng gave up only one hit and struck out 12; Heredia gave up four hits and struck out nine.

1. Carnival Corp.is building a $65-million cruise ship center on the Bay of Maimon, Dominican Republic, that's expected to open in 2014. 2. Greece could be an even greater travel bargain if it adopts a new currency. Tour operators hope to renegotiate to the new, cheaper currency if Greece drops the euro. 3. The State Department this month issued new travel warnings for Saudi Arabia ("ongoing security threat due to the continued presence of terrorist groups") and Lebanon ("safety and security concerns")

It was after 2 a.m. Monday and everyone was floating on clouds, but no one was dreaming. Mexico had just ended a marathon of 16 hours of baseball by defeating the Dominican Republic, 4-3, to win the Caribbean Series championship. The capacity crowd at Teodoro Mariscal Stadium stayed until the end, beyond the end in fact, watching fireworks and cheering festively decorated dancers and musicians in a rousing closing ceremony that lasted until nearly dawn.

The oldest city in the Americas has spent a fortune sprucing itself up 500 years after Columbus landed on its shores, and not everyone thinks it was a good idea. President Joaquin Balaguer's $2-billion building spree, begun in 1988, has produced a gleaming new airport, pastel public housing projects, schools, paved roads, dams and assorted monuments. "It looks like a new country, doesn't it?" said Juan Jose Arteaga, the government economics adviser.

As a struggling minor league baseball player, Dave Valle passed through the depressing parts of more small towns than Amtrak. Stockton, Calif.; Walla Walla, Wash.; Alexandria, Va.; Greenville, S.C.--places that made the Queens neighborhood where his widowed mother raised eight children look luxurious by comparison. "Oh, my God," says Valle's wife, Vicky, shuddering at memories. "It was unbelievable."