The Ministry of Education is unwittingly misleading the public as to the true performance of Jamaican students in traditional and non-traditional high schools, according to veteran educator and member of the Government's Task Force on Education, Dr. Ralph Thompson.

The United States yesterday signed a grant agreement with the Jamaican Government to release J$1.1 billion in funds to assist the country's reconstruction efforts, following the passage of Hurricane Ivan in September.

Approximately a decade ago when Joseph Bogdonavich started his career as a producer of dancehall music in Kingston, he was convinced that the rhythm was the thing.

Operation Kingfish, the nation's new crime fighting initiative, has apparently netted big, following reports that nine persons have been nabbed and several tonnes of cocaine seized over the past five days.

At about 8:20pm last night, after having his dinner the DJ known to the world as Simpleton collapsed and was gasping for air.

It is a no-brainer to say that the price of music has gone up significantly over the years. In the long-ago days of the mid-1980s, I can remember going into a record store and getting some Dennis Brown and Bob Marley songs taped off for the whopping price of $40.

Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago have agreed on the broad outlines of a treaty under which Port of Spain will supply Kingston with LNG on a "competitive, predictable" basis - a development that will give impetus to Jamaica's plan for a major energy conversion project for its major industries and the establishment of a liquefied natural gas plant here.

Speculation is rife within the music industry that Magnum Sting, the show dubbed "The Greatest One Night Reggae Show On Earth", will return on its usual date (Boxing Day) even after the debacle which took place at last year's staging.

An ex-policeman and his girlfriend were among the latest murder casualties yesterday, as the blood-letting continued unabated across the island.

Dancehall deejay Vybez Kartel has decided not to record anti-gay lyrics.