MANDEVILLE, Manchester - With users falling to under 500,000 in the past year as a direct result of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the Jamaica Library Service (JLS) is making a determined effort to increase its virtual service across t...

THE Government has decided to expand the reach of the Jamaica Dairy Development Board (JDDB) by transforming the 22-year-old body into the National Livestock Development Board (NLDB).Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Floyd Green sai...

MORE calls have been made for harsher and swifter punishment for perpetrators of sexual and other types of vicious crimes against children, in the wake of assaults on minors in recent weeks. Officials of the National Parent Teachers' As...

Acting principal of Mona Heights Primary School Alex Hepburn is being lauded for his efforts to accommodate 17 students from Louise Bennett Coverley All-Age for face-to-face classes at his institution.The 17 students are among those pre...

MANCHIONEAL, Portland - Linval "Natty Cowhead" Lindsay, 55, and his wife Annette "Plummy" Carby-Lindsay, 60, were yesterday shot and killed at their their home in the quiet district of Barracks, overlooking the fishing bay of Manchionea...

THERE are concerns that Jamaica could be losing out on the tourism market due to a lag in the vaccination of tourism workers behind other Caribbean destinations, where significant take-up in those populations has led to relaxed measures...

Opposition spokesman on transport and works Mikael Phillips has warned that the main State-run bus service, the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC), could face a major crash if there is not an immediate rethink of its operation. "The ...

Today is the 133rd day of 2021. There are 232 days left in the year.TODAY'S HIGHLIGHT1981: Pope John Paul II is shot and seriously wounded in Rome by Mehmet Ali Agca, a Turk. Eastern European intelligence agencies are suspected to be be...

A Bill is being drafted to amend the Companies Act to allow a company in Jamaica to hold general meetings, whether annual general meetings or extraordinary general meetings, as hybrid meetings, that is in-person and virtually, or as com...

THE Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) commenced its independent enquiry into Monday's fatal police shooting of two men on Trafalgar Road, Kingston 10.An INDECOM release said there has been some speculation, confusion an...

GOVERNMENT has earmarked $600 million to be transferred to the EXIM Bank to provide affordable financing for micro, small and medium-sized (MSMEs) businesses during the current fiscal year.Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce A...

TEN alleged members of the Westmoreland-based King Valley Gang are soon to face the court, the police have told the Jamaica Observer.Among them are seven who deputy commissioner of police (DCP) in charge of the crime Fitz Bailey said we...

President of the Union of Clerical, Administrative and Supervisory Employees (UCASE) Vincent Morrison wants the rules of engagement suggested for workers on the proposed Montego Bay Perimeter Road Project extended to other China Harbou...

BELMOPAN, Belize (CMC) - The incoming Caribbean Community (Caricom) secretary general, Dr Carla Barnett, says one of her first priorities will be to extend outreach of the 15-member regional integration grouping as well as implementatio...

Minister of National Security Dr Horace Chang has downplayed the significance of a declaration by some Jamaicans overseas that the Government will not be "touching one red cent" of a US$10-million fund they are trying to set up to help ...

The Opposition's call for a divide in the House of Representatives yesterday failed to halt the Government's plans to advance the Public Procurement (National Development Project) (Montego Bay Perimeter Road Project) Order and Resoluti...

AUDITOR General Pamela Monroe Ellis and Government members of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) locked horns at yesterday's sitting over aspects of an internal audit on her department carried out out by the Ministry of Finance and the...

Police and firefighters yesterday afternoon went to the sports bar operated by murdered businessman Robert Fletcher to retrieve a shotgun registered to him from a vault.Fletcher, according to high-level police sources, held permits for...

WITH almost 10,000 cases reported last year, child abuse has become disturbingly prevalent across Jamaica. But state minister in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Robert Nesta Morgan has said that gladly, there are no "e...

Local security experts Robert Finzi-Smith and George Overton have praised the manner in which the police's quick response team engaged three gunmen in a firefight in heavy midday traffic close to the intersection of Hope and Trafalgar r...

MONTEGO BAY, St James - Citing that education is a key component to prevent repeat juvenile offenders, Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of National Security Senator Matthew Samuda says he is saddened that the juvenile faciliti...

PALMER'S CROSS, Clarendon - Residents of Kennedy Grove housing scheme here are frustrated about inconsistent water supply that, they say, has been affecting their hygiene and sanitation efforts, compounded by poor communication from the...

In a rare display of unity the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC) yesterday unanimously approved a resolution to give names to three unnamed roads in Cassia Park Division, one of which will be named in honour of the s...

A group of men have pooled $370,000 to hand over to 66-year-old George Smart, who was abducted and thrown into a 55-foot pit in Spanish Town, St Catherine, where he remained for four nights before being rescued. The men, who were moved ...

With their gifts of appreciation from Sandals South Coast, nurses (from left) Sasheva Lewis, of Omega Medical, and Shanice Vickers, Tader Suban, and Tavia Smith of Athena Medical pause for a photo op on their way from a celebratory lunc...

AN organisational review of the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) has revealed the need for an additional 150 social workers, state minister in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information Robert Morgan has reporte...

MEMBER of the World Health Organization (WHO) Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) Working Group on COVID-19 Vaccines, Professor Peter Figueroa, says the AstraZeneca vaccine is very effective and safe for almost everyone to receiv...

THE Trelawny police have charged 62-year-old Stenneth Wilson, alias Uncle, of Clark's Town in Trelawny with murder following the chopping death of his common-law wife at their home on Saturday.The Clarke's Town police reported that abou...

CHIEF executive officer of the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) Rosalee Gage-Grey has called on adults to sensitise children about sex and their body parts early.Gage-Grey, who was addressing this week's Jamaica Obser...

Today is the 132nd day of 2021. There are 233 days left in the year.TODAY'S HIGHLIGHT2002: Former US President Jimmy Carter travels to Cuba for talks with President Fidel Castro and the nation's leading dissidents. He is the first forme...

FROM living near the swampy lands of New Haven in Kingston to being the 2018 recipient of the Musgrave Award for Literature, Roland Watson Grant has once again displayed excellence after being named the 2021 regional award winner of the...

MOSCOW, Russia (AP) - A gunman launched an attack on a school in the Russian city of Kazan that left at least nine people dead yesterday - including seven youngsters - and sent students hiding under their desks or running out of the bui...

Q: What is DNA testing?A: Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) testing is the most accurate and widely available technology to test a biological relationship.Q: Why does the US Embassy suggest DNA testing?A: Certain immigrant visa petitions, non...

SHE is studying to be a business lawyer but 17-year-old Ashanti James is also a philanthropist in the making, confident that working behind the scenes with her father on the James and Friends Education Programme (JFEP) will prepare her ...

 WASHINGTON, DC, United States (CMC) - A new study published by the World Bank has found a strikingly large percentage of workers and firms operate outside the line of sight of governments in emerging market and developing economies (E...

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) - Police Commissioner Gary Griffith says several unidentified posts on social media in recent times are "clearly designed and geared toward instability, panic, and efforts to de-stabilise our democracy".In ...

MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AP) - Authorities in the western Mexican state of Jalisco are investigating whether the abduction and killing of three siblings could have been a case of mistaken identity.A group of armed men wearing tactical vests...

WASHINGTON, DC, United States (CMC) - A new study by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) finds that consumption of sugary drinks could decline substantially if they were "properly" taxed.PAHO said that the study, released on Mon...

KANSAS, United States (AP) - US educators are doing everything they can to track down high school students who stopped showing up to classes and to help them get the credits needed to graduate, amid an anticipated surge in the country's...

ALLSIDES, Trelawny - Up to late yesterday the police were maintaining a strong presence at a property which houses a residence and business establishment in Allsides, where the owner allegedly went amok and sprayed his friend with bulle...

THE Child Protection and Family Services Agency could serve closure notices on several children's homes across the island because of the failure on the part of their management to meet licensing requirements outlined by The Child Care a...

MONTEGO BAY, St James - Regional director of the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA), North East Region, Carolyn Stewart is encouraging all Jamaicans to report suspected cases of child abuse."If you feel like a child is ...

St Aloysius Primary students Nichola Morna and Abrinna Brown yesterday expressed joy at being back at school as face-to-face classes for exit exam students resumed at more then 500 schools across the island."I am excited because the onl...

MANDEVILLE, Manchester - Leaders at four schools in Manchester and St Elizabeth reported a favourable turnout of exam students for the resumption of face-to-face classes yesterday following last week's directive from the Government.The ...

It took the police a mere 13 minutes, using the JamaicaEye closed-circuit TV network, to apprehend three gunmen after they killed a businessman on Old Hope Road in St Andrew and took his firearm, around midday yesterday.The criminals, t...

MONTEGO BAY, St James - Educators in western Jamaica say there was a smooth start to yesterday's resumption of face-to-face classes for students who will be sitting this year's exit exams.Last week, Prime Minister Andrew Holness announc...

THE JN Foundation, in a bid to promote climate resilience among local residential and commercial industries, will from May 13 to 14 host a climate change, sustainability and innovation water summit.According to the foundation, the two-d...

THE People's National Party (PNP) yesterday appointed a junior shadow Cabinet, which it said will integrate youngsters into policymaking for the advancement of the nation's social, economic and political development.The 18-member team w...

Today is the 131st day of 2021. There are 234 days left in the year.TODAY'S HIGHLIGHT2000: With the birth of a baby girl named Astha - "Faith" in Hindi - India's population officially hits one billion. OTHER EVENTS1507: France annexes ...

AN official at HEART/NSTA (National Service Training Agency) Trust says there is a negative perception about technical and vocational education and training (TVET) among some education leaders, which she said is an area that should be r...