Jamaica Observer

KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) is mourning the passing of former Member of Parliament for St Mary Western, Hyacinth Knight. Knight died at the Andrews Memorial Hospital in St Andrew on Wednesday after battling an illness. She was 86 years old. Jamaica Labour Party Chairman and Member of Parliament for St Mary Western, Robert Montague, is expressing the party’s deepest condolences to her family. Montague said the Jamaica Labour Party is grateful to Knight for her immense co

ST JAMES, Jamaica — The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) High Command is condemning what it has described as a brazen attack on its members after two cops were injured during a confrontation in Mount Salem, St James, Wednesday morning. According to the JCF in a press release, at approximately 3:25 am, a team from the Area One Fugitive Apprehension Team was conducting an operation on Crawford Street when the officers reportedly came under gunfire immediately after entering the premises. During

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Kingston is being positioned as the entertainment destination of choice for Heroes Weekend as organisers of Greatness Weekend seek to attract Jamaicans, members of the diaspora and international visitors to the capital for a four-day celebration of music, nightlife, food, fashion and lifestyle. The second staging of Greatness Weekend was officially launched at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel on Tuesday, with organisers placing the “I Choose Kingston” campaign at the centre of this

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Over 100 students from western Jamaica have been assisted with just under $10 million for back-to-school expenses through the Usain Bolt Foundation (UBF). The students, all of whom were impacted by Hurricane Melissa, are recent Primary Exit Profile (PEP) candidates, entering secondary schools. The students from the parishes of Trelawny, St James, Hanover, Westmoreland and St Elizabeth, who were successful in their PEP Exams, will receive assistance with school fees and othe

ST JAMES, Jamaica — A wanted man was shot and killed and three cops injured during an alleged shootout in Mount Salem, St James, early Wednesday morning. The man, identified as Romario Brown, otherwise called Jerry, was fatally shot after he allegedly opened fire at a police team conducting an operation along Crawford Street shortly after 3:00 am. Fire was returned, and Brown was found suffering from gunshot wounds. He was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead. A gun was recovered fo

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) — The Court of Appeal has reserved its judgement in a case in which the Jamaican-born British King's Counsel Vincent Nelson has filed a lawsuit alleging breaches of an indemnity agreement he entered into to implicate former Attorney General Anand Ramlogan and attorney Gerald Ramdeen in an alleged legal fee kickback scheme. In October 2017, Nelson provided a statement in which he claimed that Ramlogan had demanded that he pay him 10 per cent of the legal fees he rec

KINGSTON, Jamaica — The long-awaited, newly formatted Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) Manning Cup competition kicks off on Wednesday with nine matches scheduled across the Corporate Area. Jamaica’s schoolboy football landscape is set for one of its biggest changes in years, with ISSA introducing a revamped format for its competitions for the 2026 season. The new structure is designed to make the competition more competitive, reduce one-sided matches and give more teams opport

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AFP)—Nepali rescuers clung to hopes of finding survivors trapped in hydropower tunnels on Wednesday, two weeks after deadly flooding triggered by a glacial mountain collapse. The August 26 tsunami-like surge of water, mud and debris, which began on the China-Nepal border, has killed more than 1,410 people and left 5,651 missing. "The rescue and search work in the tunnels at Trishuli 3A, 3B and Chilime hydropower projects is ongoing," Nepal Army spokesman Raja Ram Basnet told

WITH the majority of lawsuits against the State filed by inmates seeking millions in compensation based on complaints about lack of bathroom facilities, overcrowding and general prison conditions, the Attorney General’s Chambers has recommended that the Department of Corrections “address the systematic deficiencies and the administrative shortcomings in order to cauterise the influx of these types of cases”. “We have a lot of cases before the court that highlight these challenges,” director of

Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has signalled that more underpopulated schools could be consolidated or left off the Government’s reconstruction list, arguing that Jamaica cannot continue maintaining costly education facilities with too few students to fill them. Speaking during Tuesday’s official launch of the Jamaica Reconstruction and Resilience Oversight Committee (JAMRROC) at Jamaica House in Kingston, Holness stressed the rebuilding of Jamaica after Hurricane Melissa would not simply mea

AFTER three years of celebrating Caribbean excellence in New York City, the Caribbean Music Awards (CMAs) is coming home. For the first time since its inception, the awards ceremony will be staged on Caribbean soil, with Trinidad and Tobago selected to welcome artistes, industry stakeholders and music lovers for what is expected to be a landmark celebration of regional sound and culture. The move will also usher in a new era for the CMAs as the event will move from a single celebratory evening

WISYNCO Group Limited is moving to spend up to $5 billion on its operations over the next three years to meet the growing demand for its manufacturing and distribution business lines. That’s the update provided by Wisynco Group Chairman William Mahfood following the release of the company’s audited financials for the June 2026 financial year (FY). The next round of investments is focused on growing the company’s manufacturing capacity and warehouse space for its expanding proprietary and third-

JAMAICA Football Federation (JFF) President Michael Ricketts is calling for unity between FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Concacaf President Victor Montagliani as tensions between the two reportedly continue to escalate. The relationship between both men has come under scrutiny recently amid the fallout over Infantino’s scrapped proposal to sell stakes in FIFA competitions, including the men’s and women’s World Cup. Montagliani, who is a Canadian and Infantino’s vice-president at FIFA, is

JN Money Services has added Africa-focused fintech WapiPay to its international remittance network, giving the cross-border payments company a foothold in Jamaica following regulatory approval to operate locally. Under the arrangement, WapiPay customers will be able to send funds to Jamaica for collection at JN Money locations or have the money deposited directly into recipients’ local bank accounts. Founded in Singapore in 2019, WapiPay operates from offices in Nairobi, Kenya; and Kampala, Ug

PRICESMART has taken over the former Nestlé distribution complex at Ferry Pen, St Catherine, for use as its new Jamaican distribution centre, filling in a major missing piece of the membership retailer’s rapidly expanding local operation. The Nasdaq-listed company had previously disclosed plans to establish a distribution centre in Jamaica during its 2026 financial year, but had not identified where the facility would be located. PriceSmart has said the centre forms part of a wider push to impr

THE Government is preparing to use the planned relocation of Parottee residents in St Elizabeth as a test of whether vulnerable Jamaican communities can be moved out of harm’s way without sacrificing their livelihoods, dignity, or sense of community. Signalling the urgency of that effort, Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has ordered the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA) to make the project a priority. Speaking during Tuesday’s official launch of the Jamaica Reconstructio

In a blunt admission during Tuesday’s launch of Jamaica’s reconstruction watchdog, Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness said the fear of parliamentary scrutiny that follows procurement decisions has become part of the reason public servants are reluctant to move quickly. This is an issue the Jamaica Reconstruction and Resilience Oversight Committee (JAMRROC) is now expected to help confront through independent, real-time accountability. Holness said the answer was not to remove scrutiny, but to ma

PARIS, France (AFP) — Jose Mourinho got off to a winning start on his return to the UEFA Champions League with Real Madrid on Tuesday as the Spanish giants beat Inter Milan 2-1, while Erling Haaland scored twice in Manchester City’s victory at Porto. There were also wins for Aston Villa and Borussia Dortmund on the first night of action in this season’s league phase, as the opening matchday spreads across three nights. Record 15-time European champions Real have brought back Mourinho for a sec

Brown’s Town High and Jamaal Johnson maintained their strong start to the ISSA daCosta Cup football competition after beating Marcus Garvey Technical 5-0 in a Zone C top-of-the-table clash at York Castle High on Tuesday. Brown’s Town had opened the season with a school-record 20-0 win over debutants Walkerswood Academy on Saturday as they raced to six points at the top of the zone. Ferncourt High also won back-to-back games after beating Walkerswood 9-0 at Drax Hall on Tuesday as the Paul “Teg

THE JDF Warriors are the 2026 Jamaica National Club Championship (NCC) Men’s Rugby League champions after defeating first-time minor premiers, the Liguanea Dragons, 28-10 in an entertaining grand final at the UWI Mona Bowl on Saturday. The victory marked a significant milestone for the Warriors, who captured their first NCC title since 2008. It was their fifth grand-final appearance. For the Dragons, it was their second finals appearance since joining the competition in 2013. The Dragons start