1. Highlights (00:00-00:22)

2. Caribbean islands brace themselves for seasonal storms and hurricanes. A review of the main political events in Cuba in 1996. Rosie Hayes reports (00:23-03:52)

3. While Washington's relationship with Cuba topped Europe's agenda there was EU's opposition to Helm's Burton law. President Clinton's re-election in November spelt for some Afro-Americans gloom for the region. There were hardline immigration polices in the US so that Caribbean people thinking of migrating should think again. Afro-American Professor Carlos Russell is interviewed (03:53-05:19)

4. In St. Lucia politics, bananas and strikes dominated the headlines in 1996. Pete Ninvalle reports (05:20-08:39)

5. In Trinidad and Tobago the new Basdeo Panday government had its own runnings with battles with the media, teachers, public sector union and a mini-secession move by the twin island of Tobago. It was twelve months of relative turbulence. Tony Fraser reports (08:40-11:35)

6. Our final dispatch comes from Montserrat where the rumblings of the angry Soufriere Hills volcano sent residents scurrying either to shelters to the North or to relatives and friends abroad. Keith 'Stone' Greaves (11:36-15:29)