AN order was issued in the St Ann Parish Court yesterday, barring any further public discourse on the sexual assault case involving a 13-year-old girl who initially reported that she had been buggered by two boys and three men in Golden...

There is consensus for scandal-riddled State oil refinery Petrojam to become a public-private partnership, Minister of Science, Energy and Technology Daryl Vaz told the House of Representatives yesterday.Vaz, who was speaking in the an...

SAVANNA-LA-MAR, Westmoreland - The 15-year-old boy who is accused of accidentally shooting his six-year-old cousin, Jadaine Miller, while playing with an illegal firearm Monday afternoon was handed over to police at the Freeport Station...

The Jamaica Observer yesterday received copies of the contentious e-mail reportedly sent by former Senator AJ Nicholson to now Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Senator Kamina Johnson Smith in 2018 and one sent in 2019.The e...

Auditor General Pamela Monroe Ellis yesterday cleared up statements she made at last week's meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) as to her absence from the entrance and exit interviews for a 2019 internal audit of her departme...

MANDEVILLE, Manchester - An ugly, smelly, illegal dump just a few metres away from a properly installed garbage skip in Royal Flat, just east of here, yesterday triggered disgust, frustration and calls from the island's solid waste mana...

Those who loved 17-year-old Tristan Graham struggled yesterday to understand why it reportedly took so long for anyone to help after the teen clutched his chest and collapsed on his way home from school in May Pen, Clarendon, on Monday...

The Government is anticipating US$2.8 billion in investments in the energy sector by 2037 to modernise the country's electricity infrastructure while diversifying fuel sources and promoting conservation.Updating Parliament yesterday on ...

MEDICAL officer of health for Westmoreland Dr Marcia Graham says residents of the parish must remain vigilant in preventing dengue fever as the Aedes index is on the increase in that area of the island."We have seen an upward trend in o...

THE National Water Commission (NWC) has asked developers to consult the company in order to get information about existing water and sewerage infrastructure in certain areas before starting construction.In making his opening remarks dur...

Minister of Science, Energy and Technology Daryl Vaz yesterday announced that a Jamaican-owned company, Rock Mobile, will be the country's third telecoms provider.Vaz said Cabinet took the decision at its latest meeting on Monday this w...

Today is the 139th day of 2021. There are 226 days left in the year.TODAY'S HIGHLIGHT1962: Actress Marilyn Monroe performs a rendition of Happy Birthday for US President John F Kennedy during a fund-raiser at New York's Madison Square G...

Dear Mr Brown,I read an article the other day which stated that Jamaicans account for 45 per cent of the 47,000 Caribbean nationals who have migrated to Canada since 2015. I can't believe the percentage is so high. I guess it is based o...

JAMAICAN Deborah Archer, a clinical law professor at New York University School of Law, is the first black president in the 101-year history of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the news outlet Face2Face Africa reported.Archer ...

From its United Nations Bureau in New York, the Inter Press Service (IPS) news agency reports on Jamaica's progress in disposing of plastic products, ahead of World Environment Day, June 5, 2021. In the report, Jamaica gets a D-plus for...

Question: My immigrant visa application was refused because the consular officer determined that I am ineligible due to substance abuse. Can you explain what this means?Answer: If you have been found ineligible for a visa under Section ...

ILENE Wright Brown, the mother of dancehall artiste Kenisha "Keshan" Brown who was shot dead almost two years ago in Old Harbour, St Catherine, allegedly by a man she was believed to have had an intimate relationship with, says the fami...

THE Abilities Foundation has benefited from information and communications technology (ICT) upgrade through support from the Universal Service Fund (USF).The project involved renovation of the computer laboratory and provision of intera...

MINISTER of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton says Jamaicans should take action to minimise the impact of hypertension (high blood pressure) on their health.In his message for World Hypertension Day 2021 on Monday, the minister ...

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) - The Barbados-based Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH) says heat stress conditions for reefs are predicted to be at bleaching levels in the Caribbean over the period September to Decembe...

THE Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries will be waiving all of the administrative fees charged for turmeric by the Jamaica Agricultural Commodities Regulatory Authority (JACRA) for the next two years in order to boost export of the pr...

THE Government, following the successful pilot of the literacy programme for parents in 2017, is now rolling out the programme in six other parishes.The 'Literacy is a Family Experience' initiative, which is expected to get under way sh...

DISTRICT officer for the Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB) Westmoreland Division Norris Mitchell is imploring residents to refrain from placing building material such as marl and sand on fire hydrants.He said that these materials cause blockag...

SCOTIABANK has announced that it is supporting UNICEF's COVID-19 vaccination roll-out and preparedness programmes across four territories in the Caribbean - Barbados, Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago with a contribu...

GAZA CITY, Gaza (AP) - Suzy Ishkontana hardly speaks or eats. It's been two days since the seven-year-old girl was pulled from the rubble of what was once her family's home, destroyed amid a barrage of Israeli airstrikes. She spent hour...

PARAMARIBO, Suriname (CMC) - Suriname yesterday recorded two more deaths from the novel coronavirus pandemic as well as 157 new cases of the virus as media reports here indicate that the Government is moving towards shutting down the co...

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) - The European Union says it has approved euro 2.7 million for the protection, education and health of Venezuelan refugee and migrant children in Trinidad and Tobago, Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, E...

LONG working hours led to 745, 000 deaths from stroke and ischemic heart disease in 2016, a 29 per cent increase since 2000, according to the latest estimates by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labour Organizat...

NEW YORK, United States (CMC) - Caribbean American Congresswoman Yvette D Clarke has expressed "deep concern" over the continuing violence in the Middle East, describing it as "nothing short of an all-out war"."As the deadly conflict in...

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) - The Trinidad-based Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) Monday urged regional governments, civil society, and private sector organisations and other stakeholders to adopt a more holistic approach to re...

WASHINGTON, DC, United States (AP) - There's a wild card in the push to return to post-pandemic life: Many workers don't want to go back to the jobs they once had.Layoffs and lockdowns, combined with enhanced unemployment benefits and s...

LAS VEGAS, United States (AP) - A man convicted of kidnapping and sexual assaulting a six-year-old girl has been released from prison after the Nevada Supreme Court ruled there was misconduct during his trial.The Las Vegas Review-Journa...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY for Wednesday, May 19, 2021: You're clever, mentally fast, and compassionate. You have endurance, stamina and a wide variety of interests. You are impulsive and creative and, yet, practical and detail-oriented. Your focus...

WASHINGTON, DC, United States (AP) - Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his envoy reached out to Palestinian and regional Arab leaders yesterday on a ninth day of Israeli air strikes and Hamas rockets, while some House Democrats were...

WASHINGTON, DC, United States (AP) - In agreeing to hear a potentially groundbreaking abortion case, the Supreme Court has energised activists on both sides of the long-running debate who are now girding to make abortion access a major ...

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - At least 213 Palestinians have been killed in air strikes since war started last week between Palestine and Israel. The dead include 61 children and 36 women, with more than 1,440 people wounded, according t...

THE Jamaica Police Federation is demanding answers from the Government over an estimated $1.7 billion owed in pension payments to 387 retired officers, some of who served the constabulary for more than 40 years.According to the federati...

 PRIME Minister Andrew Holness says that the Government is concerned that the current cohort of grade 6 students could fall behind as they transition to grade 7, because of the learning time loss associated with the novel coronavirus p...

POLICE yesterday shot and killed one man while another is on the run following an attempted robbery at a gas station at Red Hills Square in St Andrew.A detective at the scene confirmed that the men were in the process of robbing the gas...

THE Police Federation, charging that the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) has been making "spurious allegations" about the conduct of lawmen in last week's daylight gun battle on Trafalgar Road in the Corporate Area, i...

STUDENTS of Ferncourt High School in Claremont, St Ann, have received a technological boost to assist with research and the completion of assignments with the official opening of a state-of-the-art resource centre at the institution.The...

TOMORROW will make it five months since Suzith Anderson reported her only son Oshane Crawford, a security guard, missing to the police, and she is still seeking word on the investigation that can give her some comfort or closure."If mi ...

JUST over two weeks after they successfully rescued 66-year-old George Smart from a 55-foot pit on Jones Avenue in St Catherine, where he had been dumped by thugs, firefighters at the Spanish Town fire station are continuing to reflect ...

Today is the 138th day of 2021. There are 227 days left in the year.TODAY'S HIGHLIGHT1765: About one-fourth of Montreal, Canada, is destroyed by a fire. OTHER EVENTS1642: The Canadian city of Montreal is founded by French colonists.178...

THE Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) has issued a directive to the Jamaica Public Service Company Limited (JPS) to start submitting quarterly reports on data on meter readings for residential customers that fall outside of 30 per ce...

THE agricultural sector last year realised an 8.4 per cent increase in export earnings valuing US$238 million, up from US$216 million in 2019.Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Floyd Green made the disclosure during his contribution ...

MINISTER of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Olivia Grange has announced that Prime Minister Andrew Holness and president of the Republic of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa will on May 25 address an international webinar to mark A...

MINISTER of Agriculture and Fisheries Floyd Green has announced the opening of a limited entry commercial fishery for sea cucumbers, commencing September 1, 2021."Sea cucumber in the Asian market fetches US$385 per kilogramme. We believ...

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC) - Guyana is being urged to begin discussions on legalising same-sex relations as the global community observed 'International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia' yesterday.In a joint statement issu...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY for Tuesday, May 18, 2021: It's fortunate that you are a high-energy person, because you are multitalented and fascinated by many things. You are compassionate, caring and genuinely interested in others. You are both prac...