Reports reaching the Jamaica Observer indicate that several medical professionals intend to call in sick today as the public health sector reels from a number of human resource challenges.Just last week, president of the Jamaica Medica...

PUBLIC school teachers are adamant that they will not be forced to turn out for the Ministry of Education-managed national summer school programme, which is slated to begin next Monday.President of the Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA...

THE latest Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) annual report showed that the bank disbursed US$306 million to borrowing member countries (BMCs) in 2019, but the regional financial institution has been urged to double that disbursement if i...

APPROXIMATELY US$60-million worth of counterfeit goods, which breached intellectual property rights, were yesterday destroyed by Jamaica Customs Agency (JCA) which had seized them after arrival into the island.The 13 containers of count...

SCORES of anxious Jamaicans awaiting a second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine should be breathing a sigh of relief following yesterday's donation of 65,000 doses of the AstraZeneca brand from Mexico, calming fears harboured by many that th...

LINSTEAD, St Catherine - The police yesterday detained the father and stepmother of a seven-year-old girl two days after the mysterious death of the child at the family home at New Works district, just outside of Linstead.The little gir...

JAMAICA'S Parliament on Tuesday approved a United Nations resolution condemning the prolonged United States economic embargo against Cuba.Minister of state for culture, gender, entertainment and sports, Alando Terrelonge, reminded the H...

President-elect in waiting for the Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA), LaSonja Harrison, has declared that she will be partnering with the private and public sector in an effort to improve the island's education system.Harrison, who wa...

The University Hospital of the West Indies' (UHWI) diagnostic department received a boost this week from the donation of a state-of-the-art mobile ultrasound machine from the Supreme Ventures Foundation (SVF).The machine, which was fin...

THE National Water Commission (NWC) is banking on debt collectors it engaged last year to wring out over $1 billion owed to it by customers even as it struggles to cauterise revenue losses of between $3.5 billion and $4.5 billion monthl...

Local water manufacturer Lifespan Spring Water Ltd is tapping into its benefits as a member of the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) by offering an exclusive scholarship to the family of their staff members. The Drinking W...

QUARRY, St James - After four unsuccessful attempts to resolve flooding and damage to infrastructure in the Quarry, Glendevon, area of St James, Caribbean Cement Company (Carib Cement) is partnering with the Government to construct a co...

Former Minister of National Security and former Leader of the House of Representatives Derrick Smith yesterday expressed deep regret over the death of Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) Close Protection Officer (CPO) Sergeant Marlon Smit...

Today is the 182nd day of 2021. There are 183 days left in the year.TODAY'S HIGHLIGHT2004: Saddam Hussein appears in Iraqi court for the first time, scoffing at charges of war crimes and genocide. OTHER EVENTS1847: The US Post Office i...

SALT RIVER, Clarendon - Concrete buildings have now replaced many of the board structures that have for years been used as bathrooms and changing rooms by visitors to the popular Salt River Mineral Spa in Clarendon. A garden has also be...

MANDEVILLE, Manchester - Some residents of Marshalls Pen, a community located north-west of the Mandeville town centre, are appealing for urgent attention from the authorities, including the Manchester Municipal Corporation and the poli...

NEW YORK, United States (AP) - There was mixed reaction to yesterday's news that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court had overturned Bill Cosby's sexual assault conviction and cleared the way for him to be released from prison."Mr Cosby shoul...

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, (CMC) - Prime Minister Mia Mottley has confirmed the death of 55- year-old Warren Mottley, whom she has described as her twin."Warren Douglas Mottley passed, and I just want to say thank you to all of you who have ...

STRIDENT calls were yesterday made from Opposition parliamentary benches for the Government to take action to stem rising crime in sections of the Corporate Area, with a recently imposed zone of special operations (ZOSO) in the crime ho...

JAMAICA'S failure to develop a profitable and sustainable casino industry, 11 years after passing the necessary legislation, is about to be amended to deliver more investments and jobs.Minister of Finance and the Public Service Dr Nigel...

CABINET Minister Everald Warmington has taken a swipe at critics of embattled independent Member of Parliament George Wright, who is accused of beating a woman with a stool as well as his hands, following a viral video which could not c...

RESIDENTS of Beeston Street in Kingston Central were awakened by loud explosions and a fire in the wee hours yesterday morning. Some 30 people have been left displaced, with nothing but the clothes on their backs after thugs reportedly ...

THE Crime Monitoring Oversight Committee (CMOC) raised concerns yesterday about the prevalence of intimate partner violence across the island and the level of Government intervention needed to help remedy the problem.According to CMOC C...

THE education ministry is pressing ahead with plans to hold summer classes, notwithstanding clear indication from the island's teachers that they are not in favour of the move.Yesterday, portfolio minister Fayval Williams announced that...

MEMBER of Parliament for St Andrew East Rural Juliet Holness wants greater consultation between the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) Project Management Unit (PMU), implementing state agencies, and MPs to ensure more accountability an...

WITH the novel coronavirus pandemic likely to be blamed for arresting the dip in poverty that the country had been witnessing up to 2019, Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke says the Government is eager to receive the poverty data for 2020...

International rugby player Ross Peltier will not be contesting tomorrow's by-election for Member of Parliament (MP) for Batley and Spen, West Yorkshire, England, after being pulled as a candidate over anti-gay comments he made 10 years ...

Q: What advice can the embassy offer to US citizens in Jamaica for the current hurricane season?A: First, take responsibility for your own safety before an emergency arises. We encourage all individuals to plan ahead. The US and Jamaica...

Shullian Brown (second right), fund-raising and public relations officer, Jamaica Cancer Society, poses wih women who were on Saturday, June 19, recipients of complimentary pap smears, courtesy of the National Health Fund, at the societ...

Today is the 181st day of 2021. There are 184 days left in the year.TODAY'S HIGHLIGHT1997: The Union Jack is lowered for the last time over Government House in Hong Kong as Britain prepares to hand the colony back to China at midnight a...

JAMAICAN-AMERICAN Ephraim Martin says Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has pledged US$40 million to finance several projects to honour the black founder of Chicago, Jean Baptiste Pointe DuSable.The projects will be in addition to the naming...

WESTMORELAND, Jamaica - Up to primary school, Renae Reid had a hard time reading. Once, a teacher told her she would never amount to anything. Edward Waite, on the other hand, had an easier time. It was clear, from an early age, that he...

MORANT BAY, St Thomas - Nineteen-year-old St Thomas native Nahjae Nunes, whose online youth seminars have changed the lives of hundreds of his peers around the world, is among this year's recipients of the Diana Award. The recognition h...

SENIOR veterinary specialist, Veterinary Services Division, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Dr Suzanne McLennon-Miguel says continuous collaboration between ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) is crucial in the developmen...

THE Bureau of Standards Jamaica (BSJ) has warned that all health claims being made by local manufacturers who are marketing food or drinks must be substantiated by the Ministry of Health and Wellness (MOHW) and/or any other designated r...

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP) - Doctors without Borders (MSF) said Monday it had closed a hospital in Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince after it was hit by gunfire at the weekend - a gloomy sign of an escalation of violence in the city.Lucki...

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) - Giant marionettes, fantastical beasts and circus performers will form the centrepiece of celebrations to mark Queen Elizabeth II's 70 years on the throne, organisers said yesterday.A platinum jubilee pagea...

Dear Mr Brown,Please explain the reason for Canada still restricting travel when so many other countries are opening up their borders. The pandemic has been so frustrating and the delays and restrictions for Canada just make it worse.- ...

VANCOUVER, Canada (AFP) - At least 69 people in Canada's Vancouver area have died in a record-smashing heatwave engulfing the west of the country and the US Pacific Northwest, police said yesterday.Most of the dead in the Vancouver subu...

GOVERNMENT minister and Portland Western Member of Parliament (MP) Daryl Vaz yesterday lashed out at individuals who have been fraudulently using his name to scam unsuspecting people in a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme which involved ...

MONTEGO BAY, St James - President of the influential Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MBCCI) Janet Silvera is tipped to return as head of the 88-year-old chamber during the advocacy group's annual general meeting (AGM) at t...

NEGRIL, Westmoreland - Rolland "Dr Love" Martin feels underappreciated. For more than 40 years, he said, he has maintained a beach in this resort town, and though it is now informally named after him, the local authorities refuse to rec...

Disgruntled farmers in Bernard Lodge, St Catherine, were quick to take the opportunity to appeal directly to Prime Minister Andrew Holness for a review of the amounts they will be paid for compensation and to fast-track the payments to ...

Prime Minister Andrew Holness has promised that the six science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) schools his Administration plans to build will be done with information technology at the forefront to ensure that student...

Students at Bethlehem Primary and Infant School in Malvern, St Elizabeth, were all smiles after a recent visit from popular entertainer Anthony Fairclough, otherwise known as Papa Michigan, along with members of the Flow Foundation team...

SENIOR Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Sharon Millwood-Moore says errant parents and guardians should bear the brunt of scrutiny and blame when their offspring are involved in child-on-child sexual offences.Millwood-Moore, who wa...

MONTEGO BAY, St James - The St James police yesterday morning discovered in bushes at John's Hall in the parish the headless body of a man whom they theorise was one of the gunmen who ran amok in the community on Sunday, leaving seven p...

HAYES, Clarendon - Determined to strengthen their relationship with residents of this community that was rocked by a fatal car crash and three days of protests against the police, members of police youth clubs (PYC) from across the coun...

STEER TOWN, St Ann - A couple who migrated after completing nursing school together in Jamaica has shown benevolence and patriotism by pumping $2.2 million into primary health care in this parish.Ranny and Janice Watson said their donat...

LOCAL health-care company Novamed has announced an expansion of its portfolio to include a career consultancy arm geared towards providing expert technical and administrative support and guidance to students and professionals in the med...