Jamaica Observer
Wed, Apr 28, 2021 08:38:52 GMT PHOTO: Shooting on Half-Way-Tree Road
Police carry out investigations Monday following a shooting at a car park on Half-Way-Tree Road in Kingston 5. (Photo: Joseph wellington)
Wed, Apr 28, 2021 07:50:01 GMT Rattray appointed UN representative for least-developed countries
Jamaican diplomat Courtenay Rattray has been appointed the United Nations' high representative for the least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing states.The appointment was announced Monday by...
Wed, Apr 28, 2021 07:01:00 GMT This Day in History - April 28
Today is the 118th day of 2021. There are 247 days left in the year.TODAY'S HIGHLIGHT1967: Heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali refuses to be inducted into the US Army. OTHER EVENTS1521: Holy Roman Emperor Charles V grants his brot...
Wed, Apr 28, 2021 07:01:00 GMT Former wards of State grateful as they start tertiary studies
NINETEEN-YEAR-OLD Oniel Taylor, a former ward of the State, is today grateful that he was among more than 100 people - current and former wards of the State - to receive a laptop or a Samsung tablet Monday to assist him in completing a ...
Wed, Apr 28, 2021 07:01:00 GMT No dome visible at La Soufrière during observation flight
KINGSTOWN, St Vincent (CMC) - Scientists monitoring the La Soufrière volcano said that white steam could be seen venting near continuously from several locations on the crater floor, no dome is visible, although a spine could be seen t...
Wed, Apr 28, 2021 07:01:00 GMT Former Barbados Cabinet minister jailed in US
NEW YORK, United States (CMC) - A former Barbados government minister, Donville Inniss, was sentenced to two years in jail yesterday after he was found guilty by a federal jury in January last year for his role in a scheme to launder br...
Wed, Apr 28, 2021 07:01:00 GMT UN says shipwreck in Caribbean underscores need for safe migration
UNITED NATIONS (CMC) -Two United Nations agencies say the latest shipwreck in the Caribbean has highlighted the need for safe migration pathways, particularly in this novel coronavirus pandemic era when many borders remain closed.The In...
Wed, Apr 28, 2021 07:01:00 GMT Lawyers: Pathologist says black man shot 5 times by cops
NORTH CAROLINA, United States (AP) - Attorneys for the family of a black man shot and killed by deputies in North Carolina say an independent autopsy shows that he was shot five times, including a shot in the back of the head.Attorney...
Wed, Apr 28, 2021 07:01:00 GMT US puts pressure on Haiti
WASHINGTON, DC, United States (CMC) - Several United States lawmakers have sent a letter to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urging that Washington reassess its policies towards the French-speaking Caribbean Community country of Hai...
Wed, Apr 28, 2021 07:01:00 GMT Rights group accuses Israel of apartheid, persecution
JERUSALEM, Israel (AP) - One of the world's best-known human rights groups said yesterday that Israel is guilty of the international crimes of apartheid and persecution because of discriminatory policies toward Palestinians within its o...
Tue, Apr 27, 2021 07:01:00 GMT Jamaica hoping to be on list for US vaccines
MINISTER of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton says the Government has been in communication with the United States and is hoping that Jamaica will be one of the beneficiaries of the 60 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines to be...
Tue, Apr 27, 2021 07:01:00 GMT Cops posing with guns in wedding photo under probe
MONTEGO BAY, St James - Assistant Commissioner of Police Clifford Chambers says a high-level investigation that has been launched into the conduct of a newly-wed couple seen in a photo toting firearms will be widened to include other pe...
Tue, Apr 27, 2021 08:49:40 GMT US bows to vaccine pressure
WASHINGTON, DC, United States (AP) - The US will begin sharing its entire stock of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines with the world once it clears federal safety reviews, the White House said yesterday, with as many as 60 million doses expe...
Tue, Apr 27, 2021 08:59:45 GMT Alpha Institute gets $2.6-m boost from Sandals Foundation
YOUNGSTERS at the Alpha Institute on South Camp Road in Kingston will benefit from two projects designed to provide skills training and sustainable development for music education, which were launched Monday.Both projects - the construc...
Tue, Apr 27, 2021 07:01:00 GMT Banker urges Jamaicans to push
Dr Ransford Davidson, business relationship and sales manager at JN Bank, is encouraging Jamaicans not to be daunted by the many challenges that the health pandemic has created.Davidson advised persons to identify the opportunities with...
Tue, Apr 27, 2021 07:01:00 GMT 'We are in a full-blown crisis right now'
CONCERNS that students are not meeting coursework requirements ahead of Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations scheduled to begin in May have prompted a call for Government to resume face-to-face classes for "prio...
Tue, Apr 27, 2021 07:01:00 GMT More Pressure
A church leader in western Jamaica emerged as the lone voice of support for embattled parliamentarian George Wright yesterday as three of the country's powerful interest groups added more weight to calls for his resignation.Wright, the ...
Tue, Apr 27, 2021 07:01:00 GMT Men, be careful!
POLICE at the St Andrew South Police Division say a group of robbers has been using women as bait to lure unsuspecting men into communities within the division, where they are then held up and robbed.Based on reports, the women reach ou...
Tue, Apr 27, 2021 07:01:00 GMT This Day in History - April 27
Today is the 117th day of 2021. There are 248 days left in the year.TODAY'S HIGHLIGHT2000: Palaeontologists unveil the most complete ape-man skull ever excavated, a 1.5-million to 2-million-year-old skull of a female Paranthropus robust...
Tue, Apr 27, 2021 08:22:50 GMT CRASH !
The driver of this Toyota Fortuner SUV is counting his blessings after he escaped unhurt when his vehicle crashed on Marcus Garvey Drive in St Andrew, yesterday.The driver says he was 'bad driven' by another motorist, which caused his v...
Tue, Apr 27, 2021 07:01:00 GMT Experts call for new financing model in Caribbean
SANTIAGO, Chile (CMC) - The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) says experts attending its 33rd Regional Seminar on Fiscal Policy have stressed the need to create a new financing model in the region.ECLAC sai...
Tue, Apr 27, 2021 07:01:00 GMT SOS messages, panic as virus breaks India's health system
NEW DELHI, INDIA (AP) - Dr Gautam Singh dreads the daily advent of the ventilator beeps, signalling that oxygen levels are critically low, and hearing his desperately ill patients start gasping for air in the New Delhi emergency ward wh...
Tue, Apr 27, 2021 07:01:00 GMT Today's Hororscope - April 27, 2021
HAPPY BIRTHDAY for Tuesday, April 27, 2021: Protective, persevering and creative, you know how to keep a steady hand on the helm. This year, you might struggle more than usual to remain calm, but your cool head will always prevail. Avoi...
Mon, Apr 26, 2021 07:01:00 GMT Senate leader resurrects 'threatening e-mail issue
Government Senator Kamina Johnson Smith last Friday resurrected the 2014 drama surrounding e-mail threats she had claimed to have received from a colleague across the floor while she was on the Opposition benches.Johnson Smith, who has...
Mon, Apr 26, 2021 07:01:00 GMT Tourism and Sandals stalwart David Roper passes
One of the stalwarts of Jamaica's tourism industry and a long-serving executive of Sandals Resorts International (SRI), David Roper, passed away early yesterday morning after ailing for some time. He was 66.Yesterday, SRI described Rope...
Mon, Apr 26, 2021 07:01:00 GMT Rich or famous, no escaping the sting of the coronavirus
With the help of world media, COVID CAPERS recalls some of the more well-known personalities who felt the brutal sting of the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19.French President Emmanuel Macron tested positive for the virus last December, a...
Mon, Apr 26, 2021 07:01:00 GMT Spectrum Management Authority rejects conflict of interest claim
The Spectrum Management Authority (SMA) has rejected claims of a conflict of interest when it entered into a commercial transaction with SynCon Technologies in 2017 to provide equipment to help with data security and reduced hardware c...
Mon, Apr 26, 2021 07:01:00 GMT VIDEO: August Town turns to water war to bring back the vibes
Jamaicans under stress from the novel coronavirus pandemic and the shutdown of social events are turning more and more to innovative forms of entertainment. This was evident in August Town, St Andrew, yesterday as adults and children e...
Mon, Apr 26, 2021 07:01:00 GMT Joy in Franklin Town as police station nears completion
There is general excitement in the Franklin Town community of central Kingston.That's because police and residents alike, who cited the absence of a proper police facility as a contributing factor to conflicts between rival gangs from ...
Mon, Apr 26, 2021 13:50:02 GMT Many Jamaicans not convinced about the need to make a Will
"Ramesses", 40-year-old vendor: "If you make a will, then you prepare to die. Young man like me must make a will? I do not have enough things either. Mostly people who are about to die make wills, especially those who are rich and do no...
Mon, Apr 26, 2021 07:01:00 GMT 'CXC BUBBLE'
Opposition Senator Damion Crawford is urging the Government to resume face-to-face classes for students sitting Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) subjects as thousands of Jamaican children struggle to prepare for the external examin...
Mon, Apr 26, 2021 07:01:00 GMT MP blasts state agencies over 'blame game' as roads remain unfixed
MANDEVILLE, Manchester - Manchester Central Member of Parliament Rhoda Moy Crawford is calling for improved linkages between agencies such as the National Works Agency (NWA), the Manchester Municipal Corporation and National Water Commi...
Mon, Apr 26, 2021 07:01:00 GMT Lifelong lessons from COVID-19
For entrepreneur Marlon Phillips, the 2016 winner of the JN Small Business Loans (JNSBL) Barber and Beauty Battle, the novel coronavirus pandemic has been a steep learning curve. Phillips, the owner of First Class Images, explained tha...
Mon, Apr 26, 2021 07:01:00 GMT Manchester Central MP distributes tablets and laptops to students
MANDEVILLE, Manchester - With schools remaining closed and the demand for virtual learning continually growing, just over 100 additional students in central Manchester have received well-needed electronic devices to access online learni...
Mon, Apr 26, 2021 07:01:00 GMT Where there is a will...
Jamaicans are again being urged to ensure that they prepare a last will and testament to prevent fights over any assets they leave behind when they die.Since the novel coronavirus pandemic hit the island last March some local lawyers ha...
Tue, Apr 27, 2021 00:40:04 GMT J'can is first black Republican woman to run for Virginia lieutenant governor
It will come as no surprise to most of us but a Jamaican is the first black Republican woman to throw her hat in the ring to run for lieutenant governor of Virginia, United States, according to ABC 8News.Winsome Earle Sears, 54 who emig...
Mon, Apr 26, 2021 07:01:00 GMT Streets of shame in Spanish Town
The National Works Agency (NWA) over the weekend started hot mix patching work on a section of Burke Road in Spanish Town, St Catherine.But that was little comfort to motorists and pedestrians who have been facing challenges for weeks w...
Mon, Apr 26, 2021 12:20:01 GMT Airline bans Alaska senator for violating mask rules
Alaska, USA (AP) - Alaska Airlines has ban ned an Alaska state senator for refusing to follow mask requirements. "We have notified Senator Lora Reinbold that she is not permitted to fly with us for her continued refusal to comply with e...
Mon, Apr 26, 2021 07:01:00 GMT Virus 'swallowing' people in India; crematoriums overwhelmed
NEW DELHI, India (AP) - With life-saving oxygen in short supply, family members in India are left on their own to ferry novel coronavirus patients from hospital to hospital in search of treatment as the country is engulfed in a devasta...
Mon, Apr 26, 2021 07:01:00 GMT This Day in History - April 26
Today is the 116th day of 2021. There are 249 days left in the year.TODAY'S HIGHLIGHT1986: The world's worst nuclear accident occurs at the Chernobyl plant in the Soviet Union when a reactor meltdown in a power plant exposes hundreds of...
Mon, Apr 26, 2021 07:01:00 GMT Fire kills 82 at Iraqi COVID hospital, health minister suspended
Baghdad, Iraq (AFP) - More than 80 people died yesterday when a fire ripped through a Baghdad hospital for COVID-19 patients, sparking outrage and the suspension of top officials overseeing Iraq's crumbling health services. The blaze a...
Mon, Apr 26, 2021 07:01:00 GMT Florida resumes Johnson & Johnson vaccination shots
ORLANDO, Florida (AP) - Shots using the Johnson & Johnson vaccine resumed yesterday at federally supported mass vaccination sites throughout Florida, state emergency officials said.The Florida Division of Emergency Management tweete...
Tue, Apr 27, 2021 00:39:32 GMT ENDS to get boost from QMall
Minister without portfolio in the Ministry of National Security Matthew Samuda is slated to update Cabinet on the readiness for a national roll-out of ENDS at the sitting of the Cabinet today.One entity which will welcome the islandwi...
Sun, Apr 25, 2021 07:01:00 GMT Cop appeals again after boy,16, crashes car, killing 4
HEAD of the Public Safety and Traffic Enforcement Branch (PSTEB) Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Gary McKenzie is appealing to non-essential workers to stay home during the curfew hours.The PTSEB boss appeal comes on the heels of ...
Sun, Apr 25, 2021 07:01:00 GMT Coke case triggers abuse of process contest between defence and prosecution
The conditional release of seven men accused of murder and other crimes last week has triggered a legal debate between a defence attorney and prosecutors about abuse of process.Peter Champagnie, QC, whose client Andrew "Livity" Coke is...
Sun, Apr 25, 2021 07:01:00 GMT Learning from home hurting Caribbean students, says Capri
LEARNING from home has hit the majority of students across the Caribbean region, with the greatest challenge being the difficulty in focusing on schoolwork.A recent study - Insult to Injury: The Impact of C-19 on Vulnerable Communitie...
Sun, Apr 25, 2021 07:01:00 GMT Tell us the truth!
Geneive Belford had her reservations but went willingly to the Portmore HEART Academy vaccination centre in St Catherine on Sunday, April 11, 2021 to accept dose one of the two-dose AstraZeneca inoculation on offer. Four days later, th...
Sun, Apr 25, 2021 07:01:00 GMT Lawyers urge caution against false sexual accusations
TWO leading attorneys-at-law in Jamaica have said that over the years, there have been numerous instances where allegations of sexual abuse have been made which have ultimately turned out to be false.Unfortunately, the attorneys said th...
Sun, Apr 25, 2021 07:01:00 GMT A WOMAN COP'S AGONY
THE sisters of Sergeant Duliet McKay, who has been locked up for over a year awaiting trial, are growing impatient and frustrated with the court for refusing to grant her bail. They have also questioned whether her continued detention i...
Sun, Apr 25, 2021 07:01:00 GMT Shaggy to link up with Ambassador Marks
WASHINGTON, DC, USA - Award-winning international reggae artiste Orville "Shaggy" Burrell will join Jamaica's Ambassador to the United States Audrey Marks as her special guest on the monthly chat series, Let's Connect with Ambassador M...