QUEENSLAND—Estimates of current rates of reef growth in the Caribbean have been described as “extremely alarming” by the leader of a team of international researchers conducting a study with Australia’s University of Queensland (UQ). According to an article published in Science Alert, UQ research indicates that many Caribbean coral reefs have either stopped growing or are on the verge of starting to erode with potential impacts to millions of people.

PANAMA CITY, Panama, CMC – Foreign ministers from three Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries will attend the 18th Ordinary Meeting of the Ministerial Council of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) on Friday, according to a statement from the Trinidad-based ACS Secretariat. It said that the foreign ministers from Haiti, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago will attend the one-day meeting of the Council that is “the principal Organ for policy-making and direction of the Association whose purpose is to identify and promote the implementation of its policies and programmes”.

KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, CMC – Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves has accused two journalists with the British Broadcasting Corporation ( BBC) of accosting him Sunday on an airplane in Barbados and has said that he will write to the London-based media house to complain about the incident.

KINGSTON, Jamaica - The jury is still out about our Jamaican psyche. Yes, we are fun people but are we builders of civilisation, spectators or players, minstrels or masters? Are we in charge of our fate, or zombies? This IMF thing has unleashed a spirit of fear and some desperation. We seem beholden to the IMF, yet it asks no obeisance. We speak in hushed tones as if the Lord is nigh; are our leaders in thrall to a body which has no armies, navies or soldiers? no trinkets to buy us, or prisons to incarcerate us?

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - Tourism, a mainstay for the majority of Caribbean economies for their foreign exchange and jobs, continues to be hit by major challenges, prompting the industry to issue an urgent call on governments to convene a summit by June to tackle key issues and ensure its long-term sustainable growth.

KINGSTON, Jamaica - THIS week, as Jamaicans brace themselves for severe belt-tightening because of the accord to be signed between the Government and the IMF, two incumbent parties in the Eastern Caribbean will be struggling to avoid becoming one-term administrations. The governments facing this survival "political cliff" — while Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller's ruling People's National Party (PNP) struggles against its very challenging "fiscal cliff" — are those of Prime Minister Fruendel Stuart in Barbados and of his Grenadian counterpart Tillman Thomas.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – The two main political parties here are in a statistical dead heat ahead of Thursday’s general election with Barbadians giving the nod to Prime Minister Freundel Stuart over his main challenger, Owen Arthur, according to the latest opinion poll published here on Sunday. The poll by the Caribbean Development Research Services (CADRES), published in the Sunday Sun newspaper however indicates that Arthur’s Barbados Labour Party (BLP) still hold a “slight edge” for control of the 30 seats in the parliament.

ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada, CMC – Grenada’s two major political parties were entering the final 24 hours of their campaign for Tuesday’s general election, buoyed by the large turnout of supporters Sunday and predicting a win that allow them to govern this Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country for the next five years.

PORT-AU-PRINCE -- When Jamaican officials snubbed a group of young Haitian soccer players who visited two years ago on the heels of a deadly cholera outbreak in their quake-torn homeland, a revolted Marguerite Rigaud immediately went into action. In a matter of days, the Pétionville restaurateur had thousands of Haitians marching through the streets of Port-au-Prince protesting the boys’ mistreatment by a fellow Caribbean nation. “I couldn’t believe that another black nation would do this to a sister nation. I found it revolting,” Rigaud said.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana - THE CRIME menace afflicting the Caribbean region as well as recurring air transportation woes are scheduled for special focus at the two-day 24th Inter-Sessional Meeting of Caribbean Community Heads of Government that gets underway today in Haiti.
Participating in the special session on crime and security with the CARIC0M leaders and their relevant cabinet colleagues will be the Attorney General of the United States of America, Eric Holder.