RELIGIOUS leaders have rejected the notion that Jamaica's current crime situation demands a national state of emergency (SOE) to rectify it.The debate among the church folk follows a pronouncement made by criminologist Dr Jason McKay la...

Amid his call for Jamaica to move towards becoming a republic, retired Jamaica Prime Minister P J Patterson also wants the nation's constitution to be, as he puts it, "brought home".Expanding on his midweek letter to Prime Minister And...

Long retired Jamaica Prime Minister P J Patterson has suggested the establishment of another committee to decide on the merits of having additional national heroes.Simultaneously though, Patterson, Jamaica's lead policymaker from 1992 ...

MANDEVILLE, Manchester - Even as the island continues to grapple with the effects of the novel coronavirus pandemic Jamaicans are moderately happy, according to the findings of a survey conducted by Northern Caribbean University (NCU) r...

Jamaica has entered a fresh round of debates about replacing the British monarch and implementing a republican system of Government after Barbados last Monday night declared itself a republic, ending England's centuries of influence, in...

JAMAICANS who received the Johnson and Johnson vaccine will soon have access to booster shots, says health minister Dr Christopher Tufton.He was responding to the jitters and concerns of the wider public that booster shots should be mad...

LESS than half of the over 6,500 rape cases that were reported in the last 10 years have been 'cleared up', officials have said.According to data provided by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (Statin) and the Jamaica Constabulary For...

MONTEGO BAY, St James - Calyssa Walker, the 10-year-old girl shot and injured by gunmen during a daring daylight shootout in October, has received financial assistance of $250,000 from the St James Municipal Corporation.Calyssa was one ...

Former Kingston College star footballer and retired national representative Derrick "Shastri" Denniser (left) accepts the popular BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation) schoolbag that his friend, classmate, and staunch supporter Fr...

The holiday season is upon us and in the midst of our joy and gathering, we are reminded that COVID-19 is still a real threat. On November 24, 2021, South African health officials raised the alarm about a new mutated version of the COVI...

Rihanna has nothing over Marley, but...So now, Barbados has officially ditched Queen Elizabeth II, thanks to the energy and commitment of the brightest and most progressive leader in the English-speaking Caribbean - Mia Mottley.But the ...

The global services sector recently recognised C&W Wireless Business Jamaica as a trailblazer in the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector by presenting the company with one of its Industry Pioneer awards.According to the Globa...

Over 15,000 Jamaicans were deported from all countries between 2011 to 2018.A total of 15,373 deportations were recorded within the period, with 10,652 coming from the United States, United Kingdom and Canada, according to data provided...

Financial firm Alliance Investment Management Ltd yesterday issued a brief statement, but did not go into detail, in response to action taken by the Financial Investigations Division against the company regarding its foreign exchange de...

The joy of helping needy HIV patients to earn a living is the reason Nilfia Hazel Anderson loves her job at Jamaica AIDS Support for Life (JASL). Hazel Anderson, who is JASL's regional programme manager in St Ann, recently shared how h...

At age 19, after graduating from Knox College, Romario Grandison was steadfastly pursuing becoming a member of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF). He had gone through all necessary procedures and patiently awaited his life-changing call f...

We know you sometimes have burning questions that can best be answered by a pharmacist. Our feature, Ask Your Pharmacist , seeks to address some of those issues. Send your questions to healthandwealth@jamaicaobserver.com.Question: Can ...

NAIN, St Elizabeth - Four months after losing their mother, Jacquneil and Asheki Spooner are again in a state of despair after fire ravaged their family home in Warminster (south of Santa Cruz) last Monday. The fire has left the sisters...

ONCE more the implications of climate change came into focus at the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) held in Glasgow, Scotland.European Council President Charles Michel said, "Humanity has waged a war agai...

OTHNEIL Blagrove, senior manager, sales, JN Life Insurance, says there are insurance products available for seniors, contrary to what many may believe.The insurance executive explained that seniors can purchase insurance products that c...

THE National Council for Senior Citizens (NCSC) recently awarded the Flow Foundation with its Corporate Service Award, in recognition of the organisation's work in creating and enabling a supportive environment for seniors. The presenta...

THE Clinical Consortium on Healthy Ageing (CCHA), a forum of global experts that advances research and clinical practice related to healthy ageing, established by World Health Organization (WHO) in 2015, met last month.The consortium's ...

Graze on my lips, and if those hills be dryStray lower,Where the pleasant fountains lie.- ShakespeareNow, if that isn't an invitation from a lady to come hither, then nothing is. Can you just imagine a woman looking you straight in your...

VENDORS who trade in and around Coronation Market in downtown Kingston are fearful and even more as the Christmas season approaches.According to the vendors, gang feuds many of them have had to take cover under stalls, while shoppers ha...

A conversation about appointing a new national hero has been sparked by Jamaicans, with some suggesting a number of prominent people who they believe have made significant and praiseworthy impact on the country. Their suggestions yester...

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC) - The Caribbean Community (Caricom) special rapporteur on disability, Dr Floyd Morris, said yesterday that the novel coronavirus pandemic has caused devastating consequences for individuals across the Caribbean ...

TOURISM Minister Edmund Bartlett has been elected as the new chairman of the Organization of American States (OAS) Inter-American Committee on Tourism (CITUR). Minister Bartlett came out ahead of candidates from Paraguay and Ecuador for...

An overjoyed Antonett Green celebrates her win of a $10,000 supermarket voucher in the first week of the Digicel 'Shake It Til Yuh Mek It' roadshow in Half-Way-Tree, St Andrew, recently. Every Friday, until January 14, 2022, the Digice...

PORT MARIA, St Mary - Hours before he died, Artego Batiste's thoughts turned to his mother. He didn't want her to see the injuries he had sustained during the two-vehicle crash that occurred exactly one week before his 32nd birthday. "H...

MORANT BAY, St Thomas - The pride and joy Sunanda Laws feels at being the first person from her family to graduate from university is that much sweeter because of the struggles she's had to overcome. Two years after her mother's unexpec...

When 62-year-old St Mary taxi driver Delroy Dobbs agreed to transport one of his friends' grandfather to the Annotto Bay Hospital some five years ago, he had no idea that the man would die in his vehicle, resulting in a number of his r...

GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) - Omicron has been detected in 38 countries but there are no reported deaths so far from the new COVID-19 variant, the World Health Organization (WHO) said yesterday.A WHO spokesman told reporters that the UN h...

Some of the international highlights in photos:Couple on fireA couple kiss in front of a barricade set on fire by demonstrators during clashes with police following a protest condemning the imprisonment of rap singer Pablo Hasél in Bar...

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) - South African scientists are warning that reinfections among people who've already battled COVID-19 appear to be more likely with the new Omicron variant than with earlier coronavirus mutants.A research gr...

The Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology (MSET) says it will not be regulating the fees charged by private electrical inspectors, but will instead allow market forces to normalise the rates.The Daryl Vaz-led ministry was respondin...

JAMAICA AIDS Support for Life (JASL) is reporting a high uptake of the pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) drug among locals between ages 25 and 40.Executive director of JASL Kandasi Levermore during a recent Jamaica Observer Monday Exchang...

Jamaica AIDS Support for Life (JASL) yesterday opened its pharmacy, indicating that it will help eliminate the fear of discrimination among people living with HIV who try to access medication.Named Life's Work Pharmacy, it is located a...

Efforts by the security forces to sever the head of the venomous Klansman gang have not ended with the arrest and charge of the 33 people accused of being members and who are now on trial in the Home Circuit Court in downtown Kingston, ...

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) has served notice that it will appeal yesterday's 12-year sentence handed down to a man who had confessed to two counts of murder.The appeal is being filed for the first time sinc...

DONICE Gardner was thrilled to receive a scholarship from an alumni group at The Mico University College yesterday, as it will help to reduce the financial pressure her grandmother faces to pay her school fees."My grandmother works ever...

THE award of several contracts, amounting to more than US$4 million, has been approved by Cabinet.This was disclosed by Minister of Education, Youth and Information Fayval Williams, who noted that among them is a US$1.69-million contrac...

MONTEGO BAY, St James - With major highways in western Jamaica recording a total of 129 road fatalities since the start of the year, Deidrie Hudson-Sinclair, acting director of the Road Safety Unit (RSU) in the Ministry of Transport, is...

Former Prime Minister PJ Patterson yesterday issued an appeal to the current chief executive Andrew Holness and Opposition Leader Mark Golding to jointly work at having Jamaica sever colonial ties with Britain next year when the island ...

OWNERS and operators of businesses in downtown Kingston are said to be preparing to take the Government to court over the general lack of order that exists in the capital city's bustling commercial hub and which, some insist, is a viola...

Thousands of Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) customers are to start receiving credit to their bills, totalling $221 million in compensation payments for breaches of the guaranteed standards by the light and power company between M...

ADVERTISING executive Arnold Foote died at his Kingston home yesterday, his family announced in a press release.Foote founded Advertising and Marketing (Jamaica) Ltd (AdMark), in 1964, now celebrating its 57th year as a leading agency w...

LATOYA Willis and her father Uston have been left shocked at his recent cancer diagnosis - malignant cells in his pelvic area.They cannot fathom why the diagnosis was not made earlier during his frequent visits, since 2020, to Kingston ...

Today is the 337th day of 2021. There are 28 days left in the year.TODAY'S HIGHLIGHT1964: Police arrest some 800 students at the University of California at Berkeley, one day after the students stormed the administration building and st...

THE November 30, 2021 voters' list, published as scheduled, now has a total of 1,958,708 electors, an increase of 16,592.Electors added to the new list will receive the new voter ID card with a December 31, 2031 expiry date, which will...

THE Government is to provide Jamaicans with the opportunity of owning a stake in the Jamalco alumina refinery in Clarendon upon completion of the incorporation process.This was disclosed by Minister of Finance and the Public Service Dr ...