Jamaicans 50 years and older are now able to register to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton announced yesterday evening. Tufton made the announcement during this week's COVID Conversation n...

The Ministry of Health and Wellness yesterday reminded Jamaicans in the high-risk age groups of the danger of vaccine hesitancy, as nine weeks into the national COVID-19 vaccination programme only a small percentage of them have taken t...

MANDEVILLE, Manchester - The police in this south-central town have reiterated that they will not hesitate to prosecute anyone for breaches of the Disaster Risk Management Act (DRMA) as the number of people they have now sanctioned for ...

"From the time my family arrived in America from Jamaica, we have realised and appreciated the opportunity that the US provided us," said an exultant Winsome Sears, after beating out five others for her party's nod to run for lieutenant...

Principals of some early childhood institutions are worried that their graduating pupils will not be ready to make the transition to the primary level come September.Paulette Cunningham, principal at Padmore Early Childhood Centre in St...

Roderick "Ricky" Francis Jr yesterday described as the "ultimate betrayal" the actions of Carlos Batista who, despite being brought to Jamaica in the 1980s and offered a job by his father, Roderick "Bunny" Francis, was the same man who...

WASHINGTON, DC, United States (AP) - In a major step toward returning to pre-pandemic life, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) eased mask-wearing guidance for fully vaccinated people yesterday, allowing them to stop we...

Michelle Meghie, a Jamaica living in Mississauga, Canada, who has three decades of work experience in children services and social services under her belt, hopes to become the Brantford-Brant, Ontario Liberal candidate in the next feder...

The Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA) is seeking an expansion of the activities covered under the five-year-old Cybercrimes Act which are being reviewed.In a submission to yesterday's meeting of the joint select co...

The Kingston Chapter of Cornwall College Old Boys' Association (CCOBA) will be honouring two Cornwallians who have distinguished themselves in their professional fields and contribution to the wider society.They are media giant Desmond ...

FALMOUTH, Trelawny - Peoples National Party (PNP) councillor for the Ulster Spring Division in Trelawny Southern, Dr Pauline Foster has attributed Sunday's murder of 29-year-old Nickiesha Keeling, allegedly by her jealous common-law hus...

PAN American Health Organization (PAHO) Director Dr Carissa Etienne says reports from 18 Latin American and Caribbean member countries indicate that 1.5 million health-care workers in these territories are now fully vaccinated against t...

MINISTER of Industry, Investment and Commerce Audley Shaw has reiterated that subsistence farmers will play a key role in the development of the local cannabis industry."Jamaica has some of the most experienced and knowledgeable local c...

NURSES across the island started International Nurses' Day off on a sweet note on Wednesday, with fresh-baked donuts gifted to them by Honey Bun.It was the second-consecutive year of the baking company's 'Donuts for Nurses' initiative w...

WORKERS' Week 2021 will be highlighted by the staging of a labour industrial relations webinar on Wednesday, May 19, under the theme 'Advancing Flexible Work Arrangements in Jamaica'.Divisional director for industrial relations and alli...

THE Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) has expanded its Domestic Violence Intervention (DVI) centres to the parishes of St Ann and St Mary, and is imploring persons to access the services.Head of the JCF's Corporate Communications Unit (C...

SEVERAL processes will be fully automated on the National Business Portal (NBP) by the end of the fiscal year.The NBP, an initiative being handled by Jampro, will house the business-to-government (B2G) online interface for all public se...

Today is the 134th day of 2021. There are 231 days left in the year.TODAY'S HIGHLIGHT2000: Tens of thousands attend the "Million Mom March" in Washington to demand stricter gun control and to memorialise those lost to gun violence. OTH...

With increasingly louder condemnation of intimate relationships involving adults and children in recent weeks, Children's Advocate Diahann Gordon-Harrison is urging Jamaicans to report every suspected case of these relationships.Gordon-...

WASHINGTON, DC, United States (AP) - Experts say it could be 2023 or later before COVID-19 shots are widely available in some countries.The United States, Israel and the United Kingdom are among the nations where about half or more of t...

CARIBBEAN Women in Leadership (CIWiL) Belize National Chapter has congratulated Dr Carla Barnett on her appointment as Caribbean Community (Caricom) secretary general.The non-political, multi-partisan, and independent non-governmental o...

SAN FRANCISCO, United States ( AP) - For months, Victoria McAllister searched online to make a vaccination appointment. Unlike other people who can hop into a car, though, she has ruptured discs that could slice her spinal cord if she h...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY for Friday, May 14, 2021:You are intelligent, creative and smooth. You like to tackle unusual, offbeat situations so you can explore them. You also have a strong sense of colour and style, which can be demonstrated throug...

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Hamas sent a heavy barrage of rockets deep into Israel yesterday, and Israel pounded Gaza with more airstrikes. The relentless escalation of hostilities came even as Egyptian negotiators held in-person talks...

RHODE ISLAND, United States (AP) - For Brown University students, the Ivy League college's next step in its years long quest to atone for its legacy of slavery is clear: Pay up.Nearly two decades after the Providence, Rhode Island, inst...

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...