KINGSTON, Jamaica - An important event is unfolding in Kingston today which, perhaps, may be a defining moment for Jamaica. We hope it is.
The matter to which we refer is the sitting here of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), albeit in its original jurisdiction, which it is to say in its capacity as arbiter of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas that established the Caribbean Community's Single Market and Economy, of which Jamaica is a member.

KINGSTON, Jamaica - Last Thursday, the United States Congress abandoned efforts to find consensus on a way to avoid automatic budget cuts.
Although both Republicans and Democrats professed willingness to compromise and pursue a balanced and pragmatic approach, the two political parties adhered rigidly to their ideological economic fundamentalism.
Sequestration requires 5.1 per cent automatic cuts amounting to US$85 billion. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that if sequestration remains in place there would be job loss of 750,000 during the remainder of 2013.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, Gleaner - AGRICULTURE MINISTER Roger Clarke has shot down fears of Jamaicans consuming horse meat as beef, as reports surfaced in the United Kingdom recently that DNA evidence proved that horse meat was passed off in beef burgers in Builth Wells, Wales.
"We do not import beef from Europe, so that is not a consideration. The beef that is consumed in Jamaica is either produced locally or imported from The United States, Australia, South America, New Zealand, Panama and Costa Rica. So have no fear, we are not getting horse meat here," Clarke assured.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, Gleaner - HEAD OF Delegation for the European Union to Jamaica Ambassador Paola Amadei has urged Jamaicans to develop the capacity to compete around the world and not to depend on tariff barriers to make domestic industries relevant. "It is not by applying tariffs that you will develop a competitive industry or a competitive agricultural sector. It has been proven that by applying tariff and the higher the tariffs are, the worse it is for the consumers.

OTAKI, New Zealand (AP) - Sandra Vidulich is so excited about the leather boots she ordered through Amazon that she rips open the box in front of the postman and tries them on. "I looove them," she declares, as the driveway at her tree-lined home in rural New Zealand briefly becomes a catwalk. "They're cool." For now, a boom in Internet shopping is helping keep alive moribund postal services across the developed world. But the core of their business - letters - is declining precipitously, and data from many countries indicate that parcels alone won't be enough to save them.