Author: Steve Brown

People enjoy the rain near the coast in Mumbai on July 8, 2024. A severe monsoon storm hit India on July 8, flooding parts of the financial capital Mumbai, while at least 10 people were killed by lightning strikes in the eastern state of Bihar, according to government officials. (Photo by Punit Paranjape/AFP) July 8, 2024 NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — Powerful monsoon storms battered India on Monday, flooding parts of the financial capital Mumbai and killing at least 10 people by lightning strikes in the eastern state of Bihar, officials said. The Mumbai Municipal Council reported that the India…

(FILE) Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Ntenge Mackenzie gestures as he speaks to other defendants during his appearance at Malindi Court in Malindi on January 17, 2024. The leader of a Kenyan doomsday cult goes on trial on July 8, 2024, on terrorism charges over the deaths of more than 400 followers in a macabre incident that shocked the country and the world. Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Ntenge Mackenzie appeared in court in the Indian Ocean port city of Mombasa along with 94 co-defendants, an AFP reporter said. (AFP photo) MOMBASA, Kenya (AFP) — The leader of a Kenyan doomsday cult went on…

Rastafarian firebrand Anthony B has released the single “Bad Beryl,” a tribute to Hurricane Beryl, the explosive storm that hit Jamaica last Wednesday with destructive winds of up to 110 mph and a life-threatening storm surge.The storm’s passage left at least two people dead, damaged buildings, ripped off roofs and left thousands of homes without power.The Fire Pon Roma DJ hopes the song will be a sobering lesson for the island’s youth, as he dedicates an entire verse to the carelessness of young people who continue to party and frolic despite the storm.”I’m thankful the eye of the storm didn’t…

After more than a decade competing as a professional athlete, quarter-miler Stephanie Ann McPherson says she plans to retire from athletics after next month’s Olympic Games in Paris.McPherson, 35, a five-time World Athletics Championship medalist in the 400 metres, said in an exclusive interview with the Jamaica Observer that it was time for him to retire and focus on his studies.”I don’t plan to continue next year. This may be my last year,” she says. “I have already decided what I will do. I haven’t discussed it with my coach, but he knows that I have started a physiotherapist course…

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton celebrates with the trophy on the podium after winning the Formula 1 British Grand Prix at the Silverstone Motor Race Circuit in Silverstone, England on Sunday (Photo: AFP) SILVERSTONE, Britain (AFP) — Lewis Hamilton showed his desire to win by yelling at his engineer over the team radio during the British Grand Prix on Sunday. “When he tells you to shut up you know the game’s over and you know he’s going to win,” long-time Mercedes race engineer Peter Bonnington, known aka Bono, said after Hamilton’s “fairytale” win. Bono and the seven-time champion driver were in…

Members of the Paris Olympic Team (clockwise from top left): Shelley-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Oblique Sevilla, Sherica Jackson, Kishane Thompson, Rachelle Clayton and Jaedon Hibbert. The Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) has named a 66-member team that will represent Jamaica at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, from July 26 to August 12. Jamaica will compete in 17 events including the men’s and women’s 100m, men’s and women’s 200m, men’s and women’s 400m, men’s and women’s 800m, women’s 1500m, women’s 100m hurdles, men’s 110m hurdles, men’s and women’s 400m hurdles, men’s and women’s long jump, men’s and women’s high jump, men’s and…

NWA teams worked on Sunday to clear an area in Torrington, Westmoreland, where fallen trees had reduced part of the road to one lane in each direction. July 7, 2024 Workers employed by the National Works Authority (NWA) say they are working tirelessly to clear several roads that were blocked by fallen trees after Hurricane Beryl passed by. Janelle Ricketts, community relations officer for the NWA’s western office, said the strong winds and heavy rains associated with the Category 4 hurricane caused extensive damage to roads. “There is significant damage in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl. Many roads have been…

Spanish Town Hospital July 7, 2024 The South East Regional Health Authority (SERHA) said Spanish Town Hospital was currently operating in emergency mode due to severe flooding in its emergency and outpatient (A&E) department. SERHA regional director Errol Green said heavy rainfall in the parish led to heavy runoff water from Burke Road flooding the emergency care unit. Hospital staff then temporarily moved the patient to another ward. “We are working with the State Public Works Agency to clear the drainage that caused the flooding as quickly as possible,” Green said in a statement on Sunday. Spanish Town Hospital’s senior…

July 7, 2024 All 10 elderly residents of a retirement home in Uruguay were killed in a fire early on Sunday, authorities said, with only one caregiver managing to escape. Eight women and two men were killed in the fire that broke out in a six-room property in the city of Treinta y Torres, in the eastern part of South America, according to an official statement. When firefighters arrived, the front door was closed and they went inside to find a fire in the living room with smoke spreading throughout the property. The 20-year-old caretaker escaped safely through the garage,…

July 7, 2024 KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Court Administration Department (CAD) says some staff will be redeployed this week and others will work remotely after damage was sustained at its Dominica Drive headquarters. In a statement Sunday, CAD said its office infrastructure was affected by the passage of Hurricane Beryl on Wednesday, which resulted in some staff being based at the Council of Voluntary Social Services building at 131 Tower Street in downtown Kingston from Monday. These changes will be in place until Friday, July 19th. The agency said it would continue to serve the public and work to ensure…