{"id":27517,"date":"2026-11-02T11:59:24","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T11:59:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/11\/02\/dozens-of-commonwealth-leaders-descend-on-antigua-during-global-political-turbulence-wkmg\/"},"modified":"2026-11-02T11:59:24","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T11:59:24","slug":"dozens-of-commonwealth-leaders-descend-on-antigua-during-global-political-turbulence-wkmg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/11\/02\/dozens-of-commonwealth-leaders-descend-on-antigua-during-global-political-turbulence-wkmg\/","title":{"rendered":"Dozens of Commonwealth leaders descend on Antigua during global political turbulence &#8211; WKMG"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>D\u00e1nica Coto<br \/>Associated Press<br \/>Published:\u00a0<time datetime=\"2026-11-02T04:00:49.000Z\">November 1, 2026 at 11:00 PM<\/time><br \/>D\u00e1nica Coto<br \/>Associated Press<br \/>Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved<br \/>Britain&#8217;s King Charles III gestures in the rain during an Independence Day parade at the Sir Vivian Richards cricket ground in North Sound, Antigua, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026. (AP Photo\/Matias Delacroix)<br \/><strong>SAN JUAN<\/strong> \u2013 Leaders representing nearly a third of the world\u2019s population are meeting on the tiny <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/caribbean\">Caribbean<\/a> island of <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/antigua-and-barbuda\">Antigua<\/a> this week to strengthen ties during a time of global political upheaval.<br \/>New deals and pledges are expected to emerge from the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, which is held every two years. More than 50 leaders of Commonwealth nations, many of which once formed part of the <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/united-kingdom\">British Empire<\/a>, are scheduled to attend, along with officials from Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/brazil\">Brazil<\/a> and the United Arab Emirates.<br \/>Recommended Videos<br \/>\u201cTo deal with what to expect in Antigua, I think we need \u2026 to look at the world in which we find ourselves today,\u201d Commonwealth Secretary-General Shirley Botchwey told The Associated Press ahead of the meeting. \u201cWe\u2019re looking at issues like conflict, economic shocks, rising costs, climate change, trade, weaponization of tariffs; and all of this hitting directly the pockets of our people.\u201d<br \/>Botchwey said Commonwealth leaders representing 2.7 billion people will look at how to attract investment and reduce barriers to intra-Commonwealth trade.<br \/>\u201cFor us, this is extremely important,\u201d she said. \u201cAll the countries woke up one day and were slapped with tariffs. If we are trading more among ourselves, whatever happens outside the Commonwealth will not affect countries too much.\u201d<br \/>U.S. President Donald Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/tariffs-trump-trade-midterms-ea6fe1ef1a56d952659d22b97bbc8130\">has imposed the highest import duties<\/a> on U.S. trading partners since the Great Depression, although rates have fluctuated amid legal challenges.<br \/>Botchwey said that creating stronger economies is essential given the trade wars: \u201cIt\u2019s an opportunity we cannot miss.\u201d<br \/>The Commonwealth of Nations also seeks to create a fund to provide digital skills to about 10 million young adults, she said, adding that she hopes the private sector, foundations and philanthropies will contribute.<br \/>Officials are also expected to establish a fund to help nations transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.<br \/>Climate will be a big talking point because 49 of the Commonwealth\u2019s 56 countries share a border with the ocean as concerns grow over rising sea levels.<br \/>\u201cHow are we going to prepare them and ensure that our ocean is healthy?\u201d Botchwey said.<br \/>The four-day meeting also will host forums focusing on business, women and young people.<br \/>Richardo Aiken, a civil society governor who represents the Caribbean and Americas at the Commonwealth Foundation, said in a phone interview that climate justice, freedom of expression and empowering vulnerable groups will likely dominate the people\u2019s forum in Antigua.<br \/>\u201cWe also have a large population of Indigenous people,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s about how do we bring these players, the first people, those who were before us, into the conversation?\u201d<br \/>He expects the forum to propose specific initiatives to help civil organizations overcome various barriers, including not knowing how to write proposals, \u201cwhich is the main vehicle to access financing.\u201d<br \/>Climate change also will dominate conversations, Aiken said.<br \/>\u201cWe are actually living in one of the most vulnerable regions in the world,\u201d he said.<br \/>Some Caribbean leaders also have called for <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/caribbean-king-charles-iii-camilla-slavery-9bae0e7264c39ae574729449f530b4b0\">slavery reparations<\/a> to be discussed at the four-day meeting, which <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/king-charles-iii\">King Charles III<\/a> is expected to attend after visiting <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/king-charles-britain-caribbean-bahamas-visit-royals-9db7d43c955ed921a8720f965c27e33b\">the Bahamas<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/king-charles-guyana-caribbean-britain-royals-bdfb924a6b5e7197f74e82b70388527f\">Guyana<\/a> last week. Queen Camilla is expected to join him.<br \/>The meeting\u2019s opening ceremony is slated for Tuesday morning, and the event is scheduled to end on Wednesday.<br \/>Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.clickorlando.com\/tv-listings\/\" aria-label=\"Navigate to TV Listings\">TV Listings<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.clickorlando.com\/account\/newsletters\/\" aria-label=\"Navigate to Email Newsletters\">Email Newsletters<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.clickorlando.com\/rss\/\" aria-label=\"Navigate to RSS Feeds\">RSS Feeds<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.clickorlando.com\/contests\/\" aria-label=\"Navigate to Contests and Rules\">Contests and Rules<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.clickorlando.com\/contact\/\" aria-label=\"Navigate to Contact Us \/ Follow on Social Media\">Contact Us \/ Follow on Social Media<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.clickorlando.com\/careers\/\" aria-label=\"Navigate to Careers at WKMG\">Careers at WKMG<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.clickorlando.com\/news\/2019\/11\/11\/closed-captioning-information\/\" aria-label=\"Navigate to Closed Captioning \/ Audio Description\">Closed Captioning \/ Audio Description<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/publicfiles.fcc.gov\/tv-profile\/WKMG-TV\" aria-label=\"Navigate to Public File\">Public File<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.clickorlando.com\/eeo-report\/\" aria-label=\"Navigate to Current EEO Report\">Current EEO Report<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.clickorlando.com\/station\/2019\/11\/11\/terms-of-use\/\" aria-label=\"Navigate to Terms of Use\">Terms of Use<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.clickorlando.com\/privacy\/\" aria-label=\"Navigate to Privacy Policy\">Privacy Policy<\/a><br \/><a href=\"\/usprivacy\/\" aria-label=\"Navigate to Do Not Sell My Info\">Do Not Sell My Info<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.clickorlando.com\/station\/2020\/12\/22\/fcc-applications\/\" aria-label=\"Navigate to FCC Applications\">FCC Applications<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.clickorlando.com\/station\/2019\/11\/11\/online-public-inspection-file\/\" aria-label=\"Navigate to Disability Assistance\">Disability Assistance<\/a><br \/><button type=\"button\" style=\"appearance:none;border:none;background:none;color:inherit;padding:0;cursor:pointer\" aria-label=\"Open cookie preferences dialog\">Cookie Preferences<\/button><br \/><span>If you need help with the Public File, call<\/span> <a class=\"sc-bmzYkS dWbhtn\" href=\"tel:+14072916000\" aria-label=\"(407) 291-6000\">(407) 291-6000<\/a><br \/><span>At WKMG, we are committed to informing and delighting our audience. In our commitment to covering our communities with innovation and excellence, we incorporate Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies to enhance our news gathering, reporting, and presentation processes.<\/span> <a class=\"sc-bmzYkS dWbhtn\" href=\"https:\/\/www.clickorlando.com\/station\/2024\/04\/18\/how-we-are-using-ai-at-graham-media-group\/\" aria-label=\"Read our article\">Read our article<\/a> <span>to see how we are using Artificial Intelligence.<\/span><br \/>Copyright \u00a9 2026 ClickOrlando.com is managed by Graham Digital and published by Graham Media Group, a division of Graham Holdings.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/rss\/articles\/CBMi0gFBVV95cUxQMWc3TmlqaWU4TVZXSW9mVFFmdzFWdmY4MEpkc0ZQRUdrS2U4QU9KWm55VGVpREMwU2F1NHByV1Z3X2hvYjhUVHl6Z2lGaGNDTGJQODZ5WFIzX0VOOXp3MGFDSmNJOGYwemdpMGFINlRFbEJCRndMckQ4OFJTUmo0ei1QWkR5VFZubi1GUEVmdWpPSndmSTJoSHlPMWx4REdZN1FnZXFOVWpRRTBWQW5GTEM5NzFlZ1ZEcVFmWVROWlc5X05tQjlmSGQxVExqekttRFE?oc=5\">source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>D\u00e1nica CotoAssociated PressPublished:\u00a0November 1, 2026 at 11:00 PMD\u00e1nica CotoAssociated PressCopyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reservedBritain&#8217;s King Charles III gestures in the rain during an Independence Day parade at the Sir Vivian Richards cricket ground in North Sound, Antigua, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026. (AP Photo\/Matias Delacroix)SAN JUAN \u2013 Leaders representing nearly a third of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27518,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27517"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27517\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}