In Focus

Residents gather amid debris in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa on a street in Black River, Jamaica.
December 9, 2025

Mark Wignall | When tears are not enough

I can best express my pain by using the first words that come to me. And of course, it’s all about the destruction left behind by the passage of the monster hurricane, Melissa. The first words, quite…
A man walks in Kingston, Jamaica, as Hurricane Melissa approached on Tuesday, October 28.
December 9, 2025

Africka Stephens | Resilience is the real headline ... not that children were hiding in tunnels

When Hurricane Melissa loomed over Jamaica, international journalists rushed to report what many framed as impending devastation. Likewise, many observers, regionally and internationally, rushed to…
Photo courtesy CWI Media 
Jason Holder (third right) celebrates with teammates from left: Alick Athanaze, Jayden Seales, Shai Hope, Roston Chase, Brandon King and Rovman Powell after taking a wicket, during the second T20I at the Bir Sreshtho Flight Lieute
December 9, 2025

Don Anderson | Windies cricket: Infrastructure a new word for application

As a loyal West Indies cricket fan who stays up day and night to watch our games wherever they are played, I am, like many others, very distressed to find us near or at the bottom rung of the…
Persons travelling with supplies along Crane Road in Black River St Elizabeth, after Hurricane Melissa.
December 9, 2025

Imani Tafari-Ama | Surviving the trauma of Hurricane Melissa

The lone woman sitting on the evacuation bus travelling from Port Royal to a designated shelter was an explicit essay. Most residents refused to leave their homes to travel to the public facilities. …
Trucks transport tanks east from Valencia, on August 27, 2025, after the government announced a military mobilization following the US deployment of warships off Venezuela.
December 9, 2025

Gordon Robinson | We were complicit!

There’s turmoil in Caribbean waters not caused by Melissa. CNN: “US military has been steadily massing a large number of troops, naval and air assets in the Caribbean over the last two months,…
This photo shows the Amazon Web Services data centre in Boardman, Oregon. AP
December 9, 2025

Densil Williams | Unravelling growth: productivity in the digital age

Bad policy choices are not the only factor responsible for high and sustained levels of economic growth to elude Jamaica. There are structural defects in the economy as well. For high levels of…
Minister of Health and Wellness, Christopher Tufton.
December 9, 2025

Mark Wignall | Dr Tufton, surely there is more

The Gleaner of October 8 spelled it out clearly: “IC: Tufton’s ‘indirect’ influence led to $80m in contracts to friend’s firm.” According to The Director of Investigation one would conclude that there…
AP 
An oil tanker is moored at the Sheskharis complex, part of Chernomortransneft JSC, a subsidiary of Transneft PJSC, in Novorossiysk, Russia.
December 9, 2025

Curtis Ward | Sanctions — Coercive or to punish?

In recent months, we have not focused on US sanctions against Trump administration adversaries. Yet we have seen that the administration’s use of sanctions is widespread, and, in many cases, more…
A boat sails on the bay of the Guama River with Belém, Brazil, in the background.
December 9, 2025

María Villarreal | COP30: Time to act for the defenders of the planet

Latin America faces one of its deepest contradictions: it is the most dangerous region in the world for those who defend the environment, yet it is also the birthplace of the first international…