A London-based academic says the sweeping victory for Barack Obama and the Democratic Party means that change in America's long-standing policy towards Cuba is inevitable.

Dr Stephen Wilkinson of London Metropolitan University is an expert on Cuba - he heads the University's International Institute for the Study of Cuba.

He is predicting that the prospect of the change he sees coming will result in what he describes as a gold rush stampede by foreign firms into the Cuban market in the next few months.

He says they will be seeking to take advantage of the possibility of investing in Cuba before American firms get permission to do so.

Dr Wilkinson expects to see an immediate relaxation of aspects of the US embargo that he says will lead to bigger changes in the future.

China outlines its Caribbean LatAm policy

As the Caribbean and Latin America wait to hear what Barack Obama's policy on the region will be, China has published a policy paper, spelling out its wish for even closer ties with Latin America and the Caribbean.

The policy document comes ahead of a visit by China's President Hu Jintao to the region later this month.

China says it wants closer trade, energy and military ties with the region.

Beijing has has vied for years with its rival Taiwan for diplomatic recognition by Caribbean and Latin American countries, with each side accusing the other of buying friends through "chequebook diplomacy".

Antigua to name mountain after Obama

Antigua's volcanic mountain Boggy Peak is about to be renamed.

Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer has announced that Boggy Peak, the country's highest mountain peak, will be renamed Mount Obama.

Mr Spencer said that was Antigua and Barbuda's way of paying tribute to US president-elect Barack Obama.

And he informed Senator Obama of the decision in a congratulatory note.

Mr Spencer also told Barack Obama that his message of change would ignite hope and action in people of many countries who might still be passive in the face of inadequacies and injustice.

More rains to come

The Florida based National Hurricane Centre says a low pressure system in the south-western Caribbean Sea has more than a 50 percent chance of developing into a tropical depression over the next 48 hours, as it moves toward Cuba.

Forecasters say it could also affect the Bahamas over the next several days.

Both countries are still recovering from hurricane damage suffered a few months ago.

Meanwhile, water-logged Belize, which recently suffered severe flooding from two weeks of heavy rains, has released preliminary estimates on the damage caused by the tropical depression.

National disaster management officials put the cost of the damage at over US $11 million.

The rains caused extensive destruction to houses, roads and agriculture.

Authorities there are still trying to get parts of the country back on track as the flood waters recede.

Caricom, DR talk ties

Caricom secretary general Edwin Carrington has spoken of the failure of Caricom and the Dominican Republic to implement a free trade agreement.

He said it was an obstacle to developing relations between the two sides.

The accord was signed in 1998.

Mr Carrington was speaking at the opening of a meeting of a joint Caricom/Dominican Republic task force in Georgetown.

The task force is discussing improving relations.