News stories by Peter Richards, page 10

When Caribbean leaders sit across the table from their European counterparts at a May summit in Spain, high on their agenda will be the problems experienced by banana and sugar producers in gaining meaningful access to the European market.

One of the newest opposition politicians to join the Trinidad and Tobago Senate, Verna St Rose-Greaves knows a lot about human rights abuses.

The full-page newspaper advertisements touting the benefits of a controversial aluminium smelter plant appeared here just as the court of appeal is preparing to rule on whether such a facility is ever built in Trinidad and Tobago.

As he travels back to his headquarters in Washington, World Bank president Robert Zoellick must be painfully aware that Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries have very strong feelings on the redevelopment of Haiti following the Jan. 12 earthquake.

A few days after she created history by becoming the first woman to be elected as opposition leader and the leader of a major political party in Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla Persad Bissessar was kicking mad at the 'misunderstanding' of the role of women and their contribution to society.

As chair of the 15-member regional integration movement, Dominica's Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit insists that the decision by Caribbean Community countries to be part of a new Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CLACS) is not intended to sideline longtime hemispheric alliances such as the Organisation of American States.

As the European Union gets ready to sign an agreement with Latin America to end a 16-year trade war over bananas, Caribbean Community (Caricom) countries are expressing their frustration at the perceived double standards of the Latin Americans leaders.

South African President Jacob Zuma admits that before to coming to Trinidad for the bi-annual Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), he met with its secretary general, Kamalesh Sharma, to discuss the relevance of the grouping in today's evolving global power structure.

On the heels of a new report by UNAIDS that the HIV virus is now infecting Caribbean men and women at an equal rate, activist groups are urging regional leaders to eliminate laws that further the stigmatisation associated with the deadly virus.

Even after he cast his vote in Wednesday's referendum, Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves was still singing the praises of the new constitution that the St. Vincent and the Grenadines parliament had passed by a two-thirds majority last month.