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  • Gibson’s ex-fiancée testifies she took immunity deal to tell the truth

    Gibson’s ex-fiancée testifies she took immunity deal to tell the truth

    A high-profile corruption trial centered on public infrastructure contracts in The Bahamas took another pivotal turn this week, as the star prosecution witness pushed back against aggressive defense questioning while standing by her agreement to cooperate with authorities. The case, which has gripped local political circles since opening in late 2023, involves Adrian Gibson, a Long Island Member of Parliament and former executive chairman of the country’s Water and Sewerage Corporation, who stands accused of misconduct tied to contract awards during his tenure at the state-owned utility. Alexsndria Mackey, Gibson’s one-time romantic partner and former business associate, took the stand in the Supreme Court on Tuesday to face cross-examination from Damian Gomez, KC, lead defense counsel for Gibson.

    Under hours of pointed questioning, Mackey reaffirmed her commitment to testifying truthfully, noting that her grant of immunity from prosecution is explicitly conditional on her full and honest cooperation with the investigation. She acknowledged that the serious criminal charges she originally faced, which carry severe legal penalties, were a major factor in her decision to negotiate a plea deal, but pushed back against defense claims that she fabricated testimony solely to avoid prison time. “I knew I needed to tell the truth,” Mackey told the court, adding that even with the threat of potential incarceration hanging over her, her decision to accept the deal was rooted in a requirement to disclose everything she knew about the business arrangements tied to the contracts.

    Mackey detailed the timeline of her decision to cooperate, explaining she moved forward with the immunity agreement shortly after co-defendant Tanya Demeritte was arrested and returned to The Bahamas. At that time, Mackey said, she learned she was also at risk of arrest, prompting her to move forward with negotiations through her legal representation. She flatly denied a defense claim that former Assistant Commissioner of Police Deleveaux pressured her to testify by threatening deportation or legal action against her parents, dismissing the assertion outright.

    Much of Tuesday’s cross-examination centered on the corporate structure of two firms tied to the case — Elite Maintenance and Oak Bay Limited. Mackey has maintained that she, Gibson, and Demeritte were the true beneficial owners of the companies, which won contracts from the Water and Sewerage Corporation during Gibson’s tenure. She admitted that the beneficial owners were never officially registered with authorities, and that bank documents listed Jerome Missick and Joan Knowles, two of Gibson’s co-defendants in the trial, as placeholder owners to conceal the identities of the true shareholders. When challenged by Gomez over whether she is hiding key corporate records and lying about having already turned relevant documents over to Gibson, Mackey denied the allegations.

    On one point of discrepancy, Gomez called into question Mackey’s recent claim that key documents were sent to Grand Bahama, noting she had not raised that detail in earlier police interviews. Mackey acknowledged that she did not mention specific trust documents during her initial interview with law enforcement, and could not recall when she first brought up the detail, but stood by her core account of the companies’ ownership structure. She confirmed she received payments from Oak Bay Limited, though she could not recall the full total of disbursements. She also told the court that Gibson outlined the roles of director nominees when the companies were first formed, though she acknowledged she never directly heard Gibson give instructions to placeholder owner Joan Knowles, confirming she followed his direction on all corporate matters when the pair were in a relationship.

    Additional details that emerged during the cross-examination included confirmation that attorney David Cash negotiated the immunity deal for Mackey and Demeritte, and that Mackey’s mother paid the $10,000 fine required under Demeritte’s plea agreement. Gibson is one of five defendants on trial over the contract awards, alongside former Water and Sewerage Corporation general manager Donaldson Jr, Joan Knowles, Peaches Farquharson, and Jerome Missick. The trial, which began in November 2023, is being presided over by Senior Justice Cheryl Grant Thompson, and is expected to continue through coming weeks as more evidence is presented and witnesses testify.

  • Devastating floods leave at least 12 dead in northwest Haiti

    Devastating floods leave at least 12 dead in northwest Haiti

    PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Haitian civil defense authorities have officially confirmed that severe flooding triggered by three days of torrential rain in early April has claimed at least 12 lives across the country’s northwest department, leaving a trail of widespread destruction that has displaced thousands of residents and disrupted critical public services.

    Preliminary assessments from the Departmental Directorate of Civil Protection show the extreme weather event, which unfolded between April 11 and 13, hit three local municipalities — Port-de-Paix, Saint-Louis du Nord, and Anse-à-Foleur — the hardest. The relentless downpour pushed multiple river systems over their banks, including the major Rivière des Trois Rivières, submerging entire communities and creating an urgent humanitarian emergency that officials warn could escalate if additional rainfall arrives.

    Most of the fatalities were recorded in rural areas of Saint-Louis du Nord, where the 12 victims either died in rain-triggered landslides or were swept away by fast-moving floodwaters. Multiple people have also sustained serious injuries, and an unknown number of residents remain unaccounted for, including local fishermen and riverside inhabitants in Anse-à-Foleur.

    Official data indicates more than 2,500 families have been directly impacted by the disaster. Hundreds of residents were forced to flee their inundated properties overnight, taking shelter with host relatives or in makeshift emergency camps set up by local volunteers. Preliminary damage surveys count roughly 1,200 flooded residential properties, while all three municipalities have seen local schools and health facilities swamped with muddy floodwater. The contamination and structural damage have rendered these essential service sites inaccessible, cutting off affected communities from basic education and medical care.

    The disaster has also delivered a severe blow to local agricultural livelihoods: hundreds of head of livestock, a critical economic asset for small-scale family farmers across the region, have been washed away, resulting in catastrophic financial losses for already vulnerable households.

    Local government leaders have already issued an urgent appeal to Haiti’s national central government for immediate life-saving support. Among the most urgently needed supplies are food rations, clean drinking water, personal hygiene kits, and sanitation infrastructure, which local authorities say are critical to heading off a secondary public health crisis in crowded displacement sites.

  • Gov’t contemplates ‘COVID’ style measures amid rising oil prices — Vaz

    Gov’t contemplates ‘COVID’ style measures amid rising oil prices — Vaz

    KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaica is grappling with a growing crisis driven by skyrocketing international oil prices spurred by ongoing Middle East geopolitical instability, and Energy Minister Daryl Vaz has issued an urgent call for collective responsibility among all Jamaicans to cut energy use, while warning that the government could soon implement targeted movement restrictions to curb fuel consumption.

    Vaz outlined the government’s multi-pronged response to the economic fallout from Middle East tensions during a post-Cabinet press briefing held Wednesday morning, making clear that further price hikes are inevitable as long as the regional conflict continues.

    “You’re gonna see increases as long as this conflict in the Middle East continues. We [the Government] will do what we can do, but it is important that you do what you need to do to understand that you need to conserve starting today, today, today,” the minister stressed repeatedly, emphasizing the urgency of immediate action.

    Among the policy options under active consideration by the government is a return to COVID-era hybrid work-from-home arrangements, a measure that would cut down on commuting traffic and overall transportation fuel use. Vaz noted that final approval for any new conservation policies will rest with the full Cabinet, but argued that change is unavoidable given current patterns of travel.

    “The Government is gonna have to look at policies to limit movements, especially transportation movements. I don’t know whether or not we go back to a COVID-hybrid version of working from home; something has to happen, because the level of traffic that I am seeing on the road doesn’t show me that anybody realises that there’s a war and the price of fuel/oil is going to go up, and up, and up,” Vaz said.

    He added that while the government will finalize formal conservation plans following Cabinet deliberations, individual and community action is non-negotiable amid the unprecedented global price crunch. “it is 100 per cent the responsibility of every Jamaican to realise that we are in a major, major crisis as it relates to the price of oil internationally, and therefore, you need to take responsibility for your household, your business, [so] see what you can do,” he stated.

    Even as the government confronts soaring costs, Vaz moved quickly to reassure the public that Jamaica’s energy security remains solid. Long-term finished product supply contracts and domestic refining capacity operated by state-owned oil firm Petrojam have kept supply chains stable, meaning there is no risk of fuel shortages, only elevated prices. “So, it’s not a matter of not being able to buy [oil]; it’s the price. So there’s no need to panic,” he declared.

    To soften the blow of global price increases for consumers, the government has already implemented a range of mitigation measures through the Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Finance, and Petrojam, designed to avoid passing the full weight of global price hikes onto Jamaican households. Petrojam’s pricing committee also maintains continuous monitoring of global market conditions, adjusting ex-refinery prices in line with shifts.

    However, Vaz revealed that this existing price-capping mechanism has come at a steep cost: Petrojam has already accumulated between $1.3 billion and $1.4 billion in unrecovered losses that have not been passed to consumers. If the current framework remains in place through June 2026, total losses would reach $11.8 billion – an amount equivalent to two-thirds of the current fiscal year’s total revenue measures, which Vaz called “unaffordable, unsustainable.”

    Vaz also addressed the broader geopolitical context driving price volatility, noting that stalled talks between Iran and the United States have worsened market uncertainty. While he remains hopeful that a diplomatic resolution can be reached, he acknowledged that discussions have moved “in the wrong direction since Monday.”

    To address the dual goals of fiscal stability and consumer protection, the Cabinet has approved a new tiered pricing mechanism that will replace the current flat $4.50 price cap. The new framework will bring domestic fuel prices into closer alignment with global market movements, allow for controlled, predictable weekly adjustments, protect consumers from sudden sharp shocks for smaller price increases, and give Petrojam greater flexibility to respond to large global price swings.

    Vaz explained that the revised system will likely include three separate tiers of caps, adjusted weekly in response to global market changes, making it far more agile than the inflexible flat cap currently in place. “This will allow Petrojam to be more agile and respond in a more timely manner to price volatility. What does that mean? It means that the $4.50 cap cannot be sustained, and it means that we’ll have to have several different tiers of caps – probably three – that will speak to what’s happening in the market and, as I said, pricing is weekly. So it means that we can adjust on a weekly basis,” he said.

    Closing his remarks, Vaz rejected any suggestion that the government can continue absorbing massive losses to keep prices artificially low, given competing pressing national priorities. “But let me be blatantly and truthfully upfront in your face; the Government of Jamaica cannot stomach an $11.8 billion [loss] with all of what we have to do and all of the contending priorities, and anybody who tell you any different… rubbish! No Government in a situation like this can sustain that,” the minister argued.

  • Pintard defends lottery plan; calls Davis ‘architect of gimmicks’

    Pintard defends lottery plan; calls Davis ‘architect of gimmicks’

    With just 28 days remaining until the Bahamas’ critical general election, the Free National Movement (FNM) held its first major campaign rally on New Providence, where party leader Michael Pintard launched a fiery defense of his controversial proposed national lottery, directly pushing back against scathing criticism from sitting Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis.

    Held at Golden Gates Park under the campaign theme “Fire Forward,” the event drew an energized crowd of FNM supporters, who packed the venue dressed in official party gear, waving party flags, chanting and dancing as the slate of party candidates took the stage. Signature FNM anthems, from “Simply the Best” to “Keep the Fire Burning,” played throughout the night, building a festive, high-stakes campaign atmosphere. The rally wrapped with a traditional Junkanoo rush-out after a closing prayer, leaving attendees buzzing with momentum ahead of the upcoming vote.

    In his keynote address – delivered after a dramatic torch-lit procession entrance accompanied by police escort – Pintard pushed back hard against Davis’ recent dismissal of the lottery plan as a cynical “gimmick” rooted in electoral desperation. The FNM leader accused the prime minister of outright hypocrisy, arguing that Davis’ label is far more fitting for the incumbent administration’s own policy practices.

    Pintard hit out at the government’s handling of public funds, declaring, “The prime minister [is] the chief architect of gimmicks. They started talking about slash funds and if you look in the dictionary next to slash funds, you will see the picture of the prime minister.”

    Outlining the core guardrails of his proposal, Pintard emphasized that the FNM’s national lottery would operate under strict regulatory oversight from an independent governing board, designed to explicitly insulate revenue from political misallocation and interference. He noted that unregulated gambling is already widespread across the Bahamas, arguing that formalizing the sector would allow the government to redirect currently untapped funds toward tangible public benefits for Bahamian citizens.

    To back the plan, Pintard pointed to existing national lottery models in countries including the Dominican Republic, Curaçao, St Martin and Ghana, explaining that the Bahamian framework would allow the state lottery to coexist with existing private gaming operators while directing all proceeds toward public initiatives. These would range from small business grants for aspiring entrepreneurs, to financial support for students pursuing post-secondary education both at home and abroad, to investments in cultural development and environmental protection.

    Questioning the incumbent government’s opposition, Pintard noted, “it was them who gave birth to the regularizing of gaming. Why would it be a problem for them all of a sudden to have a national lottery where the bulk of those resources are being administered to the government system?”

    Davis had struck back at the proposal just days earlier, questioning both its intent and the international examples Pintard cited. The prime minister called the plan a headline-grabbing stunt rooted in political desperation, arguing that the Dominican Republic’s national lottery – the example Pintard highlighted – has been marred by widespread corruption and mismanagement. Davis claimed the proposal amounted to a poorly thought out plan to create a slush fund for corrupt actors.

    Beyond the lottery debate, Pintard used his keynote to address broader hot-button issues including national sovereignty and immigration, holding up a Bahamian passport as a core symbol of national pride and birthright. He affirmed that all individuals who obtain Bahamian documentation through legal channels – regardless of their country of origin – are welcome members of the Bahamian community, but blasted the incumbent administration for failing to crack down on rampant fraud involving identity documents like passports and voter ID cards.

    Pintard accused the government of targeting critics who raise alarms about document fraud, saying, “if you’re not outraged by the frequency with which fraudulent passports, voters cards are being used in this country, if you are not angry about that, then you must be an accomplice in it happening.” He also pledged that if the FNM wins the election, a new administration would immediately launch a full audit of incumbent government finances to track public spending and root out mismanagement, declaring “we’re going to open the books.”

    The rally marked the FNM’s second major campaign event, and featured remarks from the party’s full slate of New Providence candidates, including Pinewood hopeful Denari Rolle, Golden Gates candidate Michael Foulkes, Garden Hills candidate Rick Fox, Bamboo Town candidate Dr. Duane Sands, Carmichael candidate Arinthia Komolafe and South Beach candidate Darren Henfield. Each candidate used their platform to criticize the ruling Progressive Liberal Party, pointing to what they described as a lack of tangible progress across their constituencies. FNM Deputy Leader Shanendon Cartwright, who is contesting the newly created St. James constituency, introduced Pintard and offered brief remarks on immigration and public spending ahead of the keynote.

  • Jaii Frais retains Isat Buchanan in shooting case; makes first court appearance

    Jaii Frais retains Isat Buchanan in shooting case; makes first court appearance

    KINGSTON, Jamaica — A post-carnival shooting in the Jamaican capital has left three people wounded, including prominent local podcaster Jhaedee “Jaii Frais” Richards, and sparked an ongoing police investigation with two people now in official custody. The violent incident unfolded Sunday night at the Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre in St Andrew, immediately following the conclusion of official carnival festivities in the area.

    Following the shooting, Richards was taken into police custody as a person of interest connected to the attack. On Wednesday, he appeared before a local court to consider a police application for an extended remand, a request that would allow officers to hold him without formal charges beyond the 48-hour window mandated by Jamaican law. The court ultimately granted the police’s application, scheduling Richards’ next court appearance for Friday.

    Richards has retained prominent defense attorney Isat Buchanan to represent him throughout the investigation and upcoming court proceedings. Buchanan confirmed to local outlet Observer Online that he successfully petitioned the judge to order emergency medical care for his client, noting that the island’s police lockup facilities lack the capacity to properly treat the gunshot wound Richards sustained in the attack. Following the court ruling, Richards was transferred to a local hospital to receive care for his injury.

    “ We await the completion of the investigation and all I can say is trust the process,” Buchanan told reporters outside the courthouse Wednesday.

    Three people were hit by gunfire during the attack at the popular Big Wall after-party venue, according to official updates. Alongside Richards, the injured include a U.S. citizen and a member of dancehall recording artist 450’s personal entourage. The entourage member suffered critical injuries in the shooting but has survived and is currently receiving medical treatment, authorities confirmed.

    Richards is not the only person detained in connection with the high-profile incident. Jahvel “Jahvy Ambassador” Morrison, a well-known music producer and talent manager, has also been held in police custody since Sunday night immediately following the shooting. Morrison has retained top legal representation, King’s Counsel Peter Champagnie, to guide his case through the legal process.

    Local law enforcement has not yet released formal details on possible motives for the shooting, nor have they announced any timeline for the filing of formal charges against the two detainees. Investigations remain ongoing as officers work to piece together the sequence of events that led to the Sunday night attack.

  • Teenager kills nine, wounds 13 in Turkey school shooting

    Teenager kills nine, wounds 13 in Turkey school shooting

    ISTANBUL — Just 24 hours after a separate school shooting left 16 wounded in southeastern Turkey, a second mass shooting at a middle school in the country’s southern Kahramanmaras province has sent the nation into mourning, leaving nine dead and 13 injured in an attack that upended Turkey’s long history of rare school violence. The shooter, identified by local officials as a 14-year-old eighth-grade student, carried five licensed firearms and seven ammunition magazines belonging to his father, a former police officer, into the school campus on Wednesday morning. What followed was chaos: the teen opened fire indiscriminately across two classrooms, forcing terrified students to leap from first-floor windows to escape the gunfire. Dramatic, AFP-verified footage captured by a nearby resident shows students scrambling across the school courtyard, with roughly 15 gunshots audible across a 90-second clip of the attack.

    Turkey’s Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci confirmed that nine people lost their lives in the shooting, and 13 wounded people were rushed to local hospitals, with six patients remaining in intensive care and three in critical condition as of Wednesday evening. The shooter himself died during the incident, and local governor Mukerrem Unluer told reporters it remains unclear whether the death was a suicide or an accidental killing amid the chaos of the attack. Law enforcement has since detained the shooter’s father, Ugur Mersinli, for questioning, per reporting from Turkey’s official Anadolu Agency. Video released by Turkey’s private IHA news outlet showed emergency workers evacuating covered bodies from the campus, while dozens of distraught parents gathered outside the school gates waiting for updates on their children. Law enforcement has locked down the campus perimeter, and top Turkish officials including the interior and education ministers traveled to Kahramanmaras to oversee the response, with prosecutors opening an immediate investigation into the incident.

    President Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered an official statement on social media platform X, calling the attack an unmitigated tragedy. “In this tragic attack, we unfortunately lost our bright young children and a devoted educator,” he wrote, adding that authorities would fully investigate every detail of the shooting and urging the public not to politicize the national grief. The Wednesday shooting follows a similar attack just one day prior, in Sanliurfa province’s Siverek district, where a former student opened fire with a shotgun at his old high school, wounding 16 people — 10 of them students — before killing himself during a police confrontation. Following the Tuesday attack, law enforcement detained one suspect and suspended four school officials from their posts, and ordered the affected school closed for four days.

    The back-to-back attacks have sparked urgent debate over school safety across Turkey. Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Ozgur Ozel argued that the violence can no longer be written off as a series of isolated events. “At this point, it is clearly evident that violence in schools can no longer be explained by isolated incidents,” Ozel wrote on X. “This issue has turned into a growing and deepening security vulnerability.” He called for immediate implementation of sweeping new security measures, including full access control at all school entry and exit points, increased on-campus security staff, upgraded campus camera systems, more frequent police patrols around school grounds, and updated emergency response plans. “The security of schools is entrusted to our state. No negligence or deficiency in this regard can be excused anymore,” Ozel added.

    Until this week, school shootings have been extremely rare in Turkey, which enforces some of the strictest gun control regulations in the region. All firearms in the country require official licensing, mandatory registration, mental health screenings and criminal background checks for owners, with heavy criminal penalties for unlicensed gun possession. The most recent high-profile school shooting prior to this week occurred in May 2024 in Istanbul, where a expelled former student shot and killed a private high school principal months after he was dismissed from the school.

  • WATCH: Swaby hails 2026 Carnival a major success despite shooting incident

    WATCH: Swaby hails 2026 Carnival a major success despite shooting incident

    KINGSTON, Jamaica — The 2026 Kingston Carnival season has been celebrated as a major economic win for the Jamaican capital, even as city leaders grapple with an outbreak of violence that left three people wounded over the weekend. Andrew Swaby, Mayor of Kingston, stressed that the annual celebration delivered widespread growth across multiple local industries, standing by his assessment of the event as a resounding success in spite of the shooting at the popular Big Wall carnival party.

    In an official statement released this week, Swaby emphasized that Carnival has solidified its position as a key economic driver for Kingston, injecting new energy into the city’s urban core and spurring activity across hospitality, retail, transportation and countless small business sectors. “Once again, the event has proven its lasting value, and its growing economic importance to our city cannot be overstated,” Swaby said. “I want to extend my sincere recognition to the mas bands, event organizers, and thousands of patrons who came together to make this year’s celebration a success.”

    Swaby detailed that the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC) embedded itself in the planning process from the very beginning, working hand-in-hand with event stakeholders to fine-tune logistics, coordinate public services, and lay the groundwork for smooth execution. This year’s event, he argued, serves as a powerful model for what public-private collaboration can achieve when paired with intentional strategic planning and a shared commitment to delivering a high-quality experience for all attendees.

    Among the most notable improvements highlighted by the mayor was a marked upgrade in waste management and post-event cleanup operations. Swaby reported that city crews cleared parade routes and event spaces far faster than in previous years following the annual road march, cutting down on environmental disruption and returning downtown streets to normal daily use in record time. He called this progress a major milestone, crediting the hard work and dedication of municipal cleaning teams and event staff. To address longstanding concerns about paint stains left on public infrastructure from Carnival activities, organizers and municipal officials tested all paint used in parades and events to ensure formulations could be easily and fully removed after the celebration, a proactive step designed to minimize avoidable disruption to the city.

    Even as leaders celebrated the event’s many wins, they did not shy away from addressing the violent incident that marred the final weekend of the season. Swaby issued a firm condemnation of the shooting at the Big Wall carnival party, which left three people injured: one a bystander, and including popular local podcaster Jaii Frais. Local reports confirm the incident involved music producer Jahvy Ambassador, associates of dancehall artist 450, and Frais, and Jahvy Ambassador has since been taken into police custody. Organizers of the Big Wall event have already issued a public apology for the violence.

    “We unequivocally condemn all acts of violence that took place at this event,” Swaby said. “Our thoughts are with everyone who was injured, and we extend our deepest wishes for a fast and full recovery to all three affected individuals.”

  • Kelly-Ann Murdock to act as director of corruption prosecution at Integrity Commission

    Kelly-Ann Murdock to act as director of corruption prosecution at Integrity Commission

    Jamaica’s anti-corruption watchdog, the Integrity Commission (IC), has a new acting head of corruption prosecution, following the early resignation of former director Roneiph Lawrence. Veteran prosecutor Kelly-Ann Murdock officially took up the role in a swearing-in ceremony held Tuesday, March 31, where Jamaica’s Governor-General Sir Patrick Allen administered the oath of office. The appointment was announced publicly this Monday via the Governor-General’s official Instagram account.

    In the official announcement post, the Governor-General extended his warm well wishes to Murdock as she embarks on her new leadership tenure. He emphasized that the role Murdock steps into plays an irreplaceable part in protecting institutional integrity and enforcing accountability across Jamaica’s national justice framework.

    Murdock’s appointment fills the vacancy left by Lawrence, who stepped down from the post last month to accept an appointment as a domestic judge in Jamaica. Lawrence’s tenure in the same role was marked by political controversy from the start: when he was appointed to the position in 2023, Jamaica’s ruling Jamaica Labour Party raised formal objections over his long-standing personal friendship with Dr Dayton Campbell, General Secretary of the opposition People’s National Party (PNP).

    According to public profiles published on the IC’s official website, Murdock brings a wealth of specialized prosecutorial experience to the role, built over years of service across Jamaica’s justice system and the broader Caribbean region. She previously held multiple senior roles at Jamaica’s Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), including legal advisor to the Director of Public Prosecutions, crown counsel, and Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions. Beyond Jamaica’s borders, Murdock also served as a prosecuting attorney in the Turks and Caicos Islands, gaining hands-on regional legal experience that the IC highlights as a valuable asset for her new role.

    Murdock’s professional legal credentials date back to December 2016, when she was formally admitted to the Jamaican Bar. Her academic background spans multiple top institutions across the Caribbean and North America: she earned a Bachelor of Science in both International Relations and Criminology from the University of the West Indies’ Mona Campus, followed by a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of the West Indies’ Cave Hill Campus. She completed her foundational legal training with a Certificate in Legal Education from Jamaica’s Norman Manley Law School, and later pursued advanced professional development in project management and strategic leadership at Lambton College in Toronto, Canada.

    Over the course of her legal career, Murdock has overseen a wide portfolio of high-stakes, complex criminal cases, including many matters of major public interest, per the IC’s statement. The commission notes she contributed to the preparation of several landmark prosecutions, including work on what the IC describes as “one of the largest gang trials in Jamaica” — the commission did not release further details or identify the specific case in its public announcement.

    In a formal statement outlining Murdock’s appointment, the IC reaffirmed her commitment to core institutional values: “Mrs Murdock is committed to upholding the rule of law, strengthening public trust and advancing the principles of accountability, transparency and integrity in public service.”

  • SMA reinforces commitment to Caribbean digital resilience and regional collaboration

    SMA reinforces commitment to Caribbean digital resilience and regional collaboration

    KINGSTON, Jamaica — Against a backdrop of growing regional demand for reliable, future-ready digital infrastructure, Jamaica’s top spectrum regulator has doubled down on its pledge to elevate digital resilience across Jamaica and the entire Caribbean basin, stressing that coordinated cross-border action, robust spectrum stewardship, and ongoing technical capacity investments are non-negotiable for long-term progress.

    The Spectrum Management Authority (SMA) laid out this strategic vision at the 31st annual Caribbean Network Operators Group (CaribNOG) Forum, which ran from April 14 to 16, 2026, in Kingston. The gathering brought together hundreds of regional and global digital industry stakeholders, policymakers, and technical experts to tackle pressing questions about the future of Caribbean digital infrastructure, aligning all discussions around the official forum theme: “The Resilient Archipelago: Strengthening the Caribbean’s Digital Core”.

    During a dedicated session focused on elevating women in the Caribbean tech and network operations space, Dr. Maria Myers-Hamilton, SMA’s Managing Director, centered her remarks on a critical, often overlooked truth: building robust, shock-resistant digital ecosystems requires far more than just laying new fiber or upgrading hardware. It requires intentional cross-stakeholder collaboration, visionary proactive leadership, and consistent, long-term investment in developing skilled workforces and strong institutional frameworks.

    “Digital resilience for the Caribbean is never solely a technical challenge,” Dr. Myers-Hamilton explained. “At its heart, it is a test of how we work together as an interconnected region. Our communication networks, our digital systems, and even our shared spectrum environments do not stop at national borders. To strengthen resilience, we must strengthen collaboration first, build up the technical expertise of our teams, and manage our finite spectrum resources in a way that prioritizes long-term sustainability and inclusive economic growth.”

    She went on to reinforce that evidence-based, effective spectrum management stands as the foundational pillar of all efforts to boost regional digital resilience, framing the practice as a strategic catalyst that unlocks universal connectivity, advances public safety outcomes, and drives broad-based economic development across Caribbean island nations.

  • BBC to cut up to 2,000 jobs in next two years

    BBC to cut up to 2,000 jobs in next two years

    LONDON, UK – One of Britain’s most iconic public media institutions, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), announced this Wednesday that it intends to eliminate between 1,800 and 2,000 full-time roles across the organization over the next two years, a move rooted in severe and growing financial strain that has reshaped the global media landscape.

    In an internal statement shared with staff and later obtained by Agence France-Presse (AFP), interim BBC Director-General Rhodri Talfan Davies confirmed the scope of the cuts, noting that while final details are still being finalized, the corporation is preparing for a net reduction of nearly 2,000 roles. The announcement was first broadcast publicly on the BBC’s own rolling news channel Wednesday afternoon.

    Davies emphasized that the cuts are a necessary, urgent response to what the organization calls “significant financial pressures” that cannot be delayed. The BBC has outlined a target to cut £500 million from its £5 billion annual operating budget, with the majority of these savings required by the 2027 and 2028 fiscal cycles. If carried out as planned, this round of redundancies will mark the largest workforce reduction at the 100-year-old broadcaster in nearly 15 years, according to reports from UK-based ITV News and the Press Association.

    The downsizing comes at a time of unprecedented upheaval for traditional public service media. The BBC is grappling with multiple overlapping challenges: the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence that is reshaping content production workflows, shifting audience consumption habits that favor on-demand streaming over traditional broadcast, and a long-term decline in revenue from its core funding source, the television licence fee. In a March report, the broadcaster revealed that its real-term licence fee income has dropped by 24% since 2017, and the organization is required to cut its total cost base by an additional 10% by March 2029. The report warned that difficult decisions could ultimately lead to reduced content offerings and scaled-back public services.

    Beyond internal financial woes, the BBC is also facing high-profile external legal pressure. Former US President Donald Trump recently filed a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the corporation over a documentary that edited footage of a 2021 speech Trump delivered ahead of the US Capitol riot. Trump alleges the editing misrepresented his remarks to make it appear he explicitly encouraged supporters to storm the congressional building.

    The restructuring comes as the BBC prepares to welcome a new permanent director-general next month: Matt Brittin, a longtime Google executive, who was hired specifically to steer the historic broadcaster through a period of major organizational transformation. Currently, the BBC remains a deeply embedded part of British public life, with the corporation reporting that 94% of all UK adults engage with its services on a monthly basis. It is funded entirely by the mandatory television licence fee paid by UK households that access any BBC content, rather than through commercial advertising.