Referendum please
The Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands has called for a referendum on the restoration of British rule.
Galmo Williams was speaking in Basseterre at a Caribbean seminar on decolonisation.
Britain plans to dissolve the territory’s Cabinet and legislature after a commission of inquiry on governance in the islands reports later this month
In its preliminary report, the commission said it found “clear signs” of corruption.
Former Premier Michael Misick stepped down in March after the report was made public, handing over to Williams.
He told the Basseterre conference that it was inappropriate, in a modern constitutional relationship, for the democratically elected government to be displaced.
EU, Latin ministers meet
Regional trade agreements will be one of the main topics of the meeting of EU foreign ministers with their counterparts from the Rio Group.
The Rio group is a forum of Latin American and Caribbean countries.
The ministers will meet over the next two days in Prague.
The EU is engaged in trade talks with three regional sub-groups: Mercosur, the Andean countries and Central America.
It has already reached a somewhat contentious deal with Caribbean nations.
A sensitive subject, bananas, remains unresolved with Caribbean and Latin American nations at odds with each other over EU import tariffs.
The Rio Group was established in 1986 as a forum for political dialogue.
Cuba will be participating in the meeting for the first time, since it only joined the Rio Group at the end of last year.
Mexico rejects Castro’s
allegations
There have been more angry exchanges between Mexico and Cuba over swine flu.
The Mexican health minister, Jose Angel Cordova, has rejected allegations by the former Cuban leader, Fidel Castro, that the country intentionally failed to reveal the existence of flu cases to avoid missing out on a visit by President Obama last month.
Cordova said Mexico had done everything in its power to combat the outbreak of swine flu.
Castro’s comments came after Cuba reported its first confirmed case of the disease on Monday.
The World Health Organisation says that more than 5,000 people have now been infected with swine flu around the world.
Five convicted in terror trial
A jury in Florida has convicted five men — most of whom are are from Haiti — for plotting to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago and bomb FBI offices across the United States.
A sixth man was acquitted.
It was the third time the case had gone to trial since the men were arrested three years ago. Two previous juries had failed to reach a verdict. They’ll be sentenced in July.
