MEXICO CITY, May 15 (Xinhua) — Prolific Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes died Tuesday at the age of 83 at a local hospital in Mexico City, the national capital of Mexico.

The president of the National Council for Culture and the Arts (CONACULTA) of Mexico, Consuelo Saizar, on Tuesday confirmed the death of Fuentes, without disclosing the exact cause of his death.

Fuentes’s death has triggered …

Maxwell Reyes

Puerto Plata.-On monday President Leonel Fernandez led the start of construction work for Cruise Port “Amber Cove Cruise Center” in Maimon Bay, Puerto Plata.

The international company Carnival Corporation will invest in building the modern cruise ship terminal US$65 million and create 800 direct jobs, which will benefit residents in the area.

They plan to generate at least US$30 million in the first year of operation.

Will be the fourth port in the Dominican Republic to receive cruise …

CAMDEN—The former controller of an environmental and industrial services firm based in Swedesboro, New Jersey, was sentenced today to 57 months in prison for defrauding his former employer by improperly diverting funds and taking more than $1.3 million from the company, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Rusty Spickenreuther, 46, of Franklinville, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty to an information charging him with one count of wire fraud, one count of money laundering, and one count of tax fraud. He entered …

WASHINGTON—A 19-year veteran of the Police of Puerto Rico was convicted today by a federal jury in San Juan, Puerto Rico for her role in providing security for a drug transaction, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Rosa E. Rodriguez-Velez of the District of Puerto Rico, and Special Agent in Charge Joseph S. Campbell of the FBI’s San Juan Field Office.

Yamil Navedo Ramirez, 39, was convicted of one count of attempting …

HAVANA, May 14 (Xinhua) — A passenger bus fell off a cliff in eastern Cuba on Monday, killing five people, including a little girl, and wounding several others, the national police force (PNR) said.

The accident occurred when the vehicle overturned on a slope in the town of Rafael Freyre, Holguin province, 735 km east of Havana, PNR officer Juan Carlos Fonseca told Cuban news media.

A team of experts was trying to determine …

The Justice Department announced today that it will monitor the primary elections on May 15, 2012, in Colfax and Douglas Counties in Nebraska, to ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and other federal voting rights statutes.  The Voting Rights Act prohibits discrimination in the election process on the basis of race, color or membership in a minority language group.   In addition, the Act requires Colfax County to provide language assistance in Spanish during the election process….

HOHHOT, May 14 (Xinhua) — At least four people were confirmed dead and 36 others were injured after a coach collided with a truck in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region early Monday morning.

The fire department in Huade County said both of the vehicles rolled over after the collision at 1 a.m. Monday. The truck driver and two passengers on the sleeper coach died on the spot.

Rescuers sent 37 injured people to hospital. One of them died in hospital after …

RAMALLAH, May 12 (Xinhua) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded on Saturday to a political letter Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas gave to Israel on April 17, concerning the stalled peace process in the Middle East, official sources said.

Netanyahu’s advisor Yitzhak Mulkho arrived on Saturday evening in the West Bank city of Ramallah to hand Abbas the Israeli response, said the sources, adding that Mulkho held talks with senior Palestinian officials.

The sources …

LAS VEGAS, - Today Gordon Ramsay brought his unique style and culinary flair to Las Vegas with the opening Gordon Ramsay Steak at Paris Las Vegas, marking the award-winning chef’s first restaurant in Las Vegas. The two-level steakhouse welcomes guests through a “chunnel” entrance and then immediately captures their attention with an eye-catching, restaurant wide Union Jack ceiling mural and custom neon sculpture, handsomely tailored …

RAMALLAH, May 12 (Xinhua) — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday urged United States Secretary of Sate Hillary Clinton to intervene for Palestinian prisoners who have been going on a hunger strike in Israeli jails.

More than 1,500 Palestinian prisoners have been going on a hunger strike in Israeli jails since April 17, demanding the Israeli prisons services to end isolation of prisoners in solitary cells and improve their …