THE Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA) yesterday "exhumed" the 2018 Petrojam scandal, leading to sighs of relief from the Opposition People's National Party (PNP) that what many thought of as deeply buried is back o...

WITH Jamaica finally in receipt of its first batch of COVID-19 vaccines, which was delivered yesterday as a gift from India, Prime Minister Andrew Holness has expressed eagerness to receive his shot in the arm but has insisted that fron...

MINISTER of Finance and the Public Service Dr Nigel Clarke will open the 2021/22 Budget Debate at Gordon House today as he leads the economy into another challenging year in which Government is seeking recovery from the painful blows of...

Having lost four cousins to COVID-19 last year, 60-year-old Norman Pryce, a Jamaican living in Long Island, New York, is infuriated by people who trivialise the pandemic on social media. He is also encouraging Jamaicans, especially fro...

GENEVA, Switzerland - A senior World Health Organization official said that so-called vaccine passports for COVID-19 should not be used for international travel because of numerous concerns, including ethical considerations that corona...

PRIME Minister Andrew Holness warned yesterday that the country is the closest it has ever been to going into lockdown since the novel coronavirus pandemic hit the country in March 2020.He told a virtual press conference from Jamaica Ho...

THE family in the Corporate Area community of Kingston Gardens which was in mourning last week following the death of the matriarch who had tested positive for COVID-19, is devastated today with the passing of the woman's 32-year-old da...

A marine-based project to prove the concept that shellfish and seaweed can be farmed on a sustainable basis in Jamaica has been agreed on between the British High Commission in Kingston and the Alligator Head Foundation (AHF).The projec...

The J Wray and Nephew Foundation (JWNF) yesterday focused its International Women's Day (IWD) celebrations on highlighting the issue of period poverty, in keeping with the IWD theme 'Women in Leadership: Achieving an equal future in a ...

THE National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) has hastened to quiet fears that its proposals for the redevelopment of squatter communities in the Gregory Park, Newlands, Naggo Head and Old Braeton areas of Portmore, St Catherine, ...

NEW YORK, United States (AP) - Fully vaccinated Americans can gather with other vaccinated people indoors without wearing a mask or social distancing, according to long-awaited guidance from federal health officials.The recommendations ...

A dog rests on Beeston Street in downtown Kingston where a fire early Monday morning destroyed several houses (seen in background) leaving one person dead and 30, including nine children, homeless. (Photo: Garfield Robinson)

Today is the day of 2021. There are days left in the year.TODAY'S HIGHLIGHT2005: A morning snack of cassava - a root that turns into poisonous cyanide if not prepared correctly - kills 27 and sickens 100 children at an elementary school...

DEPUTY principal of The University of the West Indies (UWI) Open Campus Dr Francis Severin says, "Regional development is set to face a significant setback with a recent UNICEF [United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund] re...

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) - Pope Francis said yesterday he weighed the risks of a high-profile trip to Iraq during the coronavirus pandemic but said he decided to go ahead with it after much prayer and belief that God would look out f...

LOS ANGELES, United States (AP) - In a wide-ranging interview aired Sunday, Harry and Meghan described painful palace discussions about the colour of their son's skin, losing royal protection and the intense pressures that led the duche...

CHIEF executive officer (CEO) of the Jamaica National Agency for Accreditation (JANAAC) Sharonmae Shirley is encouraging medical facilities to apply to the JANAAC Pre-Accreditation Approval Programme (PAAP) and get their organisations f...

MINISTER of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Olivia "Babsy" Grange has argued that Jamaica has enjoyed many successes in its mission to achieve gender equality.In her message to mark International Women's Day, which is being cel...

Caribbean Cement Company Limited (CCCL) is preparing to spend US$12 million (approximately $1.8 billion) this year to increase its production capacity to meet an expected spike in demand when the Government rolls out its ambitious housi...

Exactly 28 years to the day, the Jamaica Observer yesterday marked a moment in time that has changed the media landscape in Jamaica and achieved what only one other newspaper has been able to do - exist beyond 10 years - as it moves rel...

STAKEHOLDERS in the global health sector have suggested that a great use of policies and technology is needed to encourage the uptake of COVID-19 vaccines in countries across the world.The stakeholders made the suggestion during a 'Cata...

Several former Supreme Ventures Limited (SVL) retailers are still fuming over the company's decision to terminate their contract after they introduced new lottery entities into their shops.Chief executive officer (CEO) of SVL subsidiary...

MONTEGO BAY, St James - A 16-year-old student was among eight persons fatally shot while at least three others, including a 13-year-old boy, were left nursing gunshot wounds as criminals went on the rampage across the western parishes o...

The new field hospital which opened in Falmouth Trelawny just yesterday is already expected to be at full capacity by today as Jamaica continues to report record number of COVID-19 cases.The island is slated to receive a shipment of 50...

Taking no chances, the family of Natalie Muirhead rushed to stage her funeral and burial yesterday at the Dovecot Memorial Park and Crematorium in St Catherine, ahead of Government's two-week ban on funerals, which takes effect today.Ac...

Pastor Stevenson Samuel and his congreagation at Waltham Park New Testament Church yesterday made sure to follow the Goverment's guideline on the number of persons allowed in the sanctuary for worship.Responding to the spike in COVID-19...

First Rock is riding high after a fulfilling year, with record profits for 2020 and optimistic projections for 2021. Ryan Reid, CEO and co-founder of First Rock, made the declaration last Wednesday during the latest Mayberry Investor F...

Braeton Primary and Infant School in Portmore, St Catherine is now better equipped to facilitate students who are unable to participate in online classes, following the donation of a Kyocera colour printer by JN Bank."I'm grateful to JN...

For Mathematics Teacher of the Year Kelly Kellier Anderson and her students, the novel coronavirus pandemic has been a mixed bag."There is one set of my students who are doing very well. In fact, many of them are doing much better now t...

LIONEL TOWN, Clarendon - While donating furniture and supplies that he hopes will be useful to front line workers once vaccination begins, custos of Clarendon William Shagoury laid the blame for the spread of the novel coronavirus acros...

Today is the 67th day of 2021. 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...

An unsightly pile-up of garbage in the Waterloo Road section of Sandy Gully(Photo: Karl Mclarty)

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (AP) - A Minneapolis police officer was swiftly fired and charged with murder after bystander video showed him pressing his knee into George Floyd's neck, ignoring the black man's cries that he couldn't breathe. B...

LONDON, England (AP) - British students, backed by a robust coronavirus testing programme, are gearing up to return to school today after a two-month closure, in what Prime Minister Boris Johnson says is a plan to get the country "movin...

LONDON, England (AP) - Queen Elizabeth II highlighted the importance of staying in touch with friends and families during the coronavirus pandemic in a message broadcast yesterday.Britain's monarch also touched on the role of technology...

JN Small Business Loans Limited (JNSBL) is confident that its use of geographic information system (GIS) technology is allowing it to assist its clients during times of natural disasters, and to analyse trends in their loan repayments a...

QARAQOSH, Iraq (AP) - Pope Francis urged Iraq's Christians yesterday to forgive the injustices against them by Muslim extremists and to rebuild as he visited the wrecked shells of churches and met ecstatic crowds in the community's hist...

THEY would rather engage their pupils and students face to face, but two Cuban teachers of Spanish believe that their messages are still resonating with their young constituents through the 'in thing' model of online learning.Deysi Garc...

MANDEVILLE, Manchester - It's often very difficult to pay off debt.For small business owner, T'sana Wint, it proved a traumatising experience since the Students' Loan Bureau (SLB) became unrelentingly insistent even as COVID-19 brought ...

The Jamaica Employers Federation (JEF) is concerned about what it considers a systemic disparity in the relatively small number of workers in Jamaica's labour force who are able to work from home, compared to the majority of workers for...

MANDEVILLE, Manchester - Consultant nephrologist at the Mandeville Regional Hospital here, Dr Racquel Lowe-Jones, is appealing for individuals suffering from renal (kidney) disease to be prioritised for the roll-out of novel coronavirus...

Portmore residents who commute via the Portmore Toll Road are fuming over the many lengthy traffic delays they have been facing for several weeks.Two residents who spoke to the Jamaica Observer on condition of anonymity said that they ...

A Jamaica Observer probe has revealed that some of the labs approved for COVID-19 testing by the Ministry of Health and Wellness (MOHW) are subletting the tests to private doctors without any training or adherence to testing standards.A...

Ocean Coral Spring hotel has responded to what the resort said was concern being expressed in mainstream and social media about its accommodation of a former United States airline employee who accused Jamaican authorities of kidnapping ...

Yohan Blake's 'fool fool' argument about vaccineYohan Blake's list of claims to fame never included being among the smartest. So it should have come as no surprise that the athlete, who won gold in the 100 metres at the 2011 World Champ...

 JAMAICA Library Service (JLS) has partnered with the Heart Foundation of Jamaica (HFJ) to host Salt Awareness Week 2021, under the theme 'More Flavour, Less Salt'. The week-long activities, which will run from March 8-12, aim to encou...

When committed triathletes Ayanna Samuels and Balwayne Phillips trained for the 20th staging of the Sagicor Sigma Corporate Run in 2018, they had no idea that the universe had plans to change their lives forever.To them, they were simpl...

One Glock pistol and nine 9mm cartridges were seized during an operation in Alexandria, St Ann, yesterday the police said.No one was arrested in connection with the seizure.Reports from the Alexandria Police are that between 9:30 am an...

A man is nursing gunshot wounds in hospital after a failed robbery at a store on Whitehouse main road in Westmoreland yesterday.Reports from the Whitehouse Police are that about 2:00 am, the store manager went to investigate a sound com...

The St Catherine South Police arrested a boy, aged 16, on Friday, soon after a man was shot dead in the suburb of Portmore.A firearm was also seized, the police said. The constabulary, in a news release yesterday, said that the suspect ...