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  • Natalia Inspiration professes ‘My Love’ featuring Kenn Willis

    Natalia Inspiration professes ‘My Love’ featuring Kenn Willis

    KINGSTON, Jamaica — Emerging Jamaican fusion rapper Natalia Iñspiration is celebrating overwhelming early public response to her debut official single “My Love”, a cross-Atlantic collaborative project that pairs her distinct rap flow with the soulful vocal work of United Kingdom-based reggae balladeer Kenn Willis.

    Rooted in warm, earnest celebration of romantic connection, the track layers Natalia Iñspiration’s signature smooth rap delivery over an upbeat, rhythm-driven hip-hop instrumental. The organic collaboration came together by chance after Willis, who had penned the core of the track years before meeting his collaborator, reached out to finish the incomplete work. As Natalia Iñspiration recalls, the process happened in a single spontaneous evening: during a late-night voice call, Willis shared the draft, and within hours, she had written and recorded her original verse to send back. Impressed by her work, the pair moved forward to officially release the finished track, dropping it to streaming platforms and radio on May 1.

    The final production blends the two artists’ contrasting styles into a cohesive, engaging track. Willis leans into his reggae balladeer roots, delivering a heartfelt, love-letter-style vocal that showcases his lyrical tenderness and passion, while Natalia Iñspiration brings energetic momentum with her uptempo rap verse that cuts straight to the emotional core of the song.

    In the weeks since its release, the single has earned fiery public feedback across social media platforms, and quickly climbed the local airplay charts in Jamaica, positioning “My Love” as the long-awaited breakthrough moment Natalia Iñspiration has spent years working toward. For the rising artist, the first time she heard her own voice playing on mainstream radio was a surreal, life-changing moment. “Since I was a little kid, music has been my biggest passion, and I always dreamed of being a performing artist,” she shared in an interview. “When I heard ‘My Love’ playing for the first time, I just couldn’t believe it. It was an amazing, out-of-body experience — I never imagined my voice would sound that good.”

    Born Brithney Natalia Lovelace, the artist grew up in the small community of Flamstead, Hanover, Jamaica, raised by her parents Marlene Lee and Donovan Lovelace alongside seven siblings. While her family faced significant financial hardship that disrupted her formal education at Merlene Ottey High School, she describes her childhood home as a warm, joyful space. As a teenager, she underwent a religious conversion and became a devout Christian, a identity that would later shape her long-term creative goals.

    Before stepping into the music industry full-time, Natalia Iñspiration explored multiple creative paths: she published written works, and built a following as a social media content creator and comedienne, known for her popular comedic sketch series. It was not until 2024 that her musical talent was pushed into the spotlight, when she entered a TikTok-based talent competition that highlighted both her sharp songwriting and dynamic rapping ability. She advanced all the way to the competition’s semi-finals, and gained a large base of loyal online fans in the process.

    That experience rekindled her childhood passion for music, she says. “That competition helped me realize I had the talent to really make an impact on the world,” she explained. With steady encouragement from Willis and other industry contacts, she made the decision to shift her full focus to building a music career.

    While she recorded an earlier debut track titled “My Life”, “My Love” marks her first official commercial release. The rising star already has a pipeline of new projects in the works, including an upcoming uptempo collaboration with dancehall artist Predator. She is also actively pursuing collaborative opportunities with other Jamaican and international artists, and has teased a future full-length gospel-rap album that aligns with her personal faith. With the breakout success of “My Love”, the pair are already preparing to film an official music video for the single in the near future.

  • New TEF chairman touts tourism education as new industry

    New TEF chairman touts tourism education as new industry

    Against the backdrop of post-hurricane recovery and the ongoing race to maintain global tourism competitiveness, newly installed Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) chairman Ryan Parkes has issued a bold call to Jamaican educators: reposition holistic tourism education as an independent, standalone industry to drive long-term national growth.

    Parkes laid out his vision during a Teachers’ Day luncheon held Wednesday at the Montego Bay Convention Centre. The event was hosted by Edmund Bartlett, Member of Parliament for St James East Central, and coincided with the 30th anniversary of the constituency’s East Central St James Scholarship and Welfare Fund.

    In his address, Parkes emphasized that Jamaica’s tourism sector stands at a critical turning point in the months after Hurricane Melissa hit the island last October. He argued that rebuilding the nation’s tourism offering extends far beyond repairing damaged physical infrastructure; it demands a fundamental reimagining of Jamaica’s most valuable tourism asset: its human capital.

    “I want to challenge you, the teaching fraternity, to let us make education in tourism — and in a holistic way — a new industry by itself. The opportunities are endless,” Parkes urged the gathered educators.

    As Parkes explained to the Jamaica Observer in a follow-up interview expanding on his proposal, tourism is already Jamaica’s single largest contributor to national GDP, accounting for roughly 30% of the country’s total economic output when both direct and indirect impacts are counted. Given this outsize economic footprint, he said, the sector deserves a strategic, integrated approach that ties it directly to education, workforce development, and broad national economic strategy.

    “If the majority of your contribution is already coming from tourism there is the opportunity for us to harness that industry and to ensure that it is well-equipped to compete in the new dimension within which we operate,” he noted.

    Parkes stressed that educators serve as the foundational agents of skills development and training, putting them in a unique position to reshape the workforce competencies needed for a modern, competitive tourism sector. Drawing a comparison to the Dominican Republic, which has built a dominant global niche around affordable all-inclusive resorts, Parkes argued that Jamaica’s unique competitive advantage lies not in infrastructure or pricing alone, but in the warmth and hospitality of its people.

    Cultivating that signature customer-centric hospitality requires intentional, early training, he said, and that process starts with educators at the center of the tourism skills ecosystem.

    “Because you are moulding young minds and you are preparing those minds for the world of work, there is no better constituent group than yourselves to be able to have that dialogue with and for us to work together in shaping the future of tourism,” Parkes added.

    He further emphasized that the quality of Jamaica’s workforce training will directly determine the country’s ability to outperform peer destinations in an increasingly crowded global tourism market, making educator collaboration on tourism education a make-or-break priority for the nation’s economic future.

  • Cop breaks leg in bike crash during escort of IShowSpeed

    Cop breaks leg in bike crash during escort of IShowSpeed

    On a busy Friday afternoon along Kingston’s bustling Spanish Town Road, a routine high-profile escort operation took a sudden turn for the worse, leaving a Jamaican law enforcement officer with a serious broken leg that requires ongoing medical care. The injured constable, a member of the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s Traffic Enforcement Division, was riding his official service motorcycle as part of a security detail accompanying American social media influencer IShowSpeed when the collision unfolded just after 2:15 p.m.

    According to initial investigative reports, the chain of events that led to the crash began when a blue Honda Fit passenger vehicle pulled ahead of the officer’s motorcycle, overtook the bike, and then came to an unexpected, abrupt stop directly in the officer’s path. Left with only fractions of a second to react, the constable slammed on his motorcycle’s brakes in a sharp emergency stop. The sudden braking caused the two-wheeler to slide off the paved roadway, throwing the officer from the vehicle.

    Passersby and fellow escort officers immediately rushed to the injured constable’s aid, rushing him to Kingston Public Hospital, the island’s main public trauma center, for urgent medical treatment. After receiving assessment and care for his fractured leg, the officer remains in the facility recovering as of the latest updates.

    The incident unfolded during IShowSpeed’s visit to the Jamaican capital, part of the social media star’s multi-stop Caribbean tour. Born Darren Watkins Jr., IShowSpeed has built a massive global following for his high-energy live content, and his sightseeing trip through Kingston’s Corporate Area was broadcast live to his audience, racking up more than 2.8 million views from viewers across the world.

  • Fed up with negative lyrics, Caboowie pushes ahead with songs that inspire

    Fed up with negative lyrics, Caboowie pushes ahead with songs that inspire

    KINGSTON, Jamaica — Longtime Jamaican dancehall creative Caboowie is sounding the alarm over a troubling rise in violent confrontations between school-aged young people across the island, arguing that overly negative lyrical content in popular music has contributed heavily to this harmful cultural shift.

    In a recent conversation with Observer Online, the Spanish Town-born performer laid out his perspective bluntly: “We see children lashing out and acting out both in school halls and on public streets constantly today. So much of the music they consume is saturated with negativity, and it is shaping their behavior. What they need right now is uplifting messaging and tracks that encourage them to grow and thrive.”

    After years of observing this steady creep of harmful content influence, Caboowie says the time for honest conversation and action is long overdue. “Negativity has seeped into young people’s worldviews gradually over time, and we need to stop avoiding that truth. They desperately need positive inspiration to guide them,” he explained. “As an artist, I have a platform, and I am choosing to use that platform to do my part: I want to fill young minds with music that lifts them up and brings them joy, not division or violence.”

    To turn this commitment into action, the artist dropped his new single *Cash Cash (Hot Cash)* one week prior to the interview, framing the track as a reflection of his mission to deliver uplifting content to young listeners.

    While he points to negative music as a key contributing factor to youth behavioral issues, Caboowie also acknowledges that multiple societal forces shape young people’s choices. “It all comes down to what you feed into young minds. There are other issues at play, of course, but when you look at what kids are listening to daily — the tracks blaring in minibuses, the lyrics they dance to — it is impossible to ignore how worrying it is. Discipline starts at home, and parents have a critical role to play in nurturing the next generation’s minds in a positive, supportive way.”

    A former student at Jonathan Grant High School, Caboowie brands his artistic style as “educator aka the Instructor” — a unique blend of classic, foundational dancehall sounds and modern, contemporary delivery. Drawing creative inspiration from dancehall icons Shabba Ranks and Bounty Killer, he is focused on building his own distinct niche in the industry while protecting the core authenticity that makes dancehall such a beloved global genre.

    “I make clean, timeless music to educate the younger generation in a positive way,” he said, stressing how critical meaningful, purpose-driven lyrics are in an era he says desperately needs stronger unifying messaging.

    Caboowie currently collaborates with King Nifty of Baff Music Group and producer Gideon of Gideon Records, while also actively supporting the next generation of Jamaican talent by building a network of emerging creators including Taskia, Landolyrical, Davidon, and Daki.

    The artist, born Duran Jeffrey Burnett, recently made the decision to rebrand from his original stage name Unit. “The name Unit felt outdated after a while, especially once 50 Cent’s G-Unit rose to prominence. I never wanted to be tied to that space. I wanted an entirely original name to match my completely original sound,” he explained.

    With 20 years of experience working in the music industry under his belt, the most impactful lesson Caboowie says he has learned is to persist through setbacks. “Never stop pursuing the work you love, even when it feels like no progress is being made. Just keep pushing forward,” he said. “After two decades in this industry, this is the first time I have gotten such overwhelming positive public feedback for any of my releases. Honestly, that response has given me a whole new burst of motivation to keep walking this positive path.”

    Beyond his work with youth, Caboowie also raised concerns about deep divisions and disunity within the wider Jamaican music community. “The first rule of this industry should be: every established artist should lift up a new emerging artist,” he argued. “We also need to stop this toxic culture of competing to see who ‘runs’ music or who is the ‘baddest’ in the scene. That infighting is killing our culture. Fans don’t want to see public animosity on social media dividing entertainers — they want to see artists collab on new tracks and create together.”

  • Storm-proof homes

    Storm-proof homes

    As Jamaica counts down to the 2026 Atlantic Hurricane Season, with the devastating scars of October 2025’s Category 5 Hurricane Melissa still unhealed for thousands of residents, Prime Minister Dr. Andrew Holness has issued a clear mandate for climate resilience at the groundbreaking of one of the island’s largest new residential developments in recent years.

    The $9-billion Rozelle Estate scheme, a partnership between private developer New Rozelle Properties and the state-run National Housing Trust (NHT), will bring more than 800 new homes to the coastal parish of St. Thomas. Speaking at Friday’s ceremony, Holness stressed that resilience against extreme weather must be baked into every phase of the project’s design and construction, rather than treated as an afterthought.

    “Sea breezes that cool this area can turn deadly violent during a major hurricane,” Holness told attendees, which included NHT chairman Linval Freeman, NHT managing director Martin Miller, and New Rozelle Properties chairman John Sinclair. “We require these homes to be engineered to withstand a Category 5 storm. That is the core priority of this administration: building resilience into every part of our national infrastructure.”

    The government’s intensified focus on climate-resilient construction comes in direct response to the destruction caused by Melissa, one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes on record, which tore through Jamaica’s south-western and north-western regions six months prior. While restoration work has progressed steadily, thousands of Jamaicans are yet to fully rebuild their lives and homes, with the 2026 hurricane season set to officially open on June 1.

    Holness pointed to a key lesson from Melissa’s destruction: not all structures failed. Many homes, even those with relatively modest hip and timber roof designs, emerged unscathed thanks to intentional, robust construction practices. He urged the Rozelle Estate developer to exceed minimum building code requirements, so that even after a Category 5 storm, homeowners would only need to clear debris rather than rebuild their entire lives.

    “Instead of meeting just the threshold design standard, go above it,” Holness said. “That way, when a storm passes, all a homeowner has to do is sweep away fallen leaves and trees, and they are back to normal life.”

    The project is being delivered under the NHT’s innovative guaranteed purchase programme, a policy designed to de-risk residential development for private builders. Under the framework, the state housing agency will purchase 660 of the 800-plus units at a pre-agreed price, providing developers with upfront capital to launch construction and guaranteed demand to reduce sales risk once the project is complete. The remaining units will be sold at the developer’s discretion. Holness called the programme a major success and urged other developers eyeing projects in St Thomas to take advantage of the scheme.

    Holness also used the groundbreaking ceremony to promote the newly established National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA), a government body created in response to Hurricane Melissa to coordinate post-disaster recovery and streamline resilience-focused development across Jamaica. Parliament approved the legislation establishing NaRRA just two weeks prior, with a mandate to not only organize disaster rebuilding but also speed up approval for large public and private projects that align with national economic recovery and resilience goals.

    At the heart of NaRRA’s mandate is the Facilitated Acceleration of Strategic Transformation (FAST) Programme, a fast-track approval pathway for qualifying projects. Holness noted that the Rozelle Estate application was first submitted three years ago, an unnecessarily long wait that delayed the project’s launch. The FAST Programme is designed to eliminate such delays for resilience-aligned projects, he explained, cutting through bureaucratic red tape so developments do not spend years stuck in the approval pipeline.

    To qualify for fast-track consideration through FAST, projects must meet a minimum investment threshold of US$15 million – a requirement Rozelle Estate easily meets with its $9-billion price tag. Holness invited all eligible developers and investors working on resilience-focused strategic projects to apply to NaRRA for accelerated approval.

    Looking beyond the Rozelle Estate development, Holness outlined an ambitious vision for expanded housing growth across St Thomas, which benefits from its close proximity to the Kingston Metropolitan Area, improved road access, available vacant land, and recently completed water infrastructure upgrades. While local Member of Parliament James Robertson projected 5,000 new homes would be built in the parish over the next three years, Holness said that number could double to 10,000, driven by growing interest from private landowners and developers partnering with the NHT.

    “As we break ground here today, we are not just laying foundations for new houses and new communities,” Holness said. “We are planting opportunities that will bear fruit for Jamaican families for generations. Most importantly, we are delivering dignified housing: every Jamaican deserves their own piece of ‘The Rock’, no matter how big or small.”

  • Pizza Hut and reading a good combination

    Pizza Hut and reading a good combination

    KINGSTON, Jamaica — On a sunny Tuesday in Jamaica, two primary school campuses in the parish of St Catherine buzzed with unscripted energy, as Pizza Hut Jamaica partnered with local education communities to mark Read Across Jamaica Day with immersive, student-centered reading activities that turned ordinary lessons into memorable shared experiences.

    Held under the umbrella of Jamaica’s 2026 Child Month observance, this year’s Read Across Jamaica Day programming aligns with the national theme “Prioritise Our Children’s Mental Health: Safer Minds, Safer Future” — a framework that centers joyful, low-pressure social learning as a key pillar of youth wellbeing.

    Levene Sheriff, Marketing Officer for Pizza Hut Jamaica, joined a team of staff from the brand’s Braeton location to lead reading sessions for students across both lower and upper grade levels at Southborough Primary and Independence City Primary. Rather than sticking to traditional lecture-style reading, the team structured activities around open discussion, peer participation, and playful engagement to draw out every student’s interest.

    Young learners jumped at the chance to volunteer for read-aloud segments and respond to discussion prompts, with many taking home commemoratory giveaways including new storybooks, branded reusable water bottles, branded pencil cases and custom tote bags to encourage continued reading outside of the classroom.

    Standing in after a full day of activities, Sheriff reflected on the tangible impact of community-focused school engagement. “We can see how much students enjoy moments like these where they get to interact, express themselves, and simply have fun while learning,” she said. “Beyond encouraging reading, moments like these also allow students to connect and enjoy a break from their normal classroom routine.”

    Carlyle Thompson, Principal of Southborough Primary, praised the initiative and highlighted the far-reaching benefits of ongoing partnerships between local businesses and education institutions. Thompson noted that the student response to the visit was overwhelmingly positive, adding, “I could see that the students were excited and fully engaged. It was a meaningful experience for them beyond the regular classroom schedule. There should be more days like this within the school year where students can interact with positive role models and community partners.”

    Over at Independence City Primary, the energy remained high through the afternoon, where learners in grades 4, 5 and 6 took part in themed reading and discussion activities that kept classrooms lively and participatory from start to finish. Principal Anne Geddes-Spence echoed Thompson’s enthusiasm, saying, “We truly appreciate you all for taking the time out of your busy schedules to be here with us today. The students were very happy to have you, and we only wish you could have visited all the classes. It was a wonderful experience for them.”

    In addition to the interactive reading sessions, both campuses received Pizza Hut meal vouchers to support their upcoming Children’s Month celebration activities, while participating classroom teachers were given early gifts in honor of the upcoming Teacher’s Day observance.

    This St Catherine school visit is just one component of Pizza Hut Jamaica’s broader island-wide outreach for Child Month and Teacher’s Month 2026. Across five additional parishes — St James, St Ann, Manchester, and Clarendon — the brand is distributing gift bags filled with meal vouchers, personal care items, and essential school supplies to teachers and school administrators, to recognize and thank them for their relentless dedication to supporting Jamaica’s young people.

  • NHT ignites imagination

    NHT ignites imagination

    An annual literacy-focused initiative, Read Across Jamaica Day, received meaningful participation this year from the National Housing Trust (NHT), one of the island’s leading public housing institutions. As part of the trust’s engagement with the campaign, Neil Miller, Senior General Manager for Corporate Services at the NHT, stepped into the classroom of Amy Bailey Basic School to connect with early learners through the power of the written word.

    During his visit, Miller shared the children’s book *Zachary The Parakeet*, a work created by Jamaican author Shana Darien, with the assembled students. The interactive reading session was far more than a simple recreational activity: organizers framed the event as a purpose-driven effort to highlight the transformative impact of storytelling on childhood development. Through engaging narratives, young participants have their innate creativity sparked, helping them explore new worlds and ideas beyond their daily surroundings. Beyond imagination, regular storytelling and read-aloud activities also help nurture greater confidence in young children, giving them space to build comfort with language and communication. Most importantly, these experiences encourage early learners to recognize the power of their own ideas, showing them how far their unique voices can take them as they grow and develop.

  • Third World among the headline acts for ‘To Mom With Love’

    Third World among the headline acts for ‘To Mom With Love’

    The year 1976 stands as an unparalleled turning point in the history of reggae music, a 12-month stretch that delivered some of the most influential and enduring albums the genre has ever produced. That legendary year brought landmark releases from reggae’s biggest names: Bob Marley and The Wailers’ *Rastaman Vibration*, Bunny Wailer’s iconic *Blackheart Man*, and Peter Tosh’s bold *Legalize It*. Alongside these celebrated works came another historic debut: the self-titled first album from Kingston-born reggae collective Third World, dropped three years after the group first formed in Jamaica’s capital. Widely considered one of the four greatest reggae albums of that era, Third World’s debut remains the most sonically diverse of that iconic quartet, blending influences from across the musical spectrum that would come to define the band’s cross-generational appeal.

    Nearly five decades after that groundbreaking release, the legendary reggae outfit is set to take the stage once more in Kingston, headlining the *To Mom With Love* tribute concert on May 10 at the city’s AC Hotel. They will share the lineup with a stacked roster of talent including fellow reggae icon Marcia Griffiths, American R&B star Glenn Jones, vocalist and event promoter Robert Minott, and rising artist Nesta.

    For Minott, sharing a bill with Third World is more than just another performance—it is a full-circle moment for a lifelong fan. “They’re a great band, I’ve been listening to Third World for years. I even did a song with Bunny Rugs,” Minott told *Observer Online*, describing the group as a “special group” whose music resonates with fans across all demographics and geographic boundaries. Bunny Rugs, born William Alexander Clarke, served as Third World’s beloved lead vocalist from 1976 until his passing in 2014, and delivered lead vocals on many of the band’s biggest crossover hits, including *Now That We Found Love*, *Try Jah Love*, and *Committed*.

    The upcoming show comes at a bittersweet moment for the Third World collective, which has lost two of its founding members in the last 16 months. In January 2024, co-founder and acclaimed guitarist Stephen “Cat” Coore died at the age of 69, just a year after the passing of the band’s other co-founder, keyboardist Ibo Cooper, who died in 2023. Despite these losses, the band’s enduring legacy has kept its place on Jamaica’s live music circuit, with this tribute to motherhood set to draw fans old and new to celebrate the group’s decades of contributions to reggae.

    Organizers have planned two separate performance slots to accommodate high demand for the event: the first show kicks off at 1 p.m. local time, with a second evening show scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

  • Appeal denied

    Appeal denied

    Two men serving life sentences for a deadly 2011 home invasion in Westmoreland, Jamaica, have seen their final attempt to overturn their convictions rejected after the island’s Court of Appeal refused permission to introduce previously undisclosed police evidence that they claimed would prove their innocence.

    Carvel Hines and Bruce Lamey were found guilty by a seven-member jury at the Westmoreland Circuit Court in February 2017 on charges of murder and wounding with intent. The crimes dated back to January 27, 2011, when the pair allegedly forced entry into the home of 72-year-old Bernice Clarke and her 67-year-old husband Clement in Clark’s Town. Prosecutors argued the attack was carried out that night shortly after 8 p.m., leaving Bernice dead and Clement wounded by gunfire. He survived only by playing dead after the shooting.

    In March 2017, the court handed down dual sentences: 18 years of hard labor for the wounding conviction, and a life term for the murder conviction, with a requirement that each man serve a minimum of 33 years behind bars before becoming eligible for parole. All sentences were ordered to run concurrently. An initial application for leave to appeal was turned down in 2018, and the pair launched a second bid that included a motion to admit the new evidence from the 2011 police station log.

    The appeal panel, made up of three senior judges, heard the application across two hearings in December 2023 and May 2024, and issued a final ruling rejecting the motion. In their ruling, the judges issued an unqualified apology to both the convicted men and other parties for the multi-year delay in delivering their decision.

    The sole eyewitness to the crime was Clement Clarke, who survived the attack. He told the trial that he heard a loud impact on his front door, went to investigate, and found Hines — a man he already knew — standing inside his hallway, armed with a gun. Clarke grabbed a machete to defend himself, but Hines shot him, forcing him to drop the weapon. As he retreated to his bedroom, Hines continued firing and followed him inside, then shot Bernice Clarke. Lamey, who Clarke also knew by sight, joined Hines in the bedroom and also opened fire on the 72-year-old, according to the eyewitness testimony. Clarke fell on top of his wife and pretended to be dead until the two men left the property, then called police for help. He was treated for his wounds at a local hospital, but Bernice Clarke died from her injuries.

    At the original trial, both Hines and Lamey denied any involvement in the attack and claimed they were not present at the scene. Hines argued he was with his partner in St Ann on the night of the murder, while Lamey stated he was a father of three and would never commit such a violent crime.

    The fresh evidence the pair sought to introduce was a single line entry from the Bethel Town Police Station diary, written the day after the murder by a detective corporal, that noted the killing was believed to be a reprisal attack. Attorneys for the men argued that the prosecution’s failure to disclose this diary entry before and during the trial violated its legal duty to share potentially exculpatory evidence. They contended the entry undermined the credibility of Clement Clarke’s identification of the two men as the attackers, and would have opened new avenues of investigation for the defense that could have changed the trial’s outcome.

    Prosecutors pushed back against these claims, noting that the defense never requested access to the police station diary before or during the 2017 trial, and that the document was available for the defense to obtain if they had sought it out. The Crown also argued that the line about a reprisal motive was purely speculative, not factual, and would not have impacted the jury’s assessment of Clarke’s identification of the defendants.

    In their ruling dismissing the application, the appeal judges agreed with the prosecution’s assessment. They noted that the diary entry was not a record of direct sensory observation by the officer, but merely a note of an unsubstantiated belief about the motive, meaning it could not qualify as credible factual evidence. Even if it had been introduced at trial, the panel ruled, the entry would not have changed the jury’s guilty verdict. The court added that the core information from the entry was already brought to the jury’s attention as part of the defense’s original case, so it could not qualify as new material that meets the legal standard for admission on appeal. For these reasons, the application to admit the fresh evidence was refused.

  • Rubio says had ‘very good meeting’ with Pope Leo

    Rubio says had ‘very good meeting’ with Pope Leo

    VATICAN CITY, ROME — Amid already heightened tensions sparked by former U.S. President Donald Trump’s public rebuke of Pope Leo XIV’s anti-war stance, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Friday that his closed-door discussions with the pontiff yielded a constructive, productive exchange. Speaking to assembled reporters on the grounds of the Vatican immediately after the hour-long meeting, Rubio characterized the encounter as a “very good meeting” that laid clear ground for mutual understanding between the U.S. government and the Holy See.