AS the five men charged with buggery in relation to a 13-year-old girl in St Ann last week made their first appearance in court on Friday, the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) led a motorcade throughout several commun...

Children all over the world are having tough times while grappling with the effects of the novel caronavirus pandemic, but the circumstances affecting them in the New Market Oval, Westmoreland, are even more daunting.The situation remai...

Following the death of 53-year-old Westmoreland fisherman Donovan Haywood, who was attacked by a shark last week, many people are now worried about encountering a shark when they go for a swim. Now, renowned retired marine scientist Dr...

RENEISHA Spence has one wish.It is to be able to go back to school and further her education in order to help her children with their schoolwork when they ask for assistance in the midst of online schooling and the coronavirus pandemic....

A year after they were forced to roam the high seas as countries, including Jamaica, closed their borders to international travel amid the rise in COVID-19 cases, several local seafarers are headed back to the waters.If it were up to th...

THE Jamaica Medical Doctors Association (JMDA) is frustrated over the delay in payments of $200 million in gratuity to its members.JMDA President Dr Mindi Fitz-Henley said 80 per cent of the $200 million is owed by the South East Region...

"JAMAICA will never benefit from my services again, never."Those are the words of Sade Williams, a 35-year-old registered nurse who immigrated to the United States in 2018 after working five years in the public health system at the Univ...

A Westmoreland man who was almost killed in a shark attack in 2019 is counting his blessing and also imploring other fisherfolk to be careful when going about their duties.From his New Market Oval home in the vicinity of Savanna-la-Mar,...

BEING a mom is hard work. You put a lot of effort into making sure your child is happy and healthy. However, sometimes moms forget that their smile deserves the same type of care and attention.As you balance parenting your children, wor...

I have been told that I am obsessed with plants. Admittedly, it's true. I grew up surrounded by lovely gardens. My maternal grandmother kept a garden in which she grew big, beautiful fragrant roses. My paternal grandma's garden containe...

NEWPORT, Manchester - Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Manchester Southern Robert Chin says he is determined to resolve the inadequacy of potable water supply and deplorable road conditions in that constituency.C...

ACROSS all industries, COVID-19 has streamlined the digitisation of how we work - and healthcare was no exception.Digital health includes a wide variety of services, one of which is remote patient monitoring (RPM). RPM is a technology u...

LIKE a muscle, faith is strengthened through use. The Apostle Paul at Hebrew 11:1 defines it as the assured expectation of things hoped for, the evident demonstration of realities though not beheld.It is quite easy for our faith to dwin...

The island's teachers can now access another welfare benefit as part of a partnership between the Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA) and TIP Friendly Society.Teachers who qualify for a loan of up to $500,000 from TIP Friendly Society w...

Mother's Day is a happy day for millions, but for those who have experienced a miscarriage, the day can be devastating. As many as one in four recognised pregnancies result in miscarriage. Pregnancy loss can be mentally and physically t...

PARIS, France (AFP) - Taking anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen does not increase the risk of developing a severe form of COVID-19 or of dying from it, according to a new study, the largest so far on this class of medicines.At the s...

There was an increase in the number of students who registered for National Council on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (NCTVET) examinations this year, despite challenges faced in the education sector amid the novel coro...

ROBBERS of various kinds are running rampant throughout Clarendon and frustrating citizens, forcing them to appeal to the police to step up their surveillance mechanisms and change their methods of patrolling.Taxi operator Robert Sewell...

The Ministry of Labour and Social Security says it is optimistic that the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act will be enacted before the end of this financial year, after the Bill is re-tabled, following consultations with the chie...

MAX The Cat. That's the title of the first book that Vaughn Golding stole and started teaching himself to read from when he was 13 years old. The teen, then in grade seven, had sneaked off with the book from school one day after a part...

THE Jamaica Public Service (JPS) Company Limited on Friday commissioned the first public electric vehicle charging station on the island. The move signals the anticipated change in the tide of vehicle usage from the traditional internal...

MANDEVILLE, Manchester - Japheth Davis is one of 25 farmers here set to benefit from a passion fruit project being undertaken by the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS), the State of the African Diaspora (SOAD) and the Economic Communit...

Sophia Lewis, assistant manager, group corporate affairs and communications at the Victoria Mutual Group, demonstrates to students (from left) Jonathan Mais, TabiyakeChambers, Sunjai Kirkpatrick, Jayda-Kaye Johnson and Tahirah Brown how...

MONTEGO BAY, St James - Minister without portfolio in the Ministry of National Security Senator Matthew Samuda has expressed "grave concern" over the overwhelming number of inmates in the 11 correctional institutions who are unwilling t...

We are such stuffAs dreams are made on,And our little lifeIs rounded with a sleep,- ShakespeareWE may very well be the stuff that dreams are made of, but many of us can only dream of the stuff that we should be. So very often people put...

NEW YORK, USA--Jamaican-born Robert W Runcie, the embattled superintendent of Broward County, Florida, public schools, is on his way out from his position after being charged with perjury, news reports said.Runcie who migrated from Jama...

Jamaica Observer team members are still in shock at the sudden passing of retiree Donald Lee who they described as a hard worker, jovial, and great team player.Lee, who worked at the Observer for 22 years, died on Sunday. He was 63.He ...

WHILE some legislation exists locally against child pornography, Children's Advocate Diahann Gordon Harrison has lamented the non-existence of some critical technology that would help advance cases and secure convictions. Speaking durin...

The Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) has expressed concern about the abuse of their powers by members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) during stop and search of vehicles on the roads and searches of private pre...

The Government will have to foot the tab for additional engineering and consultancy project management services for the Southern Coastal Highway Improvement Project (SCHIP), which is now costing over US$133.9 million more than budgeted ...

Fabian Skervin, one of the two accused charged in the murder of a Jamaican-Canadian couple in Retreat, St Thomas, just over two years ago, has claimed that he killed the couple on the advice of one of two voices he had heard in his hea...

An Indian woman who shared the gloom that the novel coronavirus pandemic has cast over her home city on Thurday said she wished her country was in a similar situation to Jamaica as it relates to COVID-19 deaths and infections.The 21-yea...

Children's Advocate Diahann Gordon Harrison has moved to clarify aspects of a story published by the Jamaica Observer yesterday under the headline 'OCA supports new 211 helpline for children'.Harrison pointed out that her comments on th...

The Government's plan to amend the Child Care and Protection Act, 2004, to remove the provision under which a child deemed "uncontrollable" can be placed in a correctional facility by the court is being supported by United Nations Chil...

Councillor Carlene Benjamin and members of her team on Tuesday were on the receiving end of a tongue-lashing from taxi operators who are livid at the condition of the Palmer's Cross main road in Clarendon which, they say, is severely af...

Friday is the 127th day of 2021. There are 238 days left in the year.TODAY'S HIGHLIGHT1429: Seventeen-year-old Joan of Arc leads French forces to lift the English siege of Orleans, turning the Hundred-Year War to France's favour. The En...

The head-turning image of four well-chiselled young men, running in full-body blue tights, executing slick, almost flawless baton-changing at high speed, made young girls swoon and men envious.The "Bolts of Lightning", as the CAST, Coll...

Saturday is the 128th day of 2021. There are 237 days left in the year.TODAY'S HIGHLIGHT2008: During the 2008 race for the White House, Senator Barack Obama got a front-runner's welcome back at the US Capitol, where he was surrounded on...

EIGHTEEN months after its pledge to reintroduce the "Length Man" road programme for unemployed Jamaicans, especially in rural areas, the Government is preparing to start a pilot within months.Minister without portfolio in the Ministry o...

SANDALS Montego Bay recently crowned its top speller as the resort continues to find creative ways for team members' development during the coronavirus pandemic.Apphia Morgan from the front office was crowned champion at a limited atten...

THE Guanaboa Vale police in St Catherine are embarking on a drive to rid the streets of unlicensed motorcycles which have been contributing to disorder in and around the community.Officer in charge of the station, Sergeant Wayne Constan...

Several environmental activities were executed recently at South Coast Resort in Westmoreland.Spearheaded by Sandals Foundation, resort managers, hotel health and safety guardians, team members and guests all took part in a number of co...

OVER the last year the Administrator General's Department (AGD) closed 434 estates and transferred all assets to beneficiaries.This was disclosed by Minister of Justice Delroy Chuck, who stated that the department, which "is one of the ...

KINGSTOWN, St Vincent (CMC) - The Government has moved the alert at the La Soufriere volcano from Red, the highest, to Orange, the third-highest on the four-level scale.NBC RadioPrime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said on the State-owned on ...

TEXAS, United States (AP) - The Biden Administration says four families that were separated at the Mexico border during Donald Trump's presidency will be reunited in the United States this week in what Homeland Security Secretary Aleja...

WASHINGTON, DC, United States (AFP) - International support grew Thursday for a US proposal to waive patents on much-needed coronavirus vaccines, a move strongly opposed by pharmaceutical companies which said it wouldn't fix the supply ...

BRAZZAVILLE, Congo (AFP) - The World Health Organization yesterday warned of a new wave of COVID-19 infections in Africa due to delayed vaccine supplies, a slow roll-out and new variants.The African bureau of the UN agency said the cont...

IDAHO, United States (AP) - A shooting at an eastern Idaho middle school Thursday injured two students and a custodian, and a male student has been taken into custody, authorities said.The victims' injuries were not believed to be life-...

CHICAGO, United States (AP) - When Teri Murray tried to buy her first home in 1968, searching this leafy college town for the perfect place, she thought she was an ideal candidate: married, steadily employed, ample savings.But banks rej...

NEW DELHI, India (AP) - Under order by the Supreme Court, India's Government agreed yesterday to provide more medical oxygen to hospitals in the capital, potentially easing a two-week-old shortage that worsened the country's exploding n...