INTERNATIONAL
1. Second Trump-Clinton debate sizzles
Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton both came out swinging at the United States’ second presidential debate last night. Among the night’s highlights was Trump’s statement that if he were elected president of the US, he would get a special prosecutor to “look into” Clinton’s situation. The ‘situation’ he referred to was Clinton’s alleged deleting of 33,000 emails during an investigation on her. Clinton, on the other hand, said that it was “awfully good” that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump was not in charge of the law in their country, to which he responded, “Because you’d be in jail.”
2. Matthew no longer a hurricane
After wreaking havoc across the Caribbean and on the southeast coast of the United States, Matthew has been downgraded from a hurricane to a post-tropical cyclone, currently causing heavy showers and flooding in North Carolina. The storm is responsible for the deaths of over over 250 persons in Haiti, leaving at least 350,000 people in need of assistance in what is touted as the country’s worst humanitarian crisis since the devastating earthquake of January 2010.
Read more about Hurricane Matthew’s effect on Haiti here.
3. Jamaica’s ODPEM reaches out to Haiti
In light of the widespread destruction in Haiti after the nation was being pummelled by Hurricane Matthew’s Category 4 winds, the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) is making a call for Jamaicans to assist their Caribbean neighbour. The agency says organisations and individuals can send donations to its offices at 2-4 Haining Road, Kingston 5. Priority items being sought include bottled water, non-perishable food, and tarpaulins. Cash donations can be made to any branch of the National Commercial Bank (NCB), account number 21-2387304.
LOCAL
4. More dead babies from bacterial infection
Seven babies have been reported to have died in the past three months from sepsis at the Victoria Jubilee Hospital in Kingston. This is the second time in less than a year that the public health sector has been hit with the sudden deaths of newborn babies. Sepsis is a potentially deadly condition that occurs when certain bacteria, fungi or parasites attack critical organs in the newborns. Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton has ordered an investigation into the deaths.
See the full story on The Gleaner’s website.
5. March Pen on lockdown
Police yesterday imposed a curfew on sections of the St Catherine North Division late yesterday as they sought to bring a halt to an eruption of violence that resulted in the charred remains of five persons, including three children, being pulled from premises in Africa Settlement on March Pen Road in the parish. The curfew, which began at 6 p.m. on Saturday, remains in effect until today.
See full story on The Gleaner’s website.
6. Dominic James laid to rest
The funeral service for Dominic James, the St George’s student who collapsed and died during a Manning Cup match on September 20, took place on Saturday, October 8. News of James’ death rocked the nation, prompting calls for greater attention to be paid to student athletes’ health and well-being, as well as better provisions to be made for medical personnel to be present at matches.
