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 BY JEDIAEL CARTER Staff reporter carterj@jamaicaobserver.com  Sunday, April 30, 2017 Life might not have been the most polished, but it was comfortable.   His closet was filled with an assortment of desert Clark's (his preferred shoes), fitted jeans and “nice clothes” that he wouldn't dare wear now. His meals were sure and more balanced than what they are currently. But everything changed when his partner since the early 1980s went blind and the bills kept raking in. The odd jobs on construction sites were not enough, since his lady was now unemployed. Life became difficult; no longer could he be as dependent on the woman who held a steadier job.  It would be emasculating to expect her to still be able to “give him a ting (money)” whenever he needed. So he made a decision: he would “tek to di streets.” A 55-year-old man originally from West Kingston has made King Street in downtown Kingston his home. A difficult decision yes, but he's sticking by it. ...

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Prime Minister Andrew Holness listens to Violet Mosse-Brown (right) as she reads the citation in recognition of her status as the first  verified super centenarian from Jamaica and the world's  oldest living person while Elaine McGrowder shares in  the moment. (Photo: JIS)  Saturday, April 29, 2017 Calling her a national treasure and a global inspiration, Prime Minister Andrew Holness on Thursday bestowed the Prime Minister's Medal of Appreciation on Violet Mosse-Brown, the world's oldest living person. He made the presentation during a visit to the home of the 117-year-old in Duanvale, Trelawny. Kneeling at the bedside of the super centenarian honouree, Holness told her that he was proud to be in her presence. He said she is an inspiration to the nation and has brought the country a lot of positive attention. “Violet, I want to give you this. You are truly blessed... and, who knows, maybe some of those blessings will rub off on me. You have brought honour to...

BY RACQUEL PORTER Observer staff reporter porterr@jamaicaobserver.com  Saturday, April 29, 2017 Minutes after the 29th Commissioner of Police George Quallo was sworn in, a policeman was killed execution-style on Constant Spring Road in the vicinity of Merl Grove High School in St Andrew. Reports from the police are that their colleague was responding to a call regarding suspicious men on premises on Constant Spring Road when he was shot in the head, back and chest. Superintendent Mevrol Smith, who is in charge of crime for the Area Four Police Division, told the Jamaica Observer that approximately 3:50 pm the policeman, whose identity has not yet been released, and another colleague responded to a call that took them out of their police district. According to Smith, the now deceased cop attempted to arrest the suspect, however, the suspect, who was allegedly resisting arrest, managed to disarm the policeman and shot him several times. The superintendent said members of the Ja...

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday a major conflict with North Korea is possible in the standoff over its nuclear and missile programs, but he would prefer a diplomatic outcome to the dispute. “There is a chance that we could end up having a major, major conflict with North Korea. Absolutely,” Trump told Reuters in an Oval Office interview ahead of his 100th day in office on Saturday. Nonetheless, Trump said he wanted to peacefully resolve a crisis that has bedeviled multiple U.S. presidents, a path that he and his administration are emphasizing by preparing a variety of new economic sanctions while not taking the military option off the table. “We’d love to solve things diplomatically but it’s very difficult,” he said. Trump lavished praise on Chinese President Xi Jinping for Chinese assistance in trying to rein in North Korea. The two leaders met in Florida earlier this month. “I believe he is trying very hard. He certainly doesn’t want to see turmoil ...

Serena Williams By Maxwell Strachan 4/19/17 TURN ON THE SIREN. RING THE BELL. SCREAM UNTIL YOU CAN SCREAM NO LONGER. FOR SERENA WILLIAMS IS PREGNANT. I REPEAT: SERENA WILLIAMS. IS. PREGNANT.  That’s right: The tennis great announced on Snapchat Wednesday that she is 20 weeks pregnant with her first child.  Do you know what this means? It means that our nation’s two queens, Beyoncé and   Serena Williams ,   are both pregnant   at the exact same time.  Even more astonishingly, it means that  Williams was pregnant when she won the Australian Open in January . The news comes just a few months after Williams announced that  she’s engaged to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian  ― appropriately enough in  a post on her fiancé’s site : more

By Alana Horowitz Satlin 4/19/17 Aaron Hernandez, the former New England Patriots star imprisoned for homicide, died in an apparent suicide,   the Massachusetts Department of Corrections said. Aaron Hernandez Hernandez, 27, was serving a life sentence for murder when corrections officers discovered his body early Wednesday. Born in Bristol, Connecticut, Hernandez left college at the University of Florida to join the 2010 NFL Draft, where he was picked up by the New England Patriots.  He spent three seasons with them , where he broke  several NFL records.  During that time,  he became engaged  to Shayanna Jenkins, who gave birth to  their daughter, Avielle,  in November 2012. Though the couple never married, Jenkins later took Hernandez’ last name. more

By Maxwell Strachan 4/18/17 What once seemed unimaginable now seems at least possible. New York Magazine’s  Gabriel Sherman reported Tuesday that the Murdoch family  is “leaning” toward pulling Bill O’Reilly off of Fox News’ airwaves in the middle of  growing pressure  from advertisers and activist groups. Bill O'Reilly The report comes  amid a separate claim by attorney Lisa Bloom  that O’Reilly used to call a black woman who worked as a clerical worker at Fox News “hot chocolate” during her time at the network in 2008. The television host would reportedly make her feel uncomfortable in other ways as well.   “He would never talk to her, not even hello, except to grunt at her like a wild boar,” Bloom told The Hollywood Reporter. “He would leer at her. He would always do this when no one else was around and she was scared.” Bloom, who said she verified the woman’s story with three witnesses,  claims the woman feared she wou...

By Paige Lavender ,  Eline Gordts 4/18/17 When U.S. officials claimed two weeks ago that an American aircraft carrier was heading toward waters near North Korea, it was actually sailing in the opposite direction,  The New York Times  and  Defense News  report. Amid growing tensions between the U.S. and North Korea, U.S. Pacific Command announced on April 8 that the USS Carl Vinson strike group would sail north to the western Pacific after departing Singapore that day.  An American official told Reuters  at the time that the ships’ move toward the Korean Peninsula was a show of force directed at the regime of Kim Jong Un. U.S. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster told Fox News the next day that the group was being rerouted from Singapore toward the Korean Peninsula as a  “prudent” show of force . Mere days after the announcement about the strike group’s new course, President  Donald Trump  weighed in on the North Kore...

117 y-o Violet Brown Jamaican centenarian Violet Brown is now the oldest living person in the world.  Brown, who is 117 years and 36 days old, took over from Italian Emma Morano who passed away today. Morano’s life spanned three centuries, two World Wars, 90 Italian governments, an abusive marriage, the loss of her only son. Brown was born March 10, 1900 and is believed to be one of the two remaining persons who were born in the 19th century. Prime Minister Andrew Holness expressed congratulations to Brown. List of oldest living people Rank Name Sex Birth date Age as of 16 April 2017 Place of residence 1 Violet Brown [4] F 10 March 1900 117 years, 37 days Jamaica [a] 2 Nabi Tajima [4] F 4 August 1900 116 years, 255 days Japan 3 Chiyo Miyako [4] F 2 May 1901 115 years, 349 days Japan 4 Ana María Vela Rubio [4] F 29 October 1901 115 years, 169 days Spain 5 Marie Josephine Gaudette [4] F 25 March 1902 115 years, 22 days ...

Thursday, April 13, 2017     CONTENT, St James - New information has emerged that the bullet which killed 16-year-old Muschett High student Shanique Rose, last Friday, was fired from inside the minibus in which she was a passenger, and not by an angry motorist. Initial reports of the fatal shooting were that the incident was triggered by an altercation between the bus driver and an irate motorist who opened fire into the minibus. But investigations have revealed that the story was a complete fabrication. The police had earlier reported that the student was killed on Friday when the motorist, complaining about the bright lights on the minibus, fired in anger at the vehicle. Rose was allegedly hit by the motorist's bullets and taken to hospital where she succumbed to her wounds. There were no reports of any other injuries. However, based on information reaching the Jamaica Observer West it was revealed that about 11:30 pm on Friday the grade 10 student was among ...

BY TANESHA MUNDLE Observer staff reporter mundlet@jamaicaobserver.com  Thursday, April 06, 2017     WITH chants of “Enough is enough” and “We want justice”, students and staff of Charlemont High in St Catherine yesterday morning led a march to denounce the upsurge in crime and violence in society. The march, which was well supported by the community, was held in memory of the school’s beloved mathematics teacher, Tanijah Howell, who was brutally murdered in February in the neighbouring parish of St Ann. Students March Against Crime in Jamaica The Charlemont-led peace march was supported by several other schools in that section of St Catherine, including McGrath High, Bog Walk High, and Dinthill Technical High, as well as the Optimist Club, Linstead Community Development Committee, the Jamaica Constabulary Force, past students of Charlemont, parents, and several residents of Linstead. “Today’s march is not only in memory of Mr Howell; today’s march also signifi...

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin on Thursday called a deadly poison gas attack in Syria’s Idlib province earlier this week a “monstrous crime,” but said Washington’s conclusions about the incident were not based on objective data. “This was a dangerous and monstrous crime, but it would be incorrect to hang labels (to identify those who did it),” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call. The use of chemical weapons was “unacceptable,” he said, urging the Syrian army to ensure such arms did not fall into the hands of terrorists. Peskov said evidence about the incident provided by the White Helmets civil defense group could not be considered reliable and added: “We do not agree with these conclusions.” “Immediately after the tragedy, no one had access to this region ... any data which the U.S. side or our colleagues from other countries might have had access to could not have been based on objective facts,” Peskov told reporters. The disagreemen...

By Paige Lavender 4/5/17 President  Donald Trump  said he doesn’t think Fox News host Bill O’Reilly, who has been accused of sexual harassment by several women, did anything wrong. Bill O’Reilly & Trump   In  an interview with The New York Times  on Wednesday, Trump defended O’Reilly after  the Times reported  that O’Reilly or Fox News paid five women a total of about $13 million to settle claims of sexual harassment or inappropriate behavior over the years. “I think he’s a person I know well — he is a good person,” Trump said on Wednesday. “I think he shouldn’t have settled; personally, I think he shouldn’t have settled,” Trump added. “Because you should have taken it all the way. I don’t think Bill did anything wrong.” O’Reilly has so far  stayed silent  on the scandal, despite  losing at least 15 advertisers  for “The O’Reilly Factor,” his primetime Fox News show. Trump’s comments echo  ...