Prime Minister Andrew Holness yesterday argued that there is a need to engage credit rating agencies in discussions on what the United Nations is calling a "looming debt crisis"."We need to bring the credit rating agencies into our disc...

A man accused of trying to steal a motor car from a shopping plaza in Cross Roads, St Andrew, was arrested yesterday afternoon. The incident, which attracted a crowd, played out in the Sampars Supermarket parking lot on Retirement Road....

The medical oxygen crisis that hit the public health sector a few weeks ago due to rising COVID-19 cases appears to be improving as two of the island's major facilities - Kingston Public Hospital (KPH) and University Hospital of the Wes...

PAN American Health Organization (PAHO) director Dr Carissa Etienne is urging member countries to maintain coronavirus (COVID-19) protocols and safeguards, even as vaccinations get under way in a number of territories.Speaking during PA...

This is part of a series by Jamaica Observer reporters and editors looking at the impact of the novel coronavirus on various sectors of the economy since the first case was reported locally on March 10, 2020.STAKEHOLDERS in the educatio...

United Nations Secretary General António Guterres yesterday said that by ignoring several warnings from the global body since the start of the novel coronavirus pandemic, a year ago, the world is now experiencing the worst recession i...

WASHINGTON, DC, United States (CMC) - United States President Joe Biden has invited two Caribbean prime ministers to his "Leaders Summit on Climate" to take place virtually at the White House on April 22 and 23.A White House statement s...

Today is the 89th day of 2021. There are 276 days left in the year.TODAY'S HIGHLIGHT1870: The 15th Amendment to the US Constitution, giving black men the right to vote, is declared in effect. OTHER EVENTS1135: The Jewish philosopher Ma...

One of the 162 Jamaicans over 75 years old who were inoculated last Saturday at the National Arena in St Andrew has described the process as "excellent" and "awesome".The female senior citizen, who was not identified, made the comment i...

GENEVA (AP) - A joint World Health Organization-China study on the origins of COVID-19 says that transmission of the virus from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario and that a lab leak is "extremely unlikely...

In keeping with tradition, your Daily Observer will not be published on Good Friday, April 2, 2021. However, the newspaper published on Holy Thursday will be double-dated and as such offer the features that appear both on Thursday and F...

May 11, 2021 marks the 40th anniversary of the passing of reggae icon Bob Marley.In the lead-up to this milestone, the Jamaica Observer's Entertainment Desk will be doing a series titled 'Bob Marley - The Last 40 Days'.Starting April 1...

NEW JERSEY, United States - Johnson & Johnson (J & J) says it has agreed to provide up to 400 million doses of its one-dose COVID-19 vaccine to African countries, starting this summer.The drugmaker said under its agreement with ...

Eunice Chambers places a candle at her gate in Independence City, Portmore, St Catherine, last night duringa candlelight vigil held for her daughter, Khanice Jackson, whose body was found last Friday morning at afishing village on the o...

SUEZ, Egypt (AP) - Salvage teams yesterday freed a colossal container ship stuck for nearly a week in the Suez Canal, ending a crisis that had clogged one of the world's most vital waterways and halted billions of dollars a day in marit...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY for Tuesday, March 30, 2021:Bold, quick and physical, accept help from others and success will be yours. This year you sharpen your listening skills, making you a better friend, colleague and family member. Clear up debt ...

The man who kept Dr Jephthah Ford out of the political winners' enclosure in three general elections, Derrick Smith, last night paid tribute to his former opponent following his death yesterday.A well-known medical doctor, Ford, who re...

AS administration of the COVID-19 vaccine continues, the take-up among nurses has been slow.Dr Sandra Chambers, regional technical director in the South East Regional Health Authority (SERHA), told the Jamaica Observer that while health...

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) says work to develop a COVID-19 vaccine in Cuba has advanced to the phase three clinical trial stage.Speaking during a recent COVID-19 digital briefing, PAHO's Assistant Director Dr Jarbas Ba...

NEW YORK, USA - Jamaica could soon benefit from a US$10-million Diaspora crime fund which has just been proposed and warmly embraced by some of the main Jamaican groups here, to help slash the murder rate in their homeland.Jamaicans res...

Turmeric, a plant related to ginger, is grown in many Asian countries, as well as other tropical areas and is often touted for its medicinal properties in providing pain relief and anti-inflammatory benefits.The plant has been thrown m...

Photo 1: Members of the security forces patrol Princess Street in downtown Kingston yesterday.Photo 2: A security checkpoint along South Odeon Avenue in Half Way Tree yesterdayPhoto 3: A deserted Orange Street in Kingston yesterdayPho...

A petition calling for the legalisation of pepper spray on the Jamaica House Petition online portal gathered speed over the weekend surpassing the 15,000 mark required for petitions to be reviewed.The online appeal, which was launched o...

The new E-commerce National Delivery Solution (ENDS) platform has received mixed reviews from early registrants who participated in a pilot roll-out in Portmore, St Catherine, over the weekend.On one hand, the platform proved to be a li...

AS vaccination to prevent severe illness associated with COVID-19 continues, there are growing concerns about the management and documentation system of those who have already received the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.The conce...

MONTEGO BAY, St James - The Area One Police here said that Saturday night's fight between two homeless men in Montego Bay, which ended with one being fatally stabbed, was the only major incident to mar the first of the three weekend loc...

Director of government, enterprise and IT solutions at C&W Business Jamaica Carol Robertson has underscored the importance of leadership and trust as essential to the success of work-from-home arrangements. She spoke recently at th...

MANDEVILLE, Manchester - There has been a strong take-up of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine by senior citizens 75 years and older in this south-central parish. Acting officer of health Dr Shonette Blair-Walters told the Jamaica Observe...

ALBANY, NY (AP) - New York is poised to join the growing number of states that have legalised marijuana after state lawmakers reached a late-night deal to allow sales of the drug for recreational use.Democrats who now wield a veto-proof...

Today is the 88th day of 2021. There are 277 days left in the year.TODAY'S HIGHLIGHT2006: Charles Taylor is flown to Sierra Leone, opening the way for the former Liberian president to become the first African head of state tried for war...

MAKASSAR, Indonesia (AP) - Two attackers believed to be members of a militant network that pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group blew themselves up outside a packed Roman Catholic cathedral during a Palm Sunday Mass on Indonesia...

REYNOSA, Mexico (AP) - In one of Mexico's most notorious cities for organised crime, migrants are expelled from the United States throughout the night, exhausted from the journey, disillusioned about not getting a chance to seek asylum ...

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) - When Sao Paulo city officials put out a call last month for 4,500 public school cleaning jobs, targeting Brazilian mothers affected by the raging pandemic, they were unprepared for the ensuing tsunami. More...

Tivoli Gardens resident Kevaughn Carr is still basking in pride after securing 15 Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) subjects and two in the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) last year.The 17-year-old Excel...

The novel coronavirus' economic impact is now being felt in the overseas work and travel programme as several placement agencies are having difficulty refunding fees to university students, since last year's disruption of the annual pro...

After vaccinating thousands of babies in her 36-year-long career as a public health nurse, 85-year-old Linnet Gardiner White will come to an awing full-circle moment when she receives her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on April 8. ...

TREASURE BEACH, St Elizabeth - Prominent south coast hotelier Jason Henzell is among those in the tourism industry looking forward to Phase II of the Government's vaccination programme, as he believes the sector is starting to see good ...

Dr Chang should manage Jamaica's COVID-19 effortsThe prime minister still has time to get things right, as far as Jamaica's novel coronavirus fight is concerned, because, let's face it...this disease will be around for much longer than ...

Prime Minister Andrew Holness on Friday denied rumours suggesting that he did not actually receive a dose of the Covishield-AstraZeneca vaccine in Kingston last Monday."The nurse was highly proficient in administering the shot. I didn'...

PARIS, France (AFP) - Several coronavirus variants with the potential to be more transmissible have caused global concern over whether existing vaccines will still protect the world from a virus that is constantly mutating.Here's what w...

Executive director of the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) Audley Gordon has rejected claims that it is to be blamed for the pile-up of garbage in several gullies across the Corporate Area.Responding to a story publishe...

For almost 10 years, Patrick Duncan lived in a rat-infested rusty shell of a motor car on 8th Street in the section of Arnett Gardens that residents call Mexico.For all that time people living in the gritty community were not happy wit...

A few weeks ago, a message popped up in the corner of my screen. "What do you think about people who have recently had COVID-19 getting the vaccine?" A friend of mine was eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine, but she had recently gotten over...

President of the Rotary Club of New Kingston Neville Graham (left) hands over the Gary Grant Vocational Award in the field of information technology to Douglas Halsall, executive chairman of Advanced Integrated Systems for his continued...

AS the prospect of death becomes more real with each passing day, Jamaica has lost great value to its human capital because of the coronavirus pandemic.It has been a litte over a year since the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Ja...

A big question among parents and teachers is when their children will be vaccinated against COVID-19. Some have wondered whether the vaccine is even necessary for children.Dr James Wood, a paediatrician and assistant professor of paedia...

"No temptation has taken you except what is common to men. But God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear, but along with the temptation he will also make the way out in order for you to be able to endu...

My bounty is as boundless as the sea,My love is deep, the more I give to thee,The more I have,For both are infinite.- Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, 2, 1Can you imagine hearing those vows spoken to you at your wedding? What profound and...

Shrubbery grows apace in the Sandy Gully near to the Spanish Town Road industrial complex which houses some of Jamaica's leading companies. Operators of businesses in the area have complained about the lack of gully cleaning, pile-up of...

Executive chairman of Supreme Ventures Gary Peart (third left) talks with executives of the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) during a tour of the intensive care unit. Supreme Ventures donated a mobile ultrasound unit to ass...