Salt Spring body-camera shooting fuels accountability push in national news roundup

Reports that a police officer wearing a body-worn camera recorded himself shooting and injuring a man in Salt Spring, St. James, have been welcomed as the kind of accountability many Jamaicans say they want. With 156 civilians killed by police in alleged confrontations so far this year, demands have grown louder for officers to be equipped with the devices.

Professor Dr. Oswald Harding, a distinguished academic, former politician and attorney, has died. Harding, Jamaica's longest-serving senator and the first person to serve two non-consecutive terms as president of the Senate, passed away on Wednesday. He was also a former attorney general and minister of justice.

The Jamaica Medical Doctors Association said its call for people to wear blue in solidarity with medical interns on Wednesday, June 24, achieved a 99% success rate. The show of support came as concerns mounted over long working hours and conditions that doctors describe as exploitative.

In Venezuela, people searched for survivors beneath collapsed buildings as rescue teams rushed to northern areas devastated by two powerful earthquakes that have killed at least 164 people. Authorities fear the death toll will rise. The magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 quakes struck Wednesday evening and were among the strongest to hit the country in more than a century.

In sport, England became the first team to reach the Women's T20 World Cup semifinals after defeating the West Indies by 38 runs at sweltering Lord's in London on Wednesday.

At midday, one US dollar was being sold for J$157.62. The British pound traded at J$212.87, and the Canadian dollar at J$114.11.

Friday's forecast is mainly sunny and windy across parishes.