GENEVA, Switzerland (Reuters): The United Nations Human Rights Council will hold a special session on May 23 to examine how the world's food crisis is undermining the right to food for millions of people, officials said on Friday. The rights to adequate food and freedom from hunger are enshrined in international law. read more...

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LONDON, England (AFP): Britain's Prince William is to join a Royal Navy operation patrolling for drug runners in the Caribbean, a media report said Wednesday. The Ministry of Defence declined to confirm the report on the Daily Mirror's website. British ships are routinely sent to the Caribbean. read more...

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PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad: In 2007 alone, 201 million people -- or one in 33 people on the planet -- were affected by natural disasters, a 40 per cent increase from 2006. On May 8, Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies worldwide will highlight the importance of working together to help people affected by a rising number of disasters. read more...

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MADRID, Spain (AFP): French Agriculture Minister Michel Barnier called Monday for a "world forum" on the food crisis which has sparked riots in several countries and threats to push millions of people deeper into poverty. Barnier said separate efforts to tackle the problem should be combined. read more...

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WATERLOO, Canada: The Caribbean region is facing continuous challenges to development but, as new research released this month from the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) shows, there are substantive and relevant policy prescriptions to current economic governance problems. read more...

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WASHINGTON, USA (Reuters): President George W. Bush called for $770 million in new US food aid donations and other measures on Thursday as Washington seeks to stave off a food crisis threatening to envelop the developing world. Bush promised the United States would take a lead in fighting hunger. read more...

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WASHINGTON, USA (Reuters): Strained aid groups are already cutting food assistance to hundreds of thousands of people the world over, raising fears they will be powerless to stem rising hunger in the most vulnerable countries. The reduction in food aid is a consequence of the dramatic surge in global food and fuel prices. read more...

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PROVIDENCIALES, Turks & Caicos Islands: One of the world’s most vocal environmental activists delivered an impassioned plea to delegates at the 10th Annual Caribbean Conference on Sustainable Tourism Tuesday: minimize our footprint on the Earth before it is too late. read more...

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CHRIST CHURCH, Barbados: The regional heads of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean have issued an urgent call on the governments of Latin America and the Caribbean to take timely action to ensure the protection of children and pregnant and lactating women against soaring food prices. read more...

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GENEVA, Switzerland (Reuters): Leading figures from the United Nations met in Switzerland on Monday to chart a solution to dramatic food price increases that have caused hunger, riots and hoarding in poor countries around the world. Vietnam acted to quell panic over rice supplies on Monday. read more...

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PARIS, France (AFP): French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner on Saturday backed calls for the international community to create a food fund to tackle the crisis caused by sharp global price rises. The minister was speaking at a meeting with non-governmental organisations (NGO). read more...

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NADI, Fiji: Coral reefs, so often associated with the world's most desirable travel destinations, are also key to food security and the economic well-being of developing countries, asserts Dr Austin Bowden-Kerby, a marine scientist who dedicates his life to regenerating coral. read more...

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VIENNA (Reuters): Rising food prices have developed into a global crisis, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Friday. Concerns about food security mounted this week as rice prices hit records in Asia and the United States warned that staples for the world's hungry were getting much more expensive. read more...

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BANGKOK, China (Reuters): Rice prices in Thailand, the world's top exporter, surged to $1,000 a tonne on Thursday as concerns about food security first triggered by a handful of Asian export bans spread as far as the United States. This week's jump takes prices to nearly three times their level at the start of the year. read more...

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UNITED NATIONS: Latin America and the Caribbean will grow an average of 4.7% in 2008, according to projections of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), 0.2% lower than the 4.9% estimate issued by the United Nations regional body last December. read more...

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The steep and persistent rise in international food prices is hitting particularly hard on the poorest in Latin America and the Caribbean, worsening income distribution, stated ECLAC Executive Secretary José Luis Machinea. Poverty and indigence will rise if urgent measures are not taken to reduce the effects of these hikes. read more...

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PARIS, France (Reuters): Poor policy decisions over the past two decades have combined to create the current food crisis and resources must now be focused on the 2008 harvest, the head of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation said on Wednesday. The UN has warned that millions of people are threatened by hunger. read more...

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GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands: As part of ongoing development plans within the Caribbean region, Caribbean Net News has now launched several country-specific “Net News” websites, in order to provide more in-depth news, information and commentary in relation to each country and territory. read more...

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GENEVA, Switzerland (Reuters): Climate change is aggravating the global food crisis and many poor countries could be facing the start of major hunger disasters, former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Tuesday. Agricultural production worldwide must be revamped over time, he said. read more...

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SAN JUAN, Trinidad: The mud volcano in the Columbia coconut estate in Fullerton, Cedros, Trinidad, is revered annually with a puja [ceremonial worship]. In their homes during the night, villagers hear the sound of the mud bubbling in the belly of the earth. Hindus interpret this sound as a reminder to pray. read more...

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KINGSTOWN, St Vincent: If Dr Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines, is allowed to have his way, the Garifuna and all Vincentians may soon lose the right to visit Balliceaux . This small island, which is located on the south-east coast of St Vincent was the scene of the internment of the black Caribs. read more...

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ACCRA, Ghana (AFP): A warning from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on the possible consequences of the rise in global food prices, together with the plight of the world's poorest nations, dominated the start of a major UN trade conference Sunday in Ghana's capital. Ban stressed the plight of the world's 50 poorest nations. read more...

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VATICAN CITY, Rome (AFP): The pope on Monday bemoaned what he said were the effects of exploitative tourism and the scourge of the arms and drugs trade in the West Indies islands. He appealed to the visiting bishops to do everything possible to support marriage and family life. read more...

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LONDON, England (AFP): A website specialising in family geneaology launched a massive online searchable register of slaves of the British Empire Wednesday, allowing descendants of slaves to discover their origins. The website has compiled the details of more than 2.7 million slaves. read more...

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PARIS, France (AFP): Several hundred years ago, the coral reefs of the Caribbean had up to six times more fish than they have today, according to a study published Wednesday. The estimate is made by US scientists poring over the fate of the Caribbean monk seal, a fish-loving mammal driven to extinction in 1952. read more...

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LONDON, England (Reuters): Two dominant coral species have built a good chunk of the Caribbean reef, and their ability to grow quickly may help the region's coral reefs keep pace with rising sea levels caused by global warming, researchers say. The staghorn and elkhorn corals grow about 10 times faster than any other. read more...

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OLVESTON, Montserrat: Every year St Patrick’s Day, March 17, is celebrated as a public holiday in Montserrat, and the celebrations expand into a week, with a host of cultural and other activities. The reason for this celebration goes back into history. Some of the first European settlers and colonisers were Irish Catholics. read more...

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BRADES, Montserrat: “Your new town... your new future.” It is more than ten years since the volcano destroyed Montserrat’s capital, Plymouth in 1997. During the intervening years there has been much talk of building a new town at Little Bay in the north, and many consultancies, but also many constraints. read more...

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MANAGUA, Nicaragua  (Bloomberg): Colombia denied Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega's accusations that it has stepped up military operations around three islands, the San Andres, Providencia and Santa Catalina islands, in the western Caribbean that both countries claim as their own. read more...

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PARIS, France (AFP): The Caribbean's fragile coral reefs were devastated in 2005 by a doubly whammy of record-high temperatures and 13 full-on hurricanes, according to a UN-sponsored report released Monday. During the last 50 years many Caribbean reefs have lost up to 80 percent of their coral cover. read more...

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