Jamaican-born Dr. Marlene MacLeish has been inducted into the International Academy of Astronautics, Paris, Francein recognition of her contributions to space exploration education.

Dr. MacLeish is professor of medical education, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, and Senior Education Fellow of the National Space Biomedical Research Institute, which is a NASA funded consortium of universities studying the health risks related to long-duration spaceflight and developing countermeasures to mitigate the risks.

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The number of persons with Caribbean heritage in the Barack Obama cabinet may rise to two.

Speculation is rife that Lt. Governor of Maryland, Anthony G. Brown, could be picked as head of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Brown was born to a Jamaican father and a Swiss mother in Huntington, New York. His father was a medical doctor and alumnus of Fordham University.

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Jamaica’s Usain Bolt ended his phenomenal 2008 season on a high on Sunday as he was named the IAAF male athlete of the year at a glittering awards ceremony held at the posh Salle des Etoiles of the Sporting Club d’Eté here in the principality of Monaco.

Not that his winning the award was ever in doubt after winning three gold medals and setting three world records at the Olympic Games held in Beijing, China earlier in the year.

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Joseph A. Whittaker  has been elected the 73rd president of Sigma Xi at the Society's 2008 Annual Meeting in Washington, DC Whittaker who hails from  Falmouth, Trelawny in Jamaica,  will serve as president-elect beginning July 1, 2009.

A Sigma Xi member since 1988, Whittaker is dean and professor of biology in the School of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland, where he oversees more than 100 faculty members involved in research, training and educational activities in five academic departments

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Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Audley Shaw, has emphasised that the Government has no intention of abandoning the national airline, Air Jamaica, after it is divested next year.

Addressing members of the Caribbean diaspora, who gathered at an Air Jamaica customer appreciation dinner on December 5th, at the Westin Hotel in Baltimore, Maryland, Mr. Shaw pointed out that the Government would ensure that it puts the airline on a sound footing

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