MINISTER of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton says a 10-year strategic plan for renewal and rebuilding of the public health sector has started.The plan which was first announced in 2018, and which is in keeping with the country'...

A severe headache which befell Greenwich Town resident Britney Thompson on Tuesday night close to 11:00 was just a precursor to tragic circumstances which would see her mourning the shooting death of her brother, Oniel Chambers, moments...

EDUCATION Minister Fayval Williams says all is in place for the Grade Six Ability Test component of the Primary Exit Profile (PEP), which will be held on Wednesday, May 26.A total of 37,179 students have been registered to sit the exami...

THIRTY-YEAR-OLD Franze Boothe, alias Cheese, of Franklyn Town, Kingston, had exciting plans to see, for the first time, his son who was born prematurely two weeks ago. But on Monday, a day before Franze had planned to meet his first chi...

PROFESSOR of Caribbean sustainable development at The University of the West Indies Anthony Clayton has described as harrowing the results of a report by think tank Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CAPRI), which indicated that the m...

BARRETT HALL, St James - The death of two little boys in a fire at Barrett Hall, near Lilliput, and major fire damage to Granville Police Station caused much sadness in the St James communities yesterday.The little boys, Aden Flowers, a...

THE Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) is asking for provisions to be placed in the Electricity Act to give it more teeth in the sector, including the authority to direct electricity providers to remedy customers' complaints.The recom...

MANDEVILLE, Manchester - The three people who were charged with murder in relation to the November 26, 2020 stabbing death of 63-year-old businesswoman Marcia Chin-you had their bail further extended when they appeared in the Manchester...

THE Organization of American States (OAS) has partnered with the Government to implement an early warning system that will assist in safeguarding Jamaica's cyber infrastructure, through the use of security information and event manageme...

Today is the 140th day of 2021. There are 225 days left in the year. TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS1506: Christopher Columbus dies in poverty in Spain. OTHER EVENTS1521: Ignatius of Loyola is hit by a cannonball while defending Pamplona against t...

A St Catherine mother is claiming that her five-month-old son suffered two cardiac arrests because the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) dropped the ball with his treatment. According to Regina Bell, her son Caleb suffered t...

Opposition spokesman on agriculture and water Lothan Cousins has chided the Government for what he claims is a lack of focus on getting reliable potable water to rural communities, despite indications from the minister in charge of rura...

THE St Andrew South police have listed 26-year-old Romario Grant, otherwise called ''Kaka'' and ''Irons'', as wanted in connection with a murder in the parish on Tuesday, May 18. He is asked to turn himself in to the police immediately....

TEXAS, United States (AP) - Republican Governor Greg Abbott yesterday signed a law that bans abortions in Texas before many women even know they are pregnant and differs singularly from similar efforts nationwide, leaving enforcement t...

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to press ahead with a fierce military offensive in the Gaza Strip, pushing back yesterday against calls from the United States to wind down the operation that ...

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 ...