DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: At least 10 people were killed and a further 17 injured when a lorry ploughed into a bar in the Dominican Republic, authorities said.

The crash occurred early today in the southern community of Azua, located west of the capital, Santo Domingo, according to local media reports citing government officials.

It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the crash.

RUSSIA: Rescuers have located a helicopter that went missing in Russia’s far east with 22 people on board, officials said today.

Russia’s emergencies ministry said the bodies of 17 people have been found and that rescuers were continuing to search for the remaining occupants.

All those on board are presumed to have died, the Russian news agency RIA Novosti said.

UNITED STATES: The first of a series of strikes began today when more than 1,000 workers walked off the job for three days at four hotels in Boston and one in Greenwich, Connecticut, the union Unite Here said.

The strikes come as unionised housekeepers fight to restore automatic daily room cleaning at major hotel chains, saying they have been saddled with unmanageable workloads, or in many cases, fewer hours and a decline in income.

POLAND: Prosecutors in south-west Poland say a man, only identified as Mateusz J, has been arrested on allegations of imprisoning and physically and mentally abusing a woman for more than five years with “special cruelty.”

Prosecutors in the town of Legnica say the woman was held in an unheated building with no water or toilet facilities. There, he repeatedly abused her sexually and physically and gave her limited access to food and drink.