NEGRIL, Westmoreland - The resumption of face-to-face classes on Monday showed just how wide the learning gap is among some students. During visits to four schools in Hanover and Westmoreland, educators signalled the issue as a major ch...

CLARK'S TOWN, Trelawny - When the novel coronavirus pandemic forced the closure of the nation's schools in March 2020, it also brought Dianne Livingston's bustling vending business outside Clark's Town Primary School to a grinding halt....

Today is the 67th day of 2022. There are 298 days left in the year.TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS2011: The European Union adopts a plan to double its efforts to boost energy efficiency in order to cut greenhouse gases, partly by producing better ho...

MONTEGO BAY, St James - While other principals eagerly welcomed all their students back to full face-to-face classes on Monday morning, Principal Kingsley Bailey could only accommodate roughly half of the 820 children enrolled at Irwin ...

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - The official global death toll from COVID-19 is on the verge of eclipsing six million - underscoring that the pandemic, now entering its third year, is far from over.The milestone is the latest tragic reminder o...

THE Caribbean School of Nursing (CSON), College of Health Sciences, University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech) received a nursing mannequin from alumni of the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH) Teaching Department, an early predecessor to th...

NEW ORLEANS, United States (AP) - Chris Kinney, a resident of Rapides Parish in central Louisiana, has seen his electricity disconnected eight times in the past two years for falling behind on his energy bills to Cleco Power.His family ...

WASHINGTON, DC, United States (AP) - As the prospect of a red wave grows, a series of Republican missteps - including recruiting stumbles, weak fund-raising, and intense infighting - is threatening the GOP's path to the Senate majority....

The Women's Leadership Initiative (WLI) on Sunday staged a forum and exhibition designed to give women the financial and security tools to empower them in their chosen professions.Titled 'Power Woman Lessons' the event, held at AC Mari...

ROSE HALL, St James - Montego Bay's elegant corridor was on Sunday night the scene of yet another fatal crash that is being partially blamed on defective street lights. Rupert Hutchinson, a security guard from Bounty Hall in the neighbo...

MORANT BAY, St Thomas - As it marks its 67th anniversary Princess Margaret Hospital is making a special effort to recognise the role of its 325 health-care workers who play a vital role in the medical facility's ability to care for hund...

MOUNT PROSPECT, Manchester - Scores of farmers in the north-west Manchester community of Mount Prospect are set to benefit from the recent opening of the Wilson Town farm road.Speaking at a recent ceremony for the road opening, Minister...

A man was ordered to pay $180,000 in restitution to his former girlfriend when he appeared before the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court on Thursday, to answer to assault charges.Court documents revealed that on March 22, 2021, 23-year...

APPROXIMATELY 7,000 students, who are on the Programme of Advancement through Health and Education (PATH) are to benefit from transportation subsidies being provided by the Ministry of Education and Youth at a cost of $380 million.They ...

ONLINE educational service provider One on One Educational Services has partnered with the Ministry of Education and Youth (MoEY) to provide some 10,000 high school students with free online extra lessons via its OneX personalised learn...

The Jamaica Observer marks its 29th year of operation today with a commitment from Executive Chairman Adam Stewart that the vision of the newspaper's founders - his late father Gordon "Butch" Stewart, former banker Delroy Lindsay, and C...

Cars navigate both potholes and trash from a nearby gully to traverse Waltham Park Road, near the intersection with Chisholm Avenue in St Andrew yesterday after a brief downpour.(Photo: Garfield Robinson)

AS the world rushed towards the official tally of six million deaths from 446 million COVID-19 infections, Jamaica remained clueless about the true toll of cases and deaths caused by the pandemic, which entered its third year Sunday.But...

THE innards of a questionable $31-million donation by Dutch oil-lifting firm Trafigura Beheer to the People's National Party (PNP) Government in 2006 which has enthralled the country for 15-plus years will this week be exposed when top ...

CREATIVE producer and founder of the Jamaica Best School Band (JBSB) competition, Rayven Amani is elated that after cancelling the competition twice because of the novel coronavirus pandemic, it is now set to begin on March 24.In an int...

FOR St Ann taxi drivers operating in the Ocho Rios Transport Centre, their job has become increasingly difficult over the years since a number of their colleagues decided to no longer work in the centre, instead operating at the Rubis G...

PARIS, France (AFP) - Two years after the official start of the pandemic, some countries are now trying to "live with COVID", however scientists warn that potential new variants and unequal vaccination rates threaten any long-awaited re...

VIENNA, Austria (AFP) - The UN nuclear watchdog on Sunday expressed "deep concern" over reports that communication from Europe's largest nuclear power plant seized by Russia in Ukraine has been disrupted.Invading Russian forces attacked...

KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) - A barrage of Russian missiles destroyed a civilian airport in Vinnytsia in central Ukraine on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said."I have just been informed about a missile strike on Vinnytsia. Eig...

NEW YORK, USA (AFP) - Social media giant TikTok announced Sunday it is suspending the posting of all video content from Russia in order to keep its employees safe and comply with the country's new "fake news" regulations."In light of ...

THE Kingston and St Andrew (KSA)Parish Court is reporting that in 2021 it heard 3,802 cases relating to breaches of the curfew order and the Disaster Risk Management Act (DRMA), a significant increase from 2020's 106 cases.However, some...

SCHOOLS with established shift systems have an additional two weeks to streamline their operations to facilitate the full resumption of face-to-face classes. This was disclosed by acting chief education officer in the Ministry of Educat...

THE mysterious 'City Puss', who is the only accused yet to be formally identified among the 33 individuals standing trial for various crimes committed by the St Catherine-based Klansman gang, is to be unmasked this week.City Puss, the s...

A $44-million road rehabilitation project is now underway on the Farm Pen to Georges Plain roadway in Westmoreland. The roadway is being repaired by the National Works Agency (NWA), under its Maintenance of Secondary Roads Programme. Th...

MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) - At a police station in Mexico City, women train with riot gear in preparation for an International Women's Day march in one of the countries hardest hit by gender-based violence.The squad of 500 officers is ...

IOWA, USA (AP) - Seven people were killed, including two children, when a tornado swept through central Iowa, damaging buildings and knocking down trees and power lines, authorities said.Emergency management officials in Madison County ...

RESIDENTS of Greenwich Town say they are pleased to walk the streets without fear and sleep peacefully at night, almost two years since a zone of special operations (ZOSO) was declared in the Kingston community.Those on Seaview Avenue h...

MANDEVILLE, Manchester - Politicians and a regional education director in this south-central parish have lauded Manchester's Custos Garfield Green for launching the Beliefs, Values and Attitudes (BVA) initiative targeting over 40 school...

THE Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) welcomed the renovation of four dormitories at Harman Barracks in Kingston, which will see more comfortable spaces provided for police recruits.The refurbishment, which was funded by the National Hou...

While Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Security Dr Horace Chang toured the Greenwich Town fishing village on Friday, this fisherman of the community was all unconcerned, so he decided to take a nap amid the political excit...

Sometimes it is not worth it to even mention Jamaica's worst-ever sports association - the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) - for it is unworthy of any spotlight, whatsoever.The minister with responsibility for sport in Jamaica, Babsy...

SHAVELL Peart will gather her grandchildren around her one day and relate the most terrifying experience she has ever had. The 21-year-old will tell them how Russia invaded Ukraine on Thursday, February 24, 2022 - while she was asleep. ...

SANTA CRUZ, St Elizabeth - The owners and operators of Jiuquan Iron and Steel Company (JISCO)/ Alpart bauxite are proposing to mine nearly 700 acres of land embraced by 11 communities near here in the Essex Valley region.The areas inclu...

The worst experience that Romardo Rickardo Lyons ever had served to convince him to become a journalist.That the police/military operation in Tivoli Gardens, West Kingston, in May 2010, turned out to be the measuring stick is the unfort...

MONTEGO BAY, St James - Mindful that Monday's resumption of classes in a full face-to-face mode will not be perfect, Ministry of Education officials are encouraging parents to shun negativity and send their children back into the classr...

GOLDEN GROVE, Hanover - Vanessa Spence's father will forever regret that he didn't tell his daughter to drive carefully as she left home for a night out on the town on Wednesday. And he will forever wish her effort to save a neighbour's...

AS schools get ready for face-to-face classes after the mid-term break, students and staff at Joseph Royal Educational Centre in Hannah Town, Kingston, are looking forward to sitting in brand new facilities come Monday.The recently comp...

"Donut , donut! Prestige Donuts! Jelly donuts!" are words you hear often along roads in some St Andrew communities by Conrod, the donut man, who walks for miles each day selling the treat to provide for his family.Conrod Grant, 37, is k...

THE latest in the line of personal hygiene products, LifeSavers Wipes, is a set of wipes that can indicate to its user if there are any irregularities in their urine. The specially formulated sheets have the capacity to change colour if...

Colett Ricketts was bamboozled when the National Water Commission (NWC) sent her a bill last December for over $220,000.For starters, she said the two-bedroom apartment in Ironshore, St James, had been vacant since the end of August 202...

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: I am d...

Thou - Why thou wilt quarrelWith a man that hathA hair more or a hair less,In his beard, than thou hast. Thy head is full of quarrelsAs an egg is full of meat.- ShakespeareAs they say, 'If is egg, we inna de red.' Couples will always qu...

Fearful that his daughter's murderer is still out there, a 54-year-old father is being haunted by sounds of men kicking off his door and entering his home to kill him every night.His daughter, 30-year-old Leona "Kimmy" Salmon, a driver...

AS we strive to bring awareness to the chronic debilitating condition endometriosis, this March, I think it's also important to highlight a closely related disease adenomyosis.In fact, the two are so closely related that they are often ...

WORLD Kidney Day is March 10, 2022 and will be celebrated under the theme "Kidney health for All; Bridge the knowledge gap to better kidney care." Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is common and harmful. Approximately one in 10 adult people ...