Faced with excruciating pain brought on by avascular necrosis (AVN), Mishcah Hamilton has found herself in a race against permanent immobility, requiring emergency hip-replacement surgery after suffering a total joint collapse because of sickle cell disease. A common but devastating complication of the disease, AVN is the death of bone tissue due to a loss of blood supply, causing the bone to weaken and potentially collapse, most commonly affecting the hip, knee, shoulder, or ankle.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining awarded almost $870 million in contracts without its procurement committee’s review, an action that “compromised transparency”, the Auditor General’s Department says. In its 2024-2025 Annual Report, released last week, the department reported that the ministry “did not provide evidence that the procurement committee met and reviewed recommendations for the award of contracts/procurement of goods and services totalling $868.85 million”.

WESTERN BUREAU: Amid concerns about uncollected garbage and the capacity of St James’ Retirement waste disposal site to handle increasing waste from across western Jamaica post-Hurricane Melissa, some environmental stakeholders are declaring that certain types of garbage could be repurposed as material for roads, buildings, and coastal reefs.

WESTERN BUREAU: Jamaica’s tourism sector entered 2025 with confidence, but by year’s end, the numbers told a more complicated story. For the period January to November, the island welcomed approximately 3.69 million visitors, including both...

A white paper on Destination Assurance, aimed at strengthening Jamaica’s tourism industry in order to ensure its sustainability, was presented to Cabinet last Monday and is expected to come to Parliament shortly. Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett...

In the list of priorities for the Caribbean, security warrants a place at the top. Security is larger than protecting one’s borders. It is a multi-faceted process that involves several actors and many issues. In 2026, two aspects of regional...

The privatisation of public infrastructure is a contentious issue. However, after facing Hurricane Melissa, the Caribbean must see that time is running out for climate-proofing our nations. No single territory can withstand the growing threats of...

One of the defining characteristics of the Caribbean is its extensive diaspora which hosts a pot-pourri of talents and potential. Young people in this group have shared their dreams for the region and its diaspora. This includes seeking and...

God is perfectly in control. Stop panicking! The right understanding of God’s authority over the affairs of all creation will always enhance our relationship with him, and also inspire our confidence in His word. The God we are serving is the...

The world has moved into a difficult season. There are more questions than answers. The resource of religious faith is also tested in the face of natural disaster, the threat of pandemic, and the ever-closer reality of wars and rumours of wars. It...

Today’s piece is intentional. I don’t want you to miss the message. Sing these words with me: If I can help somebody, as I pass along, If I can cheer somebody, with a word or song, If I can show somebody, that he’s travelling wrong, Then my...

Six clergy members were honoured Sunday during an appreciation service at the Foursquare Gospel Church in Annotto Bay, St Mary. Those recognised included Reverend Stanley Brown, Reverend Jasmine White, Reverend Winston Flemmings, Minister Lynneve...

What began as a temporary emergency response to Hurricane Melissa has evolved into a sustained healthcare crisis at Mandeville Regional Hospital, where patient numbers now far exceed capacity and exhausted staff struggle daily to keep pace. Though...

Alleged gang leader Courtney 'Bloodstain' Ashley has been charged by police for engaging in a conversation about the sale of a firearm. According to the police, the conversation was found in his cell phone, which they say was seized when he was...

A St Andrew chef has been charged for the death of a man whose body was found on fire along a road in the Olympic Gardens area in November 2025. Charged with murder, possession of a prohibited weapon, unauthorized possession of ammunition, and...

YouTube is updating its guidelines for videos containing content that advertisers define as controversial, allowing more creators to earn full ad revenue when they tackle sensitive issues in a non-graphic way. With the update that went into...

The Jamaica Public Service (JPS) is alerting the public to a fraudulent “news article” and video circulating online which falsely claim that the company has launched an investment programme for Jamaicans and asking persons to invest money. JPS,...

The National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) is undertaking waste separation at source as part of measures to reduce the costs associated with the massive clean-up and transportation of Hurricane Melissa debris. The move is part of...

A St Catherine taxi operator charged for attacking a fellow cabbie, whom he accused of constantly “bad driving" him, with a machete and chopping him several times, was on Friday granted $1 million with surety in the parish court. The accused,...

A man who the police say was wanted in St Ann was fatally shot during an alleged confrontation with cops on Jacques Road in St Andrew on Saturday. The deceased has been identified as 35-year-old Devar Hodges, otherwise known as ‘Blackhead’ and ‘...

A Westmoreland man has been charged for allegedly setting his neighbour’s house on fire. He is 39-year-old Jason Hinds of Smithfield district in Savanna-la-Mar, who is charged with arson. His court date is being finalised. The police report that...

The Incorporated Masterbuilders Association of Jamaica (IMAJ) is calling on Jamaicans to ensure they have a formal written contract in place before beginning any home construction, expansion or renovation project. Past President of the IMAJ,...

The St Catherine North police are searching for the person(s) responsible for the fatal shooting of a man along King Street in Spanish Town on Friday. The deceased has been identified as 50-year-old Charlie Whyte of Rivoli in Spanish Town. The...

The Jamaica Constabulary Force is reporting that two senior government employees, a man and a woman, were arrested on Friday at the Sangster International Airport in St James after cocaine valued at more than $5 million was allegedly found in...

Minister of Local Government and Community Development Desmond McKenzie says greater effort is to be made to push the use of the AMANDA digital planning system amid vulnerabilities exposed by Hurricane Melissa. McKenzie wants to see the system...

LONDON: Mayor of Lewisham, Brenda Dacres, OBE, has taken her seat in the House of Lords as part of the latest intake of Labour peers to the unelected chamber. She was among the 25 nominations of peerage announced by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer...

Clarendon is to benefit from $192 million under a $1.6 billion national road-patching programme due to begin within two weeks. The pledge follows complaints from residents and taxi operators in Cherry Tree Lane and Clarendon Gardens. Minister of...

Principal of Denbigh High School in Clarendon, Annett Daley, is urging greater collaboration among schools and stronger partnerships with donors and stakeholders. Shared resources – particularly sports infrastructure – are, she argues, critical to...

The Masters of Medicine Conference, the Caribbean’s leading multidisciplinary medical forum, opens today and runs through Monday, January 19. It will bring together physicians, scientists, educators and health-system leaders from across the globe...

Brown’s Town Primary students walked away victors of the inaugural Environmental Quiz and Expo, beating The Glen Preparatory 36-30 in a closely contested final match held at Holiday Haven in Runaway Bay, St Ann, on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Runaway Bay...

The Ministry of National Security is refuting claims that Portfolio Minister Dr Horace Chang, who is also Deputy Prime Minister, is hospitalised. “The Minister did not suffer a health emergency, and such rumours are baseless and fictitious,” the...

The Supreme Court has refused applications from lawyers representing former education minister Ruel Reid, former head of the Caribbean Maritime University (CMU) Professor Fritz Pinnock, and their co-accused to challenge the indictment in their...

The Forestry Department will replant some 300,000 seedlings between January and June 2026, under phase one of its new RE-LEAF initiative (Reforestation, Ecological Enhancement and Landscape Framework). The programme, which will serve as the...

The Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) has reported that the inflation rate for December 2025 was 1.3 per cent, compared to November 2025. Director General, Leesha Delatie-Budair, shared the details during a press briefing at the AC Hotel...

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — United States President Donald Trump suggested Friday that he may punish countries with tariffs if they don’t back the US controlling Greenland, a message that came as a bipartisan Congressional delegation sought to...