More than 60 per cent of teachers are now indicating a willingness to take the COVID-19 vaccine, which will be made available to educators this month.Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA) President Jasford Gabriel noted that when the unio...

Although the Government favours the prohibition of corporal punishment for children, two of its main oversight agencies are reporting that it has remained the preferred method of punishment within households.At the same time, the agenci...

THE Private Sector Vaccine Initiative (PSVI) has received a donation of supplies valued at more than $2 million from the Sandals Foundation, as it ramps up the support of the Ministry of Health and Wellness' national vaccination plan.Th...

PATIENTS at the Bellevue Hospital in Kingston are to benefit from an initiative by the institution to further improve their mental well-being through a reading project on every ward."You know how hospitals are and you have some patients...

MINISTER of Justice Delroy Chuck has assured that the Office of the Public Defender has the necessary identity protection for people operating under the Justice Protection Programme (JPP), which will be retained under the National Ident...

 A "public health emergency" is how several top-flight prosecutors have described the influx of sexual offence cases with young females as victims presenting before the island's courts, particularly rural circuits."We have been seeing ...

PORUS, Manchester - The disappearance of 75-year-old Norman Carter is perplexing his son, Howard.According to the 43-year-old Carter, he was told that his father was in business with a man who claimed to work at a poultry farm and whom ...

MANDEVILLE, Manchester - Police here recently honoured 16 retired members for their sterling contribution to the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) and service that, when combined, amounted to more than 500 years.Head of the Manchester po...

HEIGHTENED enforcement activities in the Westmoreland Police Division resulted in eighteen people being arrested - seven of whom were charged with breaches under the Disaster Risk Management Act (DRMA) on Monday, April 5. Charged are:* ...

Today is the 97th day of 2021. There are 268 days left in the year.TODAY'S HIGHLIGHT1966: US hydrogen bomb lost from bomber is recovered in Mediterranean Sea off coast of Spain. OTHER EVENTS1509: France declares war on Venice.1897: Tur...

THE Overseas Examinations Commission (OEC) has commenced the modification of its business model to ensure its sustainability and continued support from various stakeholders. The entity has embarked on the exercise against the background...

CHAIRMAN of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica's (PSOJ) Innovation and Digital Transformation Committee Christopher Reckord says close to 500 people registered for the first weekend of activities under the E-Commerce National De...

THE National Works Agency (NWA) says heavy rains over the last 48 hours in the north-eastern parishes of St Mary and Portland have impacted some roads, reducing them to single-lane access. Manager of communication and customer services ...

MOSCOW, Russia (AP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin Monday signed a law allowing him to potentially hold onto power until 2036, a move that formalises constitutional changes endorsed in last year's popular vote.The July 1 constituti...

Q: I now have all the documents that qualify me for an interview at the embassy for my immigrant visa. What should I do to prepare for my interview?   A: You are nearing the end of the immigrant visa process. In this time of limited vi...

Dear Mr Brown,I heard from my friend who is studying in Canada that the international student enrolment is down. I am still interested in studying at a college in Canada in September or January. I would like your assistance.BG Dear BG,...

SANTA CRUZ, St Elizabeth - Police are probing the murder of a 38-year-old woman at her home in Burnt Savannah, a farming community a few miles south-west of Santa Cruz .The St Elizabeth police identified the victim as Natesha Waite, une...

Did you have an encounter with the novel coronavirus? Veteran journalist Desmond Allen, who got the virus but got over it, invites you to share your experiences with him and encourage others to face this dreaded enemy.Tell us how you an...

MINNEAPOLIS, United States (AP) - Former Officer Derek Chauvin underwent training in 2016 and 2018 on how to defuse tense situations with people in crisis and how police must use the least amount of force necessary to get someone to com...

MINNEAPOLIS, United States (AP) - A member of George Floyd's family often occupies a reserved seat in the back corner of the Minneapolis courtroom where former police officer Derek Chauvin is on trial in Floyd's death. The seat reserved...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY for Wednesday, April 7, 2021: Overactive, loving and determined, a wave of excitement follows you wherever you go. This year, you will manage to pull off a creative coup that improves your financial standing. There's noth...

Christina Beckett is haunted by the sight of her mother's body lying face down at the spot in Soho, St Thomas, where she was killed in cold blood by an estranged boyfriend on Good Friday."Closing my eyes, trying to sleep, the only thin...

THE University of the West Indies (UWI) says it has secured an international grant of US$25 million, the largest in its history.In a release yesterday, the university said, "United States' Silicon Valley digital technology giant, Eon Re...

MONTEGO BAY, St James - Deputy Prime Minister Dr Horace Chang has expressed satisfaction with the strong level of compliance shown by the nation for the first two of three weekends of lockdown announced by Prime Minister Andrew Holness ...

CHAIRMAN of the private sector vaccine initiative Christopher Zacca says the sector is not seeking to cash in on the COVID-19 vaccination efforts as it is interested only in assisting the Government and the country to get out of the hea...

Six people who were left homeless by a fire in Swallowfield, off Old Hope Road in St Andrew, on March 12 have been having a difficult time coping with the weekend lockdowns imposed by the Government to stem spread of the novel coronavi...

A Canada-based organisation is calling for the Jamaican authorities to open an investigation into claims that girls as young as seven years of age in a Westmoreland community are being serially molested by predators, killed and dumped i...

The Ministry of Health and Wellness seems set to finally admit that it was over ambitious in targeting 1,000 people, 75 years and older, for its one-day COVID-19 vaccination blitz sites.After two Saturdays of vaccination blitzes at Nati...

ENTREPRENEURS who are now a part of the pilot phase of the E-Commerce National Delivery System (ENDS) programme, which kicked off in Portmore, St Catherine, more than a week ago, are thanking the Government for rolling out the new initi...

Kingstoon Animation and Film Festival and Sesame Workshop are expected to this week evaluate pitches from Jamaican animators for short films to be considered for season 52 of Sesame Street , the popular and highly successful children'...

Canadian biotechnology company Havn Life Sciences Incorporated has signed a letter of intent with local nutraceutical firm Hypha Wellness Jamaica Psilocybin to research and produce safe, quality-controlled medicine from mushrooms (psilo...

For its 150th annual synod, the Anglican Diocese of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands will go fully virtual from Tuesday, April 6 to Friday, April 9.This in the face of the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic and the changing government res...

Today is the 96th day of 2021. There are 269 days left in the year.TODAY'S HIGHLIGHT2009: Rescue workers using bare hands and buckets search frantically for students believed buried after Italy's deadliest earthquake in nearly three dec...

PEOPLE living with sickle cell disease in Westmoreland are in line for additional support today when the Shaks Hope Foundation stages a treat for them at the Black River Hospital.This is the first leg of a two-day treat being staged by ...

THIRY-FOUR-YEAR-OLD Desmond Tate, otherwise called Bupsy, labourer of Ackee Lane, Roehampton, in St James has been charged with wounding with intent following an incident in Roehampton square in the parish on Wednesday, March 2.Accordin...

Veronica Fuller of Power Sanctuary Church in St Andrew hands a box of lunch to a homeless man at South Parade in downtown Kingston, yesterday.Fuller says feeding the homeless and less fortunate is done by the church on Mondays and Tuesd...

Did you have an encounter with the novel coronavirus? Veteran journalist Desmond Allen, who got the virus but got over it, invites you to share your experiences with him and encourage others to face this dreaded enemy. Tell us how you a...

NEW YORK, United States (CMC) - New York Attorney General (AG) Letitia James has taken action to protect Caribbean nationals and other New Yorkers by blocking debt collectors from seizing billions of dollars in emergency stimulus paymen...

Jamaica Observer photo editor Joseph Wellington captured these scenes yesterday, Easter Monday.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) - Haiti does not have a single vaccine to offer its more than 11 million people over a year after the pandemic began, raising concerns among health experts that the well-being of Haitians is being pushed aside...

WASHINGTON,DC, United States (AP) - More Americans disapprove than approve of how President Joe Biden is handling the sharply increasing number of unaccompanied migrant children arriving at the US-Mexico border, and approval of his effo...

 THE recent abduction and murder of 20-year-old Khanice Jackson has sparked national outrage. One of the questions that some people, both male and female, have been asking is, 'Why would she take a ride from someone she was warned abou...

MONTEGO BAY, St James - As the nation grapples with the gruesome murder of accounting clerk Khanice Jackson, Minister of Security Dr Horace Chang argues that the heinous acts of violence meted out to women would be eliminated if the wid...

A recent qualitative study conducted by researcher Daniel Brown suggests that the most stressful situation encountered post diagnosis by the parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) was the financial costs associated with...

FOLLOWING a recent surge in reports of violence against women, many women are now fearful when men call out to them while walking on the road.A few told the Jamaica Observer that the aggressive catcalling by men was very degrading to wo...

FOUR PATHS, Clarendon - Residents here have expressed relief after their concern of a noise nuisance at nights resulting from construction of the US$188-million May Pen to Williamsfield leg of the east-west corridor of Highway 2000 was ...

A Jamaican living in the United States has used his radio show to raise $588,000 to help Claudette Grant and her nine-year-old daughter Hannahlisa Hall, who has suffered four strokes over the past three years.Ruel "Rula" Brown, who live...

The United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) has warned that any Jamaican who is found to be exploiting the visa system to undertake fraudulent activities in the US, like scamming, can face up to 20 years in prison. The USPIS sa...

THE thought of living forever has always fascinated mankind.Tales have been told of emissaries tasked by kings to find the elixir of life. The Spanish explorer Ponce de León, first governor of Puerto Rico, went on a search - fuelled by...