Registration for the 11th Biennial Diaspora Conference, set for the Montego Bay Convention Centre in St James, is now open. In a ‘Save the Date’ announcement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, which has jurisdiction for the Jamaican Diaspora, confirmed a previous Gleaner report that the diaspora conference would take place at the convention centre from June 14 to June 18. June 16 will be recognised as Diaspora Day –a day of service.

Administrative matters relating to police diary entries and a change of defence counsel for one of the accused forced an early adjournment in the ongoing Clansman Gang trial in the Home Circuit Court yesterday. The matter involves alleged gang leader Tesha Miller, who is indicted alongside 24 other men in connection with activities linked to the reputed Clansman Gang.

Following the devastation wrought by Hurricane Melissa and the debilitating effects on the small-business sector, the Government has indicated that it will be seeking to strengthen support for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). Fayval Williams, minister of finance and the public service, made the announcement as she opened the 2026-2027 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives yesterday.

Finance and the Public Service Minister Fayval Williams has sought to allay fears that rising oil prices on the global market would affect Jamaica’s ability to import the essential product, arguing yesterday that the country has strong Net International Reserves (NIR) covering 36 weeks of imports.

Auditor General Pamela Monroe Ellis has initiated a probe into the Ministry of Energy, Transport & Telecommunications’ (METT) $1.4-billion acquisition of 110 used school buses amid public concerns over the procurement process. The buses were imported from the United States as part of the Government’s National Rural School Bus Programme.

WESTERN BUREAU: Discovery Bay High School in St Ann is hailing its four-year-old Grade Nine Acceleration Programme (GNAP) – which exposes students to the rigours of the Caribbean Secondary Education Council (CSEC) – as a major success story and is urging other schools to adopt it to raise their pass rates. The programme allows students to begin CSEC preparation in grade nine rather than the traditional grade 10. It was introduced three years after the school’s opening in 2019.

WESTERN BUREAU: Residents of Flanker, St James, were in a buoyant mood yesterday as they welcomed the reopening of their postal agency, which was out of service for a protracted period to undergo a J$3.5-million renovation, courtesy of the St James Municipal Corporation. Speaking at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Senator Charles Sinclair, the councillor for Flanker, said the project had been a long-standing vision for the community, noting that the previous building, which was constructed sometime in the 1980s, had deteriorated significantly over the years.

Western Bureau: Twelve-year-old Shaville Moodie, a first-form student at Frome Technical High School in Westmoreland, says she feels “unhappy” and “uncomfortable” after injuries from a motorcycle crash forced her to miss her internal examinations. Moodie was struck by a motorcycle near the school gate shortly after classes ended on February 26, leaving her with a head injury, deep cuts, and abrasions that now require ongoing medical treatment.

A prosecution witness in the Clansman Gang trial told the court he returned from a shop to find a friend lying across the verandah of his home with multiple gunshot wounds and another man bloodied. The witness, a mechanic, during his evidence-in-chief yesterday, said he shared a father–son relationship with the now deceased man, William Christian, who was gunned down at his Fairview Park, St Catherine residence.

The Ministry of Health and Wellness is making a plea for the public’s patience and cooperation as it assesses the islandwide impact, and implements contingencies to mitigate disruptions caused by the impending severance of ties with Cuban health professionals providing their services in Jamaica. At the start of this month, there were 260 Cuban healthcare workers in the public healthcare system, the bulk of whom operate in the South East Regional Health Authority (SERHA), which is served by 97 of them, according to data from the ministry.

Senior Gleaner journalist Kimone Francis says being named the 2025 Journalist of the Year is a prestigious honour, but is not her “North Star”. “Knowing that a story helped a family find justice or brought resources to a neglected community provides a level of fulfilment that a title cannot replicate,” Francis said yesterday. Her award is among 20 the RJRGLEANER Communications Group took home during the Press Association of Jamaica’s (PAJ) annual national awards ceremony held in St Andrew on Saturday.

Seeing colleague journalists struggle quietly with medical challenges and other personal crises is what moved veteran practitioner Janet Silvera to propose a welfare fund for Jamaican journalists. Silvera, who is also an entrepreneur, will make the first contribution of $1 million to the Journalism Welfare Fund from the proceeds of the Jill Stewart Mobay City Run she founded. “Over the years, I have watched too many colleagues struggle quietly when illness or personal crises strike,” she told The Gleaner yesterday.

The Jamaica Libraries and Information Network (JAMLIN), an arm of the National Library of Jamaica (NLJ), has launched a Jamaican Sign Language (JSL) training initiative aimed at strengthening accessibility and inclusion across Jamaica’s library network. The programme, titled ‘Bridging the Gap: One Sign at a Time’, was officially launched on March 2 during a ceremony held at The University of the West Indies, Mona campus.

Defence attorney Hugh Wildman has urged the court to exclude the testimony of a key prosecution witness in the trial of six policemen charged in connection with the January 2013 fatal shooting of three men on Acadia Drive in St Andrew, arguing that the evidence was “tainted and unlawfully obtained”. Wildman told the court that the evidence of the female eyewitness should be “totally” struck from the record because she participated in a meeting with the prosecutor and another witness shortly before she took the witness stand.

Months after Hurricane Melissa tore through western Jamaica, administrators and students at several special-needs institutions remain in a desperate battle for survival, grappling with a sluggish recovery that threatens to derail the education of the nation’s most vulnerable learners. One St Elizabeth-based early childhood institution has remained shuttered since the passage of the devastating storm, whose name the World Meteorological Organization last week struck from its list, while another institution in St Ann has phased its opening.

WESTERN BUREAU: With restoration work in Phase Two of the Estuary Housing Scheme in St James now at an advanced stage, some residents last Thursday indicated that their fears about being caught in a compromised situation during the next hurricane season have been allayed. Following Hurricane Melissa last October, floodwaters caused a section of the community to collapse, transforming part of the road into a 60- to 70-foot-deep ditch, leaving sewage and water pipes either busted or protruding.

WESTERN BUREAU: On Christmas morning 2025, while most families were at home, possibly gathered around their trees or opening presents, certified nurse practitioner and devoted caregiver Rose Marie Glaze was on the streets of Montego Bay searching for a homeless man. Glaze, in the spirit of goodwill associated with Christmas, wanted to give the man, identified as Kemeila Campbell a proper Christmas at her home, with her family. The plan was that after Christmas, she would return him to the streets, which he had made his home.

Today, for International Women’s Day and through the 2026 theme ‘Give To Gain’, the world is being encouraged to take on a mindset of generosity and collaboration, recognising that when people, organisations, and communities give generously, opportunities and support for women increase. According to www.internationalwomensday.com, “Whether through donations, knowledge, resources, infrastructure, visibility, advocacy, education, training, mentoring, or time, contributing to women’s advancement helps create a more supportive and interconnected world.

An invoice that was presented to customs officials detailing medical equipment and office furniture purchased in the name of the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) for US$251,582 or almost J$40 million, listed the hospital’s address as ‘18¾ Lyndhurst Road’, documents reviewed by The Sunday Gleaner have revealed.

James Harvey*, 54, still moves as though he is standing behind a towering sound system. Sometimes he rocks from side to side, blurting intros to dancehall hits as if the speakers are still thumping behind him. Nearby, Keith Dempson*, 62, straightens his posture and slips into a different performance. “Attention please,” he announces in a crisp, practised tone – the voice of a man who once directed passengers through departure gates at the Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA).

Jamaica’s decision to end its 50-year medical cooperation with Cuba has triggered concerns about how the move might impact the country’s bilateral medical scholarship programme, with at least one scholarship recipient already making contingency plans should the initiative also be scrapped. “I pray it doesn’t have to get to that point,” the student, who requested anonymity, told The Gleaner. The student, who has been studying medicine in Cuba under the scholarship for almost two years, said she and her parents have begun exploring other options.

Criminologist and forensic-reconstruction expert, Dr Jason McKay, has stated that Jamaica needs to be thankful, proud and supportive of the various state agencies’ collective roles that led to former Member of Parliament (MP) Jolyan Silvera pleading guilty to manslaughter after initially declaring innocence in the killing of his wife, Melissa. Silvera was yesterday sentenced to almost 21 years in prison for his wife’s death.

Chief Justice Bryan Sykes said former Member of Parliament Jolyan Silvera’s guilty plea to manslaughter came only after careful consideration of forensic evidence, describing it as “more strategic than remorseful”. On Friday, the 54-year-old was sentenced to 20 years and 10 months in prison for manslaughter and 20 years for using a firearm to commit a felony, with both sentences to run concurrently. He is eligible for parole after serving 13 years.

Expressing deep regret over the termination of its near 50-year-old bilateral medical brigade programme with Jamaica, Cuba in a statement yesterday reaffirmed its commitment to the Jamaican people while making it clear that it believed the move by the Dr Andrew Holness administration was a result of pressure from the United States (US). The statement from Cuba came after claims from Jamaican government officials earlier in the week that the two countries were unable to reach consensus on a new memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the programme.

The family of Melissa Silvera say they are not pleased with the possibility that her widower, former Member of Parliament (MP) Jolyan Silvera, could be eligible for parole after being sentenced to nearly 21 years for her death.

Acting Principal of Godfrey Stewart High School Stacey-Ann Ottey Clarke says the school’s administration is disappointed after state agencies failed to honour a January deadline to remove hurricane-impacted shelterees from the school’s compound. A total of 10 people are still being housed at the school, down from 300 in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, the Category 5 storm that ravaged the island on October 28 last year and displaced thousands.

WESTERN BUREAU: Governor General Sir Patrick Allen, the chief scout of Jamaica, is calling for young Jamaicans to embrace the principles of scouting, not just in uniform but in their daily lives. Addressing the Annual Public Meeting of the Scout Association of Jamaica at King’s House in St Andrew as part of the celebration of Scout Week 2026, Sir Patrick encouraged Scouts of all ages to translate lessons learned in the movement into good citizenship.

Jamaica has closed the door on a 49-year-old bilateral arrangement with Cuba that sent hundreds of Cuban professionals to the island to bolster health infrastructure, bringing services to remote communities. Confirmation of the termination of the programme came Thursday, via a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade. Three senior medical professionals who contacted The Gleaner after the news broke expressed regret and “great pain”, though they admitted that “the writing has been on the wall for several years”.

A prosecution eyewitness in the trial of six policemen charged in the 2013 fatal shooting of three men on Acadia Drive in St Andrew told the Home Circuit Court yesterday that she had no intention of testifying and was “extremely surprised” when she was later called as a witness in the case.

Member of Parliament for St Catherine South East Dr Alfred Dawes is raising concern that the special consumption tax on non-alcoholic sweetened beverages will also affect diet drinks, which are a healthier substitute for consumers. “You are taxing persons who are trying to make healthier choices,” said Dawes, who is also the opposition spokesman on health.

KOLKATA, India (AP): New Zealand opener Finn Allen smashed the fastest-ever century in a T20 World Cup game to help the Kiwis defeat favourites South Africa by nine wickets in the first semi-final yesterday. Allen’s blistering unbeaten 100 off 33 balls featured 10 fours and eight sixes and propelled New Zealand to 173-1 in only 12.5 overs, to end South Africa’s hopes of reaching their second successive final.

Twenty-six-year-old attorney-at-law and journalist Sayeed Bernard is set to make a significant impact in Jamaica’s policy landscape after completing his Master of Laws at Queen Mary University of London. Bernard, a 2024 Chevening Scholar from Linstead, St Catherine, has overcome numerous challenges to reach this milestone while being driven by his mantra: ‘I stop at nothing’. Growing up in a single-parent household, Bernard’s determination and resilience were fuelled by his desire to create a better life for himself and his community.

A prosecution witness yesterday insisted that although she and her partner witnessed parts of the fatal shooting of three men on Acadia Drive in St Andrew in 2013, and later composed a letter about the incident, some details in the document were based on her partner’s observations and not her own. The witness made the clarification as she came under intense cross-examination from defence attorney Hugh Wildman in the Home Circuit Court during the ongoing trial of six policemen charged in connection with the incident.

Fiscal Commissioner Courtney Williams has raised questions about the credibility of aspects of the Government’s 2026-2027 Budget in his Economic and Fiscal Assessment Report (EFAR). In his assessment of the Government’s macroeconomic and fiscal forecasts, the career economist said Jamaica’s fiscal policy remains broadly sustainable, supported by a resilient Fiscal Responsibility Framework and significant disaster-risk financing layers.

As members of parliament (MPs) gear up to pose questions to portfolio ministers today about the Government’s $1.4-trillion Budget during a two-day meeting of Parliament’s Standing Finance Committee, two sector groups have highlighted issues they want addressed during the deliberations.