MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica (AP) — Jamaica’s prime minister said Thursday that she wants her Caribbean country to sever ties with the British monarchy soon so it can turn the page on its colonial past and focus on development. Portia Simpson Miller first announced her desire to replace Queen Elizabeth II as Jamaica’s head of state […]
Son of Skatalites member killed in Jamaica
February 28, 2012 by Leave a Comment
KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Relatives say the 32-year-old son of a founding member of the pioneering Jamaican ska and reggae band The Skatalites was fatally shot about an hour after accepting a music award for his ill father. Ruth Brevett says her son Okine was killed Sunday by a gunman at the entrance of his […]
Jamaica gang feuds driving rise in murder rate
February 24, 2012 by Leave a Comment
KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Jamaica is developing a new policy to battle crime as gang violence drives the homicide rate higher, the country’s top security official said Tuesday. National Security Minister Peter Bunting said 165 killings have been reported by police so far in 2012, compared to 135 slayings during the corresponding period last year […]
Radio ‘godfather’
February 13, 2012 by Leave a Comment
KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Wilmot Perkins, a veteran Jamaican journalist considered the island’s “godfather of talk radio,” has died. He was 80. Perkins died Friday at his home after a brief illness, according to statements from his former employers. The Jamaica Observer newspaper published a statement it said was released by former Prime Minister Bruce […]
Jamaicans must adopt culture of tolerance and healing
February 11, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Jamaican Minister of Justice, Senator the Hon. Mark Golding says it is important for Jamaicans to adopt a culture of tolerance and healing, as the country celebrates its 50th year of Independence from Colonial rule. He explained that part of the aim of the Restorative Justice Programme is to help Jamaicans who have been perpetrators […]
Dump fire
February 11, 2012 by Leave a Comment
KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Acrid smoke from a fire at a sprawling trash dump blanketed swaths of Jamaica’s capital Thursday, and officials warned people to stay indoors to avoid exposure to potentially dangerous pollutants. Jamaica’s emergency management office said it would likely take three more days to bring the fire under control and five days […]
Jamaica government destroys 2,000 guns in furnace
February 8, 2012 by Leave a Comment
KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Roughly 2,000 firearms were melted down in a blazing furnace Tuesday as part of an effort designed to combat gun trafficking and corruption in Jamaica while reducing violent crime. Police, government and U.N. officials destroyed pistols and revolvers by pitching them into a kiln glowing bright orange at a cement factory […]
Jamaica police pushed to reduce police killings
February 4, 2012 by Leave a Comment
NEGRIL, Jamaica (AP) — Every day, Richard Hill has to pass the bullet-scarred courtyard outside his home where he saw his 47-year-old brother gunned down at point-blank range by a police officer. That Thursday more than a year ago, police in a van skidded to a stop where Mickey Hill stood among friends and relatives […]
Pioneer of rap reggae, King Stitt, dies at 72
February 2, 2012 by Leave a Comment
KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — King Stitt, a pioneer in rap reggae, died Tuesday in his Caribbean homeland of Jamaica. He was 72. Stitt died at his home in the capital of Kingston after a long fight with prostate cancer and diabetes, said Jamaican musicologist Bunny Goodison, who was a close friend to the performer for […]
Jamaica launches emergency jobs initiative
January 27, 2012 by Leave a Comment
KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Jamaica’s month-old government on Wednesday launched the first phase of an emergency jobs programme that was the centerpiece of its winning election campaign. The government formed by the People’s National Party said some 700 jobless people will be hired to clear vegetation and trash in the short- and medium-term along a northern […]
