China has rebuffed comments by United States (US) ambassador nominee Kari Lake, as it defended its 53-year relationship with Jamaica, pointing to over US$2.1 billion in local investments and recent disaster relief as proof of a mutually beneficial partnership. The response comes a week after Lake signalled to a Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearing that she intends to counter China’s influence in Jamaica.

WESTERN BUREAU: Montego Bay Mayor Richard Vernon has joined the call for more authentic, community-based attractions in the western city in a push to move it beyond just beaches, hotels and a bustling nightlife.

Camperdown Primary and Infant School teacher Duval Ebanks envisions a classroom of the future equipped with sensory technology that creates an interactive and sustainable learning environment for his students.

The JN Foundation is inviting students and their guardians to apply for its 2026 Primary Exit Profile (PEP) Scholarships and Grants Programme, which will provide financial support to high-achieving students transitioning to secondary school.

The JMMB Group recently hosted a client mixer and official branch opening at its newly relocated May Pen Financial Life Goals Centre. Dubbed ‘Celebrating New Spaces, Strengthening Connections’, the event marked both a warm opportunity to reconnect with clients and the formal acknowledgement of the branch’s relocation to its modern, expanded facility at Millennium Mall earlier this year.

Western Bureau: Dr Luz Longworth, the senior corporate director at Sandals Corporate University, has described excellence as a choice that people should make when they decide to serve others.

Jamaica has recorded a second consecutive week of single-digit murders, with six homicides reported across the island between June 21 and June 27, according to the latest serious crime statistics from the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF).

Nearly 30 residents spent close to two hours pressing Member of Parliament (MP) for St Andrew North Western, Duane Smith, on Sunday over deteriorating roads, stalled infrastructure projects, roadside businesses, and the use of constituency funds during the Havendale Meadowbrook Citizens Association’s (HMCA) monthly meeting.

Within days of each other, Jamaicans have been confronted with a series of grim discoveries: decomposed bodies in rivers, bushes and remote communities; skeletal remains hidden in vegetation; and victims whose disappearances ended in tragedy.

Brooklyn Congresswoman Yvette Clarke has harshly criticised the ruling by the United States Supreme Court to remove Temporary Protected Status from Haitians and Syrians.

WESTERN BUREAU Declaring that «many of our people are dying» because of a lack of medical attention,” Reverend Glendon Powell, the chairman of the St James Ministers Fraternal, is taking Jamaica's public healthcare system to task over what he considers its various failures.  

The CAF-Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean has launched a Venezuela Recovery and Reconstruction Fund with an initial contribution of US$1 million, as governments, humanitarian organisations and members of the Venezuelan diaspora mobilise to respond to one of the country's worst natural disasters in recent history.

For Inspector Seanene Steer, policing is more than enforcing the law. It is about leadership, discipline, and inspiring others to achieve their best. Since joining the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) in 2002, the little girl who knew from age 10 that she wanted to be a police officer has served for the last 24 years in various units, including Mobile Reserve, now Special Operations, Kingston Central, St Andrew Central, and now Manchester.

Twelve years ago, Claudia Edwards-Bethel told The Gleaner she was in hiding. The Jamaican mother, who had accused a senior Bahamian immigration officer of rape after what began as an immigration arrest, said she feared for her life and pleaded with authorities for protection as the investigation unfolded. «I feel down. I feel bad. I feel scared. I am afraid for my life,» she said then.

Five Jamaicans are among six people indicted in the United States (US) over an alleged multimillion-dollar sweepstakes fraud scheme that prosecutors say primarily targeted elderly Americans across the country.

WESTERN BUREAU:  Dr Kimorley Humphrey, the principal director of the Ministry of Health and Wellness' Community Action for Rewarding Engagement (CARE) Fund, wants community organisations to seize a new opportunity to secure government funding for projects tackling some of Jamaica's most pressing health and social challenges.

WESTERN BUREAU: In addition to its traditional offerings, come September, St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) will expand its technical and vocational curriculum to include robotics, music production, and television and radio production at the sixth-form level.

WESTERN BUREAU: Despite reduced hotel capacity following Hurricane Melissa, Dream Entertainment expects up to 30,000 visitors to descend on Montego Bay for this year's Dream Weekend, betting that the city's growing network of villas, guesthouses and short-term rentals will comfortably absorb them.

At least two of Jamaica’s national footballers support Belgian football star Jérémy Doku’s decision to leave his World Cup team camp in the United States to travel to London for the birth of his first child.

Western Bureau: More children in Westmoreland have been referred to the National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA) in the first five months of this year than in any complete year since at least 2023, with marijuana use emerging as a commonly used substance among minors.

The Jamaica Medical Doctors Association (JMDA) says its call for individuals to wear blue in solidarity with medical interns achieved a 99 per cent success rate, as concerns mount over excessive working hours and conditions that doctors describe as exploitative.

Sometimes Mikayla Brown forgets she has only one leg. The 20-year-old University of Technology (UTech) student moves through life focused less on what she has lost and more on what lies ahead — completing her degree, building a career in human resource management, and one day representing Jamaica on the world stage as a para archer.

WESTERN BUREAU: A Kingston-born aviation executive, who has returned home to lead American Airlines' operations in Jamaica, is describing the appointment as the «ultimate homecoming» after 17 years in the industry. Terrence Baker has been appointed general manager for American Airlines in Jamaica, succeeding Damion Vanriel, who recently moved into a senior regional role within the company.

Western Bureau: Reports that a policeman was equipped with a body-worn camera that captured an incident in which he shot and injured a man recently in Salt Spring, St James, have been hailed by a security expert as the type of accountability that the Jamaican people want to see.

For years, police have warned that unregulated gambling or gaming machines — popularly known as ‘poker boxes’ — were becoming a magnet for criminal activity. Today, as the authorities move to formalise and regulate Jamaica’s rapidly expanding gaming industry, a growing wave of thefts, break-ins and illicit trafficking involving the machines is threatening to undermine those efforts.

TRAILBLAZER, SCHOLAR, teacher, leader, mentor are among the descriptors for Prof John Agard who died recently at the age of 71. However, while his passing marked the end of an extraordinary career, it has not marked the end of his influence.

An independent legal opinion out of Trinidad and Tobago has described the controversial reappointment of CARICOM Secretary-General Dr Carla Barnett as procedurally flawed, and legally void.  The conclusion was made in a 48-page document authored by Rajendra Ramlogan, professor of commercial and environmental law at The University of the West Indies, St Augustine.

Hospital and healthcare services could face disruption today as the Jamaica Medical Doctors Association (JMDA) has called for doctors and supporters to wear blue as a visible sign of solidarity with interns who are planning to take protest action.

The name of Brandon Henry, a newly minted medical doctor, reverberated throughout the Main Medical Lecture Theatre at the University Hospital of the West Indies last Thursday as the former Wolmerian collected four awards, including one for achieving the best overall academic results across the UWI campuses in the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) May/June final examinations.

As more young Jamaicans turn to digital spaces for emotional support, demand for the U-Matter Chatline continues to grow, reinforcing its role as a critical mental health lifeline for youth.

WESTERN BUREAU: Agriculture Minister Floyd Green wants local farmers and their counterparts in the Diaspora to be strategic in their planning, noting that those who plant crops without first identifying a market are setting themselves up for disappointment.

WESTERN BUREAU:  Alexander Williams, Jamaica’s high commissioner to the United Kingdom (UK), wants Jamaica to train more engineers and maritime experts so that the nation can become a naval power in the Caribbean region and improve its capacity to combat the illicit trans-shipment of contraband.

WESTERN BUREAU: Eleven-year-old Jassonia Beadle, head girl of Park Mountain Primary and Infant School in St Elizabeth, is Jamaica’s top performer in the 2026 Primary Exit Profile (PEP) examination, having attained the highest national score among primary school students — 394.2 out of a possible 400 points. Beadle, who hails from the Longwood district in St Elizabeth and aspires to become a doctor or nurse, achieved the feat despite her school being damaged by Hurricane Melissa last October, which caused scheduling setbacks.

The Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information says performance in this year's Primary Exit Profile (PEP) examinations remained stable, with most students achieving proficient or highly proficient ratings despite the disruption caused by Hurricane Melissa last October. “It was a difficult year with the hurricane, but we persevered,” said Education Minister Dr Dana Morris Dixon as she announced the 2025-2026 results during a news conference on Monday.

WESTERN BUREAU:  Business leaders in western Jamaica have endorsed a call by Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness for a national culture of efficiency, saying productivity and accountability are critical to Jamaica's long-term prosperity. Addressing the approximately 1,000 delegates at the opening ceremony of the just-concluded 11th Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference, Holness argued that Jamaica's future prosperity will depend as much on its culture and values as on its natural resources.