News Briefs

Westmoreland cops seek wanted man

The Westmoreland police have listed one man as wanted. He is 26-year-old Ainsley Woodburn, otherwise called ‘Short Man’, of Belfont district in Catadupa, St James.

The police say he is wanted for shooting with intent in relation to an incident on September 2.

Woodburn is being asked by the police to turn himself in to the Savanna-la-Mar police by midday next Monday.

Additionally, anyone who may be able to help the police to locate him is being asked to contact investigators at 876-955-2536, Crime Stop at 311, police 119 emergency number, or the nearest police station.

The police are reminding persons that it is an offence to harbour criminals and provide a haven for them, arguing that it also places the lives of family and friends at increased risks of an attack.

$600m allocated for PATH students' exam fees

More than $600 million has been allocated by the Education, Youth and Information Ministry to pay examination fees for high-school students who are on the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH) this academic year.

Acting Permanent Secretary Dr Grace McLean said that more than $400 million has been provided by the ministry to pay for the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE).

A further $200 million, she said, has been made available to pay for City and Guilds, National Vocational Qualification of Jamaica (NVQ-J) and the Caribbean Vocational Qualification (CVQ) examinations.

“We're just about sending information out to the schools for them to start the registration for CSEC,” McLean said.

Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwean independence icon-turned-authoritarian leader, has died aged 95.

Mugabe had been receiving treatment in a hospital in Singapore since April. He was ousted in a military coup in 2017 after 37 years in power.

The former president was praised for broadening access to health and education for the black majority.

The hope that accompanied independence in 1980 dissolved into violence, corruption and economic disaster. His later years as president were were marked by violent repression of his political opponents and Zimbabwe's economic ruin.

Yesterday, his successor, Emmerson Mnangagwa, said the ruling ZANU-PF would give Mugabe status of a national hero, the country's highest posthumous honour.

On a visit to Jamaica in 1996, Mugabe was hailed as a courageous leader as he accepted an honorary Order of Jamaica on behalf of the people of Zimbabwe.