Sunday February 05, 2006
 An appeal is being made by the Spanish Town Ministers Fraternal in St. Catherine for business operators who had fled the old capital because of violence to return. During last year many residents and business operators of Spanish Town were fearful of the constant disruptions caused by the members of the Clans Man and One Order Gangs. Reverend Rowan Edwards, Head of the Fraternal said that with peace and harmony returning to Spanish Town the business operators should return.

 Two illegal guns were on Sunday seizes by the Ewarton Police during an operation at Gobay district in Riversdale, St. Catherine. The police team was fired upon by a man armed with two guns. The police returned the fire and the man fled leaving the firearms behind. A Smith and Wesson Magnum revolver, a Taurus revolver and twenty-three .38 cartridges were seized.

Follow up:

 With the price of petrol spiraling out of control, motorists are open to any opportunity to save whenever they can. As a result illegal gas outlets are becoming a thriving and lucrative business. Word on the streets is that the clientele for these businesses range from taxi operators, professionals, business operators, teachers and even members of the security forces. The police say they are ill-equipped and untrained to test the contents of the drums. The Bureau of Standards Jamaica , the agency with responsibility to ensure that legitimate service stations are supplying what customers pay for, say it has no policing role over illegal sellers. The Jamaica Gasolene Retailers Association says the issue is one of law enforcement and outside its purview as a trade association. In the meantime the sale of illegal gas continues. One of the main concerns however is the question of safety. An explosion at one of these outlets could be catastrophic.

Monday February 06, 2006
 The West Indies Under-19 cricketers beat the United States by 87 runs in their Group B opening match of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Under-19 World Cup in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Sunday.

 The Government has invited firms to submit tenders for the construction or expansion of schools under the Primary Education Support Project. Twelve schools are to be built or expanded under the project which is a part of the Education Ministry’s plans to create 14,000 new school places by September next year. Eight parishes St. Andrew, St. Mary, St. Elizabeth, St. Catherine, Manchester, Portland, Westmoreland and Hanover are to benefit.

Tuesday February 07, 2006
 Seventeen months after the passing of Hurricane Ivan in September 2004 the Office of National Reconstruction (ONR) which was set up by the government to spearhead programmes necessary for the nations recovery is to wind up its activities by the end of this month. The Hurricane left damages estimated at $35.5 billion dollars. The ONR’s focus has been on housing repairs, provision of housing units to relocate storm- surge victims, repairs to educational institutions, assistance to restore production in agriculture and fisheries, beach clean-up, repairs to public buildings and mobilization of funds to finance the restoration programme.

 Members of the public are being warned to be careful when purchasing Pakchoy in St. Catherine. On Monday about 50 pounds of the vegetable which was recently sprayed with a deadly insecticide was stolen from a farm in the Nightingale area.

 The North Street United Church on North Street in downtown Kingston was gutted by fire early Tuesday morning. In the same vicinity attempts were made to fire bomb the North Street Seventh Day Adventist Church. The police are investigating.

Wednesday February 08, 2006
 Young Jevaughn Francis an eleven year old student of St. Aloysius Primary in downtown Kingston is being hailed as a hero by all for his selfless rescue of four month-old Makeda Allen from a burning house at 25 Luke Lane on January 04. Jevaughn entered the burning building through a window to rescue the sleeping infant. “Nobody neva want to go save the baby” he said “I just said I don’t want the baby to die”. On Wednesday, Cable and Wireless Jamaica (C&WJ) rewarded the young hero for his act of bravery with $30,000.00 annually for five years on his entry into high school in September, free broadband Internet service to his home throughout those years, free line rental for the period, a knapsack of stationery items as well as the cost for Jevaughn to attend a summer camp this year. Jevaughn’s grandfather also received a cellular phone while Makeda’s mother Princess Daley was provided with supermarket vouchers valued at $20,000.00.

 On Wednesday, Spanish Town St. Catherine was once again the scene of mass confusion after the killing of one member of the One Order Gang, Andrew “Bun Man” Hope. Hope was shot and killed by gunmen as he was traveling in his car along Young Street in Spanish Town. Reports are that residents claimed that a member of the police force was responsible and proceeded to block some roads in the area.

 Over the past two months the national airline Air Jamaica has reported a 99.3 percent reliability rate, its best in many years. The carrier also recorded an 86 percent on time rate. Mike Conway the Chief Executive Officer says that the performance is a result of the company’s focus on product integrity.

Thursday February 09, 2006
 On Wednesday night three persons, two men and one woman were shot by gunmen at a business place in Western Park, Clarendon. Reports are that at about 8:30pm three gunmen entered the premises and opened fire. The two men Hubert Anderson 44 and Danville Brown 48 were pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital while the woman is being treated for gunshot wounds. A five month old baby girl who was also present at the time of the incident was unharmed.

 The West Indies Under-19’s were defeated by Australia in their International Cricket Council (ICC) Youth World Cup match by 13 runs at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Wednesday. The young Windies must now beat South Africa in their last Group B game on Friday to advance to the Super League championship round quarter-finals.

 A cervical cancer prevention vaccine is to be introduced to the Jamaican market by next year by pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). The vaccine called Cervarix was developed over the last five to ten years and is found to prevent the strains of human papilloma virus (HPV) which causes cervical cancer. The vaccine must first be registered with the Ministry of Health before it can be introduced to the local market. Cervical cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths among Caribbean women.

 Two more illegal guns have been seized and two men arrested and charged with illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition on Wednesday night in the Rockfort area. Reports are that the East Kingston Police were on patrol in Rockfort when they spotted the two men who ran. They were then chased and held by the police. They are Anthony Radingway aka “Black Boy” who had in his possession a Taurus pistol with six rounds of ammunition and Wilson Smith aka “Tallist” who had a point 38 pistol with two magazines loaded with 19 rounds of ammunition. The men are to appear in the Gun Court on February 17, 2006.

Friday February 10, 2006
 On Thursday the Child Development Agency (CDA), which was established in 2004, launched the inaugural National Foster Care Recognition Week at the Hilton Kingston Hotel. The aim is to encourage more citizens to participate in foster care programmes and to recognize the contribution of foster parents to national development. Activities will run from February 12 to 18 under the theme, “Family is Love”. Included in the weeks activities is a church service on Sunday at the Calvary Baptist Church in Montego Bay, the official launch of the Child Care and Protection service manual at the Glenhope Place of Safety in Kingston, the launch of the CDA website, a road show and an awards banquet in honour of foster parents.

 Three persons, two brothers and the woman companion of one of them were found dead in a house on Felicity Road, Montego Bay on Thursday. All three had multiple gunshot wounds. The bodies were discovered in a room of the unfinished house owned by the brothers by two co-workers of one of the brothers. They had gone to the house to find out why he had not shown up for work or had not answered his cellular phone for two days. The Montego Bay police are investigating the incident.

 For the fifth time in 36 years Jamaica will be involved in another oil and gas exploration. This time however the US $3 million dollar venture will be founded by an Australian company, Finder Exploration Limited. Furgo, one of the largest seismic contractors in the world has been contracted by Finder Exploration Limited who has been granted a licence to undertake exploration activities in four blocks offshore Jamaica. A Russian seismic vessel, the Akademik Shatskiy will be used to begin collecting seismic geophysical data, the first phase of the exploration exercise. In Jamaica exploration activities are conducted under a product sharing arrangement whereby the licensee pays a royalty of 12.5 per cent to the government. The oil and gas product is shared with the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica based on the volume of oil or gas produced as well as the depth of water in which the production takes place.

Saturday February 11, 2006
 The West Indies Under-19 cricketers are through to the quarter-finals of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Youth World Cup after defeating South Africa by seven wickets on Friday in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The young Windies will face India on Saturday in their quarter finals match at the R. Premadasa Stadium.

 Effective February 12, 2006 visa applications for children travelling to the United Kingdom must state the name of the person with whom the child will travel when not travelling alone. The visa will be invalid if the child is accompanied by anyone other than those named on the visa. The U.K. government said that the change is in an effort to combat child abuse, exploitation and abduction.