World News

With November now started, the world begins to think “holidays.”

American journalist Graham Bensinger has renewed the debate about the superior abilities of Jamaican athletes including the world’s fastest man alive, Usain Bolt.

The journalist recently shared on Tik Tok a preview of an interview he did with Victor Conte, founder and president of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (BALCO), a California-based sports nutrition centre. In the interview, Conte says he suspects that the athletic achievements of Usain Bolt and others on Jamaica’s Olympic track team can be traced to their use of illegal drugs.

In the interview, dated 2017 on YouTube, Conte, who pled guilty to charges from the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) of developing a banned steroid with the aid of bodybuilding chemist Patrick Arnold in 2005, is asked about the likelihood that Usain Bolt used illegal performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs). He answered that he became suspicious of Bolt and the entire Jamaica Olympic team when their speed and race performance improved exponentially over a very short period.

While he acknowledged Usain’s talent and admitted the sprinter probably could have broken the world record without using drugs, he also stated, “Any time you’re going from 9:79 seconds to 9:58 seconds, that’s a couple of meters here. It’s suspicious.”

Conte said based his suspicions on analyses of Bolt’s races by former Russian sprint coach Remi Korchemmy, whom he called a “very scientific guy.”

A 5.4 magnitude earthquake hit Jamaica, with no casualties or injuries occurring, according to reports.

Jamaican Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, has announced that transactions on the Agri-Linkages Exchange (ALEX) platform have generated $1 billion in sales by small farmers.

South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, has penned an impassioned call for national unity in the wake of the country's Rugby World Cup victory.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised the swift roll-out of 5G in India and raised the clarion call for India to take a leadership role globally in 6G at the 7th Edition of India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2023, the largest telecom, media and technology forum in Asia.

Hurricane Otis, one of the strongest storms ever to hit Mexico's Pacific Coast, roared into the beach resort of Acapulco, smashing buildings and vital infrastructure and leaving the city incommunicado and without power.

The search is on for the programmes attracting such a new type of visitor in Hawaii.

The Islands of The Bahamas officially launched its destination sponsorship during a game on October 21 that saw the University of Miami Hurricanes go head-to-head against the Clemson University Tigers at the Hard Rock Stadium.

Statia is the first island in the Caribbean Netherlands to participate in UNICEF’s Child Friendly Cities Initiative (CFCI).

Jamaica’s position as a leader in the global tourism industry has been further bolstered after the Caribbean nation secured the post of second vice chair of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation's (UNWTO) Executive Council.

A global survey commissioned by non-profit Future Investment Initiative (FII) Institute, in partnership with Accenture is just released.

Nigeria's Supreme Court has thrown out both opposition challenges to President Bola Tinubu's election win.

Jamaica’s government debt is below pre-pandemic levels and will likely continue to decline over the next several years, rating analysts have determined.

Moody's Investors Service said the debt reduction along with progress on structural reforms, had increased the economy's overall shock-absorption capacity. The strong financial news led to a country rating upgrade from Moody's on long-term issuer and senior unsecured ratings to B1 from B2, and senior unsecured shelf rating to (P) B1 from (P) B2.

The outlook for Jamaica has been changed to positive from stable. The improved rating reflects Moody's assessment that a continuation of the favourable fiscal trajectory will increase Jamaica's credit resilience.

Moody’s commented: “Given the improvements in institutions and governance strength, additional declines in Jamaica's debt and interest burdens would support a higher rating.

It was announced that the US actor who was best known for his starring role in the Shaft film franchise, Richard Rowndtree, has died.

A run-off election will be held next month in Liberia following a photo finish between President George Weah and his main rival Joseph Boakai.