Minister commends parents who prepared their children for Grade Six PEP exams

Reading Time: 2 minutesMinister of Education, Skills, Youth and Information Dana Morris Dixon has outlined that the Grade Six Primary Exit Profile (PEP) exam commences today (April 30) and Thursday (May 1).

Dixon, while speaking at the post-Cabinet press briefing, expressed gratitude to the parents and teachers who have played a vital role in preparing the students for these exams.

Government celebrating 36.6% reduction in murders

Reading Time: 3 minutesMinister of Information Dana Morris Dixon reported that as of Saturday (April 26), murders are down 36.6 per cent.

Dixon emphasised that this is a big reduction in crime, as it means 130 fewer people than last year have lost their lives due to murder. “It means 130 fewer mothers in pain. It is a big number, and it is a big deal, and we need to celebrate it,” she said.

Wildfires rage near Jerusalem, major road closed, communities evacuated

Reading Time: 2 minutesJERUSALEM (Reuters) Wildfires raged on the outskirts of Jerusalem on Wednesday (April 30), forcing the evacuation of communities and the closure of a main highway as Israel appealed for international…

SOS: Migrants held in Texas fear notorious El Salvador prison

Reading Time: 6 minutesDetainees at the Bluebonnet immigrant detention centre in the small city of Anson, Texas, sent the outside world a message this week: S-O-S. With a Reuters drone flying nearby, 31…

Trump says ‘be patient’ as US economy contracts on tariff disruption

Reading Time: < 1 minuteWASHINGTON (Reuters) President Donald Trump said on Wednesday (April 30) that Americans should be patient in the face of a first-quarter economic contraction, arguing that his tariffs would eventually lead…

Mexico avoids technical recession but economists see tough path ahead

Reading Time: 2 minutes(Reuters) -Mexico’s economy performed better than expected in the first quarter of the year, preliminary data released by national statistics agency INEGI showed on Wednesday (April 30), although analysts continue…

PM breaks ground for Brookside Estate Housing development in St James

Reading Time: 3 minutesPrime Minister Dr Andrew Holness broke ground for the Brookside Estate Housing Development in Spot Valley, St. James, which will deliver 418 housing units to Jamaicans on Friday (April 25)….

White House blasts Amazon for ‘hostile and political’ tariff move

Reading Time: < 1 minuteAmazon is denying reports that it will display the impact of tariffs next to the price of products on its e-commerce site, which drew blasts from the Trump administration on Tuesday.

It is reported that Amazon said it was never considering adding the additional cost caused by tariffs next to the price of goods on its main website but rather was contemplating doing so on its low-cost Amazon Haul site.

PM: Government lowering the cost of doing business and tackling crime

Reading Time: 5 minutesPrime Minister Andrew Holness said the government is bringing down the cost of living and the cost of doing business on the fiscal side and increasing the attractiveness of Jamaica as a destination while tackling crime, which is a social factor.

Holness also stated that it is important that Jamaicans recognise that Jamaica did have, in the early days, a period when manufacturing boomed and a fairly long period when the state was not able to compete.

‘JTC Act represents decisive step to modernise governance framework of teaching profession’

Reading Time: 2 minutesGovernment Senator Kavan Gayle said the Jamaica Teaching Council (JTC) Act, 2025, represents a decisive step towards modernising the governance framework of the teaching profession in Jamaica. Making his contribution…

‘Farmers are the heart of Jamaica’s hot pepper industry’

Reading Time: 3 minutesPablo Jenkins, project donor representative from the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF), highlighted that farmers are at the heart of advancing the hot pepper industry of Jamaica.

The three-year project aims to improve compliance with food safety and plant health requirements along the hot pepper value chain to increase production and export to international markets. “The STDF is a global partnership that helps developing countries improve their food safety and animal and plant health capacity in order to meet international sanitary and private sanitary requirements,” Jenkins said.

Organised crime and violence holding back Latin America and the Caribbean

Reading Time: 2 minutesOrganised crime and violence have become a central obstacle to development in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to the World Bank’s latest regional economic review. The report titled ‘Organized Crime…