🇯🇲 Jamaica News
📰 Daily Digest — Jamaica
- Students at St Elizabeth Technical High School are getting a fresh start, with the campus reopening alongside brand new classrooms.
- The education ministry is once again pushing for violence-free schools, a renewed appeal as the school year gets underway.
- Teachers are being urged to bring more STEM into their lessons, so students get earlier exposure to science, tech and math careers.
- On the culture front, drummer Paul Kastick is blending reggae with rock on his new project, 'My Reggae Rocking Journey Vol 2'.
- Football fans had something to celebrate too, as Erling Haaland scored twice to power Manchester City past Porto.
Caricom urges closer collaboration with Africa
Antigua introduces universal free education
ST JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – Antigua and Barbuda Education Minister Daryll Matthew has described as “historic” the decision to provide “universal free education from early childhood to university” as the new school term got under way on Monday. Matthew said that universal free education is “a deliberate policy taken by the Government of Antigua and Barbuda to ensure that finances and resources are no longer a limitation to access to education here”.
Two injured in shooting along Constant Spring Road — reports
Cuba denounces ‘record’ economic damage from US embargo
Panama Canal says not ruling out new transit restrictions due to El Nino
King Charles classes Harry and Meghan as ‘private citizens’
Windsor Wellness, Biovanta Labs launch Jamaica’s first at-home prostate screening kit
Flow customers plan home improvements with million-dollar wins
St Mary security guard charged over imitation gun, fake firearm ID
A St Mary man who is a security guard has been charged for allegedly being in possession of an imitation gun and a fake firearm holder's identification card. He is 36-year-old Nickson Hamilton of Frazerwood in Highgate, who is charged with possession of a prohibited weapon, unauthorised possession of ammunition, possession of a forged document and uttering a forged document. Hamilton was arrested and charged on Saturday, September 5.
St Mary security guard held after fake FLA ID, ammo and homemade gun seized
UK govt rules out slavery reparations as Jamaica presses issue
High school student Lenesha Francis is Miss Jamaica World Southern Region 2026
Herbert Morrison Technical reopens to smooth start despite ongoing post-Melissa repairs
Herbert Morrison Technical High School in Montego Bay, St James, has had a smooth start to the September 2026 school term despite ongoing restoration work to repair lingering damage from Hurricane Melissa. Newly installed Principal Lavern Stewart said that while about 18 classroom spaces at the institution are still undergoing repairs, school operations got off to a good start this morning.
Johnson Smith to promote Jamaica at 26th Investment and Trade Fair in China
JTA president flags school challenges as new academic year begins
Antigua PM calls for partnership and renewed action on reparatory justice
Samuda orders review of NWC worksites across Corporate Area amid traffic complaints
Following a surge of public complaints regarding severe traffic disruptions, Water Minister Matthew Samuda has directed the National Water Commission (NWC) to conduct an immediate review of all active construction and emergency repair sites across the Corporate Area. The complaints have intensified with schools reopening today following the two-month summer break. The mandate specifically targets active projects within Kingston and St Andrew, where ongoing utility works have heavily impacted daily commuters.
Vaz warns against ‘mischief’ in transportation sector, dismisses claims about disruptions
Transport Minister Daryl Vaz has condemned persons who he says have been seeking to create disquiet in the transportation sector. Vaz, in a media statement posted to X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday, said in recent days, some persons have used social media to circulate unsubstantiated claims of planned disruptions in fuel supplies and transportation operations. He said these unfounded posts have created unnecessary anxiety, uncertainty and unnecessary costs, as persons have sought to urgently refuel without there being a need to do so.
Samuda orders review of NWC work sites amid Kingston traffic frustration
PNP outlines priorities ahead of 88th conference
Stronger schools
Stronger schools
Sykes again makes case for judge-alone trials
Sykes again makes case for judge-alone trials
Hot under the collar
Hot under the collar
Koffee makes waves with ‘Ova So’
Koffee makes waves
Cops confident though traffic snarls expected in MoBay
Cops confident though traffic snarls expected in MoBay
Expect ‘a little bit of discomfort’
Expect ‘a little bit of discomfort’
EL NIÑO AT PLAY!
WATCH OUT!
How Dis Mek? – Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee
Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee
SHAMEFUL - Pan-Africanist blasts Jamaica’s move to petition to King today on reparations guidance
Jamaica’s decision to lodge a petition today with King Charles to seek legal guidance on its slavery reparations claim from Britain has been branded as a disgrace by Pan-African advocate Dr Imani Tafari-Ama. “It is embarrassing. It is so embarrassing,” Tafari-Ama told The Gleaner yesterday. She noted that the Caribbean Community has already established a 10-point reparations plan to facilitate and guide the global African reparations movement.
JTA demands seat at table on school closures
President of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA), La Sonja Harrison, is raising concern over what she describes as the lack of consultation regarding school closures and mergers. According to the JTA head, at least 10 schools are set to be merged or closed by the Government for this academic term. “We await where it is in the process of these consolidations and closures, that a conversation will be had with the union to represent our members,” she told The Gleaner.
JAMVAC looks beyond the ports
WESTERN BUREAU: Jamaica Vacations Limited (JAMVAC) is turning to some of its top international cruise sellers to help drive more passengers to the island – and, critically, get them to explore and spend more beyond the ports. The push comes as Jamaica moves to strengthen its position in an increasingly competitive cruise market, with passenger arrivals yet to regain their recent momentum.
Born to beat the odds
Matthew Hyatt was not expected to survive his one-and half-pound weight at birth and three months in the paediatric intensive care at the University Hospital of the West Indies. But, 33 years have elapsed since his early entrance in the world, and the stories in-between appeared to have prepared him for many of the hurdles he would face, the hard lessons learnt so far, and a decision to look at life differently.
Born to beat the odds - How an accident forced attorney Matthew Hyatt to view life differently
Matthew Hyatt was not expected to survive his one-and half-pound weight at birth and three months in the paediatric intensive care at the University Hospital of the West Indies. But, 33 years have elapsed since his early entrance in the world, and the stories in-between appeared to have prepared him for many of the hurdles he would face, the hard lessons learnt so far, and a decision to look at life differently.
Blake: Stand with colleagues, but not at expense of JCF
Citing “recent allegations” involving members of the police force, Commissioner of Police Dr Kevin Blake has issued a caution to cops that supporting a colleague “does not mean shielding wrongdoing”. At the same time, Blake urged the men and women under his command to “reject the temptation to allow allegations to become convictions in the court of public opinion”. “The recent allegations involving members of the JCF have placed the organisation under significant scrutiny,” he wrote in last weekend’s Force Orders, making reference to the Jamaica Constabulary Force.
From campers to changemakers
When Regina Taylor walked on to the stage before her peers at the Project STAR Youth Summer Leadership Camp, she was doing more than competing for the title of Camp Queen. For the 17-year-old from Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland, it was a test of confidence she had been building throughout four days of challenges, conversations and new experiences. She rose to the occasion.
Staff crunch forcing specialist school to turn blind students away
A guidance counsellor at the Salvation Army School for the Blind is calling for urgent support for the institution, as the current staffing levels are inadequate to address the needs of the students. Sean Harvey says the institution is at risk of breaching the Disabilities Act as it has had to turn away students who are in need of its services.
Essential digital technologies are critical infrastructure
What do the water system in Flint, Michigan, the electrical grid in Puerto Rico and your search engine have in common? They are all critical infrastructure, systems essential to everyday life. People expect critical infrastructure to be reliable, to minimise risk and to promote public well-being. When it fails, such as when lead seepage poisoned Flint’s water supply in 2014, or when nearly all of Puerto Rico’s power went out on New Year’s Eve in 2024, the public expects risks to be mitigated and problems to be addressed.
Weight-loss medicines and hair loss: New study finds genetic link in men
NEW YORK (ANI): Weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Zepbound may be linked to a higher risk of male-pattern hair loss, with men already genetically predisposed to the condition facing a seven per cent additional risk, according to a new study led by researchers at NYU Langone Health.
NCU nursing students get a shot in the arm
For more than two years, Northern Caribbean University (NCU) nursing student Anastacia Williams used an Android phone to complete university assignments, prepare PowerPoint presentations, work on Excel documents, and type lengthy academic papers. When the phone began falling apart, she held the screen together with an elastic band and kept working. Last Thursday, that struggle took a different turn when Williams received a HP laptop through a partnership involving AdventHealth, Andrews Memorial Hospital Limited, and NCU.
JMMB Joan Duncan Foundation summer programmes impact nearly 1,000 youths
As schools closed for the summer, hundreds of young Jamaicans across the island remained engaged in literacy, leadership, environmental education and personal-development programmes through a series of community-based camps and learning initiatives supported by the JMMB Joan Duncan Foundation. Approximately 974 youths benefited from the foundation’s investment of more than J$1 million in seven programmes this year.
A landmark UN report says the world will overshoot the 1.5°C climate target
For over a decade, the world has been trying to limit global warming to 1.5°C. That is no longer possible, according to a new United Nations report. We will likely pass 1.5°C in 2030. That is not good news for anyone, least of all Australia’s Pacific Island neighbours, who face rapidly rising seas.
Daily life in Iran on the beach along the Strait of Hormuz
BANDAR ABBAS (AP):
Funeral for Ras Ajai set for September 26
The funeral for Ras Ajai is scheduled for September 26.
Spanish Town Hospital rejects negligence claim over crash victim’s 10-month surgery wait
Bittersweet farewell for outgoing Manchester commander
UPDATE: Five dead in cargo plane crash at Miami airport
Ocho Rios stakeholders unite for major cleanup and beautification exercise
Grange to file slavery reparations petition during UK visit
Grange intends to file a petition calling for slavery reparations during a visit to the United Kingdom. The filing lands amid a wider debate over compensation for slavery and its legacy across former colonial powers. The initial report did not give the date of the visit or the contents of the petition.
