"FISCAL TARGETS cannot eat and people cannot sleep on balance sheet." That was the bold declaration from People's National Party (PNP) President Portia Simpson Miller at a campaign meeting in Mandeville, Manchester, on the eve of last December's general election.

Outspoken People's National Party (PNP) Councillor Patrick Roberts has come out in support of his political colleague Damion Crawford, who is under pressure in East Rural St Andrew over the spending of State funds.

The international literary world is still coming to terms with the recent discovery of a previously unknown manuscript by Jamaican-born writer and political activist Claude McKay.

The Corporate Area-based Best Care Foundation has received a donation of $340,000 to help in refurbishing its home. Sagicor team members yesterday handed over the money which was raised through the annual Sagicor Motivational Seminar (SMS) which is slated for later this month.

Police Commissioner Owen Ellington has reiterated that all police stations should be open to the public 24 hours each day.

The roles of government minister, general secretary, member of parliament and representative on the Election Commission of Jamaica (ECJ) could individually be full-time jobs for any one person. But for the People's National Party (PNP), it is not unusual for one person to be asked to straddle all four roles as Maxine Henry-Wilson and others have done in the past.

Middle East violence is shaking up a presidential race that otherwise looks stubbornly stable, and tight. President Barack Obama holds a tiny edge, Republican Mitt Romney is seeking a breakthrough message, and three debates are ahead in the campaign's final seven weeks.

Imprisoned reggae star Buju Banton, who is now facing the daunting prospect of seeing his 10-year prison sentence increased to 15 years, has requested that he be absent from the sentencing hearing.