I have written extensively in these pages about the existential threat that we face as a country, if our birth rate continues to plummet the way it has in recent years. So when I saw last week’s Planning Institute of Jamaica’s (PIOJ) headline...
The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) May Title IV report on Jamaica paints a glowing picture: record-low unemployment, falling debt, controlled inflation, and recommends continued wage curbs. But conspicuously absent is any meaningful analysis...
In his first interaction with journalists in Rome on Monday, Pope Leo XIV spoke of “the precious gift of free speech and of the press”, and of the role of the media in helping societies to make informed decisions. It is not an obligation this...
On Tuesday, May 6, it was reported that the Heads of Government of the Eastern Caribbean States and the Bahamas met with US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, in Washington, DC. This meeting does not seem to have received much media coverage here....
It’s a widespread misunderstanding that Jamaican popular music originated from Mento. Mento did predate Ska but its origins are rooted in Africa while Jamaican pop music came straight out of USA’s Jazz and Blues scene. Mento, another byproduct of...
The Roman Catholic Church has been prominently featured in news cycles over the past few weeks, from the death of Pope Francis to the antics of US president Donald Trump regarding the papacy to the excitement over the selection of a new pope,...
The Gleaner wishes to apologise, on behalf of the Government and Jamaican state, to Oshawn Grant, the young man who was last month convicted in the St James Parish Court for practising obeah, and fined J$5,000 by parish judge, Kaysha Grant-Pryce,...
Regularisation is more than housing; it can reduce crime and boost property values in informal and formal areas. But we have dropped the ball in the last decade. Every night more than 190,000 families or over 20 per cent of Jamaica’s population,...
While the leader of the free world is irreparably damaging the trade patterns which affect everyone, with no apparent positive gains even for his own country, the prices of food and basic services in Jamaica are quietly and cruelly increasing by...
A few days after this newspaper explored the question of national productivity in the context of the recent contretemps over a Chinese-owned motor vehicle repair garage Jamaican were crawling over themselves to get into, the International...
Prime Minister Andrew Holness’ pledge that Jamaica will soon have a surfeit of surveillance cameras in public spaces, as well as body-worn devices by the police, is welcome. But with respect to the latter, this newspaper would suggest to the PM a...
A number of countries are now experimenting with self-driving cars. The US, UK, China, Norway, Germany, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore and others all now have prototypes of robo-taxis on the roads. Current forecasts from the industry suggest...
Pope Francis died in Rome hours after the Roman Catholic Church in Rome admitted and apologised for burying the ‘black’ identity of Jesus for over 500 years. Was this the case of “Lord, my ears have heard, now let your Servant depart in Peace”?...
Whew! All over the Internet, memes had images of American President Donald Trump as the new Pope. Though incredulous, it took the black smoke emanating from the Sistine Chapel’s to jerk us back to reality. A few days later; white smoke, and as...
A mother’s responsibility begins long before conception takes place, it begins during the late teens of a female’s life. Those are the years when characters are built, and reputations established. Young women must be aware that whatever they do...
H.L. Mencken was a journalist, satirist, social critic, cynic and freethinker known as the ‘Sage of Baltimore’ US. As I was leaving Canada to spend a few days with my sons in Washington, DC where I had spent a lot of time working for PAHO (Pan...
By any diplomatic measure, the recent engagement between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the independent states of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is historic. Within just four months of taking office, Secretary Rubio has held substantive...
When Pope Francis died last month, this newspaper signalled its hope that the new head of the Roman Catholic church would continue, and expand, the legacy of his predecessor. With the cardinal electors’ choice on Thursday of Robert Francis...
A year-and-half since announcing a review of the Government’s Programme for Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH), it would be timely for Pearnel Charles Jr to provide a status report on the project, including whether policymakers still...
Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) – in English known as Reporters Without Borders – is a non-government organisation that annually ranks 180 countries and territories with respect to freedom of the press, with scores ranging from 0 (low press freedom...
The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) in education is reshaping classrooms across the globe, and Jamaica is no exception. AI technologies are rapidly transforming how teachers teach, how students learn, and how educational institutions operate...
IN THE 21st century, many traditional things have given way to new and emergent trends, depicting changing value systems in our societies. Whereas the bun-and-cheese has remained at Easter, there is less kite-flying activity. Mangoes are no...
There are two things in which the island’s major political parties are engaged at this time of which Jamaicans are certain, one of which is transparent. The other is opaque. The governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the People’s National Party (...
LATE LAST week, two of our most revered professions, medicine and law, took seemingly divergent paths in their outlook on the future of AI in their respective fields. In the first instance, the world’s first fully AI-powered hospital opened its...
JAMAICA HAS taken a significant step toward protecting the health and wellbeing of its children with the recent approval of the National School Nutrition Policy as a White Paper. The Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth...
